thy of all esteem, and of the confidence of all with whom he has had to do. I add my hope to his that his life story

will bring the help which he and his work richly deserved.

A. F. BEARD.

Albany, Ga., is a central town of the country where the Negroes greatly outnumber the white people. It is a great cotton section, and the Negro people are very necessary factors in cotton growing.

We have just received a copy of the Albany Herald, a thoroughly Southern paper in all respects. It gives a very illuminating statement of Southern conditions. We quote:

"As result of a conference held here yesterday afternoon between leading members of the white and colored races, Albany will inaugurate a campaign to encourage colored laborers to stay on the farms of Southwest Georgia, where they were raised and have lived, and where they are wanted and needed.

The meeting was in the nature of an exchange of confidences between the members of the two races, and if the plans discussed are carried out, they are bound to result in a better understanding between the races and in a betterment of conditions surrounding the average Negro la

borer.

The President of the Chamber of Commerce called the meeting to order, and explained the purpose of the meeting, and certain Negro leaders were called upon to express their views.

Charlie Macarthy was called, and stated that the majority going from the neighboring counties are leaving because they feel that their lives are not safe. They live in fear at all times. Some of the Negroes feel that the better element of the white

people have lost control of the lawless element, and they went to go out while there is still life left in their bodies. He knew one Negro who made $500.00 this year who lived near the scene of a recent

lynching. He left because he said he and his family could not rest at night for fear of a mob.

Satterwhite stated that there was great unrest among the Negroes. He talked to one who sold his place for abotu one-third of its value, and left because he and his family could not sleep at night for fear of a mob. He said if the better class of white people would assure the Negroes protection it would stop the exodus to an extent."

Others spoke on the same lines, and the Herald continues: "It was the sense of the meeting that Albany go on record as standing behind the Negroes as long as they are in the right, and that they will be assured protection of life and property so long as they do not join the lawless element. The leading white and colored people in these counties will be asked to join in the movement to assure the Negro protection and to make him understand that the white people want him to stay here, and that they need him.

The editorial comment upon this conference is in part, as follows:

"A movement intended to reassure the colored people of this section-to make them understand that they are still wanted, and that they will, as long as they conduct them

solves properly, have the friendship and support of the best classes of white citizens-was launched in Albany yesterday. Other communities are to be urged to take similar action.

Good Negro Citizens Are Entitled to Protection and Co-operation From White Citizens.

This big fact stands forth out of the present widespread unrest among the Negroes of this section. It is a fact that cannot be disposed of by ignoring it. Do the thoughtful white people of this section realize why such large numbers of Negroes (for in the aggregate the number is large) are willing to leave the farms on which they have led contented lives, had enough to eat and wear and peaceful if humble homes in which to dwell?

The truth of the matter was brought out very' clearly yesterday afternoon at a conference in the of fice of the Albany Chamber of Commerce between representative white citizens of Albany and broad-minded negroes who represent the best citizenship as well as the highest intelligence of their race in this section.

What developed at that conference was not surprising to the white men present. It may or may not be surprising to some others.

The Plain Truth of This Exodus of Negroes From Southwest Georgia is Simply This: These People Are Afraid to Remain!

They are willing to believe that they are going to be driven out of the state, and that those who refuse to go will be dealt with as criminals, simply because so many of their number have been put to death without due process of law, because

they feel that they have been the victims of unfair discrimination, and because no white man has ever been punished in Georgia for helping to lynch a negro.

There have been lynchings that were to some extent defensible, but there have been scores of lynchings in Georgia-some of recent occurrence in this part of the statethat were wholly indefensible.

Leaders of the negro race are using their influence to induce their people to remain where they are. They believe that the negro's best opportunity is in the South.

But they do not attempt to conceal the fact that lawless outbreaks that have gone unrebuked by the law have brought negroes living in many counties in this part of the state to a condition of dread that is pathetic.

A negro farmer who had sold his little place for less than half its value and was on a train bound for New Jersey a few days ago made this statement to a negro leader who made the trip as far as Atlanta in the same coach, for the purpose of ascertaining if possible the state of mind of those who are leaving the state in such numbers: "I didn't want to go," the negro farmer said, "but my wife and daughter simply made me sell out and leave. They couldn't sleep at night. I couldn't either. If an automobile stopped near our house at night, or if somebody hailed at the front gate, my little girl would begin to cry and want to know if the white men were going to kill us. That's why I'm going to New Jersey, and why so many others are going."

That is the point of view of hun

dreds who have gone and hundreds of others who are planning to go.

Southwest Georgia is reaping the fruits of the unrebuked lawlessness of a class of white men who are not representative of the best white citizenship.

It is for the white citizens of Southwest Georgia to assure the negro that he will be protected and fairly treated.

And then it will be for the white citizens of the section to make the assurance good.

The fruits of lawlessness are ALWAYS bitter.

The truth is coming home in a way few of us anticipated, and it is time for the best white citizens to rise up and see that the law is not crucified.

All that the negroes need to make them satisfied to remain where they are is to be assured that they will be protected.

That protection must come from the best class of white citizens.

Will it be given?

The Herald believes it will.

In view of the lynching habit in the South many University professors and educators nearly a year ago made a strong appeal-under their own namesin behalf of a public opinion that would put an end to this murderous business. This appeal was published at the time in the American Missionary with our grateful appreciation.

