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" J as -" - . j ' ' " J - v HEW. TO THE LINE. Vol. X CHICAGO, ATJGrTJST 12, lOOS. No. 43 Caustic A 4nh V &T WT-f tto .& d A -. i.u oa BookerT. Washington's Article on the "JR.eligpLous liie of the. Negro." The Broad Ax "with commendable enterprise recently Published an arti cle in rull written for the North Amer ican Review by Booker -T. Washing ion. Whatever the merit of articles written for magazines by colored men, such articles or as much of them as possible, should appear in colored papers of large circulation in order that persons who do not read the great monthly periodicals or who hap pen to overlook something of interest concerning the Negro, may keep them selves informed. , Mr. Washington's article taken as a whole was far from a happy one. He showed a startling poverty of ideas on a subect with which intelligent col ored men are most conversant ideas most wretchedly expressed. He simp ly rehashes the white man's idea of the Negro as expressed in the news papers, tells his inevitable Negro jokes, drags in Tuskegee and its do iiigs,' and bows away with a self satisfied smirk. A man of acute in telligence might read Mr. Washing ton's article over and over again until the reader knew every word of it by heart and yet he would not have the slighest idea of the religious life of the Negro. Prof .Washington begins by saying that it seemed to him that writers on the subject were too much disposed "to treat of it as something fixed and unchangeable." In the very next par agraph he says that when the Negro came to America he was a pagan. Now If the Idea entertained by the Whites, of the religious life of the Negro Is unchanged then the whites think the Negro a pagan Id religion still an assertion that few sane men would make In view of the fact that even Southerners boast as Air. Wash inton does that Slavery gave the Ne gro "'one great consolation, namely, the Christian religion and the hope and belief in a future life." And It would not be out of place to remark just here that Air. Washington bas ci late years become enamored of thtt beauties of religion. Most of us caa remember the time when he thought it highly original and witty to say that the Negro had too much re ligion; that he was getting Jesus and the white man was getting all the world. Yet it Is no small credit to the keen scent that Mr. Washington has to changing public sentiment and j ik i i !.... V at thld tlmf I uncheathes his sword to do battle to the death under Christian banners. This talk about the Negro's coming In contact with the Christian religion Is merely a sop to the descendants of thi men who with a cruetly un equalled in the worfd dragg&Tfcelpless men and women -from their homes and sold them Into a slavery worse than hell. I, for one, believe that the Negro would have been better off left alone to develop whatever there was in him than to have been- made the subject of white men's greed and Inst, Christian white men"at that through three centuries of Brutality. It Is too well known for comment that where-evt-r this same white man's Christian ity has come In contact with backward races it has destroyed and corrupted them, in America white Christians have so corrupted the Negro's blood that the race Is no longer a homoge neous one, but a race of many colors. As said above Mr. Washington nev er fails to drag .In his "nigger Joke." The whites hare become so accus tomed to hear hlxa make fun of his own people that ao article or 'speech from him would fee complete without a .stunt in low cosiedy. This squares with the -white asa's idea tkat the Negro is a Joke, wltfcoat a serloss thought; a light, brainless aalssal created to furalsi tun for W superi Refiew TTTn ,. w uson Comments i ors When the white man's vanity has been thus tickled he does nob mind writing a check to teach the Negro to work and to keep him in his place. Men who are but slightly acquainted with tne rules of logic know that you can prove nothing from a single ex ample; but In this article on the Negro's religion, Mr. Washington seeks to prove by the language of some old Negro in slavery days that colored people in some communities believe that immorality and Christian lty go hand in hand; or In other words that the profession of Chris tianity In no way shapes the Negro's conduct. Suppose this were true, even, would the Negro be any worse than his white Christian brother whom Mr. Washington worships? Of course one wrong does not jus tify another; nor would the fact alone that the white, dominant race falls far short of living up to Christian principles Justify the Negro in