F 129 B7H36 1910 K V 6 A ^ UBRARY OF CONGRESS 'Iass„_ THE BEQUEST OF DANIEL MURRAY WASHINGTON, D. C. 1<»25 ..iH«- Iltth .. and .. J»vttm '• OF KINGS COUNTY (INCORPORATED) f ttto f ewiS fens, l«sW««t- me fegw »«* i**^****^ »wpaipotP«»^«*«*"'' jtft anil ®lfeAl Dfi'v^ocro.-t^c Clubo-f Brook Oflub .. and .. S^^^^^'^ OF KINGS COUNTY ^^/ (INCORPORATED) ^^7 iufus fewis i«rn, 'gKeMmt (Hampaigw of fiinftten ftunrtrrfl mA ^m The bequest of Daniel Murray, VVashington, D. C. 1925. In dllub ant) Jorum (incorporated) Executive Offices^ 4 and 5 Court Square The Thomas Jefferson Building Meetings, Thursdays of each W«efc, Lectures, Third Friday of each Month. RUFUS LEWIS PERRY, A. B. LL.B., President WALTER \V. DELSARTE, LL. B. Vice-President ROBERT HAMILTON, Writer Secretary SAMUEL F. HORN Adjwster Recording Secretary SAMUEL A. PEASE, L.L.B. Lawyer Financial Secretary WILLIAM KUSSEL JOHNSON, ESQ. Treasurer CLARENCE A. SMITH Chairman Membership Comfnittee ALPHONSE JACKSON Chairvian Campaign Committee JAMES A. JACKSON, Broker Chairman Executive Committee RUFUS LEWIS PERRY A.B. Chairman Lecture Committee JAMES A. JACKSON Chairman Organization Rights SAMUEL PEASE Chairman Laiv Committee FRED A. PERRY Chairman City, County and State Committee CHARLES LANSING. ESQ. WALTER S. BARKER, ESQ. MILFORD W.JACKSON. ESQ. FORUM RUFUS LEWIS PERRY, President PROF. MELVILLE CHARLTON Chairman Music Commiitee ROBERT HAMLITON, ESQ. Chairman Literary Committee CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION of the HANNIBAL DEMOCRATIC CLUB and FORUM. STATE OF NEW YORK, ) CITY OF NEW YORK, )ss. COUNTY OF KINGS, ) WE. THE UNDERSIGNED, of full age, being desirous of associating ourselves together for Political, Social and Literary purposes, and to create a fund to build a Club House, Home and Hall, as hereinafter is more particularly described, pursuant to and in conformity with Acts of the Legislature of the State of New York, relating to ]\Iembership Corporations, do hereby certify and declare that we are all of full age, — all — of us are citizens of the United States, and all of us are residents of the State of New York. We do further certify and declare as follows: First. — That the particular objects for which said corporation is formed are as follows, viz: I. To create a fund to build, erect, construct, purchase, rent or lease a house, home or club and hall for the members of the Club, Society or Organization, and to buy, purchase, erect, con- struct, transfer or trade real estate or personal property to carry said object into effect; and to mortgage or assign mortgage or mortgages for a like purpose, or to rent, lease or assign any and all leases to real estate for a like purpose; and to engage in buying, purchasing, selling, transfer- ring, mortgaging, leasing, renting or assigning mortgages to real estate or personal property, or to do any legitimate or legal act or acts, thing or things, necessary or requisite to be done to carry said object into effect, and in buying, pur- chasing, selling personal property of any and all description for a like purpose. II. To do any and all things necessary to be done in order to form a pleasant and harmonious union, understanding and relation with the Dem- ocratic Party of Kings County and the State and Nation and the Regnant Race in general, giving up all to said Party, except such as was meant for mankind; to secure justice to the members of the Ethiopian Race and insure tranquility in their homes; to provide for a common and united de- fense where the interest of the Ethiopian is in- volved; and to promote the general welfare of xht members of the Club and of the Ethiopian Race in general, and to secure the blessings of liberty under that clause of the State and Federal Constitutions which protects life, liberty and property to ourselves and to our posterity, III. To act in concert, union and perpetual harmony with the regular Democratic Organiza- tion of the County of Kings in particular, and the City and State of New York in general, and to promulgate the principles and tenets of the Dem- ocratic Party among the Ethiopian Race, and influence it to espouse the cause of the Demo- cratic Party and its candidates, and to follow Democracy as long as it teaches the doctrine of truth, right and liberty, and just recognition of the Ethiopian; only remembering that we are Ethi- opians first and Democrats next. IV. To m.aintain a Literary Society, Depart- m^ent and Lyceum for the