Part 2

"'It is not my intention,' said Mr. Arthur, 'to impose upon this convention any dogma upon the drink question; but I cannot refrain in honesty to my own convictions from deploring the sad havoc that intemperance is making in the ranks of our fellow men. So great is this evil that no man or woman who is striving to improve his fellows can help taking it into account. It is, indeed, an important factor for evil in our midst. Not only from the physical and moral standpoint is it working mischief, but from the standpoint of labor. The man who has so little self-control that he cannot resist the temptation to degrade himself is always in danger of bringing disgrace upon his brethren. He has lost his self-respect and, to some extent, his independence, thus making an easier victim to the greed of a selfish employer. I would therefore urge upon you the necessity of abstaining from everything that will in the slightest degree impair your usefulness as citizens or your efficiency as locomotive engineers.'"

IX. The Negro and the Labor Question.

Competency is a prerequisite to all occupations. I have alluded to this above, but I desire to treat it more at length here, and especially in its relation to the Negro of the South.

In consequence of former conditions, incompetency has been the normal standard of both employer and employe. The conditions being changed, and new relations existing between these two classes in the South, the standard must be changed--must be raised. I shall put aside sentimentalism, and view the subject in its true light.

What is the "Negro Labor Problem" of the future?

Simply the ability on the part of the Negro to remain in the market as a laborer, and the ability of the Southern white man to meet the labor complications of the future, which will be developed in the necessity for better skilled labor, and the desire of the white man to get this superior labor at the old prices.

Leaving competency and skill out of the question, it will be readily admitted that the Negro is the most desirable of all races as a laborer. He is kind, forgiving, and easily understood and managed. He is willing to work and at almost any price. This is shown in the fact that there is a larger per cent. of bread winners in the Southern States than any other section, except in the far West and East. But he is ignorant, improvident and unskilled; and it is to be regretted that his progress is slow in the cultivation of skill in the industries, but there are fruitful and encouraging signs in this direction.

There are two causes which tend to demand a higher standard of labor qualification in the South:

1. The more free intermixture of northern and southern people--thereby bringing the southern people in contact with the superior white labor of the North.

2. The immigration of northern people who have been accustomed to cultivated, free labor.

We do not pretend to hint that the Negro laborer will not improve, but will he do so sufficiently and rapidly enough to meet the heavy demand?

He must be able to compete with the skilled white labor, ready to crowd the South, or he must go to the rear. This is a stern fact, becoming more and more patent daily.

I am not speaking only of the Negro as a domestic servant, carpenter, brick-mason, and other occupations of the cities, but of him as a farmer. Sentimentality, which has had much to do with holding the Negro and white man together in their relation of employer and employe, is fast giving way to business principles which are to govern the future South. If my forty acres can be made to produce more by A's method of farming than by B's, A is a more scientific, skilled and desirable tenant, so B must stand aside. This is the "Negro problem", in its relation to labor, in a nut shell.

I wish I could impress you with the importance and the opportunity of monopolizing the cotton production of the South. I wish I could arouse every Negro in the South to seize this opportunity which may pass away in the next decade. Scientifically cultivated, there is money in cotton. For two hundred years it was the South's only source of income. It now brings to the South $300,000,000 per annum.

The white people of the South, if they were inclined, are as illy prepared to part from the Negro as a laborer, as the Negro is to seek service elsewhere. A breaking of the present relations and the introduction of white servants, would necessitate a change of the social system of the South, which southern people hold as sacred as life. So, while there are some things which seem to demand an exchange of labor, there are certain other things which appear to be able to hold haste in check. But, how will the Negro remain in the market? How will he keep himself from being elbowed from the brick walls, the forge, the bench, the embankment, the kitchen, the dray, and other places? This brings me, in answering these questions, to the consideration of

X. The Laborer's Education and Home.

1. EDUCATION.--An old Spartan King was asked by an anxious father what he should teach his son. The king replied: "Teach him those things which he will practice when he becomes a man." This is the correct principle of education. A father should study the abilities and capacities of his children, and encourage them to follow the inclinations of their talents. A boy who has a mind for mechanics, or mathematics, or agriculture, cannot be made a doctor. Money spent on his medical education is money misspent.

