THE COMMONWEAILTH:
Published Every Saturday by The Commonwealth Publishing
Company, at 414 W. HOFFMAN STREET, Baltimore, Md.
ERNEST LYON, EDITOR.
Subscription: One copy. one year, 75 Cents; Six months, 40
Cents, in advance. Single copy, Two Cents.
The Commonwealth may be had atany of the branch offices,
or sub-stations.
THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY.
The American Colonization Society was founded in 1816, a year
later by American philanthropists in the city of Washington, almost
in sight of the dome of the National Capitol. This year 1816 is
memorable, not only for the election of James Monroe to the Presi
dency, but for the death of the Federalist party in the United States,
and for an era of peace and reformation, both in Europe and in
America.
The object of the society was to found a colony in Africa, which
would afford opportunity to free men of African descent, to return to
the land of their ancestors. It is not the purpose in this effort either
to give the history of this organization, in its noble efforts to realize
the object of its creation, or to follow the great and good men, both
white and black, in the indescribable sufferings and death struggles
of their consecrated lives, for the success of a movement which was
dearer to them than life itself.
“T came to these shores to die, and anything better than death 1s
better than 1 expect.” Such was the answer of the Rev. Samuel
Bacon to those who attempted to discourage him by the recital of
climatic severities and the appalling mortality among emigrants as
well as among the promoters on the ground.
Another was Mellville B. Cox, one of the Missionary Bishops of
the Methodist Church, who exclaimed with his last breath:
“Let a thousand fall but let not Africa be given up.” These
heroic utterances reflect the spirit of the times. It has been the
pleasure of the writer often, while in Liberia, to gather inspiration
from these silent witnesses by occasional visits to their graves, which
were imperfectly marked, until the advent of Bishops Hartzell and
Scott.
Value is never determined by size. Precious things never come
in large parcels. An ounce of gold is always more valuable than a
ton of iron. A diamond weighing six karats is always worth more
to its owner than a barrel of quartz crystals. A two hundred and
fifty pounds avordupois man, need not for this simple reason, be more
valuable than one weighing a third of this weight. Goliath was a
giant, and David was a stripling, nevertheless, the latter vanquished
the former in battle.
When Senator Hill, of (Georgia, taunted Senator Mahone, of Vir
ginia, because of the size of the former, as compared to the latter—
that he would swallow him up—Mahone retorted that if he did—he
would then have more brains in his belly than he ever had in his
head. So the value of a Journal must not be determined by its size,
and the amount of patented matter it contains—but must be determ
ined by the quality of the journal—the freshness, pugnency, and
character of its editorials.
The origin of the Baltimore Sun was more humble than that of
the COMMONWEALTH, but the Baltimore Sun today, is among the most
influential journals upon the American continent. And the promoters
of the CommonweaLtH, which is winning its way into the hearts and
affections of the reading public, may yet have occasion to look back
upon its humble origin with pride and satisfaction.
The Baltimore Sun, in an editorial, Sunday, August 22nd, char
acterized Haiti as having lapsed into barbarism. We admit that the
conduct of the Haitians is not what we would applaud, but into what
have the Germans and the Allies in Europe lapsed? The cold
blooded murder of innocent neutrals by German submarines, notably
the Lusitania, now the Arabic. Into what has the State of Texas
lapsed—when it deliberately took a helpless human being and burned
him at the stake, with fire, in the sight of gentle women and innocent
children? Into what has Georgia lapsed when its best people delib
erately take a half dead prisoner, condemned to life imprisonment
by an orderly proces: of law, and hang him in a most brutal manner?’
Are these evidenccs of barbarism? Will the Sun tell us? Ah, physi
cian, heal thyself, by first casting the beam out of thine own eye, in
order that thou mayest see clearly to cast out the mote out of
Haitt's eve.
The program for the African Methodist Episcopal Preachers’
Meeting for 1915 and 1916 is on our desk. It is more than a program.
It is a directory, full of important information which reflects great
credit on its compiler. The subjects assigned the various speakers,
every one of whom, is a recognized master in the art of public speak
ing, will furnish information of a wide range.
The Editor of the CoMMONWEALTH is assigned a place on the
program for March 13, 1916, at which time he is invited to read a
paper on “The Union of Negro Methodists.” |
SATURDAY AUGUST 28 1915,
VALUE.,
PHYSICIAN HEAL THYSELF.
EDITOR LYON’S TRIP THROUGH WEST VA.
