The journal of industry. [volume], April 01, 1879, Image 1

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Scbscriptiox, so Cents i'r.n Axsim. y Our Motto: "Cod will Help those who He!p Themselves." i Sixc.le Copy, 3 Cests.
VOL.1. KALEIOII, X. d, AP1UL 1879. NO. 1.
LETTER F20M BSV. C. E WILEY.
TlIK lUItT Ml! Mil TIIK WHITE
FKOI-I.F OK 1 11 K SOI in on t: to
Til M It I OUMKK M.Al lift.
The Inlellwliinl. I nl tint rial and Kpi
riliiHl 4oiiIilin ol lite OiloreU
l'ele llK!:issln:il'ly t un-
A SOLUTION OK TIIK SOUTIIKKN
rnoaLKM.
Grkensuouo, N. C., June 80, 1805.
' Mt Deau Buother: Afiiioiion in my
family and my own bud health have
prevented me from eplying sooner
your favor of the 1-UU insUut, received
more than a week ago.
Your eomniunier-tioii is interesting
aud timely, relating us it does to one
of the moat important subjects ibat
ever came before any people, and one
which baa for some 'ime engaged my
earnest and prayerful attention.
You ask what ia to be done for the
education and religious training of the
Negro of the Southern States; and I
regard your suggestious as worthy of
consideration, while I 'egret that you
did not furnish me with a more de
tailed account of your interesting and
instructive experience in the schools of
British Guiana.
. I trust it will be in my power to meet
' you, as you request, aud in the mean
time, you will please ti avail yourself
of the first safe opportunity of sending
to me the publio documents in relatiou
to the Mission Schools in the West In
dies and Demerara, to which you refer.
But before we discuss the detail of
any plan for the instruction of the col
ored race of the South,
A GREAT PRELIMINARY QlTESTi'iN,
environed with prejudices, will have to
be settled ; and to this grand purpose
the energies of the pious and right
thinking among us should at once be
directed.
It seems to be doubted by many
whether the whito,, .population of our
region should take any active part, in
the instruction of their colored l'tirih
bors, and while this apparently uttlioii'1
question ia capable of an easy solution,
if -properly conside' ed. P' y aisoupion
of the subject it' a 'puis o'hbr -l ; a
kind, considm-a' anr" u,8pssiouate. will
be productive of u oixe I c"i'.
It has long soeu d " me that the
great majority of
THOSV; V HO HAVf. I1KKN INT. KRKSTKJ) IS
SLA'. FRY
in our rout', 'y have, been jis.iruleiaL'od
or mimt-Ttscented by those who have
assunv d i bo their representative men
in chv.rch r d Sta'e ; and tbet the u.f
fioulties I t le way of right judgment
and of nut actiou, iu regard i.0 the
negroe ', ui i not originate in the hearts
and mina of masters as a body, but in
the theories, purposes and passions of
controversialists, religious and politic d.
I have beeu my self a slave owuer of the
third or fourth descent,, and, like many,
was a master to my pecuniary loss; and
inheriting a charge in the way of servants-,
from' which I oould ut in con
science free mjsol!, I cm feel, and do
feel, for the honor and interests of ihosa
who have owned slsves. And although
I have advocated reforms which were
not carried out, I h ive no reproaches to
make against any clas, and f.el thatirj
profound regard for their reputation
and their Interest a erti1 les me to address
them with a fiecdomworthy of my own
kir.d wishes and of " ii.it I conceive to
bo f eii hunyKt n it urea.
I hve a ft;rn v cit iio to t-.lk plainly
with them cottrernii!
OUH COMMON Dt'TIKS IX T II IS (i UK. IT
1,'lilSiS ;
ami I avail myself nf th-i nppc funky
afT.rded by your left vr, of laying b-fore
them a few leading facts and coushh r--ations,
with the Lope, of disrclli-g wbt
1 consider fatal delusions, and of di
recting their thoughts in t'e right
channels.
There are persons at the fr'outh who
consider themselves relieved of all re
sponsibility fur the spiritual and hv
gical well being of the eolored people iu
their midst, for the, lollowtLg reasons,
to-wit: First, 15ytl:esud.!encmiiiCip.v
tum of the blacks, without .oii'iu!tirg
tho wishes of their former owiurs.
