Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1915-06-18

y + 4. I
Kuno Meyer said the other day that
the great war was the price the world
IL paying for the mechanical comforts
which have been piled up so rapidly
Again another historian clinches the
point. The time it is w. e. B. Dubois,
the author Of q brilliant book on
The Negro" which Holt has just pub
lished in the Home University Lii
brary. NJ
Dubois says that the Negro in
Africa has been practically enslaved
by the civilized nations of Europe.
The growth Of trade unions made in.
vestors look to Africa for opportun.
tiles. That meant the partition of
Africa And this partition of Africa
brought revision of the ideas of Negro
uplift. Why was it necessary, the Eu-
ropean investors urged, to push con-
tinent Of black workers along the
paths Of social uplift by education.
trades unionism, property holding and
the electoral franchise when the work
ers desired no change and the rate of
European profit would suffer-"
Accumulated profits from the me-
chanical inventions of the last few
generations drove France, Belgium,
England. Germany, Italy, Spa and
Portugal to carve Africa according to
their own tastes. Dubois can see no
hope for the race until Negroes fight
not simply for their own rights as
men, but for the ideals of the greater
world In which they live; the emanci-
patton Of women, universal peace,
democratic government, the socializa-
ton Of wealth and human brother
hood" So.
III That does not mean inevitable prog
ress. It means unacceptable degrade
ton II the generous spirits of the
world do not strive to the utmost. At
a crisis like this every virtue, every
ideal, every dream of glory can be
forsaken in an instant. Brute force
can displace reason, and the world,
like the gallant boy on the Aisne, can
make itself "the instrument through
which a greater force works out its
OF terror and repulsion."
The alternative Is justice, fraternity
and equality.
The adoption by the Baptist con-
vention Of the report to locate the pro-
posed Negro seminary at Memphis |
came after considerable discussion.
Nashville submitted a pleasing prop |
osition for the location of the SEM
mary, but because of the distance to
Nashville from the center of Negro
population to be benefited by the SEM
mary. It was decided that Memphis |
would be more suitable place. 1t |
was agreed to raise at an early date
$4,000 for this purpose DR.. Milton
e. Griggs, Negro, of Tennessee. made
D profound impression and showed the
dne spirit OF brotherliness and CO.
operation which exists between the
white and the Negro Baptists. His
address showed fine spirit Of loyal.
~ to the South and the white people. |
He acknowledged the debt which he
and his people owed to the South and
to the southern people. He said that |
L was here that he got his language. |
his knowledge of industry and his re-
igion, that he was proud of his race
and of the white people. He declared !
that the white people Of the South
have helped the Negroes far beyond
their calculations, giving them new
unity and inspiring them to self-uplift
Ind self-help. He declared that the
work of the southern white people is
Affecting the Negro, not externally
but In real emancipation Of the
ace. One-third OF the voting strength
II the United States the South con.