here upon the violent taking off of the President beloved by all the
people, and my animadversion upon the character of the man who lifted
his hand against the supreme representative of the greatest Republic
upon earth and the most prosperous nation? It is an incident in the
life of government that the supreme head of it shall be subject to the
vicissitudes of its maniacal, fanatical and criminal classes, those
who live by their wits or those who dream of a condition of society
unattainable, as human nature is constructed, such as Edward Bellamy
has pictured in "Looking Backward." I wish it distinctly understood
that I refer to this matter simply to draw attention to the fact that
Czolgosz, the obscure assassin of the highest representative of the
logic of business development in this country, is inseparably linked
as the Siamese twins to the mobocrat, and that any effort made to root
out the anarchist in this country will fail, and should fail, unless
the mobocrat is rooted out at the same time.
It is written in the stars. God has said, "Righteousness exalteth a
nation, but sin is a reproach to any people."
And what business development can we have when the dark shadow of
anarchism and mobism overshadows the land like the dark cloud that
covered the children of Israel in their confusion, when in their
perversion they had turned their faces from the God of their destiny?
No, there can be no business development in this country while our
laws are so lax as to allow irresponsible individuals or organizations
to clog the wheels of industry or to waste unnecessarily the red blood
that gives life to a virile human form. I say, with our grand
President, throttle the anarchist that would shoot a President or a
successor to a President. Yes, but if you leave the Southern mobocrat
to shoot John Jones, an unknown entity, the element of anarchism
remains pregnant in the body politic and is liable at any time to show
its venomous head.
Who could have told when the whole nation was hopeful that a John
Wilkes Booth lurked reluctant in the body politic to cut down the
wisest and the most humane and the most lovable of all the Presidents?
Ah, my friends, you can't protect the President of the United States
from the assassin, and leave unprotected in any corner of the republic
its meanest citizen, because, as Alexander Pope has wisely said, "We
are all but links of one stupendous chain. Break a link of that chain
and the power of that chain is destroyed."
TOPIC XXXVIII.
HOW TO HELP THE NEGRO TO HELP HIMSELF.
BY W. R. PETTIFORD.
[Illustration: W. R. Pettiford, D. D.]
REV. WILLIAM R. PETTIFORD, D. D.
It is difficult to present a life's record so as to furnish
a correct estimate of the man in question. Particularly is
this true if we attempt to give upon a page the account of a
long life of active and useful service.
Among the leaders in Christian work in the state of Alabama,
Dr. W. R. Pettiford ranks very high, having but few, if any,
superiors. As a business man he is unexcelled. Twelve years
of unremitting toil and unbroken success in the banking
business demonstrate the truth of this assertion.
In presenting this sketch we could not do better than quote
from the Cyclopedia of the Colored Baptist of Alabama, by
Rev. C. O. Boothe, D. D.:
Rev. W. R. Pettiford, D. D., son of William and Matilda
Pettiford, was born in Granville county, North Carolina,
January 20th, 1849. He was, when a boy, of an industrious
turn of mind, working faithfully at whatever his hands found
to do. At one time he was with the tanner, and at another
time he was running his father's farm.
At the age of 21 years he united with the Baptist Church of
Rocksboro, Person county, North Carolina, and was immersed
by the Rev. Ezekiel Horton of Salisbury. While he was
serving this church as clerk he told his mother the secret,
which he greatly desired that she would not reveal, that he
felt called to the gospel ministry. Brother Horton often put
up at their home, hence soon got possession of the secret.
Dr. Pettiford now says: "When I was called into an examining
council and learned that my secret was out, I was very much
frightened, but the advice given upon this day has ever been
helpful to me."
At the commencement of Selma University, 1877-78, he joined
Brother Woodsmall, becoming a member of the pioneer faculty
of the school. It was here that he was seen as the patient,
studious, industrious man--loved by tender youth and trusted
by those of riper years.
