National Republican., 1886-10-02
The Bethel IndustrIaI Exhibition.

This display Of the industry and ingenuity
Of the colored people who belong 10 the
District is remarkable for what it shows,
and is still more remarkable for the greater
results which 1t indicates and promises. In
some respects this exhibition is the most
interesting we have ever seen. No intelll-
gent observer can walk through the build.
ing, in company with such a courteous
guide as is most likely to accompany him,
without finding food for serious thinking
that none OF the great world eXposltions
have ever been able to suggest.
Creditable as the exhibits are In number,
variety, and quality, the stranger who is at
all interested In the colored race discovers
himself asking questions which ought to
be somewhat out Of date In this quarter OF
the nineteenth century, and in the country
which is proverbially the land OF freedom.
For instance, when we find that nearly all
the specimens Of mechanical skill have
been contributed by men who learned their
trades In the southern states the question
arises, "Do colored men not learn me-
chanical trades In the northHn The uu-
varying answer is, "No. They are not
allowed to compete with white people, and
are not permitted to be aDprenticed to any
trade in which the remuneration IL sufli-
Client TO attract white people"
"Can your children not be bound out to
learn trades in Washington ~
"Not at all. The only chance open to us
is at Howard University, where classes are
taught the uses OF tools employed In differ
ent skilled trades by men who are masters
Of the craft themselves. This Is u wonder.
full blessing 10 us, but still Il is not the
same thing as the thorough training In the
everyday. practice Of a calling upon which
man must rely for his daily bread, aud to
which he must give up all his thought aud
energy"
The inquirer Furthermore learns that If
II were not for the Knights Of Labor who
have admitted colorod people to the priyi-
legeg ut their order, there would be little
hope that even the children Of the present
generation could gain q firm footing IN any
field Of toll except that OF the commouest
and most ill-pald labor. And how incou-
gruOus the whole arrangement seems TO be.
Colorod men may become senators, repre-
scutGiyCs, ministers, lawyers, doctors,
teachers, hotel laudlords, aud saloon keep.
ors but they find II almost impossible in the
northern cities 10 become masons, carpeu-
ters, blacllEmltbs, or, IN fact, members of
any purely mechanical cOlllsg, opposed, es
they are, by the powerful organizations
which hold practical monopoly In each OF
these trades. Tho necessities OF southern
society have made openings for the honor
able energy and intelligence Of the negro;
surely II Is high time that the much-yauntod
justice and inpartiNlity OF the north should
help to remove al unnecessary obstacles
from the pathway Of honest toll,
The men and women who have iuaugu-
rated and contributed 10 the present exhi-
btlou IN Bethel Hall hay} done a great
work for the benefit Of their race. Bat,
considering the strides that have been made
IN other walks Of life, thesupportors Of this
movement should never stop TN every
avenue Of every brauch Of Industry shall