New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-04-16

fused to ad0Dt. 1t is not likely, however,
after the rebuff which they received in c0nncc-
ton with their attempt to investigate the
workings of the Land act that the Lords
will now incline strongly to the Marquis Of
Salisbury's way Of thinking
EDUCATION FOR THE FREEDNEN
It is seldom that philaulhropist gives a
large sum in charity and leaves its disposal so
mach to the Judgment Of other men as Mr.
Slater proposes TO DO with his gilt to the col
ored people of the South. Precisely an OppO-
site course is the one usually pursued; the
gift is, az q rule, hampCrel with so many con
dit0ns ard restrictions originating IN the
whlms and prejudices Of Tie giyer that It loses
half its force. In this case the "clUcation OF
the colored man" is q vague definition, and
the friends of the freedmen will feel some
natural anxiety as to how the trustees viii
interpret it. The large sums given for this
purpose heretofore (as in the case Of the Fisk
University, DR.. lie Moync's bequcst, etc.
have been ambitious in their aim, ard have
been devoted to supplying hish-cllss schools
where the colorcd youth could receive thor
ouch collegiate education. We confess
we should be sorry if the trustees Of
This slater Fund should apply it in
this way, OF even should act on Mr.. Skaters
hint that part of the money should be spent
in the training of teachers in order that these
teachers may be qualified to teach the high
classical or scientific branches.
What the mass of the negroes Of the South
may require in the way Of education twenty
years hence would be hard to predict, but just
now few of them want a collegiate or profess
sonal education and for those who do there Is
already ample provision, of which the youths
who are partially taught will be quick enough
TO avail themselves. What the swarming,
ignorant negroes in the streets of Southern
cities and in Southern rice and cotton fields
do want is to be taught, not only, as MIR.
Slater saws, "the common branches of secular
learning" but the intelligent use of their
hands and brains, and, most important of all,
the knowledge that they can use them intelli-
gently. At present the only work or life set be-
fore them in the fields, gin-houses or on the
wharves is little better than that given to ami
mails and requires neither skill nor knowledge
they are fied-hands, porters, or at best, white
washers or BARRIERS We find no coOred men
in the trades simply because the trades are
vigorously closed to them, as they arc to the
great majority of white boys. Now the negro
or mulatto is not lacking in the intelli-
gence OF manual deXterity necessary for
success in them; the man who can
make a sklful barber is not barred by
nature out of any handicralt Indeed, be-
fore the war it was not an unusual thing to
find great plantation possessing its own
blacksmith, carpenter, tailor, etc, among the
slaves, the owner finding ii cheaper to train
| his own chattels TO do he work required thin
to pay strangers for doing it. What the South
needs now more than anything else Except
! energy, which is The gift Of God, and not to
be bought for her by any philanthTOpis) is, as
we showed the other day, skilled mechanics
and labOrcrs who have intelligence and aspl-
rations above those of the mules. The work
of the negro now in most parts of the South,
and we may say, too, the wages paid him, fit
him for nothing better than to count the hours
until his stint is done, to eat his hOminy and
molasscs, and to sleep. In towns like Rich
mond and New-Orlcans, he is apt to leave out
the work and add whiskey and thievng to the
daily routine. If Mr. Skaters million of dollars
can be so applied as to teach him that there
is stuff in him fit for something better
than the fate of an unreasonng brute,
lHcy Will he HODlS DcstONtu. HC HlSt
step in the elevation Of any people is to
teach them their own actual value, and
the quickest way to do this is to give them,
simultaneously with the rudlments of an ordi-
nary education, some means of measuring
their own dcxtcrity, strength and intelligence
with those of their fellows. Industrial teach
ing does this, and at the same time furnishes
the means of earning livelihood.
A humane Russian nobeman after the
emancipation OF his scrfs established free
school for them in which at first only their
brains were taught; but in the course of
wear he added instruction in handicrafts,
drawing, practical navigation, etc. Some of
our readers probably remember the exhibit
made by these freedmen as one of the most
significant and suggestive of the Exposition of
1876. Mr.. Slater has with much prudence as
ISOLATED two or three Southern gentlemen with
the others on his Board of Trustees. They
will probably temper the views Of the Nor
thcrners by their more intimate acquaintance
with the actual capabilities and the limitations
of the colored people. Another wise provision
was the prohibit0ry clause which forbade the
expenditure OF the fund in real estate. Many
a princely charity has come through parks and
stately buildings to a most lnpOtent con-
cluslOn.
THE ENGLISH PRESS md TIE SUSPECTS
The comments Of the English press upon
the Intervention OF the United States Govern
ment in behalf of the Irish American suspects
were exceedingly temperate. journal which