The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1919-04-25
RESOLUTIONS PASSED BY
THE NEGRO CONVENTION
Ocala, Fla, April "a, 1919

The NEGRO CONNE NEN1ION
Ocala, Fla, April "a, 1919.
To the president, members and del
egates of the Negro Uplist Associa-
ton: We your humble committee on
resolutions, beg leave to submit to
your sober, prayerful judgment the
following items, to-wit:
We want to assure you that in the
preparation of these subjects for your
consideration, we have weighed and
viewed these divers matters from eve
ry angle of public thought.
Item One
A memorial to the governor and
legislature of the state of Florida:
The Public School System: In this
statewide convention of the Negro
Uplift Association of the state of
Florida, the delegates from the var
ious counties request US to bring to
your attention that the public school
term is positively too short in that
hundreds and thousands of children
of school age have only two, three or
four months of school operation,
which is next to no school term at all.
This matter. we believe, should and
could be remedied by proper state
legislation for we verify believe that
the state owes to every boy and girl
the rudiments of an elementary edu-
cation.
Item Two
The State Reform School: Condi-
tions have been shown at this conven-
ton that one of the crying needs Of
the reform school is the employment
of a colored superintendent and
guards as well as teachers and that
a department be established and
maintained for negro girls and wom-
en-.
Item Three
Common Carriers: We request
that the law regulating common car
rlers be strictly enforced to the ex-
tent that the person paying a first
class fare shall receive first class ac-
commodation. We call your attention
to the very unsanitary and uncom-
Portable condition of the waiting
rooms along the railroad lines in the
state-lack of lights, absence of lava
tories and other unsanitary condi-
tions are called to your attention.
The conduct of the train crews by
smoking in the colored coaches, ETC.,
is especially cited as one of our COM
plants These things mentioned OBJ
tain along the short lines in the
state.
Item Four
Disregard of Law: We also MEM
oralize his excellency, the governor,
and the president of the senate, the
speaker of the assembly and the MEM
bers of the legislature that they will
see to the enacting and enforcement
of such laws as will safeguard and
make secure the life of prisoners in
their custody, as officers of the law,
to the end that our great state may
not be brought in disrepute by the
lawless who execute summary pun
ishment on those accused of crime.
We ask special consideration of the
matter in the following statement:
To the whole people of Florida, we
address the following statement and
request: We, the people of Florida,
together with the other states Of our
common country, have gone through,
t. a successful conclusion, the world
wide war; we. the people of Florida,
have not been derelict in or toward
any duty or service that confronted
Us; we have responded to every call
made upon US; we have given time,
money and service and we feel and
know that we ought to have done so;
the whole citizenry of Florida, men
and women, black and white, have
rendered patriotic, unstinted service,
whether it has been conservation,
money or yielding up of life; we are
still willing and anxious to do what
ever is required for the exemplifica-
tion of democracy. Since these things
are true, and they are true, we, the
negro citizens Of the Palmetto State,
respectfully ask: "Should not democ-
racy be exenplified in our own