The climax of the visit, however, to this popular center, was the
public banquet tendered him at Riverside Hotel, of which Mr. Miller,
one of the most popular hostelers of the town, is proprietor. Covers
were laid for about fifty of the leading citizens, among whom were:
Messrs. Jackson, Allingsworth, Branson, Mae, Craft, Mason, Harris,
Lewis, Wood, Jones, Hollings, Dixon, Hull, Graham, Wright, Holly,
Newman, Gloucester, Kennedy, Franklin, Turner, Fountain,
Turpeau and others.
Among the beautiful public buildings which a visitor ought to
see, after a visit to the Island, a kind of summer resort, and sub
jected, like Ancient Egypt, to annual innundations of the river, are
the Ohio Valley Hospital, unlike hospitals in Baltimore, the home of
the COMMONWEALTH, patients get just what they are able to pay for
without any reference to race or color. The Public Pumping Sta
tion and the Reservoir, with a capacity of many millions of gallons,
and a propelling force capable of distributing forty millions of gal
lons of water daily for civic consumption. The Board of Trade, a
magnificent structure, occupying a whole square, the upper part of
which is used for public offices, town hall and reception purposes,
and are let out without discrimination to all of the people, while the
lower story is the public market. Many magnificent churches and
eleemosynary institutions, and last, but not least, the beautiful City
Hall, owned by the city and the county. Here we met many
of the city officers through the good office of Messrs. Turner and
Jackson. The Chief of Police, especially deserves notice, a simon pure
Republican.
It is remarkable that although the colored people occupy only
a small proportion of the population, nevertheless they are given
representat.on in almost every department of the municipality. They
are on the police force, the water works, the lighting and street
cleaning departments; the department of correction, as wardens, jail
keepers, patrol drivers and detectives. We bade adieu to this beau
tiful center, its attractive surroundings, and hospitable people at mid
night in company with our host and the Rev. Dr. Fountain, who also
assisted to make our stay pleasant, for Lewisburg, W. Va,, via Graf
ton, Elkins, Durbin and Ronceverte, a distance of three hundred and
nfteen miles.
It was a very circuitous route, but gave us an opportunity to
see the mountain districts, the wide expanse of uninhabited country,
with its mountaineer population. Our first stop was at Grafton,
which we reached at 4.30 in the morning, and as our train was not
scheduled to leave before 9.15 A. M., we succeeded in locating a one
horse eating house, which, after investigation, found contained only
one bed, and that was occupied by the proprietor. Tired and sleepy
the trio held hasty council, and decided to lay seige to it, and like the
Germans at Warsaw, run him out of the room, if necessary, and take
charge of the bed, and this we did. The triple alliance then oc
cupied it, and stretching ourselves crosswise, in a position, which
brought forcibly to our minds, the Scriptural aphrosim of the “short
ness of the bed and narrowness of the covering.” This was not,
however, the only inconvenience we had to suffer, for we discovered
after a bit, that we had to battle with the cowardly inhabitants of
many mattresses and wooden beds, which take advantage of the
owners to hide themselves in the creases and joints, and like thieves
in the night, pounce down upon their helpless and unoffending in
mates. 'The proprictor, notwithstanding, the punishment under
went, collected forty-five cents for our breakfast, and the privilege
of being punished for more than three hours. We reached Ron
ceverte at 7.30 that night. Here we were the guest of Mr. Green
and his amiable wife and sister, Mrs. Jackson, until we boarded the
trolley for Lewisburg, a distance of six miles, interiorward, and the
seat of our destination.
Further notes on the Editor’s trip and mention of the District
Conference will appear in the next issue.
The COMMONWEALTH was correct in its diplomatic survey of the
international complications with Germany and the United States, in
its editorials of two weeks ago. The United States’ last note to Ger
many made it plain that if she did not stop torpedoing passenger
ships, with neutral passengers on board, the United States would
exhaust every means to maintain the policy laid down by interna
tional law, guaranteeing freedom of neutrals from molestation on the
high seas. We said that Germany would ignore the principle at the
time of its issuance. The Kaiser has now answered by the destruc
tion of the Arabic and its human cargo of innocent neutrals, in the
same manner in which the Lusitania and others have been destroyed.
Will this Government keep its word? Roosevelt says yes. Perhaps,
the Reichstag will come to its senses, and thus avert further bloodshed.
While in Lewisburg, W. Va., Wednesday evening, August 18,
Editor Lyon read his paper on “Organic Union of Methodism in the
United States,” before a great gathering of people, composed of
both races, with the Mayor of the town on the platform. The inter
est it created was profound, and comments of appreciation and
agreement were in evidence from many quarters.
WHERE ARE WE NOW?