Inasmuch as no more graphic, detailed and colorful account of the day's doings has been printed anywhere, we cannot do better than quote in its entirety the story which appeared in the great newspaper, The World of New York, on February 18, 1919. The parade and reception, during which the Negro troops practically owned the city, occurred the preceeding day. The World account follows:

"The town that's always ready to take off its hat and give a whoop for a man who's done something—'no matter who or what he was before,' as the old Tommy Atkins song has it—turned itself loose yesterday in welcoming home a regiment of its own fighting sons that not only did something, but did a whole lot in winning democracy's war.

"In official records, and in the histories that youngsters will study in generations to come, this regiment will probably always be known as the 369th Infantry, U.S.A.

"But in the hearts of a quarter million or more who lined the streets yesterday to greet it, it was no such thing. It was the old 15th New York. And so it will be in this city's memory, archives and in the folk lore of the descendants of the men who made up its straight, smartly stepping ranks.

"New York is not race-proud nor race-prejudiced. That this 369th Regiment, with the exception of its eighty-nine white officers, was composed entirely of Negroes, made no difference in the shouts and flagwaving and handshakes that were bestowed upon it. New York gave its Old 15th the fullest welcome of its heart.

"Through scores of thousands of cheering white citizens, and then through a greater multitude of its own color, the regiment, the first actual fighting unit to parade as a unit here, marched in midday up Fifth Avenue and through Harlem, there to be almost assailed by the colored folks left behind when it went away to glory.

"Later it was feasted and entertained, and this time very nearly smothered with hugs and kisses by kin and friends, at the 71st Regiment Armory. Still later, perfectly behaved and perfectly ecstatic over its reception, the regiment returned to Camp Upton to await its mustering out.

"You knew these dark lads a year and a half ago, maybe, as persons to be slipped a dime as a tip and scarcely glanced it. They were your elevator boys, your waiters, the Pullman porters who made up your berths (though of course you'd never dare to slip a Pullman porter a dime). But, if you were like many a prosperous white citizen yesterday you were mighty proud to grasp Jim or Henry or Sam by the hand and then boast among your friends that you possessed his acquaintance.

"When a regiment has the medal honors of France upon its flags and it has put the fear of God into Germany time after time, and its members wear two gold stripes, signifying a year's fighting service, on one arm, and other stripes, signifying wounds, on the other, it's a whole lot different outfit from what it was when it went away. And that's the old 15th N.Y. And the men are different—and that's Jim and Henry and Sam.

"Col. William Hayward, the distinguished white lawyer and one time Public Service Commissioner, who is proud to head these fighters, was watching them line up for their departure shortly after 6 o'clock last evening, when someone asked him what he thought of the day.

"'It has been wonderful!' he said, and he gazed with unconcealed tenderness at his men. 'It's been far beyond my expectations. But these boys deserve it. There's only one thing missing. I wish some of Gen. Gouraud's French boys, whom we fought beside, could be here to see it.'

"The Colonel slapped his hand affectionately upon the shoulder of his dark-skinned orderly.

"'How about that, Hamilton, old boy?' he inquired.

"'That's right, Colonel, sir; Gen. Gonraud's boys sure would have enjoyed this day!' the orderly responded as he looked proudly at the Colonel.

"There's that sort of paternal feeling of the white officers toward their men, and that filial devotion of the men to their officers, such as exists in the French Army.

"Much as the white population of the town demonstrated their welcome to the Regiment, it was, after all, those of their own color to whom the occasion belonged. And they did themselves proud In making it an occasion to recall for years in Harlem, San Juan Hill and Brooklyn, where most of the fighters were recruited.

"At the official reviewing stand at 60th street, the kinsfolk and admirers of the regimental lads began to arrive as beforehandedly as 9 o'clock. They had tickets, and their seats were reserved for them. The official committee had seen to that—and nine-tenths of the yellow wooden benches were properly held for those good Americans of New York whom birth by chance had made dark-skinned instead of fair. BUT this was their Day of Days, and they had determined (using their own accentuation) to BE there and to be there EARLY.

"The first-comers plodded across 59th Street from the San Juan Hill district, and it was fine to see them. There seemed to be a little military swank even to the youngsters, as platoons of them stepped along with faces that had been scrubbed until they shone. Had a woman a bit of fur, she wore it. Had a man a top hat—origin or vintage-date immaterial—he displayed that. All heads were up, high; eyes alight. Beaming smiles everywhere. No not quite everywhere. Occasionally there was to be seen on a left sleeve a black band with a gold star, which told the world that one of the Old 15th would never see the region west of Columbus Circle, because he had closed his eyes in France. And the faces of the wearers of these were unlaughing, but they held themselves just as proudly as the rest.

"Few of the welcomers went flagless. No matter whether a man or woman wore a jewel or a pair of patent leather boots as a sign of "class," or tramped afoot to the stand or arrived in a limousine, nearly every dark hand held the nation's emblem.

"Nearly every one wore white badges bearing the letters: "Welcome, Fighting 15th," or had pennants upon which stood out the regimental insignia—a coiled rattlesnake of white on a black field.

"Those colored folk who could afford it journeyed to the stand in closed automobiles. Gorgeously gowned women alighted with great dignity beneath the admiring gaze of their humbler brethren. Taxies brought up those whose fortunes, perhaps, were not of such amplitude. Hansoms and hacks conveyed still others, and one party came in a plumber's wagon, its women members all bundled up in shawls and blankets against the cold, but grinning delightedly as the whole stand applauded.

"Children by the thousands lined the east side of the avenue—Boy Scouts and uniformed kids and little girls with their school books under their arms, and they sang to the great delight of the crowd.

"Just why it was that when Governor Smith and former Governor Whitman and Acting Mayor Moran and the other reviewers appeared behind a cavalcade of mounted policemen, the youngsters struck up that army classic, "Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning," no one could tell, but it gave the reviewers and the crowd a laugh.

"With the state and city officials were the members of the Board of Aldermen, the Board of Estimate, Major Gen. Thomas J. Barry, Vice Admiral Albert Gleaves, Secretary of State, Francis Hugo; Rodman Wannamaker and—in a green hat and big fur coat—William Randolph Hearst. Secretary Baker of the War Department was unable to attend, but he did the next best thing and sent his colored assistant, Emmett J. Scott.

"The reviewers arrived at 11:30 and had a good long wait, for at that time the paraders had not yet left 23rd Street. But what with the singing, and the general atmosphere of joyousness about the stand, there was enough to occupy everyone's time.

"There was one feature which took the eye pleasingly—the number of babies which proud mothers held aloft, fat pickaninnies, mostly in white, and surrounded by adoring relatives. These were to see (and be seen by) their daddies for the first time. Laughingly, the other day, Col. Bill Hayward spoke of 'our boys' posthumous children,' and said he thought there were quite a few of them.

"'Some of our boys had to go away pretty quickly,' he reminisced. 'Some of them were only married about twenty minutes or so.'

"'O Colonel!' said the modest Major Little on that occasion.

"'Well, maybe it was a trifle longer than twenty minutes,' admitted Bill. But anyhow, there was the regiment's posthumous children in the stand.

"It was 11:26 when the old 15th stepped away from 23rd Street and Fifth Avenue. They looked the part of the fighting men they were. At an exact angle over their right shoulders were their long-bayonetted rifles. Around their waists were belts of cartridges. On their heads were their 'tin hats,' the steel helmets that saved many a life, as was attested by the dents and scars in some of them. Their eyes were straight forward and their chins, held high naturally, seemed higher than ever because of the leather straps that circled them. The fighters wore spiral puttees and their heavy hobbed hiking shoes, which caused a metallic clash as they scraped over the asphalt.

"At the head of the line rode four platoons of mounted police, twelve abreast, and then, afoot and alone, Col. Hayward, who organized the 15th, drilled them when they had nothing but broomsticks to drill with, fathered them and loved them, and turned them into the fightingest military organization any man's army could want.

"The French called them 'Hell Fighters.' The Germans after a few mix-ups named them 'Blutlustige Schwartzmanner' (blood-thirsty black men.) But Col. Bill, when he speaks of them uses the words 'those scrapping babies of mine,' and they like that best of all. Incidentally (when out of his hearing) they refer tenderly to him as 'Old Bill, that fightin' white man.' So it's fifty-fifty.

"The Colonel had broken a leg in the war, so there were those who looked for him to limp as he strode out to face the hedge of spectators that must have numbered a quarter of a million. But nary a limp. With his full six feet drawn up erectly and his strong face smiling under his tin hat, he looked every bit the fighting man as he marched up the centre of the avenue, hailed every few feet by enthusiasts who knew him socially or in the law courts or in the business of the Public Service Commission.

"'Didn't your leg hurt you, Bill?' his friends asked him later.

"'Sure it hurt me; he said, 'but I wasn't going to peg along on the proudest day of my life!' Which this day was.

"Behind the Colonel marched his staff, Lieut. Col. W.A. Pickering, Capt. Adjutant Robert Ferguson, Major E.A. Whittemore, Regimental Sergt. Majors C.A. Connick and B.W. Cheeseman, Regimental Sergts. L.S. Payne, H.W. Dickerson and W.W. Chisum, and Sergts. R.C. Craig, D.E. Norman and Kenneth Bellups.

"The Police Band was at the front of the line of march, but it was a more famous band that provided the music to which the Black Buddies stepped northward and under the Arch of Victory—the wonderful jazz organization of Lieut. Jimmie Europe, the one colored commissioned officer of the regiment. But it wasn't jazz that started them off. It was the historic Marche du Regiment de Sambre et Meuse, which has been France's most popular parade piece since Napoleon's day. As rendered now it had all the crash of bugle fanfares which is its dominant feature, but an additional undercurrent of saxaphones and basses that put a new and more peppery tang into it.