I have shown above that only about one in every two hundred colored persons are engaged in the law, medicine, clergy, and other professional and literary pursuits. I do not pretend to question the Negro's ability to attain the acme in these vocations. I concede it and verily believe it. But I am dealing in cold facts, not speculation nor sentimentality. Again, I do not doubt that with the growth of population, the increase in learning and property among the Negroes, there will be a corresponding increase, yes, larger increase in the number engaged in the professions, and in the trades and personal service--as merchants, clerks, etc., etc. As shown above, only five in every two hundred of the whole population engaged in occupations, in the United States and Territories, are in the six professions mentioned. Of the Negro race, only about ½ of one per cent., or one in every two hundred, are so engaged.

The bread winners, or working population, are only 39½ per cent. of the whole population of the country, and are distributed as follows:

Agriculture 7,670,493 Professional and personal service 4,074,238 Trade and transportation 1,810,256 Manufacturing, mechanical and mining industries 3,837,112 ---------- 17,392,099

It is easily seen that nearly one-half of our working population must be educated for agriculture; not quite one fourth for professional and personal service; about one-eighth for trade and transportation, and a few more than one-fourth for manufacturing, mechanical and mining pursuits. There are certain fundamental principles common to all education. After these are inculcated, the aim should be to develop the individual for his life work, or prepare him for that occupation which is to bring him bread.

Leaving the subject of early training, I now pass to the consideration of the importance of the intelligence of the laboring man. This is necessary for the protection of himself, his employer and the peace of society. It is much easier to understand and get along with educated men than ignorant ones. The laboring man should set aside a few cents to be invested in papers, books, &c., which give him information in relation to his work, his duties, and tend morally to benefit him. He should spend a few hours every week in trying to inform himself on various things. He should be a thinking man, and his food for thought should be of the most wholesome character, or he will cease to be a useful member of society and become a destructive element. There are certain little things in medicine, physics, chemistry, agriculture, law and other branches which he should know, and his knowledge would save him much pain and many dollars. I commend the following article, taken from a paper called _Builder and Woodworker_:

"If the ordinary, every-day workman, engaged at his bench in the pursuit of his vocation, were aware of the enormous number of natural laws by which his every action is controlled, he would be surprised at their existence and desirous of learning about them. This desire would be natural and most praiseworthy, yet the fear of study stems to prevent those who would like to gain this knowledge from simply reading, as one would a story, the interesting things described in books on physics--facts far more valuable than fiction, and so clearly demonstrated that a mere tyro can understand and experiment from description, thus proving how much can be learned even from a rapid perusal.

"Why should a woodworking mechanic study the science? The reasons why he should do so are numerous and important, and in explaining some of them we shall endeavor, as far as possible, to show its practical application and the part it plays in his individual efforts, though, at the same time, it must not be forgotten that all the movements on this earth of ours depend on and are controlled, according to the principles of natural philosophy.

"Let us consider for a moment its bearing on a man standing at a bench in the act of pushing forward a jack plane. What first of all retains his body on the floor on which he stands? The force of gravitation, which as described retains the earth particles together, and all bodies animate or inanimate on its surface, by drawing them to its center, this influence being exercised on the building in which he labors, retaining its constituents in their positions. It also acts on his person to such an extent that were he devoid of the power of movement, he would be as immovably fixed as the inanimate wood he stands upon. This force, likewise, keeps his stuff on his bench and the plane on his work, and prevents the flying off at a tangent which would occur with all terrestrial bodies were the attraction to cease for a moment. How simple is the fact when demonstrated!

"Avoiding the consideration of the different attractions, we will glance at the mechanical means he goes through in planing. Standing with his two feet together, would it be possible for him to lift a shaving? It would not, because the resisting force generated by the friction of the wedge-shaped iron in entering the woody fibers would be so great that this body, being unable to resist it, would be pushed outside the perpendicular line of gravity, and fall. To overcome this resistance he increases his base, and lowering the center of gravity of the body, leans forward and throws his weight on his left leg, with his right forming, as it were, a brace.

"Now he can exert his powers effectually, for having overcome unvarying natural forces by the use of natural laws.

