The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-06-03
The industrial Race Question.

The most serious aspect of what Is
called the race problem, as ii stands at
present is the industrial aspect. The
question. of course. concerns primarily the
negro, because that race comprises about
ten per cent of the population of the coun-
try; but the Indian comes under the same
head. The promoters Of industrial educa-
ton have gotten hold of one end Of the
problem and are digging away at it with
fairly good results; but there is part Of
1t which they cannot handle. When the
negro boy, or the Indian boy, has gotten
his trade. what is he TO do with it? The
labor unions will not let him work at it
in competition with them, and though, for
the present, they have kept, or have been
kept. out of the South. there is no knowing
how long they will give the negro me-
chanic chance even there. At present a
negro carpenter. printer, or bricklayer can
lot get a job in any part OF the country
except the region in which be furnishes
most of the available manual labor. The
unions will not work with him. They say
he shall not work unless he is numerous
enough to displace whole shop full OF
liable to have fight on his hands. How,
then. is he to enter the industrial field Oh
anything like fair terms? The Indian, who
is being so assiduously trained at the Gov
eminent schools in the various trades OF
civilized man. is in much the same fix.
It is all very well to say that when
man is thoroughly good workman he can
always get work, because he can success
fully compete with others, but obviously,
II the whole shop is going 10 walk out when
be is given a Job, he will not get one, no
matter what his ability. That is one rea-
son why the negro boy often struggles
through college when he is rather better
fitted for q trade. He knows that if he
has the brains to teach he can get school
somewhere, but if he is thoroughly
trained printer there is no job in print
ing Office that he can get save that of
janitor or pressman. His choice of train
ing is plain common sense.
But there is one way in which the negro
workman may be able TO compete with
anybody, If he happens TO see it, or some
body sees it for him. This is by the dis
covery of thing which he, on account
Of natural ability or advantages, can do
and nobody else can. II seems as If there
might be possibility of this in the line
OF manufacture, and that some of the in
dustrial schools might profitably take it up.
1t may be that the experiment would fail
nobody can tell until ii has been tried
but Ii would not cost much, and II might
be something of gold mine.
Artistic furniture Is a thing which Is,
at present, almost unknown in this coun-
try. The principles on which piece OF
furniture is put together so as to be
beautiful, and TO be best fitted for the use
for which ii is designed, at one and the
same time, have never been studied by
most OF our manufacturers. Their de-
signers seem TO work mainly by the light
of nature. They turn out either imi,a-
tions-not very good ones-of European
models or a horrible hash OF French,
German, and English styles, combined on
the same principles that some women fol-
low when they cbristen their girls Leo
della, or Elorainia, or Jurilda. Now, the
principles of art which differentiate
Greek vase from the modern hidcous