sion.

This oppression shows itself in many other ways. Take for example the
railroads running through the rural sections of the South. There are
many flag stations where hundreds of our people get off and on train.
The railroads have at these little stops a platform about six feet
square, only one coach stops at this point; the Negro women, girls and
boys are compelled to get off and on the train sometimes in water and in
the ditches because there are no provisions made for them otherwise.

Again, take the matter of the franchise. We all agree that ignorant
Negroes should not be entrusted with this power, but we all feel that
where a Negro has been smart and industrious in getting an education and
property and pays his taxes, he should be represented. Taxation without
representation is just as unjust today as it was in 1776. It is just as
unfair for the Negro as it is to the white man, and we all, both white
and black, know this. We may shut our eyes to this great truth, as
sometimes we do, but it is unjust just the same.

Take the matter of the courts. There is no justice unless the Negro has
a case against another Negro. When he has a case against a white man you
can tell what the decision will be just as soon as you know the nature
of the case, unless some strong white man will come to the Negro's
rescue. This, too, is generally known, and the Negro does not expect
justice.

None of us have forgotten the recent campaign of Mr. Underwood and Mr.
Hobson for United States Senator from this State. Mr. Underwood's
supporters attacked Mr. Hobson because he defended the Negro soldiers
when he was Representative, and Mr. Hobson's supporters attacked Mr.
Underwood because they said that he had a Negro secretary in Washington.
Any politician who dares defend a Negro, however just the cause may be,
is doomed to political death. This is another fact which we all know.

As yet, there has been no concerted actions on the part of the white
people to stop mob violence. I know a few plantations, however, where
the owners will not allow their Negroes to be arrested unless the
officer first consults them, and these Negroes idolize these white men
as gods, and so far not one of these Negroes has gone North. I repeat
that there are out-croppings of these oppressions everywhere in this
country, but they show themselves most where the Negroes are in largest
numbers.

All of these sorrows the Negro has endured with patience and long