diffusion and discussion of economic and political problems and their rela- tion to the Ethiopian and other problems of inter- est to the race; and to awaken an interest in the true Ethiopian as to his duty to Government and true citizenship, in the hope to win the esteem and respect of other races as a member of the body politic, and for a just recognition of the race to appointment to office, relying upon the doctrine that "The husbandman that laboreth must be the first to partake of the fruit." Second. — That the corporate name by which said Corporation hereby to be formed shall be known and distinguished is and shall' be THE HANNIBAL DEMOCRATIC CLUB OF BROOKLYN. Third. — That the territory in which the opera- tions of said Corporation are to be principally conducted is the County of Kings. Fourth. — That the principal office of said Cor- poration shall be located in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, and State of New York. Fifth. — That the number of Directors of said Corporation shall be six. Sixth. — That the names and places of residence of the persons to be the Directors of said Corpo- ration until its hrst annual meeting are: Rufus Lewis Ferry, io6t St. AL'irk's Avenue,. Brooklyn. William Russell Johnson, 94 Johnson Street, Brooklyn. James A. Jackson. 106 Adelphi Street, Brook- lyn. Frederick A. Perry, 1600 Bergen Street, Brook- lyn. Cornelius Hughes, 16 West 136th Street, Man- hattan Borough, New York. Sumner H. Lark, 360 Atlantic Avenue, Brook- lyn. Robert Hamilton, 214 Milford Street, Brooklyn. Seventh. — That the annual meeting of said Cor- poration shall be held on the ist Monday of Jan- uary in each and every year. IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, We have made and signed this Certificate in duplicate and have hereunto set our hands and affixed our respective seals this 28th day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ten. RUFUS L. PERRY, WM. RUSSELL JOHNSON, JAMES A. JACKSON, FREDERICK FI. PERRY, CORNELIUS A. HUGHES, SUMNER H. LARK, ROBERT HAMIL']:ON. STATE OF NEW YORK, ) CITY OF NEW YORK, )ss. COUNTY OF KINGS, ) I, Lillian S. Buchacher, a Commissioner of Deeds, duly commissioned and qualified, do hereby certify that on this 28th day of January, in the year one thousand and nine hundred and ten, per- sonally appeared before me, Rufus Lewis Perry, William Russell Johnson, James Jackson, Fred- erick A. Perry, Cornelius Hughes, Sumner H. Lark and Robert Hamilton, to me severally known and known to me to be the individuals named in and who executed the foregoing Cer- tificate, and they thereupon severally acknowl- edged before me that they did execute the same for the purposes therein set forth. [Seal] LILLL^N S. BUCHACHER, Commissioner of Deeds for the City of New- York. I, Samuel T. Maddox, Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, of the Second Judicial District, do hereby approve the fore- going certificate of incorporation, and consent that the same be filed. Dated at the County Court House, Brooklyn, January 28th, 19 10. S. T. MADDOX, Justice Supreme Court, Second Judicial Dist, O. K. J. F. M. A. 10-17-1910. STATE OF NEW YORK, ) )ss. COUNTY OF KINGS, ) I, Henry P. Molloy. Clerk of the County of Kings and Clerk of the Supreme Court of the State of New York in and for said County (said Court being a Court of Record), do hereby certify "that 1 Jiave compared the annexed with the orig- inal Certificate of Incorporation filed in my office Oct. 17, 1910, and that the same is a true transcript thereof, and of the whole of such original. IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have here- unto set my hand and affixed the seal of said County and Court, this 17th day of Oct., igio. HENRY P. MOLLOY. STATE OF NEW YORK, ) OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY )ss. OF STATE. ) 12 I have compared the preceding with the original Certificate of Incorporation of The Hannibal Democratic Club of Brooklyn, filed and recorded in this office on the nth day of October, 1910, and do hereby certify the same to be a correct transcript therefrom and of the whole of said original. Witness my hand and the seal of ofifice of the Secretary of State, at the City of Albany, this nth day of October, one thousand nine hundrecf and ten. [Seal.] HORACE G. TEXNANT, Second Deputy Secretar^^ of State. THE NEGRO AND POLITICS. The political campaign is now on in earnest, and the Republican party is courting the colored vote. The