"One hundred strong, and the proudest band of blowers and pounders that ever reeled off marching melody—Lieut. Jimmie's boys lived fully up to their reputation. Their music was as sparkling as the sun that tempered the chill day.

"Four of their drums were instruments which they had captured from the enemy in Alsace, and ma-an, what a beating was imposed upon those sheepskins! 'I'd very much admire to have them bush Germans a-watchin' me today!' said the drummer before the march started. The Old 15th doesn't say 'Boche' when it refers to the foe it beat. 'Bush' is the word it uses, and it throws in 'German' for good measure.

"Twenty abreast the heroes marched through a din that never ceased. They were as soldierly a lot as this town, now used to soldierly outfits, has ever seen. They had that peculiar sort of half careless, yet wholly perfect, step that the French display. Their lines were straight, their rifles at an even angle, and they moved along with the jaunty ease and lack of stiffness which comes only to men who have hiked far and frequently.

"The colored folks on the official stand cut loose with a wild, swelling shriek of joy as the Police Band fell out at 60th Street and remained there to play the lads along when necessary and when—now entirely itself—the khaki-clad regiment filling the street from curb to curb, stepped by.

"Colonel Hayward, with his hand at salute, turned and smiled happily as he saw his best friend, former Governor Whitman, standing with his other good friend, Governor Al Smith, with their silk tiles raised high over their heads. It was the Governor's first review in New York and the first time he and Mr. Whitman had got together since Inauguration Day. They were of different parties, but they were united in greeting Colonel Bill and his Babies.

"From the stand, from the Knickerbocker Club across the street, from the nearby residences and from the curbing sounded shouts of individual greetings for the commander and his staff. But these were quickly drowned as a roar went up for Lieutenant Europe's band, with its commander at the head—not swinging a baton like a common ordinary drum-major, but walking along with the uniform and side-arms of an officer.

"'The Salute to the 85th,' which they learned from their comrade regiment of the French Army of General Gouraud, was what they were playing, a stirring thing full of bugle calls and drum rolls, which Europe says is the best march he ever heard.

"So swiftly did the platoons sweep by that it took a quick eye to recognize a brother or a son or a lover or a husband; but the eyes in the stand were quick, and there were shouts of 'Oh, Bill!' 'Hey, boy, here's your mammy!' 'Oliver, look at your baby!' (It wasn't learned whether this referred to a feminine person or one of those posthumous children Colonel Hayward spoke about.) 'Hallelujah, Sam! There you are, back home again!'

"Half way down the ranks of the 2,992 paraders appeared the colors, and all hats came off with double reverence, for the Stars and Stripes and the blue regimental standard that two husky ebony lads held proudly aloft had been carried from here to France, from France to Germany and back again, and each bore the bronze token with its green and red ribbon that is called the Croix de Guerre. Keen eyes could see these little medals swinging from the silk of the flags, high toward the top of the poles.

"At the end of the lines which filled the avenue came a single automobile, first, with a round-faced smiling white officer sitting in it and gazing happily from side to side. This was Major Lorillard Spencer, who was so badly wounded that he came back in advance of the outfit some weeks ago. There was a special racket of cheers for him, and then another for Major David L. 'Esperance, also wounded and riding.

"Then a far different figure, but one of the most famous of the whole war. Henry Johnson! That Henry, once a mild-mannered chauffeur, who to protect his comrade, Needham Roberts, waded into a whole patrol of 'bush Germans' with a lot of hand grenades, his rifle and his trusty 'steel' in the shape of a bolo knife, and waded into them so energetically that when the casualties were counted there were four dead foemen in front of him, thirty-four others done up so badly they couldn't even crawl away, and heaven knows how many more had been put to flight.

"And now Henry, in commemoration of this exploit, was riding alone in an open machine. In his left hand he held his tin hat. In his right he held high over his head a bunch of red and white lilies which some admirer had pressed upon him. And from side to side Henry—about as black as any man in the outfit if not a trifle blacker—bowed from the waist down with all the grace of a French dancing master. Yes, he bowed, and he grinned from ear to ear and he waved his lilies, and he didn't overlook a bet in the way of taking (and liking) all the tributes that were offered to him.

"A fleet of motor ambulances, back of Henry, carried the wounded men who were unable to walk, nearly 200 of them. But though they couldn't walk, they could laugh and wave and shout thanks for the cheers, all of which they did.

"Almost before the happy colored folk could realize at the official stand that here were their lads back home again, the last of the parade rolled along and it was over. With that formation and the step that was inspired by Lieutenant Europe's band—and by the Police Band which stood at 60th Street and kept playing after the music of the other died away—it required only seventeen minutes for the regiment to pass.

"From this point north the welcome heightened in intensity. Along the park wall the colored people were banked deeply, everyone giving them the first ranks nearest the curb. Wives, sweethearts and mothers began to dash into the ranks and press flowers upon their men and march alongside with them, arm-in-arm. But this couldn't be, and Colonel Hayward had to stop the procession for a time and order the police to put the relatives back on the sidewalks. But that couldn't stop their noise.

"The residents of the avenue paid fine tribute to the dusky marchers. It seemed inspiring, at 65th Street, to see Mrs. Vincent Astor standing in a window of her home, a great flag about her shoulders and a smaller one in her left hand, waving salutes. And Henry Frick, at an open window of his home at 73d Street, waving a flag and cheering at the top of his voice.

"At the corner of 86th street was a wounded colored soldier wearing the Croix de Guerre and the Victoria Cross as well. Colonel Hayward pressed to his side with a hearty handshake, exclaiming: 'Why, I thought you were dead!' It was one of his boys long ago invalided home.

"No, sir, Colonel, not me. I ain't dead by a long ways yet, Colonel, sir,' said the lad.

"'How's it going, Colonel?' asked a spectator.

"'Fine,' said the Commander. 'All I'm worrying about is whether my boys are keeping step.' He needn't have worried.

"The real height of the enthusiasm was reached when, after passing through 110th street and northward along Lenox Avenue, the heroes arrived in the real Black Belt of Harlem. This was the Home, Sweet Home for hundreds of them, the neighborhood they'd been born in and had grown up in, and from 129th Street north the windows and roofs and fireescapes of the five and six story apartment houses were filled to overflowing with their nearest and dearest.

"The noise drowned the melody of Lieut. Europe's band. Flowers fell in showers from above. Men, women and children from the sidewalks overran the police and threw their arms about the paraders. There was a swirling maelstrom of dark humanity in the avenue. In the midst of all the racket there could be caught the personal salutations: 'Oh, honey!' 'Oh, Jim!' 'Oh, you Charlie!' 'There's my boy!' 'There's daddie!' 'How soon you coming home, son?' It took all the ability of scores of reserve policemen between 129th Street and 135th Street, where the uptown reviewing stand was, to pry those colored enthusiasts away from their soldiermen.

"There was one particular cry which was taken up for blocks along this district: 'O-oh, you wick-ed Hen-nery Johnson! You wick-ed ma-an!' and Henry the Boche Killer still bowed and grinned more widely than ever, if possible.

"'Looks like a funeral, Henry, them lilies!' called one admirer.

"'Funeral for them bush Germans, boy! Sure a funeral for them bushes.' shouted Henry.

"The official reviewing party, after the parade had passed 60th street, had hurried uptown, and so had the Police Band, and so there were some doings as the old 15th breezed past 135th Street. But no one up there cared for Governors or ex-Governors or dignitaries. Every eye was on the Black Buddies and every throat was opened wide for them.

"At 145th Street the halt was called. Again there was a tremendous rush of men and women with outstretched arms; the military discipline had to prevail, and the soldiers were not allowed to break ranks, nor were the civilians (save the quickest of them) able to give the hugs and kisses they were overflowing with.

"As rapidly as possible the fighters were sent down into the subway station and loaded aboard trains which took them down to the 71st Regiment Armory at 34th Street and Fourth Avenue. Here the galleries were filled with as many dusky citizens as could find places (maybe 2,500 or 3,000) and so great was the crowd in the neighborhood that the police had to block off 34th Street almost to Fifth Avenue on the west and Third on the east.

"As each company came up from the subway the friends and relatives were allowed to go through the lines, and, while the boys stood still in ranks, but at ease, their kinsfolk were allowed to take them in their arms and tell them really and truly, in close-up fashion, what they thought about having them back.

"When the entire regiment was in the Armory, the civilians in the gallery broke all bounds. They weren't going to stay up there while their heroes were down below on the drill-floor! Not they! They swarmed past the police and depot battalion and so jammed the floor that it was impossible for the tired Black Buddy even to sit down. Most of the boys had to take their chicken dinner—served by colored girls, and the chow, incidentally, from Delmonico's—standing up with arms about them and kisses punctuating assaults upon the plates.

"'Some chow, hey Buddy?' would be heard.

"'Pretty bon.' You'd get the answer. 'I'd like to have beaucoup more of this chicken.' There was noticeable a sprinkling of French words in the conversation of the Old 15th, and, indeed, some of them spoke it fluently.

"'Sam told me,' one girl was heard to say, 'that he killed nineteen of them Germans all his own self, but nobody saw him and so he didn't get that Cross doo Gare.'"

Mustering out commenced at Camp Upton the following day. Thus ended the service of the 369th. Their deeds are emblazoned on the roll of honor. Sons and grandsons of slaves, welcomed by the plaudits of the second largest city in the world. What a record of progress in a trifle over half a century of freedom. What an augury of promise for the future of the colored race, and what an augury for the world freedom which they helped to create, and, overshadowing all else, WHAT an object lesson it should be to our country at large: east, west, north, south, that, "One touch of nature makes 'all men' kin." That in her opinion and treatment of her faithful, loyal black citizens; niggardly, parsimonious, grudging and half-heartedly, how shameful she has been, how great has been her sin; forgetting; or uncaring, even as Pharoh of old, that: "God omnipotent liveth," and that "He is a JUST and a vengeful God!"