doing fha oottia thlnir Vof If fa 4llQt liora that Mr. Washington always leaves out the human equation in talking aouui uie nefcru. xie applies iu his poor black brother a standard of perfection, forgetting all the while that the great white man Is every where exhibiting the very weakness for which Negroes are being taken to task. Without going outside the question of religion to call at tention to the Alabamlan's vagaries In other fields I think It fair to say that what is to be gathered from his rather hazy article on the Negro's religion Is that religion does not shape the white man's conduct. Is the white man any nearer a Christian according to the principles laid down by Christ than the Negro? Has the white man forgiveness, or does he seek veogence at every turn? Has he humility, or is he not puffed up and intolerant! Does he aid the weak, or does he ride rough shod over them: stealing their rights form them, mur dering them, maiming, outraging thelr homes and refusing them JusUce in the courts? Letting alone the white man's wars of aggression, what of the corruption in every city, county and state oi America, not only In politics but In business of every kind? Could these things be If the white man- shaped his .nnrfnf. npoordlnc to Christian princi ples? And Is this the religious con duct that Mr. Washington asKS we Negro to emulate? Oh well he -may say I ask the Negro to follow true Christian principles, wny, i ass ,i. fho WPrrn with his limited op portunities be asked to do better than the whites with all those centuries of civilization that so dazzle Mr. wasn- Ington's eyes? m. ,fh nf the whole thing Is that the limelight of criticism Is turned on the Nergo and faults In him exag- .. htoh are left alone in other neooles and are regarded as defects peoples ami imperfect necessarily icau -o - HUman nature In an imperfect world. The wonder of it all Is that a Negro who has been advertised to the dig nity of leader Is willing for a modi cam of cheap notoriety to drag out ., m nn to a derisive public the weakness of his own people. What Mr. Washington ,- -Negroes' getting property is aU weU enogTas is also his talk about too enou&u " . however. and condition woum '-"-" zZ . . . , some slips that wui Z,Zo In the future. . daglrea t almost forgot one ? , -oii this Is that tne to call attenuuu - - deUgnt to awspapers north and "- w print any ntieraw- Bests c' . '.."iSiSiiSHBBBBIiSB 'T5sIK3hI BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. The great wizard of Tuikegee, who does r.ot claim to be a business man, but an educator, therefore hei is simply using the National Negro Business League, to further his personal asperatlons. the Negro. Following In the trail of Mr. Washington you find now acd again some ignoramus with his pict ure in the newspapers because he has had something to say funny or de-i trarflvft of the Necro. We have a number of such ninnies in Chicago. Unlike Mr. Washington they get no money for their efforts only some transient notoriety. Mr. Washington is careful to throw some sop to the A. M. E. and A. M. E. Zlon churches. They are too strong to be Ignored But how he reasons that money raised by them shows that less money has been spent for whisky and "gim cracks" would puzzle the most acute logician. Unless, indeed, Mr. Washington would have us be lieve that the money collected by the churches would surely have gone for .these vain things and for nothing else had it not been so collected. One can easly discover from a num ber of paragraphs In Mr. Washington's article why he said so little about the rp.il relicious life of the Negro. The wizard (to use a soubriquet invented wizaru uu ,,, 0,,i.,fnr!Rev. W.Sampson Brooks, the Hurtling was anxious to tell about Tuskegee. I Ptor cf St. Stephen. Church, was anxious l l No preacher in this city Is perform- That was on his mind, and Drone in on his thoughts, when perchance ho iS a greater work for thslr follow on his tnougnis, wu -Cerent ;ers than Rev. W. Sampson Brooks, the wtSUn.r.- -d wrdns and 0. to,- pas What Tuskegee nau u, , Stephens Church, Austiii ,Is,ous life of the Negro on .W . grejt P Re com. continent would be ,nte"f jo ( remodeling and enlarging It know. Its best wishers wl 11 . tardl , R Sonth?SfBS&NSS,amblJr with any church owned by NoSody-cin blame Mr. Washington for the Afro-Americans In Chicago. XMOUUUi u " i -RrnolfB saved SSOO over the . . . ..mm nr nis creauuu um, ..