Secondly, iiy a supposed unwillin;mss
OTi tho part of the negroes to receive
suggestions and instructions from thosj
who have been their masters ; and,
' Thirdly, By the a;itali-ui of exciting
quesrious in repaid to what should be
the political stutus f lh free blacks,
and by the interference of persons from
other Stiles, who come ioto our midst
as teachers, with sTong prejudices
ai'aUiKt the whiles.
Th88 pleas are specious, but,
A1TSALINO TO fll'R PlSSlONS ANO NOT Ol B
Jl IX.KKNTS,
they will not justify the inaction pre.
dieared on them.
It may well be donbfed whether the
white race of the South is not itself
laicelv and directly responsible for the
sudden termination of slavery ; and
what I alien nn this subject is not of
fered as a reproach for actions in which
all ol us are more or less implicated,
but as a dispassionate reference to facts
which it is our duty to consider if we
would come to just conclusions on the
subject discussed.
- We accepted the hazards of civil, war
for thn adjustment of social and poli
tical disputes; and we had reason to
know from the warnings of the fathers
of the Republic, and from all the les
sons of history, th.tt in such dispute-,
nothing can be more uncertain than the
arbitrament of the sword. Besides, we
generally confessed that
SLAVIHY, AS fRACTK Kl, KKRIIKD A RlrOKHA
TION, and could not be tolerated by God
among a Christian people without it ;
and yet, on one plea or another, we
were indefinitely postponing these
needed changes.
Rut admitting, for the sake of argu
ment, that the whites of the South are
in no way responsible for the present
condition of tbius, it is perfectly clear
that the negroes, as a race, had no part
in producing it. Tbey, as slaves, wera
the origin of the most tremendous con
flict of arms know Id i'"tory ; and
while those who h'-'u. tuom to pergonal
service were girt about with fire and
sword,
Till BLACKS, AS A CT.AS8, RKMAINKD FAITIIVfL
TO TIIK1H M.ASTKKS, .
wlftfttScfie,' obeuieut and o'iligent in
service. They did not counsel the ef
forts for their emancipation, nor aid in
1. .1 u-. a rice ; and thus their former
41W 'N " in lot be relieved from rospon
s:'i ;'iy to their servants by acts in
whiet the latter had no part.
The negroes are free by the force of
circumstances which they did not create;
and
TIIK " CONFEDF.lt ATE" CONtiliBSS,
professing to represent their masters,
had itself adapted measures which
would have inevitably resulted in im
mediate emancipation. Bur, whoever
is responsible, for their present condi
tion, the negroes are not ; at:d here they
are, a lame and impotent race, sitting
at tho Kates of
THOSE WHOM THEY HAVE CIIKERPI'LIA" SERVED
for many generations. iSilver and Kld
we have none to five ; but. shall we
withhold those healing influences of
which they are more in need aud which
we can so easily afford? It is an irk
soine t:isk to teaeh the it'noiant rind the
sensual ; but is that a leply to the Di
vine command, ' to go into ail tha
world and teach nil nations?"' When
we were infi rcs'e 1 iu the;r laboia we
did nut avoid tueir association : we
wore willing to live with hord-i of
them, and to bn at gr.'at trouble in seo
ina to tiie p.'rforniaKce of their wonted
tasks. More than half our time was
passed ill j'isoii;d associption with
liieiri, we, acting, it. is true, iu the
cipaoity of !iuperi'r ; and tth'ui we
are rng-ijre'l iu ullorthng mental nun
inoriil uiMltuoti in avo not thenmie
riifh'fuly and tmiy tli.in ever occi py
i: the d guiliod plasu of u'lvernui s ?
