The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1917-04-21

|N -
The growing Of food. crops by thspeo.
pae OF thts seoiiona .s, y ass -
l"Whatever your opinion Of the pros.
idsnt. up to now" he said, there is
only one thing to do now. to follow
his lead and that of congress, for wa,
has already been declared, and az
loyal American citizens we can do
nothing else.'' He created q laugh by
saying that the war was already felt
here. for II twenty and twenty-five
cent butt meat was not war. he did
not know what 1t was. Give the ne
gro. what the flag promised. he sold.
and they would fight Germany or any
other country. The cali was Tor men
from Is to 45, he said. If needed the
negroes would respond from 15 to rs.
He told the young negroes who were
leaving for the North that this was
the place for them. They could work
here as well az anywhere else. He
said he had been in 42 States and done
all kinds OF work, but this was the
best place for the negroes. He said
the negroes were ready to volunteer.
II the country needed them. "a
I'VE want to show by our words
and acts that we are loyal to our
govevnment." the Rev. I. d. Davis
said. IN urging the negroes to show
their loyalty in everything in the pres
ent crisis.
DR.. c. c. Jacobs said that there was
no question pof, the negro's loyalty.
Prudence. II nothing else. would dic-
tate loyalty. There was no treason
among the negroes. ne, said. The
laws had not always been administer
ed equally. he said. but It was not the
fault of the nag. which had always
been true TO them. He urged that ali
acts and thoughts be loyal to the nag.
8. J.. Mcdonald pointed out that me-
sroes paid taxes on $1,000. .o00, 900
property and had pretty homes and
valuable farms to fight for. rhe
flag was the only one they had ever
known and it was their duty to de-
fend It.
"a people with a vision and lofty
ideals will not down." said the Rev.
]. w. Moultrie. In responding to a
call from the audience for him to
speak. The idea OF the meeting was
America, where all men. according
to the constitution. were created equal
and had inallenable rights as Ameri-
can citisens. He said the negroes
must fitht for America. They were
not bitter people who would revenge
themselves for the wrongs they had
suffersd. but they could and would 20
anywhere. at any time on less
than any other soldiers required. He
believed that the negroes would get
along better after the war because
they gave their blood for the cause
OF Ameyica. = 2
M. J. Frederick. Esq. said that the
imputation that negroes were dis.
loyal was an insult upon them by
their enemies, He referred to the fact
that now. there were two monuments
erected to negroes for loyalty and
he said that after this war there
would he more Of them. = +
The Rev. A. ]. Andrews said the
black man. had always been loyal to
the flag and was willing now TO stand
shoulder to shoulder in its defense.
The negroes knew no other flag than
"Old Glory" All he wanted was a
mans chance and ne would give his
last drop OF blood to defend 1t from
its enemies.
DR.. c. w. Maxwell said the stars
and Stripes was the flag that had
given them their liberty and. although
the negro had not always been justly
treated. this was no time to pay of
Old scores. He said that as the wO-
men In England at the beginning Of
the war had stopped their militant
fight for the ballot. so the negroes
would forget all internal troubles for
the time and rally around the flag.
The negro was not the only race that
had been mistreated. Other races In
Europe had been trodden upon be-
fore the war, which had come as a
blessing to them. for 1t had freed
them from shackies. SO would the
loyal negro reap blessings from the
war. .... "
TALK Of treason among the negroes
was idle talk" Dr.. Foster of the Pres
byterian church stated. The negroes
had always besn true to the Stars and
Stripes and would never swerve from