The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-06-30
THE NEGRO AND HIGHER LEARN
 ING.


 The particular part the negro IS to
 play in the development of this great | country is a question of the future, But one thing is certain; he is to play some | part It is equally certain that the tu- | ture of the negro race is irreVocapiy bound up in it's present. And if, as Nlc- tor Hugo declared, the nineteenth cen- tury made the negro free but the tWen- tieth century is to make him man,
 there is no question that higher learn ing is to be a prominent factor in this process. Accordingly, no lines should be drawn, no limits set, and no bound aries defined, if he Is to reach the nigh
 est development. If a spirit or restrlc- ton were carried into practice 1t would be to the ultimate disadvantage of all concerned, both white and black. No country has ever been prosperous or happy where such lines have been drawn. In this country an attempt to
 draw them would lead to caste system
 that would be ruinous. Deterioration
 would invaribaly come to any nation
 that allowed or encouraged such dis
 tinctions Two systems of civilization
 would but create an imperium in inn
 perio; for in the lower there would be
 leaders, and there would grow up
 power and a system of life which in the
 end would produce a revolution,
 growing body must and will break any
 bonds that seek to restrain or confine
 it. It is the law of the worlds growth
 the law of nature itself.
 It is said that the masses of the ne-
 ct
 go slowly; and that they will have to
 remain laboring class. Handlcraft
 therefore is the all-important thing.
 This does not follow. Perhaps they will so remain; but the handicraft is not the all-important thing, though it has it's
 importance. That the masses must be
 uplifted is evident; but why limit the plane? Why say "only so far?"
 But who is to do the work of elevat- ing to a higher plane? Is it always to be an outer force, the help being given by another race? Are the negroes them- selves to take no part in the movement? Are those who believe in the negro's elevation to be pushed aside and those allowed to take the control who declare that the higher education is a mis- chievous thing, and so hold the race within bounds? Who are those of the race who are to teach the negro in the future? Is it to be simply those who are the educated men of to-day? But what of tomorrow? Shall just the few who have friends or money enjoy the higher courses in our great centers of learning? Whence will come the ead- CTS for higher planes if the higher forces are not to be supplied without limit from the rising generation? Shall we let the masses sleep because per chance they are sleepy? These are questions of vital importance and we may we'll pause to reflect upon them
 The negro may be compelled to belong for years largely to the laboring or in- dustrlal classes. But whatever Is good for the development of one race is good for the development of another. The negro people, as Is predicted, may not all rise above the middle classes. But we point to history and say that the middle and laboring classes have given 1 us much of the best material in this, our American, civilization. What | would have been the result if similar | lines had been drawn in former times? The one great boast of this proud re- public to-day is the universal oppor- tunty of education for the poorest and l humblest; and the boys and girls of the | are invited, nay urged, to take | the highest and the best trafning.-Prof. l w. S. Scarborough in the May Forum. |