- .,irt he wise enough to take loving iuc warning from troublesome prattle of various other fathers about the partic ular brightness of tneir children. One would hardly like to say that Mr Washington used his opportunity of riving the public some valuable infor mIuon on the Negro's religious life, to advertise further his much overad vertlsed institution. At all rats, one can rejoice that the wizard did not drag in his Business League. Of course he forgot as usual that there were hundreds of other schools In the wuntry begun years ago on a Christian not a material basis. Dr. Washington always Presents a pathetic figure when he tries to.phno phlze. He is at Wshapples on ma terialistic subjects or when cracktag JT the Negro for divers on of white audiences. He should take the fdvlce he gives to . leave the field for which be.Is best S3. A sample of his philosophy wWch Is nothing more .than arrant commonplace, is as follows -"H to OT . Z Tvmwitions which hard- one OI Uio v vi la ' Mreaf and so present to the Negro people that tlve Into everything they do." I won der would he say that It enters Into buying gim cracks," giving dances, ex cursions and picnics, things that Mr. Washington as well as others has cos demned and deplored. Again the wiz ard gets off this astounding piece of triteness: In this great modern world, where every individual has so many interests and life is so'compli cated there Is a tendency to let re ligion and life drift apart." Here he confirms what I said mat it was nc the Negro's conduct alone that was not informed by religion. Again Mr. Washington says: "They (referring to colored people) are realizing that Cod has asigned to their race a man's part in the task of civilization.' Think of it a race having a man's part! But what's the use. The Negro's thoughts, feelings, hopes, and aspira tions will never be known by the white public until that public learns to give real men a hearing in Its press and magazines. EDWARD E. WILSON. - price wanted by the contractors by giving the workman so much per day and he himself assisted to carry" the brick and the hod, which shows that he is not afraid of hard work and that he is the right preacher In the right place. ENGLEWOOD NEWS. Mr. William H. Bannister, 621G Jus tine, departed this life Wednesday night, Aug. 2, The funeral was from" the residence Saturday. Burial at Mount Greenwood. Mr. McKlnney, 6039 Loomls street, has suffered another attack of paraly- rsls and Is in a serious condition. The Barbecue given by the Presby terian church was a grand sdecess. The rally at Shlloh Church last Sunday netted more than the amount asked for. Mr. Lloyd Smith has been appointed representative for The Broad Ax In Englewood. - - "Four Years Among the Mormons." Sssday afternoon, August 13th, at 4' o'clock. Julias P. Taylor will ad- dress-ike. "St Marjc Literary.'' 47th and State streets. o "Four Tears News and On Yankee Tne N"egrro National Business Men's JLieatrne Convenes Here Greater DPart of Next Week. Notes on Our Professional IVXen. "The Broad Ax" New York repre sentative attended the services at St. Mark's Church Sunday evening, and was deeply Impressed, even thrilled with the excellent recital of Rev. W. H. "Brooks, pastor of St. Mark's In W. 53rd street, which was a stand, and a plea, yea, a demand for Justice (ndt revenge) to the colored Americans who, as victims of the recent race riots (a deplorable and an Inexcusable .condition to arise in this, the flrsx city of the Western Hemisphere) and a curse to our civilization. Dr. Brooks can not receive too must support In this effort to have justice meted aut to our people here, many ot who, though Innocent of even a thought of doing harm, have been taken from their peaceful labors (In the heat of these devilish and fiendish timultsl and torn to pieces, shot, kicked and even clubbed to death, by vicious Irish Hounds and (not Irish gentlemen) arc never given a fair show before tho corrupt judges and grafting lawyers and deceitful two-faced cowards (adorned In the majestic blue uni forms of the law's service) who are nothing more than confidants of graft ing hypocrites, under whom the serve. The whole police organization of New York needs a cleaning tfut and real men who have the Interests of all the citizens (regardless of coloi or religion) at heart, should be sub stituted for those we now stand for, and who "have brought such a stain on our fair city's name, and who havb ruined many innocent men for life, physically. The head of the police department, Mr. McAdoo, has prom ised Rev. Brooks totake hold of the matter and correct and punish all who were found guilty of Btarting or tak ing part In the recent local troubles. Rev. Brooks Is to be congratulated upon progressing so far in this local fight for justice and manhood's rights. It Is to be hoped that Dr. Johnson, col