Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-05-05

VI the problems OF MS OF AeE own AAAc OA6fC-
ly. Loyalty.
And this brings me to the next thing 1
want TO say. in a few brief sentences
Tuskegee institute is a school-yes-but
rather 1t is a community, and life. 1t
is for study-yes-but chiefly 1t Is for lift
ing. Why should you love II devotedly?
Partly of course because II means so
much to each OF you as individuals-be-
cause all the hopes OF your race here and
leverywhere, are bound up in 1t. Tuskegee
tills the soil as It ought to be titled, pur-
sues the crafts and industries as they
ought to be pursued. rightly apportions
time, teaches mastery over nature, or
, rather harmony with nature and mastery
0ver the human impulses to sloth and
n lssion. Tuskegee inculcates self-respect
A a d respect for others; shows the econo-
my and advantage OF organization ana the
ulvf. ion of labor, and show how the COM
munh as a whole may have what kings
have ! through union of hearts and OF ef-
fort \ uskegee institute is the best pure
lv negro community existing in the whole
world tn lay. This is the best building
ever I'm I. he whole world built for the
people of y our race
The otherA day was with Mr.. Carnegie
In his pleas mt but unpretentious home
library in Na v York. Not one OF you
nerhsns will a yer have so well supplied
private nbrsh y as that. But mere, at
once through hh gift and your labor, are
! better library IA silities than ne himself
ordinarily enjoys and they are freely
YOURS for proper ia =, as IL your very own.-
Now. IL YOU are \ ,orth anything at all,
you will form here a great determination
| to multiply good coma munities OF the ne
gro race. Tuskegee v Ill give you heart
and hope, because 1t - lows What can DC
done in a single general 'on'
The good community IS ways rests upon
two principles-individuaA ism, co-opera-
ton. A good brick buildiAg cannot De
made out of bad bricks. b ar your own
burdens-bear the burdens Of others. work
out your own salvation-be ~ ur prOtheI
keeper. Learn to be independA nj IN oraeF
to benefit by the splendid reNuts OF the
inter-dependence-the co-operao on Oh eA-
icient men and women.
You cannot hope to go out and uphcate
Tuskegee instituted but you CAM hahe
your school-log cabin though 1t may DC
at frst-the central point In neA ana
better neighborhood Of life. PittsburgH boys
and girls now have the magnificent Ca ne
gle library and institute upon which tn elr
and our generous friend has spent n1u-
lions-wisely and usefully. But rememba-.
ii was not the great Carnegie library ana
institute of Pittsburg that made Andrew
Carnegie himself, but Colonel Anderson's 1
few shelves of books. Most of your pu-
pils-those OF you who will land who |
ought tor teach the children of your race |
can never hope to come here and use this |
splendid library. So you must be the Col |
onel Anderson Of your -neighborhood. /
greatly hope. it may be made possible to |
have this library do a double service
first, it's immediate work here, second,
far wider work through the travelling IL |
brary system. i hope that in due time /
every Tuskegee graduate or pupil VINO
goes out to teach may have at his disposal /
a well chosen little school and neighbor-
hood library sent out from this center i
and replenished with new books from time /
to time. Always think Of Tusl1egee as a |
community. a life. rather than school. |
Go on yourself. working and learning, |
lettering your own lot and helping others. |
trying to breathe the Tuskegee spirit into |
whatever neighborhoOd you enter.
Now. just a word or two about books \
and reading. Somebody has said that the /
chief business OF each generation is to Il
pass on to the next one the stock of wis
dom 1t has received from its predecessors.
The best vehicle Of such transmission. \
apart from that which belongs to what We
call heredity. and is bound up in the life
Of families, is the book. When your an
cestors were unlettered and uncivilized in i
Africa and mine were living in tribal saw
agery. working their way as nomads out
of Asia and across Europe. there were 4
other races who possessed fixed and per-
manent dwellings. were cultivated in 1
many practical arts as well as in fine arts ]
and letters. and had high and complex 4
civilization. The library keeps for US
knowledge of their times. and much of !
their literature.
Do not be Respondent about your race 4
and it's condition. Do not accept the the
DRY of decay or decline. Optimism is the 4
only working hypothesis. Mere race asser-
ton or bumptiousness will not advance
you a single inch Adopt the view that |
yours is young race, requiring discipline !
and experience. Take your chances as they
lie; call them good enough-they are, In
fact the best your race ever had-and i'm
prove them well as you can.
Use the library: but do not expect to
get your motive power from 1t. None of |
US can read Or understand all of the
books. Be honest in your serious reading
take what will really help you in your
work and your life. AS for your less Sc
rious reading. be happy in it. Read the
things you like, only provided you feel
that the after effects are wholesome and
that you have better hopes and feelings.
1 am going to end these remarks with a
few sentences of advice that Mr.. Car
negie himself once gave to a lot Of young |
men; first something that he said about |
success in work. and then something about
reading.
l. About success: Here is the prime
condition of success. the great secret
concentrate your energy, thought and cap
ital exclusively upon the business in which
you are engaged. Having begun in one
line. resolve to fight 1t out on that line,
to lead In it; adopt every Improvement.
have the best machinery. and know the
most about IL. The concerns which fail
are those which have scattered their cap