He was called to ordination by the Berean Baptist Church,
Marion, Ala., and dedicating hands were laid upon his head
in Marion, Ala., in the midst of the Conventional Session
held there in November, 1880. After this he severed his
connection with Selma University to enter the pastorate in
Union Springs.
As teacher and financial agent he made such a record that
unprecedented prestige was given to his work at Union
Springs, where for two years, by his labor of love and
sacrifice, he laid the foundation for permanent Christian
work that shall stand throughout all time.
For a brief period Dr. Pettiford worked under joint
appointment of the American Baptist Home Mission Society and
the Home Mission Board of the Alabama Baptist State
Convention as lecturer for ministers. In this capacity he
accomplished a great work. Many ministers to-day look back
to those days when they sat in institutes conducted by him
as the times of their greatest inspiration for mental and
spiritual development.
As president of the Alabama Penny Savings Bank he has a
reputation as extensive as the country of which he is a
citizen. There is no city of importance where this bank has
not done business. It has gained the reputation of being a
safe business, having survived several panics to which many
other similar institutions have succumbed.
Dr. Pettiford has managed to find some time to write. He is
the author of the following treatises: "Divinity in
Wedlock," "God's Revenue System" and "The Centenary," all of
which do him honor and his fellow man service. But this
sketch would be incomplete if it were closed without stating
this truth: That much of the Doctor's success is rightly
attributed to the sympathy and help of his life companion,
formerly Miss Della Boyd, to whom he was joined in bonds of
wedlock November 22, 1880. Three children have graced their
home, being systematically trained for usefulness in life.
Since the emancipation of the Negro in this country philanthropists
have contributed largely to the establishment of schools and colleges
for his education. Some of these institutions have been the means of
affording the Negro literary instruction, and others have given him
more practical benefits in industrial training. These methods of
helping a race that was necessarily groping in the darkness of
illiteracy are not only commendable from the viewpoint of
humanitarianism and sound philanthropy, but it must be conceded that
some such help was indispensable to any real advancement of the Negro
in the matter of education. For all such assistance it can be said
that the Negro is truly appreciative and, for the most part, has
earnestly striven to demonstrate his profound gratitude by eagerly
taking hold of the opportunities thus afforded for his enlightenment.
The industrial schools, Hampton, Tuskegee, and others, have done much
in a practical way for the Negro in giving him a knowledge of
trades--a class of training that must prove of inestimable value to
him in his endeavor to earn a living honestly and honorably. That
person who has been taught how to do something well, who has been so
equipped as to be able to do with skill what the world is willing to
pay a desirable price for, has been done an incalculable service, and
one for which society as well as the individual himself has occasion
to feel grateful.
So generously have the Negro's friends contributed toward his
education and so marked are their continued efforts in this direction
that it would appear somewhat bold for anyone to offer a suggestion at
this time looking to any additional contributions from this source for
the purpose of materially advancing the masses of that race along
other lines. On the other hand, when it is remembered with what
avidity the beneficiaries of these funds have seized the opportunities
offered, and the splendid results so far realized; and when the
further facts are borne in mind that the improvement of one class of
the population never fails to inure to the benefit of the entire
community, it may not, after all, require unusual temerity in one
to venture upon the suggestions which are to follow in this article.
When it is noted, too, with what care, discrimination and rare
judgment such contributions have been directed in the effort to lift
the Negro out of his unfortunate condition, and with what earnestness,
consistency and sincerity of purpose such aid has been given, the
conclusion is irresistible that any other needed help will come if the
method suggested is shown to be practicable and gives promise of
beneficial results.
