The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-05-07
INDUSTRIAL TRAINING.

Spread of the movement in the south
for industrial training. especially in
cotton manufacturing, shows that the
people of that section are alive to the
chief defect of the American cotton in
dustry," says the Commercial Adver-
tiser
1t sees in this awakening to the i'm
portance of Industrial education the
solution of the cotton export problem,
which has been hothering the heads of
economists and manufacturers of the
south. 1t continues:
| In the United States little attention has
! been devoted to industrial training. with
the result that cotton manufacturers are
| able to compete with foreign rivals in
production of only coarser grades of
| goods. Even the advantage they enjoy
| over foreign competitors in production of
this class of goods is due mainly to near
ness of cotton fields. Southern cotton
manufacturers evidently perceive that
| the future success of American cotton
manufacturing depends on producing a
better quality of goods than has hereto
| fore been the rule in this country, and
establishment of training schools. after
| the European fashion, is the surest
| means to this end.
This may be true. But there is
another problem, whose only solution
must come from this industrial educa-
ton in the south; the training that
Booker I. Washington and other edu-
Gated negroes urge upon the members
of their race. When the black man
turns from politics and play to ear
nest purpose and the intelligent appli-
cation of his energy and strength TO
profitable pursuits the first step to-
wards the solution of the race problem
will have been taken.
The negro of the south has not taken
the interest in himself that his So
called champions of the north have pre-
tended to take in him. 1t has only
been a few years back that the negro
was regarded as utterly incapable Of
efficient service at any skilled industry
which required confinement and minute
attention. This theory was accepted
as a matter of fact by the negroes
| themselves. and was regarded as the
chief obstacle in the way of developing
cotton spinning and cotton-weaving in
the south. Shortly after the war of Sc
cession good many unsuccessful eX-
periments in that direction were made,
particularly in South Carolina. Geor-
gia and Florida. Their failure was al
ways largely attributed to the difficulty
of getting good and teachable hands
that could withstand the summer eli
mate and would not require eXorbitant
pay. The negroes worked in the fields
for less than half of the wages of the
whites: but, even with the prospect of
equal wages, it was hard to lure them
into the factory and make proficient
artisans of them.
OF late years, owing largely to the
| influence and teaching of men like
Booker T. Washington. southern ne
groes have accustomed themselves to
the idea of indoor labor in connection
with the use of machinery. and within
a comparatively brief period the num-
Der of them so employed has rapidly
increased.
The troubles that exist elsewhere be-
tween union laboreTs and so-called
''scabs'' will be felt in the south until
negro operatives learn to keep the
scale of wages at the living notch. But
when they cut the hire of factory
hands they are just as apt to have
trouble in New England as in the
south, and Their recent experiences at
Pana, Ills. shows that politics yields
little influence in the protection of
wage-cutters from organized labor
The colored man has met with some
opposition upon his entrance into the
sacred circle of skilled labor, because
of this willingness to content himself
with smaller wages than had been GUS
tomary. But it does not appear that
the southern people in general regard
the matter in that light. Many of
them believe that in the utilization of
the colored race in the skilled indus
tries of the south lies the greatest hope
for the development of the latter. 1t
is, of course, absurd to expect to close
any great civic occupation to a very
large part of the population simply
because of class distinction. Whatever
may be the result Of the closer .asso-
citation of whites and blacks in work
shops and factories. it must be faced
and met by other methods than race
exclusion. White men have a right to
OBJECT 10 tHe poillcdi uoIuIHdtloH Vi
the blacks. They have reason to fear
the bestial license which recent slaves
for generations are apt to construe as
their liberty. But every avenue of
moral and intellectual improvement
should be thrown open to the negro,
and every opportunity to industrial ad-
vancement should be accorded him. In
these may come a peaceful solution of
the race problem. And a peaceful dis
position of the matter is better than
that which seems to be impending.