The colored American., 1902-05-17

lent secondhand reports OF what MI.
Washington is said to have said. Cen
Cral gossip was in this instance, as IN
the majority of other cases, miserable
falsiher-if not worse.
Like the sage that experience has
proven him to be, the Wizard went
ON his way, talking, advocating, and
working, putting before the people his
:dea of the leaven that must eventual
r. tighten the whole lump" and make
"a new heaven and a new earth" for
The people who would east down their
buckets" where the most good could
be done The opposition reached its
elimination in 1896, and its Waterloo
in May, 1000, when Mr.. Washington
addressed in each instance magnificent
audiences of the races most cultured
and refined representatives at the Ma
tons capital, expounding in plain, but
happy phrase. the genesis of his be-
lief. and illustrating the practical ap-
rlication of his principles. Strong op-
ponents were won over, and became
enthusiastic converts TO industrial1sm
{ the prime factor of the Negroes pro-
greSs to-day.
L
change from 1906 The newspapers
column. College after college devoted
previously to the higher education only
began to introduce agricultural and
manual training, admitting that an in
Itelligently directed hand was especial
~ effective in reducing labor to a sci
erce and that a strong arm was doubly
I equipped when reinforced by devel-
cped mind. Mr.. Washington urged
the higher education" for all who
could possibly acquire it, but as a spe-
cialist. true to his text. devoted his
energies to the industrial phase, be-
cause he felt that it appealed to the
peculiar needs of the masses anC
would bring speediest results to the
greatest number of our people-be
sides furnishing that wage-earning con.
Etituency, absolutely essential to the
prosperity of the professional class.
| Following faithfully the 'ten com
r.landments" given above. Mr.. Wash
;ngton deliberately choked the life ou
cf the little junta, whose small percep
tions led them to declare his manly
letters 10 the "Cyclopian Tillman," anC
Ft0 the Louisiana constitutional conven.
ton to be an incursiOn into politics
Mr. Washington is for equal and intel
liSent suffrage; he is for the impartial
enforcement of law and for a system
of political alliance that will bring
neighbOrs in friendlier touch, but al
these are elements of craftsmanship
and of a higher atmosphere than par,
t'san politics. They are aids to popu
lar education. His Tuskegee reports
& owing how students actually plieC
treir trades as means of livelihood
and their splendid work in manufac
turing and building on the schoo
grounds promptly checku1ated the
CT tics who claimed the Negro mechan
ic could find no ''open door" The Chi
cago Federation of Labor the Other
lay invited the cooperation of Negro
ARTISANS. and the demand for skilled la
ncr in Cuba, Porto Rico and South AT
| rica IS another recognition of our worth
These are striking responses to Tus
IkeSce's standing admonition that oppor
tun'ties must find the Negro workman
ready.
The successful organization of tn,
| IAfro-American Business League a
Boston by Mr. Washington was an ir
REPUTABLE demonstration that the patti
lOf real independence for the Negro
lies along agricultural. industrial anC
CO numerical pursuits. rather than poll
tics. The reports coming from ever
variety of business indicated that ou
engine IS being reversed, and whilt
pniiticS Tn1Sf NOT he aha ndOued h,,c;