This is now followed by a second open letter a most christian endeavor-from the same "University Commission ΟΠ Southern Race Questions" to the College

Men of the South as follows:

In its first open letter to college men of the South, issued at the beginning of the present year, the University Commission urged them to unite their efforts with those of the press, the pulpit, the bar, the officers of the law, and all other agencies laboring for the elimination of the monster evil of mob violence. These agencies have labored diligently and with substantial results as is indicated by the decrease of the average annual number of lynchings from 171 for the decade 18861895 to 70 for the decade 1906-1915.

Nevertheless the Commission wishes to reiterate its appeal with renewed emphasis, knowing that the eradication of so virulent a social disease as the lynching mania can be effected only by the prolonged and vigorous efforts of sane and patriotic citi

zens.

In this letter the Commission wishes to direct the attention of the college men to the educational aspect of the race question, inasmuch as the solution of all human problems ultimately rests upon rightly-directed education, in its last analysis education simply means bringing forth all the native capacities of the individual for the benefit both of himself and of society. It is axiomatic that a developed plant, animal or man is far more valuable to society than the undeveloped. It is likewise obvious that ignorance is the most fruitful source of human ills. Furthermore it is as true in a social as in a physical sense that a chain is no stronger than its weakest link. The

good results thus far obtained, as shown by the Negro's progress within recent years, prompt the Cominission to urge the extension of his educational opportunities.

The inadequate provision for the education of the Negro is more than an injustice to him; it is an injury to the white man. The South cannot realize its destiny if one-third of its population is undeveloped and inefficient. For our common welfare we must strive to cure disease wherever we find it, strengthen whatever is weak, and develop all that is undeveloped. The initial steps for increasing the efficiency and useful ness of the Negro race must necessarily be taken in the schoolroom. There can be no denying that more and better schools with bettertrained and better-paid teachers, more adequate supervision and longer terms are needed for the blacks as well as the whites. The Negro schools are, of course, parts of the school systems of their respective States, and as such share in the progress and prosperity of their State systems. Our appeal is for a

larger share for the Negro, on the ground of the common welfare and common justice. He is the weakest link in our civilization and our welfare is indissolubly bound up with his.

Many means are open to the college men of the South for arousing greater public interest in this matter and for promoting a more vigorous public effort to this end. A right attitude in this as in all other important public questions is a coudition precedent to success. For this reason the Commission addresses to Southern college men this special appeal.

We rejoice in this second appeal by Southern educators to the College Men of the South. In the words of the Outlook we rejoice in the clear vision and splendid courage of those who are seeking to lead the way into a new order and bespeak for them the encouragement and help of all true citizens throughout the country. It is the business of every true American citizen to speak out frankly and fearlessly against the menacing evil which is perpetuating a government not by the law of God or man but by the hateful murderous passion of the mob.

duced bills authorizing the Secretary of War to deliver to each of the cities of Marianna, Paragoud, Forrest City, Waynne and Helena, Arkansas, two condemned bronze or brass cannon "with their carriages and suitable outfit of cannon balls."

The only way to insure the Negro against injustice is to remove the most effective defence of injustice, discriminatory disfranchisement. The Negro does not object to impartial disfranchisement, incident upon a failure to meet prescribed and at

tainable qualifications; the white man may prescribe a college education, if he deem it reasonable and make it impartial. Besides, the white population outnumbers the Negro population ten to one, and according to the census it is outgrowing the Negro population by immigration and natural increase; so that the statesman does not have to look out for "white supremacy," the history of three hundred years has already looked out for that. What the statesman does need to look out for is justice to the Negro and the avoidance of national moral degeneration because of injustice to the Negro. Impartial suffrage cannot mean “black supremacy" in America, but would mean healthier selfgovernment by giving the Negro here and there a better chance to speak for himself and locally to defend his nearest and dearest inter

ests.

-S. Western Christian Advocate.

con

Fellow citizens who are guaranteed the franchise by the stitution of the United States are disfranchised by the several states, may find it of interest to recall the original signification of the "franchise" and the transmigration of thought in its present use. We know that France owes its name to the Teuton Franks who conquered Gaul, and remaining in the land gave their name to the native Celts. These two races united, and the Celts when they came under common laws and liberties were "en-franchised." It is curious just now when this atrocious war of the Teutons is

raging against the Franks of today,

to observe that the franchise which now means a citizen's privilege as a free man had its birth in a racial conquest which robbed a people of their race, their freedom and their

name.

Mrs. Annie Baker Riggs, widow of Rev. Dr. Steven R. Riggs, and for forty years a resident of Beloit, Wisconsin, died September 24th at the advanced age of eighty-one years. Previous to her marriage to Dr. Riggs she was for five years a missionary among the Dakotas and for five years was engaged in missionary work among the colored people at Marion and Montgomery, Alabama. Very few of the pioneers of these early days are left. May the memories of their lives and achievements stimulate the younger generation to a like devotion to the work still to be done.

Miss Jane Hardy died at her home in Shelburne Centre, New York, October 6th, at the age of seventy-eight years and eight months. When the Civil War was over she heard the call for teachers of the Negro people and went to Savannah to teach under the American Missionary Association and continued in the work at different stations for eighteen years until her health gave out. She was a woman of faith and prayer, and her memory will be cherished by those who recall her work and by all who knew her.