the great American denominations
for service in Africa has practically ceased, for American Negroes are
not to be admitted to any portion of the continent except Liberia,
which, after all, is a very small part of the whole. For the time being
the little republic seems to receive countenance from the great powers
as a sort of safety-valve through which the aspiration of the Negro
people might spend itself; but it is evident that the present
understanding is purely artificial and can not last. Even the Roman
Empire declined, and Germany lost her hold in Africa overnight. Of
course it may be contended that the British Empire to-day is not
decadent but stronger than ever. At the same time there can be no doubt
that Englishman and Boer alike regard these teeming millions of prolific
black people always with concern and sometimes with dismay. Natives of
the Congo still bear the marks of mutilation, and men in South Africa
chafe under unjust land acts and constant indignities in their daily
life.

Here rises the question for our own country. To the United States at
last has come that moral leadership--that obligation to do the right
thing--that opportunity to exhibit the highest honor in all affairs
foreign or domestic--that is the ultimate test of greatness. Is America
to view this great problem in Africa sympathetically and find some place
for the groping for freedom of millions of human beings, or is she to be
simply a pawn in the game of English colonization? Is she to abide by
the principles that guided her in 1776, or simply seize her share of
the booty? The Negro either at home or abroad is only one of many
moral problems with which she has to deal. At the close of the war
extravagance reigned, crime was rampant, and against any one of three or
four races there was insidious propaganda. To add to the difficulties,
the government was still so dominated by politics and officialdom that
it was almost always impossible to get things done at the time they
needed to be done. At the same time every patriot knows that America is
truly the hope of the world. Into her civilization and her glory have
entered not one but many races. All go forth against a common enemy; all
should share the duties and the privileges of citizenship. In such
a country the law can know no difference of race or class or creed,
provided all are devoted to the general welfare. Such is the obligation
resting upon the United States--such the challenge of s