Negro smiles at this courtship. The Republicans now cry aloud, "God hath made of one blood all nations of men," and they take the colored voter right to their heart, call him brother, and tell him of the days of '61. As usual, speculation is rife with the regnant race as to where the Negro stands in this cam- 13 paign. Will he stand by the Old Guard, receive a loin of pork and a picture of Abraham Lincoln for that inalienable right called the franchise? Will he stand with Hearst, and, if Hopper is elected, he resign and allow Hearst to sit as Gov- ernor? Or will he emancipate himself from these and go to the arms of Democracy, which are out- stretched for him, promising to respect his man- hood rights, guarantee equal protection before the law, and thus dispel the feeling of hatred and prejudice which is engendered because the bulk of the Negro vote has been Republican and is so counted before it is cast? Prudence would dictate that candidates sub- mitted to the people for their suffrage be esti- mated not alone by their character, or the plat- form upon which they stand, but by the element and force which created them, and the kindred power which will shape their action and conduct, if election success should crown their efforts. From this viewpoint, the Negro should be found with the Democrats in the coming election. The Republican party is no longer the champion of Negro rights, as it is understood: that mantle it has long ago discarded. But the Negro, in his love for the party and for what it once stood, was blind, and has just awakened. It was thrown 14 io the four winds in the treatment accorded the Negro soldiers by ex-President Roosevelt, ancf the race will have but to recall Brownsville and iremenlber that it was the bravery of her sons in marching "into the jaws of death and the mouth of heir* at El Caney that spared the life of Col; Roosevelt; this alone will be sufficient to alienate the colored vote fi*om the Republican party in this State. Col. Roosevelt has often talked loudly of "fair play," the "open door," and the "door of hope*' for the Negro. Yet, when in the South recently he did not raise his voice against disfranchisement, the jini crow car, or lynching. He knows it is wrong in principle, practice and law. Dare he sa}' with Lincoln, in whose company he recently placed himself in his criticism of the Supreme Court, "I am not bound to win, but 1 am bound to be true; I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to what light I have. 1 must stand with anybody who stands right, stand \vith him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong." What would Lincoln say of a man who proclaimed that his policy would be to appoint no Negro to a L>dcral position an}^- where in the South, where white men objected to the Negro holding office. For these and other 15 wrongs to the Negro, committed without a voice of protest from Col. Roosevelt or the Republican party, there is and will be a bitter war waged by the Negro on Roosevelt and his policies. Negroes who have differed for years on race affairs now consult for the purpose of making a united attack. This political war will extend to any candidate, National or State, supported by Col. Roosevelt and submitted to the Negro for his suffrage as a Republican. P^or this purpose the National Independence League, an organization of great force and strength, composed of Negro men of intelligence and culture, will devote their attention and influence. An example of the League's attitude is to be found in the following letter from Hon. William M. Trotter, its secre- tary, a Negro scholar, and a gentleman of refine- ment, Editor of the Boston "Guardian:" To Hon. Theodore Roosevelt, Oyster Bay, N. Y. Dear Sir: At the meeting of the Campaign Committee of the National Independent Political League in Washington, D. C, I publicly challenged you to show the courage on your Southern tour to con- t6 demn the jim-crowing, disfranchising and lynch- ing of colored Americans in the South, or to publicly approve the same. You failed to do either. At the same meeting I challenged you to a joint debate, and now send you the challenge in writing, on your solution of the so-called Negro problem as stated by you last August in the National Negro League, sometimes called "busi- ness" league. I will take the affirmative of the proposition that your solution is fallacious and false, a violation of human nature, contrary to the history of the struggle