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THE WHITE HOUSE
AUG 4 1915
RECEIVED

New York City
August 3. 1915.

Honorable Woodrow Wilson
President of the United States
Washington, D.C.

Dear Sir:

WHEREAS, we have observed from the columns
of the New York daily papers another unlawful, inhuman,
dastard, brutish and fiendish crime, comitted by the
white citizens composed of men, women and children in
the public square of Temple, Texas; of the unlawful
taking away from the officers of the law, as prisoner,
a colored man by the name of Will Stanley charged with
the murder of the three Grimes children, thereby defeat-
ing the ends of the court of justice in its mission,
and the unlawful taking of human life in the most
savage way known thereby robbing him of all the civic
rights decreed to him under the Constitution of this
Country. And

WHEREAS, we believe that this and other
similar, unlawful and inhuman acts of any people are
steps backward in the progress of Christian civiliza-
tion in this age and country. And

WHEREAS, we as law abiding citizens positively
and unreservedly condemn crime of whatever nature, by
whoever it may be committed, regardless of race or color
and while in the years gone by, we have looked to our
white friends who professed superiority for higher ideals
in society and religion; but we are pained with regret
to say that our hopes have utterly failed and now we con-
clude "our only hope is in God, when we note such un-
pleasant happenings as this, which blots our civiliza-
tion and places our Christianity into ill repute. How-
ever, we still believe some way or other that it is our
bounden duty to trust and protest the government to
whom we have sworn our allegiance and to whom we have
proven our loyalty and fidelty by pouring out our life's
blood on every battle field and in every war. Not only
that, but in every class of service we have been called
upon to render from the time we landed here until now,
and we are as willing now to do as ever if we are treat-
ed and protected like other citizens. We believe confi-
dently that the majority of the people of this country
are willing to accord to us those rights quaranteed to
us by the Constitution and that is all we ask and all we
want.

THEREFORE, we as the members of the Baptist
Church Union of Greater New York, pastors of fifteen
regular Baptist Churches composing this compact do in
general mass meeting assemble, unanimously agree to
petition to the chief executive of the Nation, Hon.
Woodrow Wilson, the President of the United States. in
whose generous, uhbiased and impartial judgment we be-

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