OCR Text |
Show DISCUSSED CHRISTIAN UPLIFT Taft Talks to Large Negro Audience, Encourages In-, In-, dustry and Thrift. Augusta. Jan. 17. Introduced to a big audience of men, comprising the I negro Young Men's Christian Associa: tlon of this city- today, President-Elect Taft discussed the Christian upllfe of the Y. M. C. A. work. Dr. Walker, known as the "Black Spurgeon," who Introduced Mr. Taft, said the negroes of Georgia owned a million acres of land in the state and paid taxes on twenty million dollars' worth of property. This report Mr. Taft regarded as most encouraging. It gave him an illustration il-lustration of the oft expressed belief that the race question must bo settled by the negroes themselves becoming indispensable to the country In which they lived. This meant Industry. Information In-formation and thrift acquired bv con- stant Individual effort. He dwelt at length upon the advantages of Y. M. C. A. work to bring out this end. and Illustrated his point by picturing the temptations and depression of Americans Amer-icans in the Philippines and the help which the association Is rendering there to afford wholesome ways of entertainment en-tertainment for the leisure hours. It was his belief that the Y. M. C. A. had brought about in this country more tolerance between the various religious denominations. As an example of this he gave a detailed account of the situation sit-uation in which the government found itself with reTK?ct to the friar lands in the Philippines. Concurrence, he said, had been obtained ob-tained from a body of clergymen representing rep-resenting the various denominations that no protest would be made by them when the government should tako up the negotiations necessary to acquire title to those lands. Their purchase for $7,000,000, ho said, had! saved what would be a bloody resolution in the Philippines. "Forty years ago" he said, ''it would have been Impossible to have obtained this concurrence. There would have arisen among the denominations denom-inations an objection to It on the ground that it was a recognition of the Roman Catholic church contrary to our traditional custom. After he had descried ihe Y. M. C. A. work on the Isthmus of Panama, Pan-ama, where four clubs are running, each under the dire Jlion of an experienced experi-enced Y. M. C. A: secretary, ya'd by the government, where ten rr a aozen ministers arc also employed by tlie government with a plan to .establish two or three more clubs. Mi. Tlt re-ruarked: re-ruarked: "It is possslble we will charged with having filched lh;U money pom the public treasury bit If -.ve !iare, we have accomplished a good work with It. I think, also, tha expni'I.uio could Abe defended upon strictly le.al grounds. We have entered the Isthmus Isth-mus of Panama and Introduced there some fifty thousand souls, jniesswo take especial pains to have their morality mor-ality looked after, unless we furnish ministers, churches and Christian clubs, we are going to have such a KOtnmalla of evils, such demoralization, demoraliza-tion, that we -will never build the canal. ca-nal. Hence, If we are to be Impeached Im-peached for spending that money, It will be In a good cause." Mr. Taft arrived here from Atlanta at 9 o'clock today. Fred W. Carpenter, who will accompany accom-pany Mr. Taft to the white house as secretary to the president, got here today to-day from a vacation In California. The statement is authorized from Mr. Taft that no person has authority author-ity to represent the president-elect as taking any attitude whatever regarding regard-ing the senatorial publication in Oregon. Ore-gon. The need of such a statement has been Impressed upon Mr. Taft by j Information that his name was being used in efforts to break down the Oregon Or-egon primary law. J E. H. Harriman is expected here tomorrow. |