idate, but to
exchange views and hear suggestions relating to pending legislation in
Mississippi and South Carolina for curtailing, if not abolishing Negro
suffrage in those States. Although the political condition of the Negro
was then and continues to be of such moment that at no intelligent
gathering will it fail to "bob up" and demand a hearing, and this was no
exception. While the claims of Reed, Morton, Allison, Harrison, and
McKinley were freely discussed, the suffrage was the leading topic.

Prominent among the attendants were T. T. Fortune, of New York; N. W.
Cuney and E. J. Scott, of Texas; W. A. Pledger and H. E. Johnson, of
Georgia; P. B. S. Pinchback, James Lewis, and J. Madison Vance, of
Louisiana; Stevens, of Alabama; Stevens, of Louisville, Ky.; E. Fortune,
of Florida; C. W. Anderson, of New York, and others.

[Illustration: TIMOTHY T FORTUNE.

Editor and Publisher of "New York Age."

Born in Jackson County, Florida, October 6, 1856--Polished and Able--On
the Staff of the White Press at Metropolitan Centers--The Most
Aggressive and Trenchant Writer of the Negro Press.]

The late N. W. Cuney, of Texas, was a man of commanding presence,
forceful and emphatic as a speaker; honest, tireless and
self-sacrificing. His sterling qualities as a leader of men grows
brighter as time recedes from his demise.

Fearless in enunciation, the timid thought him impractical. But there is
ever this concerning unpopular truth: When it induces honest thought
that burns to be spoken, you can depend it is not confined to a single
possessor; it has habitation in many hearts. But he alone is the "leader
of leaders," who, with Eolian harp or trumpet call summons its
worshipers. Among matters discussed was the charge that Negro
delegations were a marketable commodity, with no convictions as to
national policy, no regard for manly probity, and were ever at the beck
of the highest purchaser in the political market. Such a sweeping charge
is most unjust; but, if granted, the admission cuts deeply in the
opposite direction, requiring no analysis to discover the preponderance
of venality. It may happen between the receiver of stolen goods and the
thief that impulse to steal is sometimes weakened by uncertainty of
market. The Negro delegate has no market to seek; the market is jammed
under his nose at every turn by immaculate white men, often entrusted
with large sums to be placed "where it will do the most good," report to
those