While the school has wrought wonders for the Negro, as it has for all
civilized races, it cannot be hoped or expected that all desirable
improvements in the development of a people can be accomplished
through this agency. All the virtues may be taught in the school-room,
but the student gets only a theoretical idea of what is intended to be
conveyed to his mind, and necessarily so. He has not yet learned to be
practical and cannot, until he is brought in contact with the actual
and serious responsibilities of life, see the real, practical phase of
things as they actually exist. He needs to learn the practical value
of economy and thrift, of constant industry and frugality. If he would
build on a certain and safe foundation, he must do so by honestly
earning every dollar he can and wisely saving as much of it as his
actual necessities will permit. Nothing so strongly encourages this
spirit in the Negro as a savings bank operated in his community by
persons of his own race. The powerful influence exerted in this
direction by such institutions may be shown by some impressive figures
which have been secured from reliable sources: Atlanta, with no such
institution to stimulate its colored population to save, has only
1,000 colored depositors in the associated banks of that city out of a
total colored population of 30,000; or one out of every thirty.
Richmond, with a thriving institution of this character, has 5,000
colored depositors out of a total colored population of 45,000; or one
out of every nine. Birmingham boasts of 5,000 colored depositors
(4,000 of whom deposit with the bank with which the writer is
connected) out of a total colored population of 20,000; or one out of
every four. These three thriving Southern cities, blessed with equal
prosperity and promise, furnish convincing proofs of the great power
for good exerted by such institutions. If Atlanta, which in other
respects equals either of these two cities, were favored with the
presence of a bank of the kind mentioned, a much larger percentage of
its colored population would be filled with the spirit of economy and
the desire to save.
If such institutions are materially helpful to the Negro, if they tend
to inculcate right principles and encourage habits of industry and
frugality; and if it be true that the uplifting of one class benefits
the entire community, is it not within the bounds of legitimate
reasoning and fairly good common sense to suggest that it would be
well to have these beneficial agencies established, as far as
possible, in cities containing a large Negro population; taking care,
however, that none is established until it becomes apparent in each
instance that such an institution can be wisely, safely and
successfully conducted in the proposed community?
The writer has had a great many inquiries in the last few years for
information and advice looking to the organization of savings banks by
colored men; but it has been noted that in nearly every case the
element of doubt, fear and backwardness developed when the promoters
were brought face to face with the problem of how to begin such a
business and conduct it successfully. They found the problem a
difficult one, just as all problems are difficult until they are
understood. Here then is where the wealthy friends of the Negro, the
Northern and Southern philanthropist, can be of invaluable help. It
would be well if a few such friends would become interested in the
work of assisting in the establishment of such banks, to be conducted
by competent colored men in such cities as offer favorable conditions
for institutions of the character mentioned. They could form
themselves into a board for the general supervision of the work, and
then engage the services of an experienced and thoroughly competent
man to give personal attention to it. This man should comprehend every
detail of the banking business, and he should be willing to meet and
advise with those who are to have in hand the conduct of the
institution and instruct them in all the details of its proper
management before the doors are thrown open to the public. He should
then give daily attention to the operation of the bank for two or
three months, or until the officers are able to proceed safely without
him. By this time a similar work should await him in another locality.
He should, however, keep in constant communication with the president
of the newly established bank and so arrange his engagements as to be
able to return to it from time to time, as the work elsewhere will
permit, in order that he may oversee the management and give such
helpful counsel as the situation may demand. With the right kind of
men at the helm, educated, popular with their people and possessing
unquestioned integrity, it would not be unsafe at this stage to trust
the management to their hands for a few days at a time, after it has
been ascertained that all departments of the business are being
conducted intelligently and without friction.
So that instead of having only three or four communities in the
country reaping the good results of such forceful agencies for the
moral and material elevation of their citizens, we will have at least
a few more to assist in spreading the gospel of economy and thrift.
The expense attached to such an undertaking would be represented in
the salary paid the organiser, and perhaps a stenographer, and the
traveling and other necessary expenses of both. Their services would
not be required for a longer period than five years, at most, and the
real good accomplished would be incalculable.
