most interesting scheme I have witnessed in the South for a long time.
You have, I suppose, received one or two copies of our little paper.
Let me give you a bit of history concerning it.

It was a short while after the "local option" election, in which the
friends and advocates of temperance and good government went down in
inglorious defeat before the red-faced saloon-keepers and other
votaries of vice, when the executive committee of the "Prohibs"
saddled the cause of defeat on the Negroes' shoulders. The cause of
defeat agreed upon, a few generous-hearted men thought it would be
much better to make some kind of effort to elevate the Negro than to
grieve about what was already done. So the idea of a manual
training-school was advanced by two gentlemen, one of whom is a stanch
Southerner, who for a long time had the unenviable reputation of
believing and openly advocating the strange and illogical theory that
the Negro has no soul; the other is a minister of Southern birth, but
of Northern education. Infatuated with the prospects of ultimate
success, and having, it seems providentially, come upon a man who was
a printer and owned an outfit, they talked with him, and he, needing
work, was evidently smitten with the idea. Thoroughly understanding
themselves, they sought a conference with a few representative colored
men. I was among the first to be interviewed. The minister put the
matter before me, and I saw nothing unworthy in it, and it drew out my
sympathy immediately. After talking the whole matter over we agreed to
call a meeting. The meeting was called in the well-furnished office of
a colored man. There were six present--three white men and three
colored men. We talked over the matter again, each one stating his
limitations in the affair. I asked the white gentlemen present if they
thought they could stand the sentiment that would doubtless be brought
to bear upon them. They said, "While we anticipate opposition, we are
sure we can withstand all assaults." "Then," said I, "we have nothing
to lose." The whites were to have a part of the paper and the colored
a part--a quarter or a half, as they might desire. I was asked to take
charge of the colored department, and with reluctance I agreed. The
paper went through eight issues. The whites interested in it found the
pressure too great for them, and the owner of the outfit found the
support entirely too meager. The white editor while in attendance at a
church conv