The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1918-02-09
DOUGLASS CONTEMPORARIES.
BY Charles A. Starks.


some concrete service rendered in
their human effort or experience in
the past, to live and teach long after
death; after that passage ito the si-
lent continents of Eeternity."
We have a high respect for the life
of Fred Douglass, and great that he is.
His bigness grows with the accumu-
lating years. We are especially i'm.
pressed with this contemporariness
with the times now existing and in
the absence of his peculiar personal
ity we leap eagerly to his advocacy
of the principles of liberty and jus.
tice, which fortunately have been pre-.
served in his excellent orations and
writings. Then, if we cannot hear
Douglass thunder from some rostrum
in his illustrious style, we, at least,
can read his life and works and the
message of truth he left for all time
! Such a message, brimful of power and
philosophy, truth and right apprehen-
sion.
Some thing that it was the troublous
times that merely produced the great
orator. This is true only in a sense,
but it was an original great genius
that showed to the nineteenth century
what an individual could do by way of
appreciating the advantages of civili-
zation though under the "flintiest of
difficulties" The finisher and as
! tute statesman was certainly not the
product of slavery, but rather the
outcropping of that very talent end
born power to rise above every unto
ward circumstance into the final sun
light of honored and recognized
achievement. To the intelligent la
bors of this man W.T. owe much and
might say with appropriateness that
we are indebted to him for the
liberty we enjoy today"
Truth has this distinction, it is i'm
in1utable. Policies may change, Truth
never. The fundamental is the Ex-
ternal, reaching out the same exact
/ ing call to every age, every genera
tion. Therefore, whatever was the
lot of Douglass to utter of the Truth,
it must live, it cannot die. In the fol-
lowing we will point out a few of the
| Truths we find in Mr.. Douglass
Works The Pro-Slavery Disciplines
sought Bible references to prove their
Institution was of "Sodly Origin"
Douglass said: "That which is inhu-
man, cannot be Divine" True. And
we of today should be careful in at
tributing to God the usage of Instru-
/ nf LNxy;I fnr
poses. Even now, we ask "Divine
Aid" in inhuman enterprises. Doug
lass, knowing the slow progress of
Truth and the vast opposition its
ever-surging campaign meets with,
but realizing it's positive victory, was
lead to observe:-One and Sod is a
Majority" This is considered such a
fundamental Truth that many Whites
refuse to ascribe the saying to it's
real Author, for this reason: l am re-
peating a little incident that happen
ed about two years ago and which |
have previously commented upon. The
Kaiser accredited a Scotch Historian
with the Origin of the above saying,
This was printed in the Edenburg
Review, in England. The Kansas City
| Star reprinted the Article and cor
reeted it's English contemporarily,
saying that it was not a Scotch His
torian who was the Originator of the
saying in question, but that we owe
the Honor to an American Statesman
by the name of Stephen A. Douglass,
Your humble servant was painfully
surprised to read this and hastened
| to write our beloved Star, informing it
that it was not the Douglass they
mentioned who was the Originator of
the saying: "One and God is a Ma
Frederick Douglass, Negro Orator,
Abolitionist and Statesman. l sent
convincing data and proof to sub
stantiate the claim beyond all doubt.
| remember that my letter was I'M
usually polite and even suppliant-like.
But did they publish it? No, l don't
think so. That was evidently too
much Honor for a Negro. Notice: If
you want to get an article in the Star
about Negroes, be sure not to capt.
alize the name, use the small IN and
refer to them as "Samboes" like its
own "Staff Correspondent" did two
Sundays ago.
Continuing, Douglass could say:
Truth is proper and Beautiful at all
times and all places" Certainly, no
man demonstrated this better than
himself, with more fidelity, even We
hemence. In another place we find
Douglass pointing to this: Good
ness is the same whether found in
side or outside of the church and to
be an "infidel" no more proves man