Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1897-02-04
OF THE NEGRO.
Education and Industry Doing
Much for the Blacka
The Acquisition OF Property Brings
to Them an Improved Con-
dition In Public and
Private Life.

town of Tuskegee, in Alabama, beholds
a curious spectacle. From every direc-
ton and every sort OF convey
ance, from an oN-cart to a railroad
train, representatives of the eolored
population of the surrounding country
gather there to attend 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 a
desire to cooperate in the work of ele-
waiting and expanding the lives OF their
fellows is the one common motive OF
those who attend.
In connection with the larger conven-
ton, and contemporaneous with it, is
the workers conference, made up of
officers and teacher in colored schools.
Both gatherings stand for the principle
of self-help 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, a wide and
elevating influence has been brought to
bear upon the whole race. The Tus-
kegee conferences grew out of the Tus-
kegee institute, whose founder N
| president, Booker T. Washington. is
himself a graduate of a similar school
at Hampton, in Virginia.
The conferences themselves are but
one of many ways in which the infiu-
ence of such men as President Wash
| ington is brought to bear. The credit
system, the one-room cabin, the build
ing of schoolhouses and lengthening of
| the school term, the Importance of own
ing instead of renting a house. the uses
| of a savings h"Gk-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-
peal Immediately when the slaves were
freed. Mental and physical traits are
not easily e~radicated, 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 leayen 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
zeal 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 OFF. Pow
erty, not necessarily inimical to moral
ity, tended to p~erpetuate an instinc'
of blind submission Inconsistent with
an erect manhood. The acquisition OF
property brings with il 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 sun
dominant whites. The practical dis
appearance of the race question iron
national politics is a hopeful sign
Other indications are not wanting of &
better feeling between those who were
masters and those who were slaves II
the times that seem so much more re
mote than the tale of years would in
dictate. Surely an increase of inteili
gence will help the negro to find hi
place in the great future of the south
Whatever the solution of the race prob
; lem may be, ignorance and immoralltA
cannot aid us in finding it.-Iouthi
Companion.