The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-11-11
PROGRESS OF THE NEGRO.
Education and Industry Doing
Much for tho Blacks.
The Acquisition Of Property Bings
to Them IN Improved Con-
diti0n in Public and
Priv1to Life.

In February of every year the little
town of Tuskegee, in Alabama, beholds
a curious spectacle. From every direc.
ton and every sort 4 of convey.
ance, from an ox-cart to . railroad
train, representative Of the colored
population of the surrounding country
gather there to atterd the Tuskegee
negro conference. Persons Of both
sexes attend, and neither education nor
wealth is necessary to secure admis'
sion.
No political purpose prompts the
movement. The subject of discussion
is the welfare Of the negro race, and q
desire to cooperate in the work of ele
waiting and expanding the lives OF thei,
fellows is the one common motive OF
those who attend.
In connection with the larger conven.
ton, and contemporaneous with 1t, is
the workers conference, made up Of
officers and teachers in colored schools.
Both gatherings stand for the principle
of self-heip among the colored people
of the south.
Our readers were told some months
ago of the various institutions devoted
to the education Of colored youth, and
of the eminently practical character
which most of them have taken on.
Through these institutions, and
through their graduates, wide and
elerating influence has been brought to
bear upon the whole race. The Tus-
kegee conferences grew out Of the Tus-
kegee institute, whose founder and
president, Booker T. Washington, il
himsel: a graduate Of a similar school
at Hampton, in Virginia.
The conferences themselves are but
one of many ways in which the infu-
ence of such men as President Wash
ington is brought to beer. The credit
system, the one-room cabin, the build
ing of schoolhouses and iengthening OF
the school term, the Importance Of own
ing instead of renting house. the uses
of savings bank-these are among the
topics with which the conferences deal.
But the same topics are dealt with in
every community where the new spirit
has been set at work. They are, in
fact, the things that the friends OF the
race consider everywhere as the things
of most immediate Importance.
Listlessness in work, a lack OF fore
sight and an indifference to waste are
always the characteristics Of slave
labor. Naturally they did not disap'
pear Immediately when the slaves were
freed. Mental and physical traits are
not easily eradicated, either in the in
dividual or the race; but bad habits
and .thoughtlessness are gradually
Welding to the influences of new condi-
tions and the leaven of new ideas. The
returns of the census show that the
negro is acquiring property. The At
lanta exposition revealed something Of
the skill and intelligence which he is
adding to his natural capacity for phys |
ical labor.
There is every indication that indus |
trial progress is not unaccompanied
with moral progress also. Only very |
gradually could the old habits OF
thought and life be shaken of. Pow
crty, not necessarily inimieal to moral.
jty, tended to perpetuate an 1nsuncs
of blind submission inconsistent with |
an erect manhood. The acquisition OF
property brings with it a certain self.
respect and the feeling OF responsible
ity.
The awakening of the blacks to the
possibilities and the duties of theiI
new life is not a menace to the stlfl
dominant whites. The practical dis
appearance of the race question from
national politics is hopeful sign.
Other indications are not wanting ora
better feeling between those who were
masters and those who were slaves in
the times that seem 30 much more re-
mote than the tale Of years would in
dicate. Surely an increase Of intelli.
gence will help the negro to find his
place in the great future of the south.
Whatever the solution of tie race prob
lem may be, ignorance and immortality
cannot aid us in finding it.-Youth'a
Companion.