The mourning preachers will admit in private that there is no virtue in the mourn, and that they do it simply to "touch up" the old folks. They ought to be ashamed. Such conduct is sinful. They should hate the sins that make them mourn, and drive them from their breast. The religious status of a people is a pretty good index of their civilization. If there are idiosyncrasies in our religious life--in short, if we are not up to the standard--we will be judged accordingly. Though my voice be as one crying in the wilderness, I wish to suggest this religious slogan: "Down with the mourning preacher!" OUR GREATEST DRAWBACK. BY E. E. BROCK, NEW YORK, N. Y. I doubt if there has ever been an enterprise started by Afro-Americans, no matter how lofty the aim or however honest the intentions, that there were not a few envious souls that stood ready to cry it down. This is to-day the greatest barrier to Afro-American success and the chief reason why we are no further advanced in commercial spheres than we are. In this advanced age of civilization and enlightenment such a state of affairs is sadly to be deplored, for we find that not only among the illiterate class does this exist, but in a greater and more marked degree by those who claim superior intelligence and are looked upon as leaders and shining lights of the race. If one attempts to gain a certain goal, there always stands another ready to pull him back. "You must and shall not get above me" seems to be their fixed motto. Ah! brothers and sisters, you have much yet to learn. If you cannot help another up the hill, you certainly will gain nothing by trying to pull him back. Enviousness is a demon and a monster, and until you learn to live in union and love thy neighbor as thyself, you may never hope to win the respect and esteem of other races. THE RACE PROBLEM. Views of Several Prominent Negroes. In a speech recently delivered before the graduating class of Meharry Medical College, at Nashville, Gov. Taylor said: "There is no Negro problem of the South. That has been settled long ago. I belong to a generation that has grown up since the war, a generation of young white men who thank God that the shackles of slavery have been stricken from the limbs of the black man." I have observed that in any community where our people respect themselves and encourage the enterprise of each other the white people not only patronize and encourage us, but they treat our women respectfully, and the lives of our men are as safe as if we were white; but where we act the brute and traitor to each other the race, both good and bad, fare hard, and nothing more is to be expected by any sensible person. It is human nature for the strong to prey upon the weak. Hence the Negro must be his own first strength by his moral life and faithfulness to each other. Unless this, we are as a race doomed either in Africa or America. (Caesar A. A. Taylor, Ocala, Fla.) * * * * *