lector Anderson, Rev. Hutchens, U. Bishop and our countless other prom inent and public men will rally to the call of Dr.'Brocas until he secures the majority of the race's support, in the vital cause, which Is the cause ot humanity, and without the disguise though of less proportion Is the real cause or the persecuted Hebrews In demoralized Russia to-day. "He who would be free" ox free his fellowmen, should be the first to strike the bio. We- never' can secure our genuine manhood's rights until we lay aside our petty prejudices, organize as a manly unit, and demand justice, and a square deaL. The National Negro Business Men's League convenes In this city August 16, 17 and 18, and may extend the convention a few days longer. It is sincerely hoped that our Western ana Southern states will be amply repre sented, especially Georgia, Virginia, the Carollnas. and Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Ohio, and the several other states as welL Come on, ye kings, and prospective kings of commerce, and of Industry, and make this the 'greatest convention the League has had. Watch The Broad Ax's special letter on the convention's delibera tions, etc., etc. According to a message from .Mount Lanel, Vs., (Halifax county) a search ing party has beea "formed and sent out to csptare a colored man, named Early Mosely, who it Is clalased, beat an old. waits "koodoo" woman to death. As Is generally the dais, this Comment Our Metropolis Negro (who happens to be missing) is sata to have confessed bis guilt before he left. (?) A report from Elizabeth. N. J., says a reward has been raised from 9300.00 to $500.00 for the capture of Chas. Long, a colored man. who it Is said, murdered Mathew Cunningham, of Trenton, N. J. Chas. King told the authorities he saw a Negro disappear Into a Dismal Swamp, between So. Plainfield and Rahway. Perhaps Long believes In that late yet timely ejac ulation: "'Taint no disgrace to run," etc Our popular and able young physi cian, Dr. Gustavus Henderson, M. D paid the New York editor of The Broad Ax a very pleasant caU. He is established In an elegant suite of offices at 202 E. 99th St, Manhattan, and can always be found to consult or treat patients from 8 to 10'a.-m., and 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p. m. In the several years the Doctor has been practicing he. reports a steady In crease in his patients at the same time having effected cures In many seemingly hopeless cases. Dr. Hen derson reads this journal. Messrs. C. King and J. Young, the well known tonsorlal artists are now proprietors of the hair cutting parlors formerly owned by Mr. L. L. Wil liams. There are four first-class at tendants ready to serve you with their skilled art from 7 a. m. until 8 p. m. A pleasant and experienced lady man icure artist always Is In attendance. There Is also an electric face and body massage department with a clever masseur to render you almost new af ter a siege of business care, etc. And The Broad Ax Is always on sale at "King and Youngs," 107 W. 32nd St. Manhattan. It can-also be had at J. Jones, barber shop, at 109 W. 31st StT also at the N. Y. office of Tne Broad Ax, 57 W. 134th St, Harlem. Five cents per copy. Secure sample copy free, by personal or written ap plication, addressed to Mr. C B. Cooke. Rev. S. Timothy Tice, presiding el der of the A. M. E. Church, N. Y. (Dist. of G. N. Y.) has appointed Rev. P. E. Batson, to assume the du ties of pastor of Bishop's Chapel In 134th St. Harlem. Rev. Batson suc ceeds J. C. Ayler, the former pasror. Cards have reached us announcing the Eleventh Annual "Summer Nights Outing" and picnic of the famous Ho tel Bellmen's Beneficial Association, at 126th St and2nd avenue, N. Y., Tues. eve, Sept. 12th. The New Amsterdam M. A. Band and H. L. Anderson will furnish music alternately. 'Popular bellmen have been Invited from Phil adelphia, Boston, Washington City and Dear Old Chicago. Many of-the latter have promised to attend. Mr. Ernest Hogan and his winning Nashville students are still headline at The Paradise Roof -Gardens, where they have been" a continuous hit all summer. It Is said that many of the Ideas used In the production of this musical act were originally suggested by our popular mandolin soloist and teacher, Chas. Croley, who organized the well known musical four known as the Monarch String Quartette. Youag Croley has entertained In most all the exclusive resorts and hotels, pri vate clubs, eta, la Greater N. Y-, aad Is deserving of store coasMeratiom than is conceded, to. ate. from sway of those whoa he Irst ssade it 90s-. (CeatfaiMa a i) J . JNL --"24 . "O- stsagsa tj.Vaa.Jtit, C j$.