against oppression, and a drawing of the color line. I will meet you at any place in New York City suitable for a public debate, on any day except election day, on one week's notice. Awaiting your reply, I am, Yours sincerely, WM. MONROE TROTTER, 21 Cornhill, Boston, Mass. Soon after the receipt of this letter, Col. Roose- velt is said to have taken an aeroplane ascension. If he ascended high enough, he would have seen Abraham Lincoln, for he is in Heaven. J7 Where in former years the Negro press was subsidized by the Republican party to bring the faithful into the fold, a great change has taken place. An enlightened press is now in the field and neither money nor promise can swerve them from performing a duty they owe to the race. Two hundred newspapers now wisely edit their journals, having nothing but the best interest of the race at heart, and that wisdom demands a repudiation of the idea that the Negro owes any debt to the Republican party except such as is created by its acts towards the race. Up to date nothing can be recorded that is gratifying as having been bestowed by New Nationalism in counter distinction to Republicanism as created by Lincoln and expounded by Lovejoy, Sumner, Garrison, Wilberforce, Beecher, and a host of other noble and great Republicans. This new political institution decrees that the Negro must work out his own salvation. He must stop singing^ "You ma}- have all this world, but give me Jesus, '^ and engage himself in the activities of life. He niust be a man; he must wear over his breast the motto, 'T am a man and nothing is foreign to me that relates to man." This is good for the race, for it is now ready io receive the decree and will support men and i8 mensnres, rather than parties; for like every other citizen the Negro's happiness both in this life and the life to come is involved in religion and in politics. In his religion he finds his God, his faith, his practice, his hope. In his politics he finds his safe-guards to his life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. In his religion he en- joys a fixedness in doctrine and promises, and his hope rests upon the certainty of the immutable things in which he believes. He has a JesuS) who is no respector of persons continually look- ing after his spiritual interests, and in that Jesus he hopefully confides; yet, with all this, the Negro like the Sons of Shem and Japheth, is di- vided in religious affairs and nobody objects. He is to be found in all Christian denominations. This is a result of his liberty to think and act for Tiimself in matters according to his under- standing of the scripture. Division then results from a difference in understanding. The same IS true in politics. Colored men of thought and positiveness differ in regard to politicians or can- didates for office and in regard to political issues and the relatve importance of the different issues. Thus differing, they go to the part}^ of like opin- ion and work for victory. As a rule, the Negroes were heretofore devoted 19 Republicans, but the exceptions to that rule are growing potentiously larger every year. The ratio is now 2 to 3 in favor of Republicanism. We have now a strong Democratic Club in nearly every large city. Twenty years ago such an anomaly would have created a mob. The reason for this is that the Republican party or New Nationalism has parted company with principle, and made love to ambition. Republicanism no longer teaches equality be- fore the law; right here is where the difference of opinion steps in and begets division, and lead's the thoughtful Negro to a party whose mission is to vindicate the freedom of Democracy and not the constraint of Republicanism or New Nationalism as it is understood, whose laws are made not for a favored few, but for all. and whose glory lies not in the ambition of any single man or set of men, but in the well-being of all citizens; and in this spirit it is a duty the Negro owes to himself and to his race to array himself against the forces that are against his interests and ally himself with those most conducive to his happiness. The history of the Republican party in the last ten years towards the Negro, is a history of an abandonment of those principles for which the Negro gave his suffrage and support. The record of the Demo- cratic party and its leaders in the North during the same period is one of respect for manhood rights and the right of the black man, and a desire to accord