Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-05-21

substance. He who is kept alive by medicine
must always apply the antidote or die. But he
who has that physical power to Withstand the
dread contagion or repel its attack will prove
the law of the survival of the fittest and will
live. II is he who must put his shoulder TO the
wheel and tug away at this great load. Our
task is not complete in keeping the load from
descending the hill. but We are to push il up.
We can no longer with safety be a chock block
only. We must become aggressive and ener-
getic functions i'll the equation of the political.
civil and economical world. 1t is uphill work,
but IL must be done.
Men who toll must see the results of their
labor. or they will become discouraged and ex-
hausted. Have We any reason TO be hopeful!
Emphatically YES. Notwithstanding an apparent
apathy on the part of some of the educated
there is an unmistakable increase in the number
who long for the higher condition, labor and
cOntribte for the same. No matter how virulent
the opposition NAV be. and how little real hon
est interest is taken in the schools and higher
institutions of learning for the negro in the
south. they are tolerated and unmOlested in any
and every state in the Union. Where once the
torch would have been applied all willing
that the negro school should adorn the hilltop
or be sheltered i'll the valley. Wonderful have
been the strides i'll advancing thought among
the southern white people. There is unmis-
taxable progress shown in the fact that both
Virginia and South Carolina refused to enact a
separate car law. Mississippis new constitu-
ton must soon fall. and will i'll effect soon
white men are injured by its Objectionable
clause"
WHAT WEALTH NAY ACCOMPLISH.
Prof. Cook gave figures to show what he
deemed an encouraging increase in the wealth
of the negroes of the country, and he urged
the importance of acquiring wealth a means
for changing the conditions in which the negro
lives.
My advice to every negro" he said, sis to
get wealth. Get it for the good it will do.
Use it honorably "A gift from God. Bring
with it all YOU can. Make money and save
money. Save ii that you may help your father
to come out Of the dark alley where the sur
rourdings are not conducive to refinement.
Take care of your money that you may defend
YOUR rights. protect your health. help the
needy and command respect.
when it becomes more the rule than the ex-
ception for the negro TO provide for his family
with refinement while living and upon dying
leave them with competency. prejudices will
be mltigated. When along with the request
for preferment will come endowment. when the
black philanthrOpist can with princely gift turn
an unpopulated district into a center of learn
ing. when negro wealth can establish Palo
Alto or Lehigh. then honest demands will
have more weight. Save money for such en-
noOllng objects and money getting becomes a
virtue. sanctitied by the righteousness Of u no
BILE purpose.
WHAT EDUCATION MAI DO.
If we can permit ourselves to suggest a very
probable solution to the problem" the speaker
went on. 1--WE can sum it up in one comprehen-
sive word. which in its truest sense contains all
that man ever was either in Egyptian, Jewish
Persian. Arabian. Moorish or Christian civiiza-
ton. The one word shat will give the KEY to
the unlocking of the mystery of the dead past,
the living present or the overcoming future is
edueation-m moral intellectual and physical
As is the training is the man. Educa-
ton ancestral. caste. state. theocratic. priesty
o. patriarchal, Is its distinguishing character
so will be its effective influence. Then how
necessary II Is to see to its proper enforcement
In these times. when the friends of the freed
men are holding conferences to discuss this all
important question and denying us a voice
therein. when they consider our ministerial
education and weigh 'coeducatiOn of the races
and almost draw tine sectional lance to how
can northern and southern Christians best CO.
operate for the moral and spiritual elevation
OF the negro and advise as to the industrial
future Of the negro when all these things
are being said and read is 1t not in itself per-
nlclOus species of education TO exclude the
black man from a participation therein. Are
there no colored men wise enough to grapDle
with these vital questions? Is Alexander Crum-
nell dead? l. j. &. Price unworthy? Has
Grimke lost his power? Has Fannie Jack
son Coppin lost interest in the work? Aishop
Payne still lives. Robert Puryis has not re-
tired to the limbo of decrepitude either in in
terest or power. Neither age nor indifference
has forced the mighty Douglass from the field.
Now 10 epitomiLe." said the speaker in clos
ing. There is "A negro problem: it grows out
of natural class feeling and finds food to thrive
upon other than upon the real condition of the
colored people. Second. Our relation to the
problem IL a definite and inalienable one. We
l.. a.. : Lz1l - - l..
every tie known to man sanctifying an ad-
herence to duty. A recognition of our true re-
la,ion makes the duty plain, 50 plain that way
faring man. though a fool. may see il. repeat
that one who does not see relation close and
exacting il either insincere or is possessed with
moral obliquity that staggers human ere
dulity. Third. Duty being known and oppor-
tunitv for work having been given. we must not
sit idly down and say, The night hath come, it
is no longer day"