The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-11-10
PRINCIPAL wASHINGTON'S EIGHT
ZENITH ANNUAL REPORT.

The Messenger is in receipt Of the
Normal and Industrial Institute at
Tuskegee, Alabama, sent to us by the
principal, Booker T. Washington. Hon
oring this able man Of the negro race
we are pleased to receive 1T. He - a
teacher Of ability and hen he dis
cusses the race question he does it with
the wisdom and foresight Of a states
man. We notice that the committee
on investment of endowment fund, live
in New York City. The school was or
gained in 1881, in a shanty with one
teacher n 80 students. o it has
1,1G4 students from % states and ter
ritories land from Jamaica, Cuba,
Porto Rico, Africa and England. In all
the departments; religious academic
and Industrial, 8S officers and teachers
have beer employed. No students are
admitted until they are Ia years OF age
and have some preparation before
coming. Each year the students who
enter are of a more promising class.
The property owned by the institu-
tfon (aside from the endowment fund
is valued at about $500, 900, with no
mortgage, and consists mainly of 2,267|
acres Of land, AZ buildings, counting
large and small, live stock. apparatus,
etc. The school still pursues it's orig
inal plan Of having it's buildings u up
by the student themselves"
Already it has sent out 1853 students
who had completed the regular course,
and are doing good work in many parts
of this country. About 5000 have
taken a partial course. Principal
Washington says
AS an example of what some of the
Industrial departments are doing, l
may mention THAI about ,0OO,O 600 bricks
have been made by the students during
the year; over 800, 900 garments have
gone through our laundry, and 70 COWS
have been MIXED daily in the dairy
ing division. More money has been put
into buildings and the permanent plant
than has been true Of any other year.
Its total ash receipts for the year
were s104, 636.5O. How much has u
noble university in it's 105th year at his
time? North Carolinians ook to it.
The principal asks for $500, 900 regular
endowment fund. That our readers
may have another sample Of the good
sense of the principal (the Messenger,
mas given many in the past) we copy
this:
But in discussing this subject one
is often met with the question, should
not the Negro be encouraged to pre-
pare himself for any station in life that
any other race fills? | Would say, yes,
but the surest way for the Negro ito|
reach the highest positions is to I'LL
we'll at the present time is term
d by the world the more humble pol
sitions. This will give him a founda-l
tiOn upon which to stand while secur-l
ing what is called the more exalted po-i
sitions. The Negro has the right toI
study law, but in the end We shall suc-l
coed soonest in producing q number of
lawyers by preparing first a largeI
number of intelligent, thrifty farmers.f
mechanics land housekeepers to sup
port the lawyers. The want of properl
direction of the use of the Negroes ed-l
ucation, results in tempting too many
to live mainly by their wits, without
producing anything that is of real
value to the world, or ito live merely
by politics. The Negro has the right
to enter politics, but 1 believe that his
surest road to political prefermentI
that will mean anything, is to make
himself of such supreme service ito thel
community in which he lives, that po-
lItical honors will in time be conferred
upon him."