Hut think of tle cUim upon 119 from
centuries of service, rlumxy thou, h
t.hey nny huve been, but of such ser
vices as the race were oanablo of ni ilc
inj; in pur b.dulf'. Here are the
('e-cenrlinit.') of
those who rowed and tilled the FtKi.es
uhen cur ancestors fought it ; se-von
yenrs' war for Independence of tin
men and women who nursed our
fathi tr and mothers in inlane.y a-id
Fickness, who dug their graves mid
wuteied them with toais, aui) watched
at d pr.iyod, aud labored for their chil
dren. Here are neoi'le who, until a few
vvi-eks ao, were our property, desce.ud
ing from generation to generation, fol
lowing our fo, tunes without complaint,
knowing no homes or interests bu.
those of their masters ; amoni? whom
an: persons who have BtOud by us in
danger, who have watched by our beds,
and who have nursed us and our chii
drin. To enhance their claims, the race is
but few removes from the gloomy bar
barism of Africa, and our own policy is
partly responsible for its not hpvin
attaint d to a higher mental culture. I
do rot characterize this policy one way
or not her ; I do n-t sat whether it was
right or wrong to (orbid negroes to be
tun.'ht to read, and to tolerate the,
M-pma'iou of husband and wife, of
mothers and their young children. I
only desire to advert to the fact that
our laws did discourage the education
of slaves, and that they did permit a
very h-ose system of cohabitatiou
among the sties.
If we oed then no speoial moral
debt who will pretend that they have
1101 upou us that general claim which
all the ignorant races of the earth have
upon the labors and prayers of the dis
ciplvs of Christ
A CLAIM ENHANCED
by the fact that it is infinitely easier
for us to reach and instruol them than
it is U go to the heathen of foreign
lands, whiie we can labor at home,
cheered with the society of our own
ric-, enjoying all the comforts of civil
isation, and all the protections and
privilege of a great and free govern
ment ?
But, it is alleged, the negroes would
rather be instricted by any others than
hv ih"P4 among whom they have been
slaves.
Thw -
A MERK SrSMISK,
and an honest aud conscientious people
should at once test it by their action.
The -uspicion is natural, and yet the
tew developments that have already no-
ourred seemed to indicate that it is
without foundation.
Giving to all these facts and consid
erations their full weight, can any fair
minded and conscientious man among
iia, aay tlmt w s'-citeir frani our 1
obligations to tike an active and spe
cial iut rest, in the moral development
of negroeB ?
Everything considered,
IT IS REALLY SI RI'RISLNG
how little extravagance the sudden aud
tremendous change iu the condition of
the blacks has caused in their conduct;
aud while thuy are made to know that
they are not indebted to their former
masters for their freedom, and there
are circumstances and agitations tend
ing to foster national antipathies, the
negroes are still docile, aud under the
ciicumstances, could not, with human
passions aud infirmity, display less in
dispition to receive kindly suggestions
and efforts for their good ou I he part ol
their knruer owneis.
The third reason urged against sys
tematic action on the part of the whites
of the South, iu behalf of the negroes,
is an argument iu the other way.
The political agit itions and the for
eign interference which excite so much
apprehension are permitted by God to
warn us f
OVU IlAMIEB AND Ol'R Ill'TY,
and if wo m gleet the latter, we can
haidlv ningniiy the greatness of the
former.
Iu times pasi those very consideration 1
were urged as reasons for not reform
ing td-.ivery by conforming its laws ami
practice to the known conscience I
mnst. vR; aud our leadeis interposed
our piido but ween our actions and our
Coiiv'K t.-.-us, causing us to put off tin:
day of reformation until shivery should
bu beyond the leaoh of political in
trigues, and who'ly exempted from
foru'gn iirermrddlh'g or dictation.
ThcMo airati')!; and this interference
were formerly, an now, but !
WABMMiS I'lEOH A KIlillTBDl'S PKOV1DBNCK,
who aiiuit of uo excuse (or the non
peif;in.inco of a known duly, and as
we i:'.- s 1 tor yeais tn mlsinforpret thin
w'tVK.us imixiit; the b lr. (ell a5 last aud
snvldi;ijl,v, and sluve' y was wbo.ly abol
ished . i, li U i.iipoii'eutioiis on if
head, u d m-is'ers lets to Iw judged by
the. woild, not by what were their ii
ter t'ons, but by their pubiio actions.
But ihe rightuous Arbiter has, no
doubt, tejn goou designs in many
hearts at all events, he has most ineTi
eifuily opened a still br.iader and easier
liela of usofuluess und honor to the
master.
