All the
members of this committee were white men except Bishop Grant, Bishop
Gaines, and myself. The Mayor and several other city and state
officials spoke before the committee. They were followed by the two
coloured bishops. My name was the last on the list of speakers. I
had never before appeared before such a committee, nor had I ever
delivered any address in the capital of the Nation. I had many
misgivings as to what I ought to say, and as to the impression that my
address would make. While I cannot recall in detail what I said, I
remember that I tried to impress upon the committee, with all the
earnestness and plainness of any language that I could command, that
if Congress wanted to do something which would assist in ridding the
South of the race question and making friends between the two races,
it should, in every proper way, encourage the material and
intellectual growth of both races. I said that the Atlanta Exposition
would present an opportunity for both races to show what advance they
had made since freedom, and would at the same time afford
encouragement to them to make still greater progress.
I tried to emphasize the fact that while the Negro should not be
deprived by unfair means of the franchise, political agitation alone
would not save him, and that back [sic] of the ballot he must have
property, industry, skill, economy, intelligence, and character, and
that no race without these elements could permanently succeed.
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