The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-02-23

cent. i STATE Of things whose sisnifcance
reeds no comment, especially . 4 ex1ztss
according 60 the bess evidence We can E<f.
throughout the Sonth- Fer myself, sffer
years Of observation. confess INST kno*
OF no force suszscsent 10 confros or direct
the vast ia pulses which are at work be-
meath this nzass Of semi-barba-ism, except
that which lows through The channels Of :
wisely administered system ct practical
education
Ii II the negro's hess hope-nore than
this. IL Is She cesf hope of the white man
with whom, throughout the South, be IS
too closely allied TO make it possible 70 sep
arase their in teresss- And that We who
are among the pioneers II this direction.
have ground for contlnuance OF our Ell
forts Is shown 1 Relieve. by facts which
not eren the hopeless. popular talk about
the negro can altogether ignore. FOR ex-
ample Dr. Haygood states that the total
property of the negroes IN the ex-siAse
states Is probably not far from so. 900 Coo.
not Guiding the wealthy creoies OF Louis
lana with negro blood IN their veins who
are essimsfed 20 be worth over $l5.vo.pu.
Q gain which Is simply enormous when
We consider the conditions l think that
intelligent white men everywhere IN the
South admit that the line between good aid
bad Is every year more distinctly drawn,
sure proof Of progress. The gain Was never
50 rapid as nov. thanks TO negro pluck and
purpose, and TO the stern discipline OF their
past, which developed qualities which
schools alone cannot create. and this basis
Of hope Is. / believe, beyond the reach OF
any political pressure. Increasing enter
prise at the South, and the new industrial
life OF the people are helpful condistons.
and, wherever they are supplemented by
education, are pushing the better part OF
the negro race into prosperity. giving them
place and making them power.
THE STEADY PROGRESS OF THE RACE
Again, there is even in the black belts"
OF the Gulf states steady, ii slow. advance
toward good government. the gain in eyery
ten years being noticeable. | did not my
self believe this until my own observations
and the opinions OF some thoughtful
Southern men convinced me OF il. should
have said. perhaps, before this. that the
only definition OF education which | can
aecep. for the negro OF the South is that
which includes simultaneous training OF
hand, heart and head, which is moral and
manual, Is well as intellectual. and which
has for its object the formation of
character rather than the production
OF servants. Measured by this standard,
education has accomplished for the negro
all that it can accomplish for any race in
the early stages Of development. II has
differentiated the individual, raising here
and there man or woman so Jar above the
common Level as to make them invaluable
illustrations OF = possible progress. That
these men and women are so far excel
tional is admitted, but we find that they
exist in sufficient numbers 10 form the
nuclei round which Is crystalizing some
thing like a fixed social order. Its notice
able, also, that the pure blacks show as
much ability as the half breeds, the promi-
nent men among them being as often as not
true Africans, so far as the physical type is
concerned.
The negro is becoming not only individu-
allied, but also classified: and there are
evidences of stratihcation, in communities
where they are in the majority, which
mean that they are learning to appreciate
refinement, decency and general cultiya-
ton to an extent undreamed of by their
white critics. The best are coming to the
top, the worst are being slowly deposited,
and in this process education, as | have
said. is supplementing and controlling ma
terial conditions. Their newspapers, their
churches, their varied although incomplete
attempts at organization, ali show this, for
II is everywhere the educated" men who
lead.
Plenty of humbug there is, plenty of
false prefenses and false ambitions hat ii
is always the tendency" which is to be
considered, and that is most assuredIy in
the right direction. The more advanced
among them have an ideal of higher CIVIL
lization than their own, toward which. with
more or less disiinctness. they are struz.
Cling, and their faith is as vet unalloyed
that it is upon education that all de-
pends. While. therefore, l recognize the
multiplicity of forces which must be taken
into account in any summing up of
the negro's present status or future
chances. / will believe that in the
schools which give opportunity for
the three-fold training OF which have
spoken, wherein the influences are those of
sanctified common sense, lies his chief
hope. Without the assistance and guidance
which they can give him his development
will be indefinitely postponed. and he Will,
indeed, Re lett at the mercy of his environ
ment
And, as no mans testimony should be
taken as authoritative upon such points rs
those herein involved, ask that facts,
rather than theories or statements. shall be
considered by those wno recognize the ma
tionai importance OF the question of negro