II 3 has left the negroes in the midit
of theiv former owners, almort wholly
drpendent oa them for even the most
elementary instruction ; a docile and
helpless people, forming, as it were, a
great muss of shapeless and p!tliiclay,
to test the artistic skill and energy of a
race which claims that the wot Id La
never done it justice.
No other race can h 've the access to,
or the Iscility for, shaping tho cha
racier of the Macks of the South,
afforded by a kind Providence to their
former proprietors, and while
THE STERH DEMANDS OK DITY
require immediate aud syst:uiatio ef
forts to turn the glorious opportunities
te tne fullest aco innt, the imperious
claims of interest and honor lead in the
same direction.
We have professed to bn the best
friends of the blacks we still have op
portunities of proving our assertion.
We have insisted that no others so well
understood or appreciated the charac
ter and wants of the negroes. ThiB is
true, and it greatly enhances our pre
stnt obligations
The negro baa for generations re
garded us aa bis moral superior, and
his natural teacher aud guardian ; if we
will go forward in the paths or duty we
will nobly prove this m ral superiority,
for the teacher is ever the leader of his
pupil ; and we still insure for ourselves
that kindly deference from the more ig
norant race which will preserve the
harmony of society, and promote the
best interest of all its olaases.
And this is the only effectual way to
shut out foreign interference, and to
arrest dangerous political agitations.
If we believe in an Almighty and just
God, we must know that
TnB COLRSK Of DUTY IS THS PAM OF SAFETY!
and indeed will not worldly philosophy
Elaiulv teach us that if we would not
ave the negroes trained by others We
must ourselves furnish them with good
instructions? Does not our oommon
sense iufortn us that an ignorant and
helpless, but free noe in our midst,
large In nnmbo,;;, glected by pi 3!
easily led furnishes one of Se most
dangi rous openings for perm.u 1 po
litical strife ? Does not uuivji-stil expe
rience exemplify and expl&in the force
of the Divino allusion to the eagles and
the cai cas-s ?
I y-iulu implore our Southern friends
V d j ird their prejudices, and look at
,cb n their clear light.
W 11 can perform a giorinus mission,
and if we do nut we wiit fall to a dread
abyss. There is no intei -mediate posi
tion fo' us th'-" is no pluce at d no
.' ope fo. "ie ' ( utral. Wemusf
no or do . i ,tsr do or lie r . .
Let us n. longer listen to I ise -eo
would delude us with tho plea that this
is not ihc favor-blo time this s reu
snog hs plunged us into one deep pit,
and now it wou'd lure us oa to a still
pr 'founder fi ss.
It is a perversion of the obvious teach
ings ol I'rovidere.fi to I'urmit the agitu
tious ol which the negro is still the
OMia to deter us from making efforts
for his mor.il advancement, pud when
thoso who are
HIS NATI KAI, FRIENDS,
and who have most power to do good
lor him, are making the best use of
thuir opportunities, w ill not the door
V iiu1 up hi a fitato s iii.il aitaMoii8?
lint on the oilier hnd if the whites
ol' t ho S .Mir.li shvi d aloof from a work
t.at- ra Is 1-udly lor tho aid of Christitui
ikU v.leiL'c. llo-y must expect o her
lab") ers to enter the '.h g'eo'ed lie'd, and
10 fi'-d among these ma:y who wdl aim
to a.ipiiru cheaply a renu''Uioii for
phi! a.ihropy I y (.'cclniin'i-g ag.unfrt tho
faults ot o' hers.
Thuy must, also, be prepared to snf-
11 r ttie natural consequencefiof uc!i sni
accumul'iliou of iuo;al nuilaria in tb
m dst, ;uhI to ei uli.e a s 'ciety : IIl,t -J
vi ! re-ny S'i:n di;o'drrs. li( si'les
a l tois, the vast body of ign..iniit bhioks
wih luruiso a glorious ojip r'.u'.nty for
the enterprise -f ambitious politicinos;
aed 'he ugvow, ntvloctd by the!r
nitiinil goirlet nr home, will rallv nndt-r
t'io stuidanl of leaden Who will oat-ity
peisu ide tU-111 tlu.t till thuir morul and
social il-s -;)! foid an infa li'olo rui'.idy
in pid.t'od changes.
