The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1904-06-17

given the chance, have accomplished
such far-reaching results.
The proposals for the solution of the
problem are varied and manifold. Most
of them. like the proposal TO remove
the black 10 the North or 10 some res
ervation. are impracticable. The inn
position of an educational or property
qualification for suffrage is more
feasible plan and would act as all in
centive 10 bring about the final Solu-
ton Of the problem which lies in cdu-
cation. Not education i'm the narrow
sense but as well as moral. intellectual
and spiritual, the supreme need Of the
mass of the race is industrial education.
Industry and thrift are the basis of all
national growth. Educate the negro
to working knowledge of the indus
tries by which he must earn a subsis-
tence; make him skilled farmer, me-
chanic or labOrer, and he will have
power, for the race, like the individual,
which produces something of superior
worth, wins permanent place and is
bound to be recognized" Race devel-
opment must be along these lines for
many years to come. 1t can be but a
gradual growth, but along with the in
dustrial advancement, there will be ac-
emulation of property and increase in
wealth will bring leisure and an oppor-
tunity for intellectual development.
The success of the few industrial
schools of the south is indicative of
what might be accomplished on a
larger scale. OF the many hundred
graduates, few, only small percentage
have been in any sense failures. Many
have acquired property, thus becoming
taxpayers, with new and wholesome
interest in local and national affairs.
Thus experience has shown that the
final solution of the problem lies in
broad education,-the education of the
head, heart, and hand. BY uplifting the
race morally, by training them to full
realization of citizenship and by giving
them taxpaying interest in the gov-
eminent, race antagonism will be
obliterated from business and political
life and the negro will become a val
liable citizen.
The South is doing all it can to bring
about such results, but with the aid of
philanthropy has been able to educate,
yearly, along these lines only limited
number, not exceeding the increase in
population. Meanwhile the remainder
of the race must either progress or ret
rograde. They cannot remain station
airy. And since unaided they cannot
rise, neglected, their condition will be-
come worse. The task of educating
the negro is an enormous responsibility
and the assumption of such response
bility by our national government is
not only imperative but just. Although
slavery early became confined to the
Southern States, yet the North as well
as the South is responsible for the pres
ence of the negro within our borders.
1t was northern ships that carried the
barbarian from Africa to our shores.
1t was our Pilgrim forefathers, pious
and good, who fostered to a large ex-
tent the slave trade. They were extern
sive stockholders i'm slave trading COM
panies and secretly engaged In the
business after eighteen hundred eight.
More than this, as nation we gave
legal sanction to slavery for more than
seventy years, allowing il to spread and
fasten itself securely upon southern in
situations. And thus, each year, by
making the barrier between the two
races greater and giving the negro
greater obstacles to overcome, we are
responsible for his present condition.