The colored American., 1900-01-13


ciaI fabric. Booker ~ washington saw
that our weakness lay in our lack of
industrial teaIning, and that the menace
TO our liberties resided III the encIeas'
ing hostility between the white man
and his black neighbor on account cf
an Unbalanced political system. 10
find remedy became the mission OF
Of his life.
In this spirit the Tuskegee industrial
Institute Was founded In 1881. IC start
ed out in q shanty, with one teacher
and thirty students. Less than twenty
years of sturdy agitation, unfagglng
zeal, and rigid adherence to original
principles, finds Booker L. Washing
toms propaganda more than vlndlcaL'
edit is enthusiastically 1ndorsed. The
IusKegee Institute OF today Is mlnla'
ture city IG has nearly 1900 students,
gathered from % states aud territories,
and England, Porto RICO, Cuba, jana al
ca and AfIIca. 1t owns 2267 acres OF
land, 800 head Of live stock, 50 vehicles,
46 buildings. The plant being valued at
fully $3.50 ,OUO. Together with this, and
tue proceeds resulting from the great
endowment fund OF $500, QUO anoW be
Ing rapidly subscribed, Iuskegee g
properly valuation and equipment viii
shortly be quoted at more than
of d million dollars. Ii Is the joinC
work or Negroes and humanItarlans OF
Gne Caucasian race. Thus mas Booker
L. Washington realized the ambition
OF his youth. Thus has he faithfully
served nls struggling people. Thus has
he cemeb ted the needed DOnd OF sym
pathy beEW cen the blacks and whites
ON the strong plea that tnat the inter
est Of each was bound up 10
the other. The boy who thirty
ears ago walked out OF the
little West Virgins town TO make
mis- way in the great world, has not
lived in vain. Nothing was more fit
ting, nor yet more pathetic III sentI-
men, nor dramatic in effect, than the
royal reception teDdered NJ Washing
ton last fall upon his return frOm Eu-
rope, participated in by the dlgn1tarIes
of the State, from the Governor down.
A happy home coming! A glorious
climax of thirty years OF trial and tr1-
umph.
Booker 7. Was shingtOn's work is not
| finished, but the principles OF mdustri-
alIsm so firmly imbedded IN the lnteil
gence and affection OF the nation that
the storms of prejudice ana shafts ol
Criticism are without power 10 lnJure
fuskegee long ago passed the eXperl'
mental stage. 1t is an enduring mOnu
ment to the Industry, sagac1ty and mig
moral purpose Of its eminent founder
Mr.. Washington has grown upon the
American people by mingilng Witt
them. La turn he has excited amaze
mcnt, detraction, envy, half-Oelief, anC
finally, as his ideals have gradually baeL
reached, unsiinted cOmmendatiOn II
his portion. One of Mr.. Washington
most noticeable characteristics ls h1s
patience. He never ceases to work aDC
never gives up in the face of difficulty
however great or exasperating. Gentle
as woman in demeanOr, he Is le
Onine in his contention for right prin
ciples. Cautious and deliberate il
forming opinions, he is fearless WheI
his heart and judgment are enlisted ir
cause. He is never an apolOgist fo
wrong doing, and while uphOlding Gh'
good that IS III the South. he Is relent
less in condemnation of the bad He il
the champion of the worthy member:
of his race, nut refuses to array him
self in support oithe bad He has sym
pathy and help to offer the vicious bu
not the semblance OF Endorsement Il,
is loyal to his friends and generous Il
his enemies. While hurling thunder
bolts Of eloquence against the faults o
the Caucasian, he is not blind to tht
foihIes of the Negro, and seeks to eradi