New York's welcome to her returning Negro boys was fairly typical of similar scenes all over the country. Chicago gave a tremendous ovation to the heroes of the old 8th Infantry. In Washington, Cleveland, and many other cities were great parades and receptions when theirs came home. In hundreds of smaller towns and hamlets the demonstrations were repeated in miniature.



CHAPTER XXX.

RECONSTRUCTION AND THE NEGRO

BY JULIUS ROSENWALD, PRESIDENT SEARS, ROEBUCK & CO, AND TRUSTEE OF TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE—A PLEA FOR INDUSTRIAL OPPORTUNITY FOR THE NEGRO—TRIBUTE TO NEGRO AS SOLDIER AND CIVILIAN—DUTY OF WHITES POINTED OUT—BUSINESS LEADER AND PHILANTHROPIST SOUNDS KEYNOTE.

Although American sacrifices in the European War have been great, we find compensation for them in many directions. Not the least of these is the vastly increased number of opportunities the reconstruction period will offer to many of our citizens.

Today the United States is the leading nation of the world in virtually every line of activity. We have been thrust into a new world leadership by the war. It behooves us to make the most of our new opportunities. To equip ourselves creditably we must utilize the best there is in the manhood and womanhood of our nation, drawing upon the intellect and ability of every person who has either to give.

Approximately ten percent of our present population is colored. Every man, woman and child of this ten percent should be given the opportunity to utilize whatever ability he has in the struggle for the maintenance of world leadership which we now face. Just insofar as we refuse to give this part of our population an opportunity to lend its strength to helping us set a pace for the rest of the world, as best it can, so do we weaken the total strength of our nation. In other words, we can either give our colored population the right and the opportunity to do the best work of which it is capable and increase our efficiency, or we can deny them their rights and opportunities, as we have done in many instances, and decrease our efficiency proportionately.

Of course, the question naturally arises as to how efficient the colored man and the colored woman are when given the opportunity to demonstrate their ability. No better answer can be found than that given by the splendid work of the majority of our colored people during the war. On the firing line, in the camps behind the line, and in civil life our colored population has done well indeed. Four hundred thousand Negroes offered their lives for their country. Many more made noble sacrifices in civilian life.

It was my privilege not only to observe the work done in civil life by colored persons in this country during the war, but to visit colored troops in France during hostilities.

There is no question that the Negro has given a splendid account of himself both as an exceptionally fearless fighting man and as a member of non-combatant troops. I made diligent effort to ascertain the manner in which the Negro troops conducted themselves behind the lines. It is much easier for a man to become lax in his conduct there than in actual fighting. Without exception every officer I questioned stated he could not ask for more obedient, willing, harder working or more patriotic troops than the Negro regiments had proven themselves to be. Every account I have read regarding the engagement of colored men in fighting units and every case in which I had the opportunity to inquire personally regarding the bravery of colored troops has led me to believe our colored men were as good soldiers as could be found in either our own army or the armies of our allies, regardless of color.

One needs only to scan the records of the War Department and the official reports of General Pershing to find positive proof of the valor, endurance and patriotism of the colored troops who battled for liberty and democracy for all the world. The entire nation notes with pride the splendid service of the 365th to the 372nd Infantry units, inclusive. When historians tell the story of the sanguinary conflicts at Chateau Thierry, in the Forest of Argonne, in the Champagne sector, Belleau Wood and at Metz, the record will give reason to believe that the victories achieved on those memorable fields might have shown a different result had it not been for the remarkable staying and fighting abilities of the colored troops. French, English and American commanding officers unite in singing the praises of these gallant warriors and agree that in the entire Allied Army no element contributed more signally than did they to the final downfall of the German Military Machine in proportion to their numbers.

Not only did the combatant units of the colored troops win laurels across the sea, but the 301st Stevedore Regiment was cited for exceptionally efficient work, having broken all records by unloading and coaling the giant steamer "Leviathan" in fifty-six hours, competing successfully with the best stevedore detachments on the western front of France. Everywhere, behind the lines as well as when facing shot, shell and gas, the colored soldiers have given a most creditable account of themselves and are entitled to the product of their patriotism and loyalty.

Those who remained at home during the war realize fully that the patriotic service rendered by colored persons in civil life, both in doing war work and in the purchase of Liberty Bonds and War Savings Stamps is to be commended.

Surely after the many demonstrations of patriotism both on the battlefield and at home the white people of this country will be willing to accord the colored people a square deal by at least giving them a fair opportunity to earn a livelihood in accordance with their ability.

We have been asking the impossible of the colored man and the colored woman. We have demanded that they be honest, self-respecting citizens, and at the same time we have forced them into surroundings which almost make this result impossible. In many places they are deprived of a fair opportunity to obtain education or amusement in a decent environment. Only the most menial positions are offered them. An educated girl particularly has practically no opportunity to earn a livelihood in the manner for which her education fits her.

We whites of America must begin to realize that Booker T. Washington was right when he said it was impossible to hold a man in the gutter without staying there with him, because "if you get up, he will get up." We do not want to remain in the gutter. We, therefore, must help the Negro to rise.

If we are to obtain the best results from colored labor, unions should admit it to their membership. It is not the universal practice to admit colored persons to unions. The result, of course, is that even if a colored man has the opportunity to learn a trade, knowing he will not be permitted to enjoy the benefits of a union, he does not have the highest incentive for learning it. The north is especially neglectful in not providing openings for the colored men in trades. In the south it is not unusual to see a colored brick-mason working alongside a white brick-mason. But in the north the best a colored man can hope for on a building job now is a position as a hod-carrier or mortar-mixer.

When the alien arrives in this country, he is given opportunity for virtually every kind of employment. But the colored man who is born in the United States, and, therefore, should share in its opportunities, is not given as fair a chance as the alien worker.

Naturally, we cannot hope that these conditions will be remedied in a day or a month nor can the colored man expect that the millennium will come to him through the action of white people alone. He can improve his chances of securing greater rights and opportunities in the United States, if he will make the most of the limited opportunities now afforded him. He who does the best he can with the tools he has at hand is bound in time to demand by his good work better tools for the performance of more important and profitable duties. The conviction is general that "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much."

The late Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, who was a good friend of the black man as well as the white, struck the right note in his introduction to the biography of Booker T. Washington when he said:

"If there is any lesson more essential than any other for this country to learn, it is the lesson that the enjoyment of rights should be made conditional upon the performance of duty."

There exist certain rights which every colored man and woman may enjoy regardless of laws and prejudice. For instance, nothing can prevent a colored person from practicing industry, honesty, saving and decency, if he or she desires to practice them.

The helpfulness of the colored race to the Government need not be confined to fighting in the army nor to service in the manifold domestic callings. It is the duty of the colored citizens, as it is their right, to have a part in the substantial development of the nation and to assist in financing its operations for war or peace. The colored people, as a rule, are industrious and thrifty and have come to appreciate their importance as a factor in the economic and financial world, as indicated by their prosperous business enterprises, their large holdings in real estate, their management of banks, and their scrupulous handling of the millions of deposits entrusted to their care. This capital, saved through sacrifice, has been placed in a most generous manner at the disposal of the Government throughout its period of need, and the list of corporations, fraternities and individuals who have aided in bringing success to American arms by the purchase of Liberty Bonds and War Savings Stamps and by contributions to other war relief agencies, is indeed a long one.

Opportunities of the colored people to make safe investment of their savings never were so great as they are today. The financial program the Government has entered upon and is continuing to carry out to meet the expense of the war gives a chance to save in sums as small as twenty-five cents and makes an investment upon which return of both principal and interest is absolutely guaranteed. Too often colored people have entrusted their savings to wholly irresponsible persons, lost them through the dishonesty of these persons, and in discouragement abandoned all attempts at saving. Today, however, there is no excuse for any man not saving a certain amount of his earnings no matter how small it may be. It is a poor person, indeed, who cannot invest twenty-five cents at stated intervals in a Thrift Stamp. Many are able also to buy small Liberty Bonds. It is a duty and a privilege for colored persons to help the Government finance the war, which was for both whites and blacks.

It is the particular duty of white persons, in cooperation with the most influential members of their own race, to explain these Government financial plans to the colored men and women that they may make safe investments, acquire a competence, and thus become better citizens.

It is my belief that the Negro soldier returning from France will be a better citizen than when he left. He will be benefited mentally and physically by his military training and experience. He will have a broader vision. He will appreciate American citizenship. He will know, I believe, that freedom, for which he risked his life and all, is not license. He will find his brothers at home who did not go overseas better for their war sacrifices. Both the soldier and the civilian have proved their devoted loyalty. Justice demands that they now be rewarded with an equal chance with the white man to climb as high in the industrial and professional world as their individual capacity warrants.



CHAPTER XXXI.

THE OTHER FELLOW'S BURDEN.

An Emancipation Day Appeal for Justice.

By W. Allison Sweeney.

Publisher's Note: At our request, Mr. Sweeney consented to the reproduction of this poem, which with the accompanying letter from the late Dr. Booker T. Washington, and the comment by the Chicago Daily News, appeared in that newspaper just prior to New Years Day, 1914. We regard it as a powerful argument, affecting the Negro's past condition and his interests.

"President Lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation Sept. 22, 1862. It went into effect at the beginning of January, 1863. New Year's day has thus become 'Emancipation day' to the colored people of the United States and to all members of the white race who realize the great significance of Lincoln's act of striking off the shackles of an enslaved race. Services on that day combine honor to Lincoln with appeals to the people of Lincoln's nation to grant justice to the Negro. A remarkable appeal of this sort is embodied in the poem here presented.

