The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-12-04
EDUCATION OF THE NEGRO
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(Continued from First Page.)
 cation of the negro. Only few days
 before leaving Tuskegee I received $50
 from a southern white man in Missis-
 sippi to pay for the education of a
 black boy. This southern white man
 was a former slave holder and at first
 was not inclined to encourage the edu-
 cation of the negro but he stated to me
 frankly in his letter that he had reach
 ed the point that he believed Tuskegee
 was doing the work that the negro
 most needed to have done for, him,
 and that he wanted to show the north
 by his contribution that southern white
 men were as deeply interested in the
 development of the negro as the north
 I have in mind the case of another
 southern white man in Alabama who
 during the last year, contributed out
 of his own pocket nearly S2,000 for the
 building and maintenance of a negro
 school in his county These white peo-
 pie are beginning to see the difference
 between the value of an educated ne- gro and an ignorant negro.
 Another very important result has been accomplished. It was not unnat- ural that at the beginning of his free, dom the negro got the idea that his salvation was in the direction of his securing political office and in political agitation. During the first years of his new life much of his time and strength were devoted to politics. We have now, however, gotten to the place where the negro in the south is con- vinced that while he should not give up his rights guaranteed to him by the constitution of the United States that the best way to secure the enjoy ment of all he rights of an American citizen is to lay the foundation in prop erty, intelligence and thrift. He is de- voting himself to these purposes at the present time in a most encouraging manner. He realizes the fact that in too many cases the negro immediately after the war began his life at the top instead of at the bottom. That theNne- the bottom and go through that slow at the bottom and go through that slow and patient process of evolution that all races have had to undergo before they attained to that position that is so much to be desired. Throughout the south there Is, a positive enthusiasm among all classes of negroes over the opportunity to secure industrial train ing for their children. At Tuskegee we cannot begin to offer these opportu- mites to more than half of the stu dents who desire them. The race has I settled down and is taking a common l sense view of it's condition and needs | in a manner that gives the greatest | hope for the future. It must be always | bore iu mind that in the matter of { business, securing employment, the negro has a great advantage in the south, greater than in any other por- tion of the country, and this constitutes in a large measure the basis for the settlement Of the negro problem.
 I remarked n moment ago that we have found the way to settle this prob- lem. and what we want is the means At Tuslxegee we have over thousand students with eighty-two officers and teachers, twenty-six industries in con 5tant operation in connection with re- igious and academic training, and a that has been very largely created by the labor of the students to
 
 however at the present time is an en- lowment fund of at least $500,00 and of $50 each to pay for the ,ducation of each student. The stu lents pay their own board in cash and abol. but the $50 a year for teaching 1 hey are wholly unable to pay, for this i ye must depend upon the generosity ] If friends throughout the country. I am very often asked what is the | est way to protect the negro in his l ights in the south. The answer is to ( make the negro useful in the communi- ( V in which he lives. Usefulness, being t ble to do something as well or better z han anybody else is the best protection t hat a citizen can have regardless of c is race or color. l At the close of MT. Washington ad- ress a collection was taken up for the S eneft of the Tuskegee Institute A t eat sum was contributed, but the ex- ( ct sum could not be ascertained last n fight, as it had not yet been counted. S