Recitation. By a little girl. “Washee Washee.”
[See January Missionary, 1883.]
TEMPERANCE WORK AMONG THE COLORED PEOPLE OF THE SOUTH.
Leader. Are temptations to intemperance common among the colored people?
Girls. Yes. More so now, than in the days of slavery. When slaves, it was not for the interest of their masters to furnish them strong drink as a beverage, and the Negroes had but little opportunity or money to purchase it for themselves.
Boys. They now have the privilege of working for wages, and most of the grocery stores as well as the saloons keep liquor, and are glad to get the Negro’s money for it.
Leader. Are there not laws in the different Southern States, prohibiting the sale of intoxicating drinks to minors and to drunken persons?
Girls. There are in quite a number of those States, but these laws are not often enforced.
Boys. In some States they have local option laws in which the counties can vote prohibition, and when temperance measures are carried it is largely the result of Negro votes.
Leader. Has the American Missionary Association found an open door for temperance work in its missions South?