“Rev. Bryan was converted under the preaching of Rev. George Leile, and baptized, 1783, in the Savannah River. At the close of the Civil War, 1865, there were 400,000 negro Baptists in the United States. “Today they are estimated at 3,000,000, and well organized. The National Colored Baptist Convention was organized at Montgomery, Ala., in 1880, and shows 89 State Conventions; 559 Associations; 18,214 churches; 17,217 ordained ministers; 15,625 Sunday Schools; 73,172 officers and teachers; 788,016 pupils. “The officers of this National Convention are as follows: Rev. E. C. Morris, D. D., Helena, Ark., President; Prof. R. B. Hudson, A. M., Selma, Ala., Recording Secretary; Rev. A. J. Stokes, D. D., Montgomery, Ala., Treasurer; Rev. Robert Mitchell, A. M., D. D., Bowling Green, Ky., Auditor; Rev. S. W. Bacote, D. D., Statistician. “The work of this great body is conducted by National Boards, under the management of Corresponding Secretaries. “The denominational organ speaking for this Convention, is _The National Baptist Union_, published weekly at Nashville, Tenn. E. W. D. Isaac, D. D., is editor, and said to be one of the ablest in the United States.” It was in a speech made on Georgia soil, that first gave Booker T. Washington the eye and ear of the Nation, when he said, “It is worth far more to the negro to have the privilege of making an honest dollar side by side with the white man, than it is to have the privilege of spending that dollar sitting by him in a theatre.” It is this wholesome doctrine that has given him the right influence among right thinking people of both races. When Booker Washington left Hampton Institute, Virginia, that great school for the practical training of the negro, he began his life work at a country cross roads, near Tuskegee, Alabama. It proved a good stopping place for that young and penniless, but cultured son of Hampton Institute. As an educator and civic builder, he is known and honored wherever the forces of Christian civilization recount their worthies, and crown their heroes. It is a remarkable record, that in all his utterances, on both sides of the sea, Booker Washington has never been known to say a foolish or intemperate thing. Speaking further of Georgia, it is asserted on good authority that the negroes of this State pay taxes on something over $18,000,000 worth of property. It is property at last, that is the test of civilized citizenship, especially in a land where good men may readily attain it. With whiskey out of the reach of a race having a lamentable weakness for it, it is highly probable that these figures will be greatly increased within the next decade. The truth is gradually becoming known to the world, that the South is giving to the negro the only square deal a white race ever gave to one of another color, living among them under the same laws.