In a speech recently delivered before the graduating class of Meharry Medical College, at Nashville, Gov. Taylor said: "There is no Negro problem of the South. That has been settled long ago. I belong to a generation that has grown up since the war, a generation of young white men who thank God that the shackles of slavery have been stricken from the limbs of the black man." I have observed that in any community where our people respect themselves and encourage the enterprise of each other the white people not only patronize and encourage us, but they treat our women respectfully, and the lives of our men are as safe as if we were white; but where we act the brute and traitor to each other the race, both good and bad, fare hard, and nothing more is to be expected by any sensible person. It is human nature for the strong to prey upon the weak. Hence the Negro must be his own first strength by his moral life and faithfulness to each other. Unless this, we are as a race doomed either in Africa or America. (Caesar A. A. Taylor, Ocala, Fla.)
The race problem is a moral one. It is a question entirely of ideas. Its solution will come especially from the domain of principles. Like all the other great battles of humanity, it is to be fought out with the weapons of truth; it cannot be settled by extinction of race; no amalgamation process can eliminate it. The social idea is to be entirely excluded from consideration. It is absolutely a personal matter, regulated by taste, condition, racial or family affinities, and there it must remain undisturbed forever. (W. H. Council)
J. P. NEWTON, MEMPHIS, TENN.
One of the finest photographers in the South.
The colored race of this country should aim at the highest success and make themselves the best citizens and the most useful members of society. We should be guided by right principles and prove ourselves worthy of the liberty granted us by the emancipation. There should be no better schools than ours, no grander statesmen, no more shining lights in professional life, no happier homes, no more cultured women, no people more moral and upright. It is safe to say that we can do it, because many noble and worthy men and women of our race have already achieved great success. They have climbed high in their endeavors, have grasped the prize held out before them, and by their brilliant achievements have conferred honor upon their people and have written their names indelibly upon the hearts of their countrymen. Where are our rising young men and women? We call them to come forward. We bid them lift their eyes to the highest of knowledge and power. We point them to those whose names have become household words, and bid them press on to the front rank in the struggle for life. Here lies our hope for the future; and the Negro problem, which is one of the greatest problems of the present age, will have solved itself. (Harvey Johnson.)