"W. Allison Sweeney, author of "The Other Fellow's Burden" is well known among his people as writer, editor and lecturer. His poem, which sketches with powerful strokes the lamentable history of the colored race in America and tells of their worthy achievements in the face of discouragements, deserves a thoughtful reading by all persons. Of this poem and its author Dr. Booker T. Washington writes as follows:

"TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE, ALA., Dec. 24, 1913.—To the Editor of the Chicago Daily News: I have read with sincere interest and appreciation W. Allison Sweeney's poem, 'The Other Fellow's Burden.' All through Mr. Sweeney's poem there is an invitation put in rather a delicate and persuasive way, but nevertheless it is there, for the white man to put himself in the negro's place and then to lay his hand upon his heart and ask how he would like for the other fellow to treat him. If every man who reads this poem will try sincerely to answer this question I believe that Mr. Sweeney's poem will go a long way toward bringing about better and more helpful conditions.

"Mr. Sweeney is, of course, a member of the Negro race and writes from what might be called the inside. He knows of Negro aspirations, of Negro strivings and of Negro accomplishments. He has had an experience of many years as writer and lecturer for and to Negroes and he knows probably as well as anyone wherein the Negro feels that 'the shoe is made to pinch.' The poem, it seems to me, possesses intrinsic merit and I feel quite sure that Mr. Sweeney's appeal to the great American people, for fair play will not fall upon deaf ears. Booker T. Washington."

The "white man's burden" has been told the world, But what of the other fellow's— The "lion's whelp"?

Lest you forget, May he not lisp his? Not in arrogance, Not in resentment, But that truth May stand foursquare?

This then, Is the Other Fellow's Burden.

* * * * *

Brought into existence Through the enforced connivance Of a helpless motherhood Misused through generations— America's darkest sin!— There courses through his veins In calm insistence—incriminating irony Of the secrecy of blighting lust! The best and the vilest blood Of the South's variegated strain; Her statesmen and her loafers, Her chivalry and her ruffians.

Thus bred, His impulses twisted At the starting point By brutality and sensuous savagery, Should he be crucified? Is it a cause for wonder If beneath his skin of many hues— Black, brown, yellow, white— Flows the sullen flood Of resentment for prenatal wrong And forced humility?

Should it be a wonder That the muddy life current Eddying through his arteries, Crossed with the good and the bad, Poisoned with conflicting emotions, Proclaims at times, Through no fault of his, That for a surety the sins of fathers Become the heritage of sons Even to the fourth generation? Or that murdered chastity, That ravished motherhood— So pitiful, so helpless, Before the white hot, Lust-fever of the "master"— Has borne its sure fruit?

You mutter, "There should be no wonder." Well, somehow, Sir Caucasian, Perhaps southern gentleman, I, marked a "whelp," am moved To prize that muttered admission.

* * * * *

But listen, please: The wonder is—the greater one— That from Lexington to San Juan hill Disloyalty never smirched His garments, nor civic wrangle Nor revolutionary ebullition Marked him its follower.

A "striker"? Yes! But he struck the insurgent And raised the flag.

An ingrate? Treacherous? A violator? When—oh, spectacle that moved the world! For five bloody years Of fratricidal strife— Red days when brothers warred— He fed the babe, Shielded the mother. Guarded the doorsill Of a million southern homes?

Penniless when freedom came? Most true; But his accumulations of fifty years Could finance a group of principalities.

Homeless? Yes; but the cabin and the hut Of Lincoln's day—uncover at that name!— Are memories; the mansion of today, Dowered with culture and refinement, Sweetened by clean lives, Is a fact.

Unlettered? Yes; But the alumni of his schools, Triumphant over the handicap Of "previous condition," Are to be found the world over In every assemblage inspired By the democracy of letters.

In the casting up what appears? The progeny of lust and helplessness, He inherited a mottled soul— "Damned spots" that biased the looker on.

Clothed a freeman, Turned loose in the land Creditless, without experience, He often stumbled, the way being strange, Sometimes fell.

Mocked, sneered at from every angle, spurned, hindered in every section, North, south, east, west, Refused the most primitive rights, His slightest mistakes Made mountains of, Hunted, burned, hanged, The death rattle in his throat Drowned by shouts and laughter And—think of it!— The glee of little children. Still he pressed on, wrought, Sowed, reaped, builded.

His smile ever ready, His perplexed soul lighted With the radiance Of an unquenchable optimism, God's presence visualized, He has risen, step by step. To the majesty of the home builder, Useful citizen, Student, teacher, Unwavering patriot.

This of the Other Fellow. What of you, his judges and his patrons?

If it has been your wont In your treatment of him Not to reflect, Or to stand by in idle unconcern While, panting on his belly, Ambushed by booted ruffianism, He lapped in sublime resignation The bitter waters Of unreasoning intolerance, Has not the hour of his deliverance, Of your escape from your "other selves" Struck?

If you have erred, Will you refuse to know it?

Has not the time arrived To discriminate between Those who lower Those who raise him?

You are shamed by your abortions, Your moral half growths Who flee God's eye And stain his green earth, But you are not judged by yours; Should he be judged by his?

In his special case—if so, why? Is manhood a myth, Womanhood a toy, Integrity unbelievable, Honor a chimera?

Should not his boys and girls, Mastering the curriculum of the schools, Pricked on to attainment by the lure Of honorable achievement, Be given bread and not a stone When seeking employment In the labor mart, At the factory gate Or the office door?

Broadened by the spirit of the golden rule, Will you not grant these children of Hagar An even break?

Is the day not here, O judges, When the Other Fellow May be measured in fairness, Just fairness?

* * * * *

It is written men may rise "On their dead selves to higher things;" But can it be that this clear note of cheer To sodden men and smitten races Was meant for all save him?

Chants an immortal: "He prayeth best who loveth best All things both great and small; For the dear God who loveth us, He made and loveth all."



CHAPTER XXXII.

AN INTERPOLATION.

HELD BY DISTINGUISHED THINKERS AND WRITERS, THAT THE NEGRO SOLDIER SHOULD BE GIVEN A CHANCE FOR PROMOTION AS WELL AS A CHANCE TO DIE—WHY WHITE OFFICERS OVER NEGRO SOLDIERS?

Ever since the conclusion of the conflict of '61-'65, in which Negro troops numbered by thousands, took an active part upon behalf of the Union, there has been a growing and insistent wonder in the minds of many, why, given a chance to die in the military service of the nation, they should not also at the same time be given a chance for promotion.

Subsequent affairs engaged in by the government requiring the intervention of its military arm, the Spanish-American war, the Philippines investiture incident thereto, the Mexican disagreement, the whole crowned by the stupendous World War; its frightful devastation and din yet fresh to our sight, still filling our ears, as it will for years; in all of which they have contributed their share of loyalty and blood—of LIVES!—have but added to, strengthened the wonder mentioned.

Up to the beginning of the European muddle it was discussed if at all, not so much as a condition demanding uncensored condemnation, as one to continue to be patient with, trusting to time and an awakened sense of fair play upon the part of the nation at large to note the custom complained of, and banish the irritation by abolishing the cause.

However, there has not been lacking those who have spoken out, who have raised their voices in protest against what they deemed an injustice to the loyal "fighting men" of their race, and so feeling, have not hesitated to make their plea to those above empowered to listen, regardless of the mood in which they did so.

As long ago as the summer of 1915, or to be exact, August 26th of that year, Capt. R.P. Roots of Seattle, Washington, addressed a letter to the Hon. Lindley M. Garrison at Washington, at the time Secretary of War, directing his attention to the discrepancy of assignment complained of, accompanied with certain suggestions; having to do with a condition that the government must eventually face; that will not down, and must sooner or later be abrogated. Captain Roots' communication to the Secretary of War, also one addressed to the Hon. Joseph Tumulty, private secretary to President Wilson, follows:

