The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-05-13
livered his parting address, as fol-
Presidents Parting Address.

Presidents Parting Address.
| When students receive their diplo-
mas thay ought to be we'll informed
and have settled convictions upon the
| leading questions of the day, and, II
there is any question that especially
affects the race to which they belong
or the condition of life in which they
move, they should be especially we'll
informed upon all aspects of this ques-
ton. At the present time there is
much discussion about the kind or
education that should be '~given the
colored people. There should be a
definite end in view in a system OF
education and that important end
must be solid character and the
means OF acquiring an honorable liv-
ing. We hear it said today that the
book learning, more pretent1ouSly
called literary education, that has
been given the colored people, has
proven q failure. In discussing the
kind of education needed, we must
divest our minds entirely of politics
and consider the actual condition in
which the race now finds itself. Eco
nomic conditions have changed great
~ in the last generation and a tre-
mendous change also between pre- and
post bellum days must be taken into
account. In slavery all had to work
and many acquired a greater or less
degree of proficiency in the trades.
Habits Of industry, the greatest bless
lngs 10 mankind, were compulsory
then. " hen the day of freedom came
work was not compulsory ana the
II eateSt mistake was made OF giving
an education in books only instead OF
adopting and carrying out a wisely
planned system of Industrial training
together with the common school IN
structiOn. Today we are reaplng the
penalty of the neglect and folly OF the
past two or three decades. But the
same has been true with the educa-
ton of White children. a generation
or more ago the white youth, especial
" in the North, where so much at
tention has long been paid to public
school education, were getting the
practical training, so Indispensable TO
character building and an honorable
livelihood, on the farm and in the
home with their fathers and mothers.
As manufacturing increased ana the
population moved from the country
to the city and town. the instruction
i'm the city and town schools was
much the same as that formerly Civ
en- in the little red country school
house during the winter the only SEES
sion Of the year, purely book learning.
This instruction had little If any con-
crete value But there has been
tremendous industrial advance III the
last third of century and the eSlap-
lishmant of factories and WORKSHOPS
has largely taken the place of the
work OF the farms and the boys and
girls have been the economic SUI
ferers. Today throughout our land we
find in nearly all intelligent commune
ties Industrial work and common
school work carried on iii the same
school and at the same time. during
the four decades that have elapsed
since the war closed there mas come
upon the stage a new generation VINO
know nothing of slavery and VINO
have received no training such as was
given before the war, large part OF
which was beneficial The natural
harvest of the sowing OF industrial
neglect IS being reaped To-Day anu Ihls
is largely the cause of the present
discussion and the dissatisfaction lIldI
we hear with colored youth. Long
ago there ought to have Deeh the
changing and re-aGjdstmeHt OF COURSES
of study that are now being plaue'
r'he aim of this institution is to give
as complete an industrial training as
ntssible and at the same time pro
vide for the education of the talented
and ambitious few. We recognize lilaI
the rank and file of the people VIII
never have the means Oh optalItihs
more than an elementary educalloi'
aud This must be given very largely
i'm the public schools where lhere
should he as many industrial features
nc nossibIe. There ought to be oppor-
unity for large numbers 10 receive
n anual training and the taleEteu lev
should be given an opportunity loi
tie higher education that thefe may
be well trained men and women 'o
take charge of Industrial ana otneI
schools and thus direct arlghI ne
educational activities Of the race
There ought to be no controversy
about the kind of education the COZ
ored people should receive and when
the question is fully understood L De
lieve there will be none.
Comnlaint is made that the colored
neople become Disseminated ana go
North. The majority prefer TO remain
sin the South, but they go North pc
ause they get higher wages. me en-
Movers of colored labor in the Soutn
are white people and they are COM
plaining of inefficiency and unsausfac-
tory. service, and this is true OF the
women as well as Of the men. Any
one who travels in the South is sure
to meet on almost any through tram
foreigners from Southern Europe VINO
are settling in the South. II is hlgh
time for The colCreG people 10 get
the imaginary conflict between INDUS
trial training and the higher educa-
ton ana recognize the great truth
that the rank and file of the people
must build 10 a solid character and
master some trade to make a good
living.
There is a great scarcity OF labor
ut the present time and many plant
ers are not carrying on their planta-
tons as extensively as they would
like to because of this scarcity. What
we need is men and women of great
err efficiency with a stronger DISPOSE
ton to labor and who are capable OF
rendering the best and most salts
factory service. When you see the
inroads that while laborers are MAX
ing uDon different kinds of work in
the South that formerly were carried
on by colored people, it ought to be
source of alarm and set the people to
thinking very seriously.
If some of the advocates Of indus
trial training had received the ad-
vantages of the. higher education and
thereby understood the educational
principles that determine the necessi-
ty for industrial training, they would
cease to pronounce it the panacea for