The great war is ended. This, the gr< ••►ie'st tragedy of the world's history,
came to a close as suddenly as it had Ik up.. If someone had predicted on
August 1st, 1*14, that the world would - :on be at war he would have been
called a fanatic and void of reason. Yet, fourteen days from that date the giant
"cannon began to roar" and the earth rocked s if struck by a thunderbolt. Almost
every civilized, nation on earth was either• irectly or indirectly drawn into this
seething volcano. If, on November 1st, • 18, one would have prophesied the
end of the war in ten days, he world doii 'tless have been judged a fit subject
tor the mad house. Still, on November 1 liJ| the mighty German armies hoisted
the white nag o surrender, and for' the firs: fime in four years turned their weary
footsteps toward the Rhine, lhe victoric v forces have stacked arms; demobili¬
zation has set in, and today the pienipo'e tiaries from all over the world are
g; tiier'ng around the great peace table f >; the purpbse of drawing up interna¬
tional treaties, that the weak as well as t' ■ st ong may hereafter have fair play
and at hast a hearing. My people will » fio representative present except
tliS ^mg^jcan vvhitc 'man. r.n<i ^ ■ ■■■ ( must lia\ i' nt fai 1.b
^^rl^Tyn'raen hfTne heat ol"tned;
roi piiT or^reuuraen in rne heat ot the day, both
at home and on the field of battle, as we shall shortly show, I venture with some
degree of modesty to offer a suggestion to the peace commission for their care¬
ful consideration; and why should 1 not speak boldly? I am an American and
proud of my past record. My father was an atom of dust created in the image
and likeness of God; my mother was as a straw in the wind of His Serene
Majesty. This history of my ancestors is a trail of blood and sacrifice from
bunker Hill to the shell-torn trenches of No Man's Land. In the light of Lib¬
erty's enward march on January 1st, 1863, the atom of dust became a man and
the straw in the wind became a woman for the first time in over 200 years. Who
is there that can sing "My Country, !Tis'of Thee" with more boldness than mine?
In the beginning we cleared the forest and drove back the Indians, that the
homes of our white masters might be made safe dwelling places. It was one of
mine (an ex-slave) who shed the first blood for freedom and independence. They
were with Washington at Valley Forge and, like their white comrades, left the
blood-prints from their frozen feet on the ice. When those venerable old patriots
wrote the Declaration of Independence, they dipped their pens in the blood of
my forefathers as well as the Anglo-Saxon. When brave men were needed in
1812 to defend the sacred honor of our country, it was my ancestors who came
forward and offered themselves as living sacrifices for Old Glory. Should we
wonder at the-valor of those true-hearted black Americans? No! They are liv¬
ing up to the proud records of our ancestors, the mighty kings of Ethiopia!
Shall I speak on? Yes, I shall speak and continue to knock at the door of
the Temple of Justice until my people are given a hearing. When this nation
of ours was torn from center to circumference by internal revolution, and the old
flag seemed to trail in the dust, it was two million of my people who came for¬
ward, snatched victory out of defeat, conquered the rebellious enemy, and came
forth with colors flying, singing "The old flag never touched the ground." Yes,
68,178 black men laid down their lives that democracy might rule supreme in this
country and that all men might be free. But war simply prepares the way for
intellect and secures for it an opportunity to;be made manifest without molesta¬
tion. Permit me to pause here if~~ ' --"^show that my race has not proven
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themselves unworthy of .the freedom which they received just fifty-five short
years ago. Picture in your mind foiJr million slaves discharged' without cash
or credit when their employers fell out. See them cut loose as a ship in mid-
ocean, without rudder or stern to guide them aright. What have we to offer
as evidence of our progress? Our wealth is estimated at more than $1,000,000,000.
As firm believers in God, we have 50,000 churches, valued at more than $80,000,-
000. We'have 7,000 lawyers and 37,0l#0 teachers. Our newspapers number 250,
and we own 700,000 homes and 40,000 business houses doing business with 58
banks. We have given for the relief of suffering humanity 6,000 doctors. Our
population has increased from 4,000.COO to 12,000,000 people. All accomplished
in fifty-five years. History's pages does not contain such a record of any other
race on earth. Our great men are numberless, and their names would fill
volumes.
We produced Fre'd Douglas, the greatest abolitionist of ante-bellum days.
We gave to the world Booker T. Washington, the father of the industrial edu¬
cational system. These took their places beside the other great men of their
day and were pronounced the peers of all. And the only barrier that keeps their
names from the immortal halls of fa?tne is the color of their skins. What of
Col. Roscoe Simmons? Small of 'stature but superior in intellect and oratory
to any on the American platform today. This disciple of Booker T. Washington
is doing more than all others to change the sentiment of the American white
man toward his black brothers. He is teaching the Anglo-Saxons to understand
the Negro. There are thousands of others in every walk of life, and should I
attempt to compile a recordj there would not be books enough to contain them.