"Seattle, Wash., August 26, 1915. "Hon. Lindley M. Garrison, Secretary of War, Dear Sir: As an ex-officer of the Spanish-American war, having served as Captain of Company "E" of the Eighth Illinois Volunteers, I am taking the liberty to ask that, if you should recommend any increase in the Army you give the Negro a chance in the manner, and for reasons I shall further explain. You will notice by my service with the 8th Illinois that I am a colored man, and as such am offering these suggestions, which, in the main, are just. If the increase is sufficient, we should have: TWO COAST ARTILLERY COMPANIES. ONE REGIMENT OF FIELD ARTILLERY (In these branches we are not represented at all). ONE REGIMENT OF CAVALRY. The above to be embodied in the Regular Army and to be officered as you think fit. But my main object is: Three Regiments of Infantry officered from COLONEL DOWN WITH COLORED MEN. I should not have these Infantry Regiments of the regular service for the reason that to appoint officers to the rank of Colonel, Majors, etc., would not be fair to the regular service officers, and would interfere with the promotion of the same, but I would have them rank as volunteers. Give them the name of "IMMUNES," "FOREIGN SERVICE REGIMENTS," or any other name that you choose. My further reasons are as to officering these regiments, that there would be many misfits in such organizations and I would leave it so that you or the President could remove them without prejudice from the service, but to fill by OTHER COLORED MEN the vacancies that might occur. I should officer these regiments with Spanish War veterans, non-commissioned officers of the retired and regulars, but should appoint all 2d Lieutenants from the schools of the country giving military training. The 2d Lieutenants upon passing the regular army examination could be placed in the eligible list of the regular army, but NOT until at least two years' service with these regiments. You could set a time limit on these regiments if you so desire, say ten or twelve years duration; either mustered out or in the regular service. "Now Mr. Secretary, I have striven to meet any objections which might be made by the Army on account of social prejudice, etc. With this thought I should send these regiments to some foreign post to serve where there are dark races; to the Philippines, Mexico, or Haiti. The object lesson would be marked politically, both at home and abroad. "The 48th and 49th Regiments organized in 1899 and sent to Philippines were unsatisfactory because of there being three social lines of separation in those organizations—THE FIELD AND STAFF of these regiments WERE WHITE, and the LINE OFFICERS WERE COLORED. In a social way the line officers WERE ENTIRELY IGNORED, and even officially were treated very little better than enlisted men or with no more courtesy, to such an extent as to cause comment by both soldiers and natives. "Now as to the colored citizen of this country coming to its defense there is no question, as he has always done so But, to use a late phrase, he is beginning to want HIS "PLACE IN THE SUN"—he wants a chance to rise on his merits AND TO KNOW WHEN HE SHOULDERS A GUN, THAT IF HE IS DESERVING OF IT, HE WILL HAVE A CHANCE TO RISE. He can fight and will, but will fight better with an incentive than without one. He is a, citizen regardless of all laws to the contrary; also he is the NEW Negro, and NOT of the "Uncle Tom" class, the passing of whom so many white citizens regret. "He reads your literature, attends your theaters, goes to your schools, observes you in his capacity as a waiter or porter, and is absorbing the best you have in the ways of civilization, and in fact, in every walk of life, he is a factor; and when he is asked to defend his country should he not be given THE SAME CHANCE AS THE WHITE MAN? "You will say that he should go to West Point. Well and good; but who is to send him? Next, who will defend him while there against the "Unwritten Law" of the white students not to allow him to matriculate? "The first officers of such regiments could be easily picked, made from Spanish War veterans and non-commissioned officers of the regular army, and second lieutenants from graduates from colleges giving military training. Such an organization officered in this manner would be ideal, speaking from my experience as a veteran of the Spanish War. "One thing you may have overlooked: We are twelve million in this country, WITH AN ESTIMATE OF A MILLION MEN FIT FOR SERVICE. "Suppose at such a crisis as is now transpiring in Europe, this country, with its millions of foreign citizens, should suddenly find itself face to face with a revolution. The presence and loyalty of these MILLION NEGROES might mean much for the stability of this government. "I have spoken plainly because I am a citizen; this is my country. I was born here, and shall at all times be found with the flag; hence I ask, that in your recommendations, looking to the betterment and enlargement of the army, you give THE BLACK PATRIOT such consideration, as I cannot but feel is due him, the thousands of young colored men who have passed through colleges and schools in an effort to prepare themselves for filling a place in the world. "I am opposed to segregation, but as it seems, under the present conditions of the races socially to be the ONLY way to a square deal, I accept it. There are Irish regiments, German regiments, etc., let us then have Negro regiments. The coming generations will look after the rest. I am, very respectfully, R.P. ROOTS 400 26th Ave., North, Late Capt. 8th Ill. Vol. Infantry."

"Seattle, Wash., Nov. 9, 1915. "Hon Joseph Tumulty, Secretary to the President, Washington, D.C. Dear Sir:—I am enclosing a copy of a letter sent to the Secretary of War, which I would be very much pleased to have you call the President's attention to, and ask if he can approve of it. "I was not fully informed as to the President's policy in regard to Haiti at the time of writing, and am not now, except through such information as received by the daily press. Taking that, in the main as authentic, I wish to add that I think a Brigade of Colored Troops, such as recommended in my letter to the Secretary for foreign service, would be the proper thing for Haiti. "It being a Negro Republic, the racial feeling as to the Negro's treatment in this country, which I need not mention, has been enlarged upon and not understood by the Negroes of other parts of the world, so that as it seems to me, to organize a constabulary officered by white Americans, would be inviting murder; for agitators from other governments, if they so desired, would soon cause a rebellion, and then you would have it all to do over again. "Colored troops from this country, I mean officers as well, would tend to cause a good feeling among the natives, not at first but later on as each became used to the other. THE WHITE MAN THINKS HE IS SUPERIOR TO ANY NEGRO, AND WOULD SHOW IT EVEN THOUGH HE TRIED NOT TO, and the Haitian would be going around with a chip on his shoulder looking for someone to knock it off. "You have three men in the regular army who could supervise the organization of these troops, and one who is already a Colonel of the Eighth Illinois National Guard, also several others if you wished to consider them. "Hoping that you will see the advisability of such an organization for diplomatic reasons and for JUSTICE TO THE AMERICAN NEGRO—who has been loyal—and served from Bunker Hill until now, I am, Very respectfully, R.P. ROOTS, 400 26th St. N. Seattle, Wash., Late Capt. Eighth Illinois Volunteer Infantry during Spanish War."

As touching upon the above, Editor E.S. Abbott of THE CHICAGO DEFENDER, made the following comment:

"There may be reasons deemed good and sufficient upon the part of President Wilson and Secretary Garrison for not having replied to the very courteous and finely conceived letters of appeal and suggestion, having to do with a new deal—with justice and fair play in the future towards the Negro soldiery of our country, written them some weeks ago by CAPT. R.P. ROOTS of Seattle.

"It is not always meet, especially in times like these, of war and stress, of worries and apprehension, reaching across the world, for our rulers and servants facing great responsibilities and perplexing situations, to respond to every query and satisfy all curiosities. Much reticence must be permitted them. Much accepted, as a matter of course, without pursuing curiosity to the limit.

"There may be ideas conveyed by Captain Roots to the president, through his communications to Secretaries Garrison and Tumulty that some people may not agree with, but there can be no disagreement over the proposition that the lot of colored soldiers in the armies of the United States—in the past, and at the present, is much different than that accorded to white soldiers; very little to really be proud of; very, very much to be ashamed of—much that is humiliating and depressing.

"Because the present administration may be powerless in the matter, afraid to touch it, fearing a live wire or something of that kind, should OUR duty in the premises, TOWARD OUR OWN, be influenced thereby?

"I wonder—is the time not NOW—right now, to commence an attack upon this intrenched scandal—this dirty, HUMILIATING AMERICANISM?

"No other nation on earth, Christian or pagan, treats its defenders, its soldiery, so meanly, so shabbily, as does this, her black defenders; but whether the nation is more to blame, than we, who so long have submitted without a murmur, is a question. 'The trouble' shouted Cassius to Brutus, 'is not in our stars, that we are Underlings, BUT IN OURSELVES.'

"Shall we, responding to the initiative furnished by CAPTAIN ROOTS, commence an organized assault upon this national vice against the soldiers of our race? Is this the time, readers of The Defender? Is this the time, brothers and editors of the contemporary press?

R.S. ABBOTT."

Following in the footsteps of Captain Roots; apparently obsessed by the same vision and spirit, Mr. Willis O. Tyler, eminent Los Angeles race representative, attorney and Harvard graduate, also makes a plea for justice for Negro troops in the regular army, also for Negro officers, and proposes reforms and legislation for utilizing the present force of Negro officers, and creating enlarged opportunities for others. Says Mr. Tyler:

"Officers in the regular army for the most part, are graduates of West Point. They are commissioned second lieutenants at graduation. No Negro has graduated from West Point in the past twenty-nine years, and none has entered there in 32 years. Col. Charles Young graduated in 1889, twenty-nine years ago,—he entered in 1884. Henry W. Holloway entered in 1886, but attended only that year. In all, only twelve Negroes have ever attended West Point and only three have graduated. Of the three graduates, the first, Henry O. Flipper (1877) was afterwards discharged.

"The second, John H. Alexander (1887) died in 1894. The third and last graduate, Charles Young (1889) has but recently been returned to active duty. We understand he has attained the rank of Colonel. The Negroes of the United States, to the number of twelve millions, have only one West Point graduate in the regular army. There are however four regiments of Colored troops, two of infantry, and two of cavalry, and these have been maintained for 52 years, (since 1866), and more than two hundred officers find places in the four Colored regiments. These two hundred officers, with about three exceptions are white officers. In all, only twelve Negroes have held commissions in the regular army. Of this number seven were Chaplains and two were paymasters.

"In 1917 there were two first lieutenants; and (then) Major Charles Young in the regular army. Hence only two officers of the line and only one of the staff (other than Chaplains), out of more than two hundred who found places with the four colored regiments.

"We need not stop for the reasons why Negroes have not been attending West Point, nor even admitted there for the past 32 years. Certain it is they have not been attending the nation's great military school, and certain it is that in law, good conscience and right, one cadet at West Point in every twelve should be a Negro.

"The future lies before us. The four regiments of Colored Troops have vindicated their right to be maintained as such by having made for the army some of its finest traditions. Why not have the four colored regiments officered by colored men from the Colonel down to the second lieutenants?

"The United States is just making an end to a glorious participation in the great world's war. In this war the Negro soldiers played well their part. They laughed in the face of death on the firing line; they have been awarded the 'Ribbon' and the Croix de Guerre—with palms. Who were their officers?

"From the officers training camp at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, 639 colored men were commissioned. Since then 267 more have been commissioned, not counting those in Medical Reserve Corps, nor the 41 Chaplains. Colored Captains and Lieutenants led colored soldiers "Over the Top" and commanded them on march and in trench. Many officers were given but three months in the officer's Training camp; many of them had served as non-commissioned officers in one of the four colored regiments. But not one word of criticism or complaint of them has reached us. Their adaptability to their new duties is beyond cavil. Their efficiency, bravery—leadership, are all unquestioned and permanently established.

"The future lies before us. What will our country do? Surely it will not retire all of these fine young colored officers, who responded so nobly to the call of their country, to private life and continue the discrimination which in the past deprived them of admission to West Point and of commissions in the regular army. I do not believe it. I believe that the sense of justice and fair play is deeply rooted in the American people. I believe that our four colored regiments in the regular army will in the future be officered by colored men. That the doors of West Point will be opened in accordance with justice and fair play to a proper number and proportion of colored Cadets. But this is not all nor is it enough.

