The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1903-11-03

,rean 70 include statesmen and soldlerz
| Then why did he by name EXCEPT Genera
! Lee? And why did he call Booker i great
| Christian statesman Prof Ba@Setc may
| think so-(and we pity his judgment II
he does)-that Booker Washington j. q
! greater man than Braxton craven, he
| big Drained and many sided founder OF
Trinity College. II so. ne will ind no
man in North Carolina who VII! agree
| with him. Will the friends OF Trinity
College applaud the statement that Boof.
er Washington is a greater man than
| Craven. its great founder. Duke its gen
| erous donor; and Kilgo, It's eloquent pres
iGent? Suppose, without naming over
thousands of illustrious men IN church 21d
| State who are as far greater than Booker
Washington as am electric light is more
| brilliant than the tallow candle. we ask thc
men most competent 10 pass Judgment 70
say whether the Alabama negro teachtl
IS greater than Venable, Taylor, Smith,
Ki'go. McIver and other presidents o.
| North Cardinals chief educational m
situations, and greater than all the pro-
fo,nd scholars and teachers the South
has produced for an hundred years. VINO
would think of placing him in tie same
class with the South's great preachers
Pierce, Marvin, Hoge, Palmer, Broadus,
Atkinson and a score more OF men who
have made the Southern pulpit honored
for an hundred years. Is there q man
in North Carolina, not afflicted with
~Lcgrophobia, who would say that Booker
Washington is in any way the equal OF the
three foremost men under forty-fve North
Carolina has produced-Charles B. AZ
Geek, Charles D. Never. and Edwin a.
Alderman?
The absurdity of the statement, the
fulsome eulogy of a smart negro, s
seen whether reference is had to the MIN
Of the era that produced Calhoun, Badger
and Jefferson Davis; the era that pro-
duced Stonewall Jackson and Robert r.
Hoke; or the era that produced the pres
cnt able young statesmen and educators
of the South. There IS no feriod of time,
no group Of Southern leaders that Prof.
Bassett can cite to give even a s~cintilla
Of foundation for the attempt to make a
capable negro educator even approach the
homage which the profession seems to
render Booker. Does he pray with his
face turned toward Tuskcgee?
The Southern people are just and fair.
Booker Washington, born in slavery, has
achieved a position as a leader of his
race, that he could not have attained
without ability. He has shown his capac-
ity to organize the greatest negro school
IN the world. He has on the platform
shown that he is an effective speaker. He
has SO lived as to gain the assistance ot
the best white people of Alabama, whose
State Treasury has contributed in some
part toward the building of his success
full school. He visited Raleigh last week
to speak at the Negro Fair. Many white
ministers, teachers and others went out
to hear him. He made a sensible and
practical speech, full of wise counsel, to
his race. 1t is calculated to do them
good and nothing but good. Such speeches..
delivered by a man Of his position in race
leadership, will do much toward adtanc
ing the negro along right lines. But no
body who heard that speech regards Book
er Washington as the greatest man born
in the South" He is not a great scholar,
a great orator, a profound thinker. To
call him q statesman IS to betittle thar
word. He is a practical and successful
educator, a good speaker, and a negro
comparisons are made by men who can
take the correct measure of men, COM
pared with other negro leaders. And there
he looms up above all others. TO place
him On the pedestal where Prof. Basset1
would enthrone him IS but to make ilia
ridiculous and to do him a g%revious wrong.
When Booker Washington reached Raj
eigh he found that he was in a Southern,
Bacon and other white folks were made
to eat in q side room to give Booker ana
his associates the dining room. He was
entertained here by a lawyer of his own
race who has amassed property and woo
holds an office under Roosevelt. He was
introduced by a negro educator who en-
joys the confidence Of both races. HIS
speech was to his own race, and many
of the best white people heard 1t and APP
proved the practical advice it contained
They stand ready to assist him and all
other negroes who are trying to make
their race more skilful, more industrious,
more moral. But the Raleigh white folks
did not, a la Roosevelt invite him 90
dine with their families, because they De
lieve in complete and perfect race separa-
ton, and oppose inter-marriage between
the races. That will surely follow the
breaking down of social barriers, and
therefore any Southern white man who
does not froWn down upon its first appear
ance, is at heart a miscegenationist.