"His arms, as he moves them forward or draws them back again, are nothing more than a splendid system of compound levers, and the tool employed is on a cubical prism, with an angular opening into which a wedge of steel is inserted and fastened, with its point projecting below the sole or lower face. This wedge is forced forward by lateral pressure, and entering the wood gives out a shaving or strip equal in proportion to the projection.

"How many of us are there who know that the edges of our plane iron and chisels, saw teeth, in fine our principal tools, are modifications of a simple wedge, and fewer still who know its power or how to increase its utility in practice.

"To us who handle it daily, the screw, or as it is in reality a revolving wedge, is a mystery and an unknown thing, though we are familiar with its usefulness; yet, while in the act of propelling a screw with a screw-driver, a multitude of forces and machines are employed, which are grand in their simplicity and worthy of study.

"That which teaches why a plumb bob hangs quiescent at the extremity of a string, and why a level is determined by the centering of an alcoholic bubble in a tube, and other valuable mechanical facts, should not be passed over by him whose philosophy is to devote his life to improving the means by which the comfort and happiness of human nature are gained. Independent even of this essential reason, it is imperative that we make ourselves acquainted with the component parts and properties of materials, in order to train the mind into a line of thought tending to invention and the bringing forth of valuable ideas, which only those familiar with this science can essay."

HOME.--Home is the little harbor into which we anchor our vessels after a day's battle with the elements on the ocean of life; it is a port of supply into which we steer our bark to prepare for running a few more knots amid pirates and breakers; it is the haven where our dear ones should be secure from the storms of adversity, and where peace, virtue and happiness reign. Of all places, home should be the dearest to us. There the faithful wife, the partner of our joy and sorrow, our sunshine and storm, our prosperity and adversity, and our merry children greet us as we return weary and worn with the toils of the day and heart-sore of the jeers and slights of men. In that home let the Word of God be the supreme law. In that home let all be united for truth and virtue; and the winds may blow, the rains fall, and the floods descend, but it will stand unharmed. A few substantial articles of furniture, a few small pictures on the wall, a floor neat and clean, the rays of the king of day streaming in cheer through a glass window or two, a yard clean and in order, a flower or a shrub, the fence and front of the little cottage with a coat of new paint, costing only about one dollar because it was spread on by the son or the father at extra time, and you have a home to be envied by a king, whether you own it, or rent it.

Keep in mind that the school room and pulpit combined cannot elevate people above their homes. As their homes are, they will be. As long as father and mother, son and daughter sleep in the same room, often occupying the same bed, we cannot make much progress in virtue. The off-spring is born with corrupt mentality. Make partitions if they must be constructed of old newspapers. By all means give privacy to your daughters, if you wish them to be virtuous and modest.

Lift the curtain, and let me show you the home of an individual who has lost the comeliness of manhood--let me show you the hovel this brute disgraces. Look! It is eight o'clock in the evening. The wife in her old torn and soiled dress, is still faithfully engaged at the wash-tub. An old broken lamp, smoking and sputtering, gives a pale and ghastly light. The chunks of wood in the fire place are shoved together, and four or five half clad, half starved little children are quarrelling and wallowing in the sand, whence the bricks long since have been taken. There is not a whole knife, or fork, or spoon, or plate, or dish, or cup, or glass--not an article of furniture which is not scarred and broken. At nine, that faithful wife, who is wearing out her life with that miserable brute, has suspended her work, made the last bit of meal into a hoe cake and divided it among those wretched little creatures, and packed them away among some filthy and torn quilts on a dirty straw mattress. She then returns to finish her labors. At eleven, the thing called a man and husband and father enters. He is just from the dram shop or the house of prostitution, where he has spent his week's earnings with others of that ilk. He has no "Good evening," no kind word for that faithful wife. He growls "Nothing here to eat?" As that poor, weak, abused woman tremblingly stammers out an excuse, with fiendish look and clenched fist he rushes upon her! Down let the curtain drop! For angels and gods could not now look upon what follows without tears of sympathy and anger intermingled! That man may be a church member! He is certainly a member of some benevolent or labor society, and may stand high in its councils. Is he a fit associate for a true man? Should he not be hurled from your midst as an unworthy companion? Here is work for the laboring man, and all men! Let us elevate our home life, and make our wives and children happier.

