The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1902-11-01
THE NEGRO PROBLEM.

There was q time when there
seemed to be little contradiction be-
tween the missionary impulse and the
humanitarian impulse: when the things
which we affirmed about missions ap-
peared to contradict the fundamental
truths respecting our relations to God
and our neighbor. There was a time
when the representatives Of what we
know as liberal Christianity had very
few kinds words to say about mission
aries, but to-day there is strong mis-
sionary feeling In Harvard university.
The missionary motive and the hii-
manitarian motive are no longer I'm
the mind of any intelligent Christian
contrasted or divergent motives. The
appeal which Is made on behalf of
missions is one which takes hold of all
sound-minded and right hearted men.
The humanitarian aspects of our work
have always appealed to philanthropic
men, but we have never wished to
monopolize the philanthropic motive;
and the great work of the foreign
! boards is beginning to appear to the
world in its true light. The truth
which lies at the heart of all mission
airy and philanthropic enterprises is the
truth that they who are needest, most
ignorant, most helpless are nearest to
! Christ; that 1t is to them. If we are
upon his errands, that we go first. 1t is
not because we fear that God will
doom them to endless suffering If we do
not interpose It is because we know
that they are dear to him and that it Is
their darkness and their need that
make them dear.
What a tremendous problem still is
this problem of the black race at the
South. There have been times when it
seemed to us that we were getting it
pretty well out of our hands, but no
such possibility is now in sight. 1t was
never more serious question than it
is to-day. The men who are seeking to
cooperate with the southern people in
promoting the general cause of educa-
ton at the South have undertaken
most patriotic service. Their efforts are
not directed toward Ahe education of
the negro,--it is the promotion of
education in the whole country, ire
spective of race. sex or creed, to which
they have pledged themselves. 1t is
not merely an educational crusade of
the North in the South; southern men
are in the front of it; the North is ris-
ing in response to the call of the South
with the purpose of using its larger
resource where they are needed most.
Education prosecuted along these
lines must result in more intelligent
and kindlier public sentiment toward
the negro, and in a better estimate of
his rights and capabilities. 1t must
also tend toward more just apprecia-
ton of the work that has been done and
that is being done in behalf of the negro
by agencies like this association. Intel
ligent men at the south will have better
opportunities of coming into contact
with the men and women who represent
US there, and of finding out what We are
doing. This powerful movement toward
the spread of education in the south
must also create tremendous demand
for well-trained teachers, and the bur-
den thus thrown upon our colleges and
secondary schools will be greatly in
creased 1t will be discovered that this
association largely holds the key to the
situation. Never was our opportunity
to serve the present age more proms-
ing. Industrial training is Of vast i'm
portance; it is the most immediate and
pressing necessity. These millions
must have leaders and we must see that
they are not wanting.
Those measures by which in most OF
the southern states the negro has been
practically disfranchised represent an
ominous but not permanent tendency.
The Acknowledgement of ignorance or Of
moral Worthlessness Is not to be depre-
Gated; but the drawing of the line of po-
/ litical privilege between the ignorant
white man and the ignorant black man