Iu auort, we have io the present con-dwi.-n
ol things at the South all'ha cle
m tit-ifor Focial chaos, f - ' "m'cious
aj'i'atioiis, forna'ioual n.:ri '"
l'.ir lnteitsfciue war ; and yet 1 mu.. -can
elearly discover a possibility of
cMistruct,ii:g from theac nia erials a
compact, coiiservilie aud piospuious
society t
WHAT IS WANTING,
is simply tie wisdom and the will to
look at tbinus aright, and to place
each paty iu it preper place for tha
whites to rise above the influence of
prejudice and pussmn, and to prove
their claim to mental superiority, by
going forwad un-tedly, tematically
aud esrnestly to the woik of instruct
ine their dependent and diicile neigh
bois. The undertaking mu;t be com
meusurate with the wants of those to
le benefitted and it must, embrace
whatever relates to industrial habits, to
social character, the mental develop
ment, aud to spiritual regeneration.
The instruction must comprehend all
that the blacks need to know to enable
them to be self-supporting, and to un
derstand the great principles which
oonceru their temporal and eternal wel
lare; and while the white race is thua
engaged it will be destroying the seed
beds of social and moral pestilence;
will entitle itself to and will reoeive
THE LAST! NO RESPECT AND DEFEKKSCB
OF THE BLACKS,
will be improving and elevating itself,
and will ba effectually blocking tho
way of false philanthropists, deman
gogu, and the whole pestiferous
brood of ii lflsh agitatora.
I did not propose to say anything
now iu regard to special plans of in
struction for the colored ptople ; but
it is proper that I should express my
opinion on a single point, that thero
may be do Injurious misapprehensions
as to what you and I, and others who
agree with us, propose. The blacks
must be instructed together by them
selves ; and while religious principle
does not require that the races should
be mingled in an educatioual system,
the attempt would be productive of u
mitigated evil.
With affectionate regard,
I am truly yours,
""To KeV.'S. S. MurkTand, Bethany
Church. Iredell county, N. C.
F.neourngliiK' Words from Commit
uioner Polk.
Raleigh, April 8, 1879. '
Mr. O. Hunter, Jr. : Sir: Your
favor of the 7th inst., asking me for a
contribution to the columns of your,
paper '" this moment reoeived.
,pr . ies nf my office diraand my
' , l ie, but I cannot withhold my
-immtiid.itbn of an enterptibj so laud
able and worthy as the one you have
inaugurated, and which your journal is
designed to represent and promote.
You inform me that in the conduct of
th paper, pa:tisa.u politics . ud secta
nanism will be eschewed, and that its
best energies shall ba dovot d to the
advancement of the material interests
of your race. In this you have acted
wi.-e'y. And I trust you will appreoi
ate the admonition that, to becure the
sympathy, aid and oo-oppration of the
intelligent patriotic white nvn of the
State, iu promoting the declared objeots
of yom Assoeii-.tkm, you must demon
strate by an unswerving adherence to
this avowal that your sole Bnd sincere
purpose is to foster aud advance the
material wuif.ire of your ri'ee through
tlw Witiruate intlueucn of such an or
gnnizatiuu. Let the lofty and noble
purpose of jour As-sociatioii bo to ele
vate tue aims nd aspirations of your
people, by inculcating ideas of econo
my, ioduatry and hones y, and unlike
yrinr brethren of the more Southern
tUtt.i, you will nut be deiudedinto the
gie:it irror of leaving the bountiful
fiuit'"ul land of jour bir;h for one
a'. onnding only iu disappointment. With
besf. wishes for your success iu your
ucde.itiikiug, .. : , ,. ,
I am, rerpectfullvi
L. Li Polk, Corner.
The ktesiileiK e of Joiui Ilaiiiiolfih of
IComioI.e, ! i-oj el liy Fire. "'"
Xorrolk Vlrinlnn, Sth. ' .
Information reached hero to-day of
the destruction by tire of tho residence
of John Kundolph of Koanoko, in Char
lotte county hist niht. Tho property
w-:is purchased by the late Hon. Wood
Jlouhliii of tho (Supreme Court of tliis
Mam, from tho heirs of John itandolph.
Tho remains of Randolph are buried
within a very short distance of tho
dwelling. The amount of tha loss sus
t. lined by tho fire has not Leon ascer