The Germans are noted for their attractive homes. By comforts, sports, songs, music, books, etc., they throw a charm into their homes which inspires, cheers and elevates all who come within their influences. May every laboring man in America build for himself such a home, whether he lives in the city cottage or in the country cabin.

XI. Buy a Home.

There are in the United States 9,945,916 families, of 5.04 persons to the family. There are only 8,955,812 dwellings, with 5.06 persons to the dwelling. It will be seen that there are 990,104 families, or five million people, without dwellings, either owned or rented--no where to rest their heads. Is this the result of over population? It is not. It will be centuries before our country will reach that stage. It is the result of shiftlessness and the inertia of population. If lands are high in the cities and older states, they may be had upon your own terms in the broad, open West. There are also hundreds of thousands of acres for homestead entry in the southern states. It is true that much of it is mountain land, but it will be gold to the man who will bear the privations of justifying his claim to it. There are also corporations with large means, as well as individuals, in nearly all of our cities who are willing to sell to thrifty persons lots or farms on reasonable terms. Now is the golden opportunity. The working men of the South will never have such an opportunity again to get homes. With the increase of population by birth and influx, lands must rise in demand and price. I have heard of one legitimate objection to selling lands to colored persons. It is said that they buy on mortgage transfer, soon become discouraged, allow ruin and dilapidation to follow, and then surrender the place in worse condition than delivered to them. This objection can easily be overcome by taking my pattern for the happy home. If this is done, the vendor would hardly foreclose a mortgage should you get much behind in your payments, as the property would be constantly increasing in value.

XII. The Newspapers and the Negro.

There is general complaint among the colored people that we do not get newspaper notices only of our misdeeds. This is not true. The best papers, North and South, publish whatever information they can get worthy of commendation. We are too sensitive on this point. My experience and observation are that the press is well disposed toward the Negro. It is true there are many papers of small reputation full of prejudice, or surrounded by a narrow-minded constituency, that do not wish the Negro well, but they are a weak minority. The following taken from the Huntsville (Ala.) _Daily Mercury_ of recent date, sufficiently proves my position.

"The workmen employed on the Baker & Helm block on the corner of Washington and Clinton Sts., are workmen right, and deserve a word of kind praise for the 'big licks' they have accomplished in the erection of this building.

"We are told that every brick layer on the work is a colored man, and we do not hesitate to say that they have shown up wonderfully well, and performed good, honest labor quickly done. The rafters for the roof are now being placed in position, and once the roof is on, the finishing strokes will be given with refreshing precision. All honor to the colored mechanics, they are entitled to much praise, and we shall see that they get all they deserve, and which they are justly entitled to."

Also, M. Quad, the correspondent of the _Detroit Free Press_, writing from Eufaula, Alabama, says of the colored people there:

"Come down here and I will show you hundreds of acres of the best lands which are owned by the black men. I can show you from ten to twelve colored men who have more acres, better buildings, and more cash than any like number of white farmers in some of our Michigan counties. The colored school is fully equal to the white one, and the people speak of this fact with pride. There was a time when the streets of Eufaula were crowded with vagrant blacks, none of whom had the ambition to earn a shilling more than would give him food and clothes. The vagrant laws were enforced, and the change was astonishing. There is not an idler in the place. There is not a black man in or around the town who isn't given the fairest kind of a show to go ahead. While the white man will always enforce respect, he will bear and assist and condone. Alabama is to-day doing more for the flesh and blood it once cracked the slave whip over than Michigan is doing for its unlettered and vicious white population. The black man of the south is improving every year, and no one will concede this quicker nor feel prouder over the fact than the southern whites. There need be no sympathy wasted on the black man of Alabama. He is doing for himself in education and finance, far better than some of the white population of the north."

Possess merit and that will tell whether you get into the papers or not.

The means of obtaining the kinds of notices we wish published in the white papers, are quite meagre. The court records are the only information accessible to them. Very few of us have any business or association with the white press. We never think of letting them know of our transactions, hence how can they receive notice? This complaint is without justification and should cease Stand up for the colored press, and it will prove ample for us in all things.

XIII. A Plain Question for Southern Consideration.