New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-04-25
THE SPIRIT OF HAMPTON.
Patient Building on Firm FOunda-
fions-Co-operation Of Whites.


e difficult TO make man miserable while he
feels he IS worthy OF himself and claims kindred
70 the great God who made him" That is
ruth which the negroes at Hampton have &C
cepted. They are not miserable I'm any sense.
They have not made the mistake which some
aspiring negroes have made. OF ceasing to he
rroud that they are negroes. Every visit TO
the great school founded by General Armstrong
must more deeply impress upon the observer
the seif-respectfuiness Of these students. which
is as far as can be from self-importance. In man
ner among themselves and toward Others in the
shop and schoolroom. in conversation and in
speaking from the platform. that spirit is made
manifest. The last FIVE years have seen re-
crudescence Of barbarisn in the United States
.n relation 10 the question. The spirit
which placed Governor Var6aman in the execu-
tive chair Of Mississippi and has been made
use Of 10 force legislation in Maryland entirely
unexcused by any plea OF necessity for the
domination OF an ignorant black population, and
the frequent lynchings Of which the North has
had its share. are mere symptoms OF reaction
which not unuaturally depresses and disturbs
intelligent colored men. But happily for them
End Cor the whole country here at what DIR.
McIver yesterday called the intellectual capital
OF the negro race" that depression is not de
spair and that disturbance is free from bitter
ness The Hampton student is being taught to
face facts. the harder they are the more square
". 10 face them patiently. making the most Of
such opportunities as he has without ouarrelling
with a fate which deprives him of others which
he thinks are justly due.
This dignified acceptance % the actual con-
dltions is the beginning Of all progress and pos
sibity OF race adjustment. 1t makes easy CO.
operation with the wiser and juster white ele-
rnents Of the South. and Il means the building
ND of the negro race on firm foundations.
Hampton has always enjoyed a degree Of South
ern favor, but never before was it so manifest
rs now. Governor Montague and a large party
of the old aristocrats of Virginia came down
from Richmond for the anniversary exercises OF
Yesterday and to-day. The Governor made an
address rnanifesting the most cordial desire for
the progress of the negro. and nobody doubted
that he meant what he said. In the first place,
his deeds as a worker for the education OF both
races confirm his words Moreover. the things
he cid not say which on such an occasion good
nature and polueness might have prompted. wit
messed his sincerity. Governor Montague de-
clarad: 7 do not believe that Ignorance is a
remedy for any wrong. or cure for any III
that NAV afTiict the body polite" He said. Il
believe in the polar star Of human justice he
tween man and man. commended the demo-
cratization Of education. and urged the colored
people. as they We're doing here TO adopt their
training to their needs Teach" he said. that
good farmer is as much needed as good
President" Then he added Don't misunder-
stand me. would not shut the door against
any man. but would build at the base
Build at the base" That IS Just what
Hampton is doing. 1t is making efficient men
ana women. who are carefully taught to realize
their own possibilities and trained to be for their
after life IN touch with their own inevitable en-
11ronment. They are not covered with a veneer
ba aFf Is
made. and made successfully. 10 develop negro
men and women IN whom are retained all that
IS valuable in their native characteristics. The
negro music is preserved. The emotional relig-
ious impulse OF the negro is not repressed, but
directed and enriched with content Of morality
which 81 did not know and could not know when
religion was but anodyne Of slavery Then
the Industries which lie at the base Of negro
progress are taught. both for the sake of the In
diyidusl student and for the sake of the general
negro community which large population Of
these students win teach. In the same spirit the
Indians are taught to prize their own music 70
per7,etuate their characteristic arts. such as bas
loet weaving transmitting them 10 higher uses
Thus the civilization Of these backward races
advances I'm a natural order. and attachments,
carried no matter how high. are genuine
The purely academic work OF Hampton would !
appear 10 one not versed in the nlceties OF peda-
gogy 70 be fairly comparable 10 the course OF
an average Northern high school To this are
added the courses in manual training. domestic
science and agriculture. 10 classics or foreign
languages are taught. This Is no extreme OF
higher education certainly. and no great ma
turity is TO be expected Of those who have &C
ouired st. Yet from few commencement plat
forms Of Northern colleges viii young men and
women he found displaying more earnest com
mon sense. more missionary zeal, more evidence
~ being prepared 10 face their own peculiar
problems sanelv, bravey and patiently. Thai.
az course. Is the test Of education for anybody,
The Hampton graduates older than white
students OF comparable attachments would be,
and some allowance must be made for that but
it should he more than offset by the natural ir-
responsibility and generations OF ignorance OF
the primitive race.
The commencement platform S. indeed, not
the vest place 20 test the value OF an education.
Every college class is full Of high ideals. and is
10 set all things right. Inquiry shows that these
people in after years are more than doing their
part 10 set things rigFs. OF the graduates
since 1885. 60 per cent are teaching or practis-
ing their trades. The great majority of them
are living among their own race growing pros
porous themselves and helping their neighbors
10 live wiser happier and more moral lives And
they are not bothering with politics. What
ever may be their hope for the future. they
know that the present need OF their race is
fundamental morality and industry.
This afternoon a negro woman who was grad
uated IN the class OF ~ told simply and
modesty a story or devotion She and her hus-
hand. who are evidently OF the prosperous class
have recently taken up their home in the most
abandoned negro quarter Of Washington and
II their own house are doing the work of a So