The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-11-21
THE NEGRO RACE DISCUSSED
BY BOOKER T. WASHINGTON
 AP UNITED CHURCH.

the Necessity of Education in Up-
 lifting the Negro-says That That is
 the Only Solution of the Race Prob
 Iem-speaIks About Lynchinss-TeIIs
 About the Work at Tuskegee School
 Booker T. Washington spoke at the United church last evening concerning the negro race and the work of eduea-. tion which is being carried on in the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial school, of which he is the principal. In less than five minutes after the church doors were opened at o'clock there was not a vacant seat in the building, and every inch of standing room was taken up except the isles which had to be cleared. In addition to this 1t is esti- mated that there was at least 2,000 peo- pie in front of the church, all anxious to get in. When it was found that there was no possible chance of their being able to do so a request was sent to the speaker that when he had fin- ished speaking in the church that he deliver another one to those who were outside from the church steps. As MT. Washington had spoken three times during the day he sent word that he was sorry, but that it would be impos- sible for him to do so. The crowd was greatly disappointed and large num- Der of them continued to remain there. Many of them tried to force their way in, particularly some women, when the speaker was frequently interrupted by the noise of those outside knocking on [ the doors. In addition several were standing on the ledges of the side win dows. A special detail of police arriv- ed and when the crowd saw that there was no chance for them to get inside , the most of them dispersed, but by this time Mir. Washington had finished speaking.
 MT. Washington gave a plea for f. nancial help for the carrying on of his work, and it was generously answered by a large collection being taken up. ! The speaker said that race hatred was no solution of the negro problem for when a person hates his mind nar- rows and the result is neither beneficial i to himself nor to his fellow men. He ] said that he thanked God that recently l the better elements of both the white l and negro races in the south had com bined to do away with the awful bar barous custom of lynchings and burn l ings at the stake. Continuing the speaker said that the only solution was Ito try and lift the race upward i through education and not to drag them down. The great weak point with the i majority of the colored race,' said the speaker, lis that their morals are defi- eient through lack of education MT. 1 Washington said that the colored race was urquestionably hard working race, but that when they got their money they spent 1t for cheap jewelry and many things which they could we'll T get along without instead of using it in i buying homes and other things to make f them substantial citizens. This point the speaker thought could only be rem , edied through education. He said that the fact that many southern planters were hiring colored men to work on the cotton gins In place of white men showed that the colored men we're known to be winning to work and, said I the speaker, white men, like anybody else, want to get the biggest possible return for their money"
 | The speaker then spoke as follows:
 There have been 1,501 students enroll. ed in all of the departments of this in- stitution during the past year, This number does not include the 452 pupils who attended the practice school ("The children's hone") the town night school, the Greenwood night school, the Afternoon cooking class, conducted ir the town of Tuskegee, and the night Bible class. The students have come from thirty-six states and territories
 and in considerable numbers from the following foreign places: Africa, the Bahama islands Central America
 Cuba, Hayti, Porto Rico, Trinidad, ant
 Barbadoes. t.
 "The interest of the public centers
 just now on the question of the bene. fits of negro education. The charge is
 made and it has been repeated witl emphasis by some, that no matter how
 much strength of mind or skill of the
 hand the black man may acquire, aftel all the weak point is that education Edoes not help but retards his mora
 growth. It is further charged the more
 useless economically, and the more i'm moral do they become; and that edu
 cated negro youths are more given tc
 crime than was true in the older gen. erations. In passing, may I remark
 that study of the criminal statistics of the world showed that it is tht young people who are most given tt
 crime. If this charge has any color .o1
 truth, the public ought to be informed
 of it. If the charge is untrue, it's fal. sity should likewise be made known
 Let me give an illustration point that
 fought to be of value:
 At the close of our school year, abou
 525 young men left the school for va.
 cation. find by careful investigation that the services of practically all oi these young men had been engaged many days before they left school. IT several cases their railway tickets were sent them. One firm in Mississippi em. ployed twenty-five students for the summer and sent tickets for their rail- way passage. Tn other cases, agents representing various industrial plants came in person to urge students to en' ter their employment. Still others so'