"We believe that at present the nation owes the Colored people certain legislation and that the nation being solvent and loud in its protestations of kindness toward the Colored people for their loyal and patriotic participation in the war both at home and on the battlefield, should now pay its debt toward the colored people and reward them to the extent that the best of the nearly one thousand officers now serving in the National Army be transferred to the Regular army, and assigned to duty in the four Colored regiments, and that these be from colonel down to second lieutenants. We also believe that in the future West Point and Annapolis should 'lend a little colour' to their graduation exercises in the presence of Colored graduates.

"No doubt legislation will be needed to this end. At present commissions are granted first to the graduates of West Point, and even a fair and more liberal policy in this regard in the future will not meet present needs. What is needed now is legislation providing for the transfer (or at least the opportunity to enter) into the regular army of a sufficient number of our Colored Officers now with commissions to officer in toto the four Colored regiments we now have.

"Commissions are also granted at present to a limited number of enlisted men who are recommended for these examinations, and who succeed in passing. The candidates must be under 27 years of age and unmarried. They must have had a certain amount of secondary school, or college education which few privates or non com's (colored) have had. This is the case because few young Colored men with the necessary growth 'single blessedness,' and college training, feel, or have heretofore felt that the door of 'equal opportunity' announced by Mr. Roosevelt stands open to them in the regular army. To trust the officering of four Colored Regiments to this second mode of selecting and commissioning officers, would prove fatal to our hopes and fail of accomplishment.

"The third method of selecting officers at present is by examinations of civilians, certain college presidents and other civilians being permitted to recommend certain civilians, (students and others) for examination for second lieutenants.

"In this regard Negroes have met the same difficulties that they have encountered in the past 32 years in their efforts to gain admission to West Point. At best only a small percent of each year's graduating class from West Point can get commissions in this manner. Those selected have been white men, what we are after now is a present day, practical way of utilizing the best material we now have, holding commissions and making secure the opportunity for other Colored men to enter the army as second lieutenants and by dint of industry, close application, obedience, brains and time gain their promotion step by step, just as white men have been doing and can do now. This is the American—democratic, fair play, reward and justice we seek for the twelve million Negro citizens of our great republic. Congress could if it would, provide for the present by an appropriate measure giving the right and opportunity to our returning officers to stand examination for commissions in the Regular army; Military experience and knowledge, and general and special educational qualifications to determine the rank or grade received.

"In this way our four colored regiments could be officered by colored men. Otherwise, the fine talents and desire for service to the country held by the one thousand intelligent and courageous young Negroes who are officers, will be lost and rejected by the country, and the 12 million Negroes in the United States will continue, notwithstanding their patriotism and devotion, to be denied of their just representation in commissions in the regular army.

"We believe that once this is done the sense of fairness and justice that, after all is said and done is so firmly imbedded in the American people, will see to it that our proper and proportionate number of young Colored men are admitted to West Point and Annapolis annually and that the other avenues for gaining admission in the army and navy will not be blocked, closed and denied Negroes by the unreasonable race prejudice which has heretofore done so.

"Our country is either a country of 'equal opportunity' or it is not. It is either a democracy or it is not.

"Certainly the Negroes have failed to realize this 'equal opportunity' in the matter of training at West Point and Annapolis, and is gaining commissions in the Regular army.

"The great war in Europe is closed or soon will be. We have again shown our country that 'our hearts are on the right side.' What will our country do for us? We ask only that the door of 'equal opportunity' be unbarred—that we may enter."

Said Colonel Charles Young, U.S.A., touching upon the same subject:

I affirm that any system of schools saying to students of any race, "Thus far shalt thou go and no farther," is flinging a lie in the face of God.

* * * * *

The ability and willingness of the government and its people to fit the Negro into the body politic with all the rights, privileges, and immunities of a full fledged American will be the test before the world which knows and sees the relations and acts of the individuals and states of the United States.

Human equity and a respect for law and truth must be sacred with us; the spirit of America is the square deal and fair play.

* * * * *

This granted as an American principle, the Negro people of the United States demand to know whether the sweeping generalization of lack of leadership and the capacity of the Negro officer was derived by a consultation of the War Department, the press, both white and Negro and the reports of IMPARTIAL officers.

The black officer feels that there was a prejudgment against him at the outset and that nearly every move that has been made was for the purpose of bolstering up this prejudgment and discrediting him in the eyes of the world and the men whom he was to lead and will lead in the future.

* * * * *

Remembering the multitude of the Croix de Guerre and citations on the breasts of the returning Negro officers and the Distinguished Service Crosses to boot, the Negro officer is smiling, not discouraged with himself and is still carrying on for the flag, the country where he was born and where the bones of his fathers are buried, and for the uplift and leadership of his people for a more glorious Americanism.

History tells us that on the continent of America that Toussaint L'Ouverture, who with a leadership that no man ever surpassed and who routed the best troops of Napoleon Bonaparte, was a pure Negro and a slave until after fifty years old.

Major Martin R. Delaney was a pure Negro, and many others that can be mentioned were pure Negroes.

Ex-parte judgments will not go in the future history, for the black man will not only act his history but he will write it, and be it said that he knows history methods, and that with him they are not those which come from the heat of prejudice and a direct and concerted attempt to discredit any group of American people.

Unpatriotic and unwarranted statements do no good and lull the country to sleep, and throw it off its guard while the effects of these statements are causing just rankling in the breasts of the Negro people who have had a New Vision.

The Negro officers know the psychology of their own race and also of the white race; but it is to be feared the latter will never know the mind and motive forces of the Negro, if he imagines that his group has not had a new birth in America, whose language it speaks, whose thought it thinks for its own betterment, and whose ideals, both social, political, and economic it emulates.



CHAPTER XXXIII.

THE NEW NEGRO AND THE NEW AMERICA

"THE OLD ORDER Changeth, yielding place to new." THROUGH THE Arbitrament of war, behold a new and better America! a new and girded Negro! "The watches Of the night have PASSED! "The watches Of the day BEGIN!"

Out of war's crucible new nations emerge. New ideas seize mankind and if the conflict has been a just one, waged for exalted ideals and imperishable principles and not alone for mere national security and integrity, a new character, a broader national vision is formed.

Such was the result of the early wars for democracy. The seeds of universal freedom once sown, finally ripened not alone to the unshackling of a race, but to the fecundity and birth of a spirit that moved all nations and peoples to seek an enlarged liberty. The finger of disintegration and change is never still; is always on the move; always the old order is passing; always the new, although unseen of man, is coming on. And so it is, that nations are still in the throes of reconstruction after the great war. That it was the greatest and most terrible of all wars, increases the difficulties incident to the establishment of the new order, precedent to a restoration of tranquil conditions.

So radical were some of the results of the conflict, such as the overthrow of despotism in Russia, and a swinging completely to the other extreme of the pendulum; similar happenings in Germany and Austria transpiring, that subject peoples in general, finding themselves in possession of a liberty which they did not expect and were not prepared for, are in a sense bewildered; put to it, as to just what steps to take; the wisest course to pursue.

At home we have a nearer view and can begin to see emerging a new America. The men who fought abroad will be the dominant factor in national affairs for many years. These men have returned, and will return with a broadened vision and with new and enlarged ideas regarding themselves and, quite to be expected, of progress and human rights.

With the leaven of thought which has been working at home, added to the new and illuminating; more liberal viewpoint regarding the Negro attained by the American whites who served with him in France, will come; is already born, a new national judgment and charity of opinion and treatment, that will not abate; will grow and flourish through the coming years, a belated sense of justice and restitution due the Negro; a most wholesome sign of shame and repentance upon the part of the nation. The old order based on slavery and environment; the handicap of "previous condition" has passed. Will never return! THAT, or the "Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood of Man" is, and always was, an iridescent dream; a barren ideality!

The new America owes much of its life to the Negro; guaranteed through centuries of a devotion, than which, there has been nothing like it; you seek in vain for a counterpart; a patriotism and suffering and shed blood; the splendor and unselfishness of which will germinate and flower through the ages; as long as history shall be read; to the last moment of recorded time.

In days to come, now on the way, men will say, one to another: "How could it have been that those faithful Blacks; those loyal citizens; whose toil enriched; whose blood guaranteed the perpetuity of our institutions; were discriminated against—WRONGED?"

In a country based and governed on the principle that all men are free and equal, discrimination or special privilege will eat at the heart of national life. Capital must not have special advantages over labor; neither labor over capital. Jew and Gentile, protestant and catholic, Negro and White men, must be equal; not alone in the spirit of the law but in the application of it. Not alone in the spirit of industrialism, commerce and ordinary affairs of life, but in their interpretation and application as well.

Social discriminations and distinctions may prevail with no great danger to the body politic, so long as people do not take them too seriously—do not mistake the shadow for the substance, and regard them the paramount things of life.

Obviously the Negro no less than the Caucasian, has a right, and no government may challenge it, to say who his associates shall be, who he shall invite into his house, but such rights are misconstrued and exceeded when carried to the point of proscribing, oppressing or hampering the development of other men, regardless of the nationality of their competitors.

The logical growth of achievement for the Negro is first within the lines of his own race, but, all things being equal; genius being the handmaiden of no particular race or clime, he is not to be hindered by the law of the land, the prejudice of sections or individuals, from seeking to climb to any height.

The bugbear and slander, raised and kept alive by that section of the land south of the imaginary line, to wit: that the Negro was ambitious for "racial equality," only is entitled to reference in these pages for the purpose of according it the contempt due it. That the whites of the country have not a complete monopoly of those unpleasing creatures known as "tuft hunters" and "social climbers," is no doubt true, but that the Negro, as represented by intelligence and race pride, ever worries over it; cares a rap for it, is not true.

