Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1924-01-05
ATTORNEY EENISOME
III ENANC|PAT|ON
DAY ADDRESS

Cy an llllulSuoc u loMu @S WV
Baptist Church Lawyer j. Thomas
New some. of Newport news, virginia
prcughr a cheermg me sage on Enlaii'
:..patlon Day to thUse VINO were lorl"
nate enough to hear him.
amuns ctner tI.ngs, the speaker
said that On the First OF January Ioi
,he last twenty-five years he had DeSA
privileged to speak somewhere III 'h'
South on occa. ions Similar to the on
that brought him to Franklin and tna'
during all of that time, he had never
suoken under more favorable prospects
.or the future OF the Negro peopl
than this year of grace, 1924.
The sneaker reviewed at some lengIn
tits prog. ess CT the Negro people, calf
ing purrlc cular attention to the great
Jeduct on in the percentage Oh Hitter
;,cy among them. and c.ted rlgures
showing what tremendous progress
they have made in the acquisition OF
property since Emancipation. He spoke
of the great men that the race has
produced, but did not fail tn point ou!
manv Of the shortcomings tEat still
afflict a large mass of the Negro
people.
Among the many things for whlc"
the Negro should rejoice Oh this Email
cipation Day he declared was the
iact that there is a sheady decrease i?
mob violence and lynch law through
cut the country, showing not onl.
that the Negro himself is giving less
occasion to provoke this assault upon
the majesty of the law, but that there
is also growing public opinion
against all forms CT lawlessness, whe.h
er committed by the individual or the
mcb.
He spoke particularly Of the courts
OF justice. saying that while there wer-
instances of prejudice manifested in
the operation IF some of the courts
here and there, that it must be con-
fessed that the higher courts of the
various Southern States have demon
strated beyond question their determi
nation to see to i that the Negro Ii
dealt with fairly and justly in most
matters coming before them for re-
view.
AT this point. the speaker called al
tentlon to several cases coming before
the Supreme CoLrt Of the State 0,
Virginia in which Negro men had been
given decisions where the interests OF
white men were involved, and he de-
clared that it WIS really encouraging
TO the young Negro of character ard
worth to know that his rights will b.
protected whenever he is properly BE-
fore our higher tribunals. Continuing
Virginia he said that the Old Domin-
ion has been known throughout it's his
tory, with rare exceptions. for tue
broad mindedness nd big-heartednes
of the governors and that the present
Governor of the State is as fine az
example of God-fearing executive as
is to be found anywhere In the coul-
try.
He spoke of one case in particular
that lad come under his observation
where Negro had been condemned @
death for an assault upon a woman
The governor went into thi, case VITA
great care, and although the time h2l
passed for a review of it by the ST..
preme Court, he nevertheless submit
ed the matter to members of the Su-
preme Court, and finally commuted
the death penalty to life imprison.
ment. These evidences, he said, Of
Good Will as shown by those in au-
thority in the STATE. should lead us to
nope that race relationship should
grow better and better until the Ne
gro shall come into all the rights and
privileges to which he is entitled as
citizen.
Touching upon the exodus Of the Ne
did not concur, altogether in the opir
ION expressed by many that the Negro
was leaving the South solely because
of unjust treatment and lack of educa-
tional facilities for his children, for
although those were factors which
made him willing and anxious to go t.
place where he might better those
conditions his idea was that the main
reason for his going was the openins.
lp Of fields of labor hitherto closed to
him at better wages than the farmers
of the South are able to pay. And the
speaker here declared that every aole-
hod'ed law-abidirg Negro man or wo-
y, went to the markets of labor
and used his Drawn and brain intelli-
gently and faithfully as missionary
king it poss ible for better times for
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