The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-05-30

forget that there is anything left to be desired. as all else will follow as
 Hook a trip across the continent last August to California, took run down the Southern Coast about five hundred
 s5oo1 miles from San F'Fanciscs1, % ss,se to fnp hcs ther to Pasadena, that city of fruit and
 flowers. Away off there, away from
 their old Virginia hone, I found a. just just
 niiess. but wfth strong detsrmination
 They went to work. the husband car
 rying the bod. at three t$s) dollars per day, and the wife at the wash tub.
 Today they own their own home and garden spot, and have built another which they rent out. l never saw 2 happier family, and upon inquiring I
 found i, that they had; @ the a respect and and so long as we have a lawless and indo- lent mass of our people lowering about l.o our cities, just so long will we have | a prejudice to overcome. We cannot
 afford to be quiet on this subject On
 my return to Washington, the National Capital. for that is our political mecca, expect to be scored for some of these utterances, although they know that | come pretty near saying what think.
 believe you are being taught self-re- lfance here, and self reliance will com mand more respect in. minute than
 any empty title that you may acquire will command in 8 lifetime. Get hold it will produce by cultivation. erect a home. rear a family, and educate them, you then become without further eff the community in which you live, and
 no man will say you nay This must be done by all, or by majority of us. 1 to relieve us of the load we are now bearing. It is called a race problem, and it has been problem, the solution
 of which has been n. of ,d no mean al signifi cargo of African slaves upon this con- l tinent. as to the final status in this country of the negro, whether he should
 ance, barbarism and darkness, or l whether he should at some time de- velop into a civilized being, and use- I full citizen of this Republic. The prob lem of the negro's perpetual bondage l has been solved by his emancipation. | It was at a great sacrifice Of life and property. but I believe neither party to the contest would revive 1t if 1t could.
 |. Now comes the more difficult problem | of the negro's status as an AmericaD,
 freeman and citizen. Forty years have | elapsed since his emancipation. Clti- | zenship with all it's attendant respon- abilities was suddenly thrust upon him. | tions for it's exercise. He did not de- mand it, for he did not know what 1t
 meant; and the inevitable result was | Designing men of the dominant race,
 and interruptions men of his own race,
 led him astray, and to their personal
 happened, and that is, as political
 factor, the negro of the South soon
 feli into disrepute:. It will take long Those of the leaders, white and black, fwho brought the negro to this condi- l tion, have long since deserted him, and 1 with darkness surrounding him, no l light for the future. an all wise and I over-ruling Providence put 1t into the | a light, and point a way out for his | people. He endowed him with wisdom, Ecourage and fortitude for he knew he Il would be beset by snares; and those | who deserted their charge, and left | them to their fate, would be his most l persistent opponents. The man of God Il has never wavered. He is. ploughing to H the stake he has driven down. He is | hewing to the line he has marked out
 will divert his attention, for he knows | he is following the best course attain Il able for the success of his mission, the
 uplifting of his people from darkness H tion. The best of the white race, re- Il gardless of sections. have come to his
 support. Without their helping. hand
 what we. behold today could not have happened. To man what is our duty
 Should there be one among us to stay
 the hand of our guide?
 Il H that has too much of political sound, H and besides it implies followers; but guide which has a similar significance II is more in keeping with the character H of the great head of this institution; humble, but not un-manly, un-assum- II ing but not without force, and cour- age of his convictions to assert him.
 self for the best interest of his people.
 Such man is your honored principal, kBooker T. Washington. It has been H truly said in times past, and in the his- tory of all races, that when crisis was approaching that was to settle the fate for good or evil of any people, | that the occasion brought forth the
 man man to redeem his people, and to save them from destruction. take 1t that the crisis was near at hand, and has not yet passed the danger point, when on that eventful day. at the opening | of the Atlanta Exposition, when the
 tide was setting rapidly against us in consequence of our political short-com- ings, our great deliverer and guide 1 sounded the keynote of new depart ure. and way out of our impending danger, and 1t was taken up by our white fellow countrymen who wished us we'll, both here at the South, and lat the North, and this brave man was
 encouraged to go on and develop his scheme.
 Il Has he been successful2 A thousand times yes! Successful beyond the hopes of the most sangutne of hls
 friends and supporters, and to the chagrin of others who themselves had
 failed through merely political
 methods. Watchman! What of the
 night? would say "All's we'll" not
 that the dehverance is complete, not
 that we have not grievances that ap-
 peal strongly to justice, but that we are building up more surely than here tofore a relation with our white fellow
 countryman, that means for the best
 interest of both races to the end that we may dwell in harmony and peace with each other, striving alike for the
 best interests of our common country , We, the colored people of this coun- try owe to you of Tuskegee, a great debt of gratitude for this great object 1 lesson of thrift, and good citizenship Little did I ever dream when in the ffties way up in cold. bleak, western ] New York, that I Would ever behold such a sight as I have witnessed here way down in Alabama. It, is a reve-
 lation indeed. 1t Is the work of the . Master, placed in the hands of his
 chosen few. for successful completion
 and though storms may rage about
 you and angry clouds of opposition . appear at intervals, through Ills ap' proval. as shown by the great gifts , of patience earnestness and powers oi 8 endurance that He has bestowed upor e you in your work, you will surely come out victorious.
 am not a pessimist, on the contra : saR,sHs an~ raaamPa a~