Humanity's great benefit coming from the war, which cannot be changed or abridged, will consist of a newer, broader sense of manhood; a demand for the inherent opportunities and rights belonging to it; for all men of all colors, of all climes; and beyond that; of more significance; as marking the dawn indeed of a NEW AND BETTER DAY, will be a larger, juster sense; springing up in the nation's heart; watered by her tears, of repentance of past wrongs inflicted on the Negro. The Negro will become the architect of his own growth and development. The South will not be permitted; through the force of national opinion, to continue to oppress him.

The talk of the revival of KuKlux societies to intimidate the Negro; "to keep him in his place," is the graveyard yawp of a dying monster. Are the thousands of Negroes who faced bullets in the most disastrous war of history, and several hundred thousand more who were ready and willing to undergo the same perils, likely to be frightened by such a threat, such an antiquated, silly, short-sighted piece of injustice and terrorism?

Men's necessities force a resort to common sense. Racial prejudice and ignorant, contemptible intolerance, must disappear under, and before the presence of the renewal of business activity in the South, and the necessity for Negro labor. Each soldier returning from Europe is a more enlightened man than when he went away. He has had the broadening effect of travel, the chance to mingle with other races and acquire the views born of a greater degree of equality and more generous treatment.

These men desire to remain in their southern homes. Climatically they are suited and the country offers them employment to which they are accustomed; but more than all, it is home, and they are bound to it by ties of association and affection.

With a mutual desire of whites and blacks to achieve an end, common sense will find a basis of agreement. The Negro will get better pay and better treatment. His status accordingly will be improved. His employer will get better service, he also will be broadened and improved by a new spirit of tolerance and charity.

Cooperation among the white and black races received a decided impetus during the war. A movement so strongly started is sure to gather force until it attains the objects more desirious of accomplishment. Some of these objects undoubtedly are far in the distance, but will be achieved in time. When they are, the Negro will be far advanced on the road of racial development. The day has dawned and the start has been made. Before the noontime, America will be prouder of her Negro citizens and will be a happier, a more inspired and inspiring nation; a better home for all her people.

One of the results of the war will be an improvement in the government and condition of Negroes in Africa. Exploitation of the race for European aggrandisement is sure to be lessened. No such misgoverned colonies as those of Germany will be tolerated under the new rule and the new spirit actuating the victorious Allies. Evils in other sections of that continent will disappear or receive positive amelioration.

The most hopeful sign in America is the tendency in some sections where trouble has been prevalent in the past, to meet and discuss grievances. In some sections of the South, men of prominence are exhibiting a willingness to meet and talk over matters with representatives of the race. Such a spirit of tolerance will grow and eventually lead to a better understanding; perhaps a general reconciling of differences.

Many concessions will be required before complete justice prevails and the Negro comes into his own; before the soil can be prepared for the complete flowering of his spirit.

Primarily, before attaining to the full growth and usefulness of the citizen under the rights guaranteed to him by the Constitution, the Negro, especially in the South, will require better educational facilities. If he is to become a better citizen, he must have the education and training necessary to know the full duties of citizenship. He pays his share of the school taxes and it is manifestly unjust to deny him the accruing benefits.

He is ambitious too, and should be encouraged to own land, and to that end should have the assistance without prejudice or discrimination, of national and state farm loan bureaus.

Unjust suffrage restrictions must and shall be removed, giving to the Negro the full rights of other citizens in this respect. With better educational facilities and the ownership of real estate, he will vote more intelligently, and there will be no danger that his vote will be against the interests of the country at large or the section in which he resides.

The withering taint of "Jim Crow"-ism, must be obliterated; wiped out—will be. Railroads will be compelled to extend the same accommodations to white and colored passengers. The traveller; whatever his color, who pays the price for a ticket, must and shall in this land of Equality and Justice, be accorded the same accommodations.

Peonage, so-called, will end. It cannot endure under an awakened, enlightened public opinion. Negroes, all other things equal, will be admitted to labor unions, or labor unions will lose the potentiality and force they should wield in labor and industrial affairs.

The Negro's contribution to the recent war and to previous conflicts, has earned him beyond question or challenge, a right to just consideration in the military and naval establishment of the nation. America, grudging as she has been in the past to enlarge his rights, or even to guarantee those which she has granted, has grown too great indeed. Her discipline has been too real to deny him this fair consideration. There will be more Negro units in the Regular Army and National Guard organizations; untrammelled facilities for training, in government, state and college institutions.

Selective draft figures having revealed the Negro as a better; if not the best, physical risk, will make it easier for him to secure life insurance, which; after all is a plain business proposition. Insurance companies are after business and are not concerned with racial distinctions where the risk is good. The draft has furnished figures regarding the Negro's health and longevity which hitherto were not available to insurance actuaries. Now that they have them, no reason exists for denying insurance facilities to the race.

With a growing, every minute, of a better understanding between the races; with the Negro learning thrift through Liberty Bonds, Savings Stamps and the lessons of the war; with an encouragement to own property and take out insurance; being vastly enlightened through his military service, and with improved industrial conditions about to appear, he is started on a better road, to end only when he shall have reached the full attainment belonging to the majesty of AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP.

With this start, lynchings, the law's delays, the denial of full educational advantages; segregation, insanitary conditions, unjust treatment in reform and penal institutions, will vanish from before him; will be conditions that were, but are no more.

There is a predominance of Anglo-Saxon heritage in the white blood of America. The Anglo-Saxon was the first to establish fair play and make it his shibboleth. Should he deny it to the Negro; his proudest and most vaunted principle would prove to be a doddering lie; a shimmering evanescence.

HE WILL NOT DENY IT!

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NOTE—UP TO THIS POINT THE TEXT FACES ONLY HAVE BEEN NUMBERED. THE 64 FULL PAGES OF HALF-TONE PHOTOGRAPHS (OVER 100 SEPARATE PICTURES) AND THE PLATES, TINTED IN MANY COLORS (NOT PRINTED ON BACK) BRING THE TOTAL NUMBER OF PAGES TO OVER FOUR HUNDRED.

THE PEACE TREATY

The treaty of peace was drawn by the allied and associated powers at Versailles, and was there delivered to the German Government's delegation on May 5, 1919—the fourth anniversary of the Lusitania sinking.

It stipulates in the preamble that war will have ceased when all powers have signed and the treaty shall have come into force by ratification of the signatures.

It names as party of the one part the United States, The British Empire, France, Italy, Japan, described as the five allied and associated powers, and Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Equador, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, the Hedjaz, Honduras, Liberia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Roumania, Serbia, Siam, Czecho-Slovakia and Uruguay; and on the other side Germany.

The treaty contains agreements in substance as follows:

Section 1. The League of Nations—The league of nations may question Germany at any time for a violation of the neutralized zone east of the Rhine as a threat against the world's peace. It will work out the mandatory system to be applied to the former German colonies and act as a final court in the Belgian-German frontier and in disputes as to the Kiel canal, and decide certain economic and financial problems.

Membership—The members of the league will be the signatories of the covenant, and other states invited to accede. A state may withdraw upon giving two years' notice, if it has fulfilled all its international obligations.

Section 2. A permanent secretariat will be established at Geneva. The league will meet at stated intervals. Each state will have one vote and not more than three representatives.

The council will consist of representatives of the five great allied powers, with representatives of four members selected by the assembly from time to time. It will meet at least once a year. Voting will be by states. Each state will have one vote and not more than one representative.

The council will formulate plans for a reduction of armaments for consideration and adoption. These plans will be revised every ten years.

Preventing War—Upon any war, or threat of war, the council will meet to consider what common action shall be taken. Members are pledged to submit matters of dispute to arbitration or inquiry and not to resort to war until three months after the award. If a member fails to carry out the award, the council will propose the necessary measures. The council will establish a permanent court of international justice to determine international disputes or to give advisory opinions. If agreement cannot be secured, the members reserve the right to take such action as may be necessary for the maintenance of right and justice. Members resorting to war in disregard of the covenant will immediately be debarred from all intercourse with other members. The council will in such cases consider what military or naval action can be taken by the league collectively.

The covenant abrogates all obligations between members inconsistent with its terms, but nothing in it shall affect the validity of international engagements such as treaties of arbitration or regional understandings like the Monroe doctrine, for securing the maintenance of peace.

The Mandatory System—Nations not yet able to stand by themselves will be intrusted to advanced nations who are best fitted to guide them. In every case the mandatory will render an annual report, and the degree of its authority will be defined.

International Provisions—The members of the league will in general, through the international organization established by the labor convention to secure and maintain fair conditions of labor for men, women and children in their own countries, and undertake to secure just treatment of the native inhabitants of territories under their control; they will intrust the league with general supervision over the execution of agreements for the suppression of traffic in women and children, etc.; and the control of the trade in arms and ammunition with countries in which control is necessary; they will make provision for freedom of communications and transit and equitable treatment for commerce of all members of the league, with special reference to the necessities of regions devastated during the war; and they will endeavor to take steps for international prevention and control of disease.

Boundaries of Germany—Germany cedes to France Alsace-Lorraine 5,600 square miles to the southwest, and to Belgium two small districts between Luxemburg and Holland, totaling 989 square miles. She also cedes to Poland the southeastern tip of Silesia, beyond and including Oppeln, most of Posen and West Prussia, 27,686 square miles, East Prussia being isolated from the main body by a part of Poland. She loses sovereignty over the northeastern tip of East Prussia, forty square miles north of the Eiver Memel, and the internationalized areas about Danzig, 729 square miles, and the basin of the Saar, 738 square miles, between the western border of the Rhenish Palatinate of Bavaria and the southeast corner of Luxemburg; and Schleswig, 2,767 square miles.

