The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1905-11-02
ROOSEVELT At TUSKEGEE.

ASSOsse6 ~ uOON6V66s
to Students at Booker
Washington's Institute.
Gives Good Advice to the Colored Race
and Tells Them That Their Destiny
is Chiefly in Their Own Hands
Must be floral, Honest, Industrious
and Lawabiding, and Prove Them
selves Worthy by Working PATIENT
ly and PersistentIy Along These
Lines.
The visit of President Roosevelt to
Booker Washington's Institute at
'Iuskegee, Alabama, and what he
would say there was looked forward
to with keen interest. We therefore
give his address in full. After speak
ing at the Female College (white)
where he addressed the young ladies
and Il large and enthusiastic crowd
OF citizens of the town and surround
ing country the President went to
Tuskegee Institute, accompanied by
the reception committee and other
prominent white persons He was
received by Principal Booker Il.
Washington and members of the In
stitute board of trustees and faculty
Principal Washington presented the
President in the following words:
''ln presenting our guest to the
students, teachers and citizens, |
must not omit to express the graft
tude felt by the people of tine Tuske-
gee Institute, by the people of both
races in this section of Alabama, for
the honor which has been conferred
upon them. That the Chief Magis-
trate of our beloved republic of 8O,-
600, 900 people deemed it good and
wise to include Tuskegee Institute in
his trip through the South and spend
Il few hours seeing the work we are
doing here, brings to the heart of
every man and woman of our race in
this country degree of encourage
ment and inspiration which it is i'm
possible for any American citizen not
of our race, fully to appreciate.
The Presidents Address.
President Roosevelt spoke as fol-
lows:
ITO the white population as we'll
as the black, it is with the utmost
Importance that the negro be en-
couraged to make himself a citizen
of the highest type of usefulness. 1t
is to the interest of the white people
that this policy be conscientiously
pursued, and to the interest of the
colored people that they clearly
realize that they have opportunities
for economic development here in
the South not now offered elsewhere.
Within the last twenty years the i'll
dustrial operations of the South
have increased SO tremendously that
there is a scarcity Of labor almost
everywhere; SO that it is the part OF
wisdom for all who wish the prosper
ity of the South to he'll the negro to
become i'll the highest degree useful
to himself, and therefore to the com
munity in which he lives The Soutl,
has always depended, and now de-
pends chiefly upon her native popu-
Iation for work Therefore in view
of the scarcity not only of common
labor, but of skilled labor, it becomes
doubly important to train every
available man to be of the utmost
use, by developing his intelligence
his skill and his capacity for con
scientious effort. Hence the work Of
| Tuskegee Normal and Industrial
Institute is a matter of the high
est practical Importance to both
the white man and the black man.
and we'll worth the support Of botl
races alike in the South and III the
North. Your fifteen hundred stu
dents are not only being educated ir
the head and heart, but also trained
to industrial efficiency, for from the
beginning Tuskegee has placed specia
emphasis upon the training OF mel
and women in agriculture, mechanics
and household duties. Training il
these three fundamental directions
does not embrace all that the negro
or any other race needs, but it does
cover in a very large degree the field
| in which the negro can at present dc
most for himself and be most helpful
to white neighbors. Every black
man who leaves this institute better
able to do mechanical or industrial
work adds so much to the wealth o.
the whole community and benefits
all people in the community. The
professional and mercantile avenues
to success are Overcrowded, for the
present the best chance Of success
awaits the intelligent worker al
some mechanical trade or on Il farm
for this man will almost certainly
achieve industrial independence.
am pleased, but not in the least sur
prised to learn that many among the
men and women trained at Tuske
gee find immediate employment as
leaders and workers among theil
own people, and that their services
are eagerly sought by white people
for various kinds of industrial work
the demand being much greater thai
the supply. Viewed from any angle
ignorance is the costliest crop thai
can be raised in any part of thi:
Union. Every dollar put into th'
education of either white man o.
black man, in head, in hand and il
heart, yields rich dividends to th'
entire community. Merely from th'
economic standpoint it is OF the ut
most consequence to all our citizen
that institutions such as this a
Tuskegee should be q success. Bu
there are other and even higher rea
sons that entitle it to our support
In the interest of humanity, OF jus
tice, and self protection, every whit
man in America, no matter where. h
lives. should try to help the negr'
to help himself. 1t is to the interes
and for the protection OF the whit
II .nnn "a coo that tho norrn Is eduna