him representation in office ac- cording to his numerical strength and fitness. In the South, it is different, simply because the Negro has always been found and counted with the Republican party, irrespective of plat- form or candidate, and has thereby demonstrated hostility to the majority, who retaliated by pass- ing laws hostile to him. This is the natural result of political hostility. It was true one hundred years ago, it is true to-day and it will be true one hundred years- hence, and those with whom the Negro cast his vote were unable to afford him relief. The Northern Republican failed to interfere with this unjust legislation brought about by reason of the Negro's fidelity to the party, for fear of winning disfavor with the regnant South, or heeded the cry to let the South settle the question in its own way as President Taft has allowed. In this condition the Negro has found himself in a most unfortunate situation, and his love for the Republican party has been the direct means of his disfranchisement, and when appeal for relief has been made to that 21 party having control of both branches of Con- gress, it was denied. In nearly every case where an appeal has been made to a Republican Supreme Court to redress the wrongs committed upon the race, the same has been denied. This treatment is just the opposite to that accorded the race by the Democrats, and we find in our city colored Democrats drawing salaries of more than one hundred thousand dollars, through influence of the Hon. Chas. F Murphy of Xew York County and Hon. John E. :\rcCooey of Kings County. and one Xegro was elected judge on the Demo- cratic ticket. Predicated upon representation according to numerical strength this is reasonable, contrasted with what the colored Republicans got from Gov. Hughes when they supported him and his party. The ratio is one hundred to nothing. We have a Democratic mayor in our city, the like of which Xew York has never witnessed. Treating all classes and creeds alike under the law and giving special privileges to none: with Mayor Gaynor it is not a question of color or creed, but one of fitness for office and our city govern- ment is run in an orderly way without fuss or fume, and the individual right of each citizen is respected. The Negroes supported Justice Gaynor because they knew him, and an instance of his strength of character, fitness and fairness is found in his refusal to follow the appeal of public clamor to suppress certain pictures due solely to race prejudice. Roger Taney was a brilliant man, but he subordinated his intelli- gence to the prejudices of the times. Both Mayor Gaynor and Roger Taney were justices, one had and the other has great opportunities before him, the difference between the two men is the difference between our city and State gov- ernment. One Democratic, the other Republican; one firm, the other tottering under the weight of political demagogues, requiring investigating committees before election to give I't the appear- ance of stability. Look at the legislature to-day. There is more demagogy in it in vocalized form than ever before. It is because principle has been placed aside and ambition is in the ascendency. The Independence League once had a hold upon a portion of the Negro vote, but the attitude of Mr. Hearst in his newspapers towards the Negro has estranged the vote from him, and Mr. Hearst is considered nothing more than a demagogic rhetorician, an artful political panderer to popu- 23 lar prejudice, seeking to control the people by specious and deceitful arts. He knows that a vote cast for his cause is a vote lost; a vote thrown away. His attitude towards the race has been in line with his political policy and is in severe Contrast to the New York "World," which has always accorded the Negro a fair show and advocated just treatment for him. At times the "World" has been alone in cham- pioning the cause of the race, and the World is with the cause of Democracy. Jeremiah says, "Ethiopia shall stretch forth her hand." The time is near, election day will be a day most propitious for her to do it, and in stretching forth that hand, a ballot will be cast for the en- tire Democratic State ticket. Those Republicans provoked at the defeat of Col. Roosevelt in the Republican caucus, and of the "Old Guard" at the Republican convention, will then realize that "whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad." Respectfully, RUFUS L. PERRY. * LBUy'lb