The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1903-04-30
THE NEGRO PROBLEM.
AS Viewed by Mr.. CIeveland-The Tx
President Talks Sense as Usual and
Takes Practically the Southern View
of the Race Question.

was the prlicipal speaker dC d i!lcCc~
inc held in the concert hall OF Madl-
son Square Garden, New York city;
on the night OF the 18th inst, i'll the
interest of the Tuskeegee Normal
and Industrial Institute. He said:
Il have come here tonight as sin
cere friend of the negro, and should
be very sorry to suppose that my
good and regular standing III such
company needed support at this late
day either from certificate or COMES
sion OF faith Inasmuch, however, as
there may be differences OF thought
and sentiment among those WhOprO-
Tess to be friends OF the negro, | de
sire to declare myself as belongingto
the Booker Observation-Disclosures
section of the organization.
Il believe that the days OF Uncle
Toms Cabin are past. | believe
that neither the decree that made
the slaves free nor the enactment
that suddenly invested them with the
rights of citizenship any more purged
them of their racial and slavery-bred
irnperfectiOns and deficiencies than it
changed the color OF their skin. | be-
lieve that among the nearly nine mil
lions of negroes who have been inter
mixed with our citizenship there IS
still Il grievOus amount OF ignorance,
u sad amount OF ViClOuSneSs and II
tremendous amount OF laziness and
| thriftlessness. | believe that these
| conditions inexOrably present to the
| white people OF the United States. to
| each in his environment and under
| the mandate of good citizenship, a
! problem which neither enlightened
self-interest nor the higher motive OF
human sympathy will permit them
to put aside.
! Il believe our cOuntrymen III the
! Southern and late slave-hOlding
States, surrounded by about nine
tenths, or nearly eight millions OF
this entire negro population, and
| who regard their material prosper
| ity, their peace, and even the safety
| of their civilization, interviewer with
the negro problem, are entitled to
our utmost consideration and sym
pathetic fellowship. l am thorough
| " convinced that the efforts OF Book
er T. Washington and the methods Of
the Tuskeegee Institute point the
way to a safe and beneficent solution
OF the veXatlOus negro problem at
the South; and | know that the good
people at the North, who have aided
these efforts and methods, have illus
trated the highest and best citizen
ship and the most Christian and en-
lightened philanthropy.
II cannot, however, keep out OF my
mind tonight the thought that, with
ali we of he North may do, the real
izatiOn OF our hopes for the negro
must, after all, mainly depend-cX-
cept SO far us it rests with the negroes
themselves-upOn the sentiment and
conduct of the leading and RESPONSE
bic white men of the South and upon
the maintenance Of Il kindly and
| helpful feeling on their part toward
those in their midst who so much
need their aid and encouragement.
| Il need waste no time III detailing
| the evidence that this aid and encOur-
| agament las thus far been generous
| ~ forthcoming. Schools for the edu-
cation OF negro children and institu-
tiOns for their Industrial training are
scattered all over the South and are
literally assisted by the Southern
lpublic and private funds. SO far as
am informed, the sentiment in favor
| of the largest extension and broad
lest influence of Tuskeegee Institute
and kindred agencies is universal.
and | believe that, without exception,
the negroes who fit themselves for
useful occupations and service find
willing and cheerful patronage and
employment among t heir white neigh
| DOrS.
| The man who is beyond doubt the
| best authority in the world on the
prospects Of the negro race, he who
founded and is now at the head OF
| Tuskeegee Institute and is the most
notabie representative OF negro adj
| vancement, said at the Atlanta Ex-
position in 1895:
"'And i'll this connection it is well
to bear in mind that, whatever other
SINS the South may be called upon to
bear, when it comes to business pure
and simple, it is i'll the South that the
negro is given Il mans chance in the
commercial world, and in nothing is
! this exposition more eloquent than
IN emphasizing this chance. Cur
greatest danger is that in the great
leap from slavery to freedom we NAV
overlook the fact that the masses OF
us are to live by the production OF
our hands and fail to keep in mind
that we shall prosper in proportion
as we learn to dignity and glorify
common labor and put brain and
skill into the common occupations OF
life-shall prosper in proportion as
we learn to draw the line between the
superficial and the substantial. the
ornamental gewgaws of life and the
useful
| Il do not know how it NAV be witt
other Northern friends of the negro
but L have faith i'll the honor and
sincerity of the respecta bic white peo
pie OF the South in their relations
} with the negro, and his improve
ment and well-being.
"They do not believe iii the sOciar
Equality OF the race, and they make
no false pretense in regard to it
That this does not grow out of ha.
tired to the negro is very plain. II
seems to me that there is abundant
sentiment and abundant behavior
among the Southern whites toward
the negro to make Us doubt the JUS
, tice of charging this denial of socia
equality to prejudice, as We usual,
understand the word. Perhaps it i
born of something so much deeper
and more imperious than prejudice
. as to amount to a racial instinct.
"Whatever it is. let us remember
that 1t has condoned the Negroes
share in the humiliation and spoila
ton of the white men of the South
during the saturnalia of reconstruc
ton days and has allowed Il kindly
feeling for the negro to survive the
| time when the SOuth was IaI,,o,ol hx