riends
to secure for us these things with all possible speed. First, more
protection at the hands of the law. We ask that the law of the State,
made and enforced by white men, should be made to apply with exact
justice to both races. We have no sympathy for criminals, but we ask
that the innocent shall be protected to the fullest extent of the law.
Second, that more liberal provisions be made for the education of
our people." They commended Governor Dorsey for his courageous
recommendation in his inaugural address that an agricultural school
should be established for negroes in some center in southern Georgia,
and asked their friends everywhere to urge the members of the
legislature from the various counties to put Governor Dorsey's noble
sentiments into law. These memorialists felt, too, that as far as
possible, wages should be in keeping with the cost of living, and
that the white people generally should take an interest in the general
welfare of the negroes.[91]

Tuskegee Institute was also quick to offer a remedy for the migration.
In the latter part of September, 1916, the institution made a strong
effort to persuade the negro farmers to remain on the land instead
of going to the cities. Conferences were held with the bankers of
Tuskegee and with many planters of Macon county and a method of
dealing with the situation was worked out. This method embraced a
number of helpful suggestions as to how to solve their many perplexing
problems.[92] At the twenty-sixth annual negro conference at Tuskegee
Institute, the institution took that occasion to send through certain
declarations a message to the negroes of the South. These declarations
recited the distress and suffering impelling the negroes to migrate,
expressing the appreciation of the necessity to do something to better
their condition by embracing the new opportunities offered them in the
North. On the other hand, this institution felt that there were many
permanent opportunities for the masses of the colored people in the
South, which is now entering upon a great era of development. Among
these are the millions of acres of land yet to be cultivated, cities
to be built, railroads to be extended and mines to be worked. These
memorialists considered it of still greater importance to the negro
that in the South they have acquired land, buildings, etc., valued at
about five hundred million dollars. The negroes were, therefore, urged
to stay on the soil which they own