My race is a peaceful race, but whenever and wherever Old Glory has been
threatened, we have never been found wavering in our devotion to our country's
call. Listen, if you please, to the singing of our gallant 9th and 10th Cavalry as
^Jie^^^j^jh^jiescue^afC^onelJRj^iiijv^landJnsl^^gh^^dei^upSai^iKUi
—
singing, "There'll be a hot time in the old ..town tonight!" They tore off the
Spanish yoke, stood the Cubans on their feet under Old Glory and told them
they were men. We have no grievances to be aired but just and lawful rights
to demand, purchased with our own blood. I could speak on and tell you of
these same cavalrymen who traveled across the barren fields of Mexico and,
though surrounded by the enemy and in the face of a withering machine gun
fire, fought like heroes, although they knew someone had blundered. See them
as they return across the international bridge at Juarez, tattered and torn, foot¬
sore and weary, bringing their dead back as mute evidence of the terrible strug¬
gle through which they had passed. And although our President was too busy
to attend their funeral at Arlington Cemetery, we soon forgot the act and were
among the first to volunteer when our country was drawn into the world's war.
We were told to prepare for a'long journey and assist in ridding the world of
the greatest despot of the Twentieth Century. This man (the Kaiser) was a
despiser of justice and the duty he owed mankind. He was the slave of an idea
and that was the conquering, of the world. He kept faith neither with himself,
the people over whom he ruled with an iron hand, nor with the other nations
who trusted him. And the natural consequences were that he at last fell between
the inevitable circumstances of his own folly, for which he alone was to blame.
And now, like the great and mighty Napoleon, who was exiled in prison at St.
Helena, so this despot, whipped to his knees, skulked across the line into Hol¬
land and, with his family, is an exile awaiting the final decision as to his fate
to be rendered by those gathered around the great peace table. And I speak
proudly, yet not boastingly, of the part played by the members of my race.
When war was declared, the great question was what should be done with
the Negro. His loyalty could not be questioned, for that had been proven on a
thousand battle fields. Then, why any question about my race? I will tell you.
Our ability to undergo lynching, burning, segregation and jimcrowism and
still remain loyal was underestimated. While we had just cause for resentment,
we knew that the fate ®f Old Glory hung in the balance, and we were determined
that she should never touch the g ^ e were forced to wait until the
;
lynchers' rope could be taken from around our necks and the strong bonds of
oppression and prejudice removed for at least during the duration of the war,
as expressed^ by Mr. Walt Mason in the Zanesville Signal. For, while the
Kaiser and his fiendish cohorts were ruthlessly destroying human life and prop¬
erty in Belgium and France and murdering innocent women and children on the
high seas, the kaisers of Mississippi, Georgia and East St. Louis were burning
and lynching, segregating and jimcrowing innocent Negroes in this land of
the free and the home of the brave. But none of these things moved us—
neither counted we our lives dear unto ourselves. We were willing and ready
to fight for bleeding Belgium, forgetting that it was this same nation, under
Leopold, that murdered and mutilated thousands of natives in Africa, in order
that we might with boldness present our own case at home and at least get jus¬
tice. With these things in mind we tore off the corner of our registration card
the last open insult from our government, kissed wife, mother and children
goodbye, and to the tune of "Over There" marched away. We went into the
camps invested with vermin and deadly diseases where, after many days of
hard training, we were pronounced fit and ready for overseas duty. Without a
murmur we embarked upon the transports and sailed out on the mighty ocean,
beh'nd whose every wave nestled a giant submarine seeking whom she might
destroy. And, after many days of peril and anxiety, we landed "somewhere in
France," caught a full breath of that free air, uttered a prayer unto God for his
protection of those we left at home while we fought for democracy abroad, and
took our places in the trenches in No Man's Land. We faced the cannon
without a tremor, smelled the poisonous gas and, laughed. They tell me of
the aces performing daring deeds high in the air; they tell me of the dare¬
devils and Legion of Dea'h, who knew no surrender; but I declare unto you
that until those ebony hued sons of Ham from Africa and America faced the
then victorious enemv, nothing seemed to have halted them in their mad drives
arrrss the plains of France. When the news of Needham and Roberts of New
jf mi
W
as he walks with bead hung down and wc/rried countenance, and when he had
assembled his mighty war lords around the council table, he spreads before them
his abdication papers, advises them to surrender, and skulks across the border
,vt^ Holland. Yes, in the language of another, I repeat that our boys entered
Gethsemane, received their baptism of fire, ascended Golgotha's heights, and
ranv were crucified on the cross of autocracv, that the world might have de¬
mocracy and have it more abundantly. In reply to my inquiry as to the number
of Nepr^es in the armv, I received this letter from the Special Assistant Secre-
t"rv of War H«->n. Emmet J. Scott. I thought if two could whip twenty-five,
25,370,000 could drive the entire German army across the Rhine, plant Old Glory
on the canifol of Berlin, give the Kaiser many stripes, making him see stars
p 11 the while. Such is the partial record of my race on the fields of battle.