The plan is not impracticable. The few savings banks now being
operated by colored men had no such help. They overcame the
difficulties under which they necessarily began, and they have
succeeded admirably. Cannot others succeed as well, especially after
such difficulties are effectually removed? New Orleans, Memphis,
Nashville, Louisville, Montgomery, Atlanta, Charleston and other
cities offer fruitful fields for this work. But let it be understood
that such assistance as is here suggested should in no case be
attempted until the citizens of a given community have first evinced a
proper interest in the enterprise, such interest, indeed, as would
leave no doubt of their earnestness in the matter. The only real
danger, in any instance, or, perhaps, it may be better to say the
chief danger, lies in an unwise selection of a locality for the
establishment of this kind of business. But this question might be
safely determined, after proper investigation, by those who furnish
the funds.
Lest there be persons in the North, who, not being altogether familiar
with conditions as they exist between the races in the South, should
doubt the wisdom of the undertaking because of a fear that the idea
might meet with disfavor on the part of the dominant race, it may be
well to suggest that the writer's personal experience in connection
with the conduct of a similar institution for nearly twelve years in
an extreme Southern community, has justified the opinion that the very
reverse is true. The bank referred to has enjoyed ever since its
establishment the moral support and cordial good wishes of the white
people of that section. And the reason for this is apparent. Perhaps
the true reason is nowhere more aptly and succinctly given than by the
editor of the Charleston _News and Courier_, who, in commenting on an
address delivered by Mr. Booker T. Washington, said: "The Negro with a
bank account, with houses and lands, with education in the practical
things of life, is a far better citizen and a safer and more desirable
neighbor than the Negro who is steeped in ignorance and who has really
no part in the life of his country." The wise, progressive, far-seeing
citizens of the white race recognize and admit the influence for good
exerted upon the colored population by banking institutions operated
by members of that race, and they welcome and encourage the
establishment of them in any community.
It is hoped that some little grain of merit may be found in these
suggestions. There has been no desire in the preparation of this
article to aspire to any literary effort. That would not be possible
in one who makes no pretensions in that direction. It is submitted
with the hope that the ideas here sought to be expressed may find
favor with those who practice the doctrines of true philanthropy--that
class of Americans who find genuine happiness in doing good wherever
good can be done, and who believe that no harm can come of helping the
Negro to help himself.
* * * * *
[Transcriber's Notes:
The transcriber made the following changes to the text:
1. before p. 51, add quote at end of paragraph starting
"Bishop Haygood of the M. E. Church"
2. p. 53, remove extra quote in paragraph beginning
"Anciently the whole land," after text
"from the ancient Canaanites."
3. p. 55, add quote at end of paragraph beginning
"Rollin, in speaking of the fact," after text
"descended from the common stock."
4. p. 72, "educacation" changed to "education"
5. p. 80, add quote at end of paragraph beginning
"This is an Anglo-Saxon country." after text
"shadow does the substance."
6. before p. 83, "were" changed to "where"
7. p. 120, "massage" changed to "message"
8. p. 121, "vestly" changed to "vastly"
9. p. 161, "aborigne" changed to "aborigine"
10. before p. 163, "wth" changed to "with"
11. p. 191, "form" changed to "from"
12. p. 274, "swathy" changed to "swarthy"
13. p. 277, "many" changed to "may"
14. p. 278, "many" changed to "may"
15. p. 279, "Chestnut" left as it appears in text
16. p. 297, add quote at end of paragraph beginning
"But this progress is further" after text
"branches of the common family."
17. before p. 349, "Walter W. Wallace" changed to "Walter N. Wallace"
18. p. 349, "By Walter W. Wallace" changed to "By Walter N. Wallace"
19. p. 396, "nego" changed to "negro"
20. p. 426, "heighth" changed to "height"
The following paragraphs have mismatched quotes that the transcriber
did not correct:
1. p. 53, paragraph starting
"Anciently the whole land, including Tyre and Sidon,"
2. p. 455, paragraph starting
"Hon. Robert Allen, one of the most noted criminal
lawyers of Texas,"
End of Transcriber's Notes]
End of Project Gutenberg's Twentieth Century Negro Literature, by Various