“2. That under the phrase ‘and others’ of Article II, in the Constitution of the Freedmen’s Aid Society, we see the way clear to aid the schools which have been established by our Church in the Southern States among the white people, and hereby ask the General Conference to recommend to the Board of Managers of this society to give such aid to these schools during the next quadrennium as can be done without embarrassment to the schools among the freedmen.”
As soon as the report was read, considerable feeling was apparent. The question had hitherto seemed of small importance. While the report was pending the feeling manifest found vent in “a motion to appropriate twenty-five per cent of all moneys raised by the Freedmen’s Aid Society to schools among the whites.” It was laid on the table. After this there seemed a determination to separate, if possible, the educational work of the Church in the South among the whites from that of the blacks. Rev. A. J. Kynett, therefore, offered the following as a substitute for the second item:
“Resolved, That the Board of Education be, and is hereby, instructed to make such provisions as may be necessary and practicable for the aid of our educational institutions in the South not aided by the Freedmen’s Aid Society.”
Had this substitute been accepted, we certainly would have had two separate and distinct educational societies within the Church; the Educational Society would have been so burdened as to have had to withdraw, to a certain extent, from the plan of aiding indigent students as hitherto, or increase its resources. That, at any rate, to have thus burdened it would have crippled, if not killed it, is suspected. That substitute was covered by the following as a substitute for the whole:
“Resolved, That in the judgment of this General Conference the present organization and perpetuity of the Freedmen’s Aid Society should remain unchanged.”
But both these substitutes were laid on the table. The other extreme view was manifested by the following substitute, which went the way of the preceding:
“Resolved, 1. That the collections of the Freedmen’s Aid Society shall be wholly appropriated to aid the schools for the colored people.
“Resolved, 2. That the Committee on Education be requested to make provisions for giving aid to schools among the white people of the South.”
That a disposition to separate the educational work of the Church in the South between the races prevailed, appears on the face of the foregoing. The report, as given above, was then adopted. It is plainly seen that the Church did not, even in this, intend to be partial on account of race or color. One would naturally infer from the foregoing and that which follows, that considerable feeling was manifested. In Report No. 2 of the Committee on Freedmen appears the following:
“Resolved, That our pastors, in presenting the claims of this society to the Church, should remind our people that a portion of the appropriations of the society will be made for the education of the white population connected with our Church in the Southern States, but not to the embarrassment of the work among our people of color.”