And while they fought, those of us at home gave liberally of our means by
Oversubscribing for Liberty Bonds and War Saving Stamps. We plead for
admittance into the Fed Cross, but for a time were turned down by that grim
monster, prejudice. But the war is over and thousands of those brave men
shpll shortlv return to the land of their birth and for which land they traveled
3.000 miles to beard the lion in his den. Many who.fell facing the shot and shell,
tonight sleep in unmarked graves "somewhere in France" and we can only say,
"Mav God rest their souls."
And now, Mr. President, you and your committee have left these shores
to:meet around the greatest peace table the world has ever known. We shall
not embarrass your ^oing by presenting our just claims now. We shall wait
pat'entlv. looking with eves of faith while following our lone star of hone. We
reabze that your time will be spent readius-ting the mans of the world. Belgium-
must be restored to the Belgians, the lost territory of France to the Frenchmen,
Servia th^s^ gallant Servians, Poland to the Poles, and mav we suggest
with modesty that Africa be restored to the Africans? Such will be vour ardu¬
ous duties over there, and we nray God that while you draw up treaties to pro¬
tect the weak in other parts of the world, that your blinded eyes will be opened
and your sleeping conscience awakened to the cries of the oppressed in your
own country asking for jystiq
This, Mr. President and peace commissioners, is the record we offer for
your careful consideration. The record of 370,000 of my race who fought, that
the 12,000,000 of their brothers and sisters might have a right to the i'ree of
Liberty and a man's chance in a man's land. Our hearts have gone with you
across the ocean, and while you discuss plans for universal peace, we pray that
you will first discuss universal brotherhood, for there can be no permanent
peace as long as the strong oppress the weak. Many nations that reached their
height and went down b ar mute testimony of this fact. Egypt, the seat of the
most ancient civilizatL : whose pyramids towered high in the air and whose
mighty kings ruled wit., an iron hand, today represents the inevitable cycle
of all things human—an infancy of feebleness and growth, a maturity of bril¬
liancy and power, and a long, slow decline with death closing the scene. Greece
at one time represented the highest of arts and sciences and producd the great¬
est philosophers the world has ever known, but today all that is left of this once
great country are the historical records. Rome, which once sat on her seven
hills and ruled the world, has forever lost her place in the sun of modern civili¬
zation. The German autocracy, which for forty years oppressed the weak with
heavy taxation, has gone the way of all the dead, and their former rulers' names
shall forever be cursed by their own subiects and the civilized nations of the
world. And America! Oh, America! we believe that you were set apart as a
melting pot on this side of the oce?n, whce all the races of the world might
come and find a haven of rest. And we believe that to vour care and keening
has been entrusted the blending together of all who should seek shelter oil these
shores of liberty; that out of this melting pot should come a united nation, thus
demonstrating to the world the practical teachings of Christianity, which are
the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. This is our message, and
anxiously 12,000,000 true-hearted Americans await your reply. When j^ou shall
hpve completed your mission over there and return triumphant to the land
.... : If vnM
"ok to do onientering"tipon tl7"'uties of your office Lynching antT~mol>
must cease- ses&egation \nd jimcrowism must be abolished, aim.
sir e we believe that all men are en-lowed by their Creator with certain inalien¬
able rights, which are life, libery aim the pursuit of happiness, we are asking
ince we have fought and died for those things abroad, that we be peim t. ^
to enjoy the fruits of our labor at Inme without molestation. N one of nune
J J < -r-» *i i. j ... r, k/NMhk mcnlfpr th
ation on wn-icn we oase our nupt: vv • ..a ^nau ux. , " , , „
tion, 'like many others, continue to : se upon the cries of the weak artel oppressed,
until she has reached her zenith, th highest pinnacle of fame, and tl en go back
until she reaches her nador, the ! ;west_depths of degradation. Or^shaU vv ,
united, continue our upward tea re' Ringing as we go. Liberty and Lmon e
and Inseparable, Now and Forever ihus demonstrating to the world that out of
one blood God hath made all r.atir, is to dwell upon the face of the earth.
PRINCE A. GLANTON.