At the General Convention, which met in the fall of 1907, the Conference of Church Workers among Colored People presented a memorial in which it advocated a separate organization for the Negroes and the election of suffragan bishops. A joint committee of the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies, of which Bishop Cheshire was made a member, was appointed to consider the memorial. This committee recommended the adoption of the principal features of the memorial. Bishop Cheshire and one other member of the committee presented a minority report in which they urged the use of missionary bishops. Their report was defeated in the House of Bishops by a vote of fifty to thirty-four, while that of the majority was carried, forty-five to thirty-three. After the defeat of his proposal, Bishop Cheshire voted for the majority's report, believing it preferable to no action on the subject. The question of the racial episcopate was, however, far from being settled. During the next three meetings of the General Convention Bishop Cheshire and a few others continued to work for the adoption of the plan of missionary bishops. In 1913 they succeeded in getting the plan approved by the House of Bishops, but it was defeated by the House of Deputies. The southern bishops and clergy were the most undecided as to what plan they wanted to put into effect. Up to 1918 the Diocese of North Carolina had taken no action towards electing a suffragan bishop for the colored work. In 1917 Bishop Cheshire advised his diocesan convention to consider the question. The next year the convention voted to proceed to the election of a suffragan bishop. Before nominations for the office were called for, Bishop Cheshire gathered together the colored clergy and laity of the convention for an informal discussion. He told them that, in his opinion, Rev. Henry B. Delany, who was then archdeacon of the colored convocation, was the best man for the office. Rev. M. A. Barber strongly represented the qualifications of the Rev. Mr. Baskerville, who had been recommended by Bishop Guerry, of South Carolina. Mr. Delany then withdrew from the conference, and Bishop Cheshire asked the colored clergy to express themselves frankly on their preference. Every one of them expressed the opinion that, while they thought Baskerville was an excellent man, they did not think he could compare with Delany in qualifications for the office of bishop. Of this unanimity of opinion, Bishop Cheshire remarked: "It was something of a surprise to me—for I really did not know how strong their feelings were." When the convention proceeded to the election of a suffragan bishop, Delany was the only man nominated. He received every vote of the clergy and laity. When he was presented to the convention and asked to say a few words, he simply remarked: "I cannot speak. I cannot utter what I feel. I thank you." Bishop Cheshire characterized his laconic expression as "about the best speech he could possibly have made."[51]