I determined never to say anything in a public address in the
North that I would not be willing to say in the South. I early
learned that it is a hard matter to convert an individual by abusing
him, and that this is more often accomplished by giving credit for all
the praiseworthy actions performed than by calling attention alone to
all the evil done.
While pursuing this policy I have not failed, at the proper time
and in the proper manner, to call attention, in no uncertain terms, to
the wrongs which any part of the South has been guilty of. I have
found that there is a large element in the South that is quick to
respond to straightforward, honest criticism of any wrong policy. As
a rule, the place to criticise the South, when criticism is necessary,
is in the South -- not in Boston. A Boston man who came to Alabama to
criticise Boston would not effect so much good, I think, as one who
had his word of criticism to say in Boston.
In this address at Madison I took the ground that the policy to be
pursued with references to the races was, by every honourable means,
to bring them together and to encourage the cultivation of friendly
relations, instead of doing that which would embitter. I further
contended that, in relation to his vote, the Negro should more and
more consider the interests of the community in which he lived, rather
than seek alone to please some one who lived a thousand miles away
from him and from his interests.
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