The age-herald., 1901-10-20
Says Papers Are Sensational and Do Not Voice Senti- mentOf Southern People ROOSEVELT CUTICLE BLInD Claims That He Has Been Received at Homes of Some of the
 Best Southern
 People.

New York, October 19.-(Specis1 l-Boolr- CT T. Washington, when asked today at Huntington, L. l., as to the meaning of the denunciation of President Roossvalt by a number of Southern newspapers for giving him dinner at the White House. said:
 'T do not care to say much about.t .thei matter. I think the newspapers are Eet- ting up a sensation in regard to it anal that they do not voice the opinion of thet Southern people, However. they arel hurting the entire South more than thsyi are President Roosevelt. They represent a transient emotional sentiment on the part of class of the white people ofsthe South, but such feelings do not last, and :. do not indicate the general feeling and opinion of Southern people"
 Known President for Years- j
 'Have you been personally aconaincsds with President Roosevelt for somsstins7" he was asked
 ''Yes. I have known him for as number of years. We have consulted together many times over matters pertaining to 1 my race in the South. The President Is | very much interested in the Tuskegee work and keeps posted on it right alone.i As far as can learn of him he makes no distinction as to the color of a mans cuticle when he wants to get at facts, 1 and is as ready to consult with the negro, ] Indian or Chinaman as he is with tht Anglo-Saxon when he wants to get at the whole situation in any line of his work. 1 I esteem him very highly as man of sense and integrity"
 Dinner Private Affair. l There were two or three other guests with us at the dinner given by the Presi- dent. It was sR private affair."
 l Have yonFnot been received at the homes of some of the best white people of the south7" he was asked.
 T have" ssid Washington T do not weigh heavily these violent outbnrsts of few of the newspapers. and think it will blow over soon.'
 Negro Race Advancing.
 Washingto on said that the colored race in the South must look to their materfa' advancement before obtaining poiitica rights. He went on to show that moral spiritual and social advancement cam. with habits of industry. thrift and skill in the various trades and cafings. Speak, ing of the great advance in the material conditions of the black race in the South, he said that the negroes of Georgia are paying taxes on an assessed valuation of over $15.000.000. although they have got onto the white mans method of under valuation of property in reporting to the assessors
 He said that in Randolph County. vir- 1 ginia, the negroes own one-third of all the real estate of the county, and under Hampton, Tuskegee and scores of other institutions born of them the race Is be- coming saving, industrious and a valu- l able factor in the community; that ffe} uplifting of the colored race in the southa meant the uplifting of the whites ana the degrading of negroes means tho deg 1 radiation of whites.
 Races Must Live Together.
 He explained at length the fact pf l various colonization schemes and said 1 that the two races were destined to tivas together in the South and thaf bothd were necessary for the developmeuk oft the South and for the welfare of eachi other. He explained how the Soufhefn5 negro retrograded after slavery. On thol plantations he was taught the usa1uI3 trades and was expected to build thei houses. make the carriages shoe thet horses, cultivate the land and all guFt8j of labor After the war the youug3 negroes were taught no trades and on1yi the old negroes were self supporting. Such institutions as Tuskegee came in at deterioration.