Section 3. Belgium—Germany consents to the abrogation of the treaties of 1839 by which Belgium was established as a neutral state, and agrees to any convention with which the allied and associated powers may determine to replace them.

Luxemburg—Germany renounces her various treaties and conventions with the grand duchy of Luxemburg, and recognizes that it ceased to be a part of the German zolverein from January 1,1919, and renounces all right of exploitation of the railroads.

Left Bank of the Rhine—Germany will not maintain any fortifications or armed forces less than fifty kilometers to the east of the Rhine, hold any maneuvers, nor within that limit maintain any works to facilitate mobilization. In case of violation she shall be regarded as committing a hostile act against the powers who sign the present treaty and as intending to disturb the peace of the world.

Alsace and Lorraine—The territories ceded to Germany by the treaty of Frankfort are restored to France with their frontiers as before 1871, to date from the signing of the armistice, and to be free of all public debts.

All public property and private property of German ex-sovereigns passes to France without payment or credit. France is substituted for Germany as regards ownership of the railroads and rights over concessions of tramways. The Rhine bridges pass to France, with the obligation for the upkeep.

Political condemnations during the war are null and void and the obligation to repay war fines is established as in other parts of allied territory.

The Saar—In compensation for the destruction of coal mines in northern France and as payment on account of reparation, Germany cedes to France full ownership of the coal mines of the Saar basin with the subsidiaries, accessories and facilities.

After fifteen years a plebiscite will be held by communes to ascertain the desires of the population as to continuance of the existing regime under the league of nations, union with France or union with Germany. The right to vote will belong to all inhabitants of over 20 years resident therein at the time of the signature.

Section 4. German Austria—Germany recognizes the total independence of German Austria in the boundaries traced.

Germany recognizes the entire independence of the Czecho-Slovak state. The five allied and associated powers will draw up regulations assuring East Prussia full and equitable access to and use of the Vistula.

Danzig—Danzig and the district immediately about it is to be constituted into the free city of Danzig under the guaranty of the league of nations.

Denmark—The frontier between Germany and Denmark will be fixed by the self-determination of the population.

The fortifications, military establishments and harbors of the islands of Helgoland and Dune are to be destroyed under the supervision of the allies by German labor and at Germany's expense. They may not be reconstructed, nor any similar fortifications built in the future.

Russia—Germany agrees to respect as permanent and inalienable the independence of all territories which were part of the former Russian empire, to accept abrogation of the Brest-Litovsk and other treaties entered into with the Maximalist government of Russia, to recognize the full force of all treaties entered into by the allied and associated powers with states which were a part of the former Russian empire, and to recognize the frontiers as determined therein. The allied and associated powers formally reserve the right of Russia to obtain restitution and reparation of the principles of the present treaty.

SECTION 5. German Rights Outside of Europe—Outside Europe, Germany renounces all rights, title and privileges as to her own or her allied territories, to all the allied and associated powers.

German Colonies—Germany renounces in favor of the allied and associated powers her overseas possessions with all rights and titles therein. All movable and immovable property belonging to the German empire or to any German state shall pass to the government exercising authority therein. Germany undertakes to pay reparation for damage suffered by French nationals in the Kameruns or its frontier zone through the acts of German civil and military authorities and of individual Germans from January 1, 1900, to August 1, 1914.

China—Germany renounces in favor of China all privileges and indemnities resulting from the Boxer protocol of 1901, and all buildings, wharves, barracks, forts, munitions or warships, wireless plants, and other property (except diplomatic) in the German concessions of Tientsin and Hankow and in other Chinese territory except Kiaochow, and agrees to return to China at her own expense all the astronomical instruments seized in 1901. Germany accepts the abrogation of the concessions of Hankow and Tientsin, China agreeing to open them to international use.

Siam—Germany recognizes that all agreements between herself and Siam, including the right of extra territory, ceased July 22, 1917. All German public property except consular and diplomatic premises passes, without compensation, to Siam.

Liberia—Germany renounces all rights under the international arrangements of 1911 and 1912 regarding Liberia.

Morocco—Germany renounces all her rights, titles and privileges under the act of Algeciras and the Franco-German agreements of 1909 and 1911 and under all treaties and arrangements with the sheriffian empire. All movable and immovable German property may be sold at public auction, the proceeds to be paid to the sheriffian government and deducted from the reparation account.

Egypt—Germany recognizes the British protectorate over Egypt declared on December 19, 1914, and transfers to Great Britain the powers given to the late sultan of Turkey for securing the free navigation of the Suez canal.

Turkey and Bulgaria—Germany accepts all arrangements which the allied and associated powers make with Turkey and Bulgaria with reference to any right, privileges or interests claimed in those countries by Germany or her nationals and not dealt with elsewhere.

Shantung—Germany cedes to Japan all rights, titles and privileges acquired by her treaty with China of March 6, 1897, and other agreements, as to Shantung. All German state property in Kiaochow is acquired by Japan free of all charges.

SECTION 6. The demobilization of the German army must take place within two months. Its strength may not exceed 100,000, including 4,000 officers, with not over seven divisions of infantry, also three of cavalry, and to be devoted exclusively to maintenance of internal order and control of frontiers. The German general staff is abolished. The army administrative service, consisting of civilian personnel, not included in the number of effectives, is reduced to one-tenth the total in the 1913 budget. Employes of the German states, such as customs officers, first guards and coast guards, may not exceed the number in 1913. Gendarmes and local police may be increased only in accordance with the growth of population. None of these may be assembled for military training.

Armaments—All establishments for the manufacturing, preparation or storage of arms and munitions of war, must be closed, and their personnel dismissed. The manufacture or importation of poisonous gases is forbidden as well as the importation of arms, munitions and war material.

Conscription—Conscription is abolished in Germany. The personnel must be maintained by voluntary enlistment for terms of twelve consecutive years, the number of discharges before the expiration of that term not in any year to exceed 5 per cent of the total effectives. Officers remaining in the service must agree to serve to the age of 45 years and newly appointed officers must agree to serve actively for twenty-five years.

No military schools except those absolutely indispensable for the units allowed shall exist in Germany. All measures of mobilization are forbidden.

All fortified and field works within fifty kilometers (thirty miles) east of the Rhine will be dismantled. The construction of any new fortifications there is forbidden.

Control—Interallied commissions of control will see to the execution of the provisions, for which a time limit is set, the maximum named being three months. Germany must give them complete facilities, and pay for the labor and material necessary in demolition, destruction or surrender of war equipment.

Naval—The German navy must be demobilized within a period of two months. All German vessels of war in foreign ports, and the German high sea fleet interned at Scapa Flow will be surrendered, the final disposition of these ships to be decided upon by the allied and associated powers. Germany must surrender forty-five modern destroyers, fifty modern torpedo boats, and all submarines, with their salvage vessels; all war vessels under construction, including submarines, must be broken up.

Germany is required to sweep up the mines in the North sea and the Baltic. German fortifications in the Baltic must be demolished.

During a period of three months after the peace, German high power wireless stations at Nauen, Hanover and Berlin, will not be permitted to send any messages except for commercial purposes.

Air—The armed forces of Germany must not include any military or naval air forces except one hundred unarmed seaplanes. No aviation grounds or dirigible sheds are to be allowed within 150 kilometers of the Rhine or the eastern or southern frontiers. The manufacture of aircraft and parts of aircraft is forbidden. All military and aeronautical material must be surrendered.

The repatriation of German prisoners and interned civilians is to be carried out without delay and at Germany's expense.

Both parties will respect and maintain the graves of soldiers and sailors buried on their territories.

Responsibility and Reparation—The allied and associated powers will publicly arraign William II of Hohenzollern, formerly German emperor, before a special tribunal composed of one judge from each of the five great powers, with full right of defense.

Persons accused of having committed acts in violation of the laws and customs of war are to be tried and punished by military tribunals under military law.

SECTION 7. Reparation—Germany accepts responsibility for all loss and damages to which civilians of the allies have been subjected by the war, and agrees to compensate them. Germany binds herself to repay all sums borrowed by Belgium from the Allies. Germany irrevocably recognizes the authority of a reparation commission named by the Allies to enforce and supervise these payments. She further agrees to restore to the Allies cash and certain articles which can be identified. As an immediate step toward restoration, Germany shall pay within two years $5,000,000,000 in either gold, goods, ships or other specific forms of payment.

The measures which the allied and associated powers shall have the right to take, in case of voluntary default by Germany, and which Germany agrees not to regard as acts of war, may include economic and financial prohibitions and reprisals and in general such other measures as the respective governments may determine to be necessary in the circumstances.

The commission may require Germany to give from time to time, by way of guaranty, issues of bonds or other obligations to cover such claims as are not otherwise satisfied.

The German government recognizes the right of the Allies to the replacement, ton for ton and class for class, of all merchant ships and fishing boats lost or damaged owing to the war, and agrees to cede to the Allies all German merchant ships of sixteen hundred tons gross and upward.

The German government further agrees to build merchant ships for the account of the Allies to the amount of not exceeding 200,000 tons' gross annually during the next five years.

SECTION 8. Devastated Areas—Germany undertakes to devote her economic resources directly to the physical restoration of the invaded areas.

Coal—Germany is to deliver annually for ten years to France coal equivalent to the difference between annual pre-war output of Nord and Pas de Calais mines and annual production during above ten year period. Germany further gives options over ten years for delivery of 7,000,000 tons coal per year to France, in addition to the above, of 8,000,000 tons to Belgium, and of an amount rising from 4,500,000 tons in 1919 to 1920 to 8,500,000 tons in 1923 to 1924 to Italy, at prices to be fixed as prescribed. Coke may be taken in place of coal in ratio of three tons to four.