The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-05-30
AT THE UNIVERSITY
TUscALOosA's ANNUAL COMMENCE
 MENT TAKES PLACE.
Sermon by Dr. Rice of Montgomery and Address by MT. weatherIy of Birmingham-Thc Alumni
 Banquet.

Tuscaloosa, May 29.--(Special) )--The seyenty-fourth annual commencement of the State University was opened yesterday morning in Clarke Hall. on the University campus. when the Rev. J. A. Rice of the Court Street Meth odist Church, Montgomery, delivered the baccalaureate sermon. The ser vices were attended by large number of students citizens and alumni, and were most impressively carried cut.
 pr. Rice spoke of the relations be- tween religion and the higher educa- tion. and Impressed upon his hearers the fact that instruction in the ars5 and sciences, instead of lessenlng the students faith. tends to implant Tn his mind a fuller consciousness of the truths taught by church and Scrip lures.
 This morning in Clarke Hall the Hon. James weatherly of Birmingham, de- livered the annual address to the alumni.
 MT. weatherly chose as the subject of his address the negro problem and immigrati ton. He treated the subject from the standpoint of the Sou.herner. and dwelt at length upon every phase of the problem as 1t affects Alabama and the South.
 The large number of negroes in the South who live in segregated communi- ties as in the Black Belt region of Ala bama. in ignorance and squalo-, form a serious menace to progress.
 The negro's industrial status Is fixed. What is necessary to progress Is ho- mogeneity. else race prejudice and per- secution will work harm to both races, said Mir. Weatherly. Australia realized this, and in her constitution ordered that no blacks should be imported and that those who had been imported should be deported after 1907. What is applicable to Australia is applicable to Alabama, except that we cannot de- port the negroes; hence must draw the color line. Statistics show that indus- trial segregation of the races Is harm full to both, for the negro is thus de- prived of the advantages of .he white mans example. Socially and political ly, however, the races must not Iningle. The constitution of 1901 deprived large numbers of negroes of their votes by It's property and educational require- ments. When the negro amasses prop- erty and acquires the rudiments of ed- ucation he will regain his ballot. The white man Is educating him, so in time Ne will be enabled to demand and ob- tain voice in the government When that time comes. said the speaker, the negro may also demand that the pres I ent social and civil discriminarions be removed. This will lead to new com | plications and graver race problems. The only solution, said MT. Weather | ly, must be in the diminishing of the numbers of the blacks in the increas- ing numbers of the whites, and in the | disintegration of the mass of blacks through the process of his acute in- ward discontent and the forces of white | competition. The South is on the eve of great industrial revolution. The demand for higher class of labor is l increasing. We cannot supply the de- mand. Other sources of supply are needed, and they can be found in for. l eign immigration. This offers the true solution of the South's troubles.
 Encourage immigration to our State
 said MT. Weatherly, and the result will be an era of unprecedented prosperity
 The annual alumni banquet was helt at 1 o'clock in the university dinins
 hall. The occasion was the means O.
 the gathering together of a number O.
 the alumni from all parts of this anC
 adjoining States.
 The bouquet board was presided
 over by the Hon. E. M. Robinson of Mo
 bile, who fulfilled the duties of toast
 master. MT. Robinson opened the ban
 quet with an eloquent greeting to tn,
 assembled alumni, which was received
 with much applause.
 | The IOIloWlHB meInDeTS reSpOnQeQ t'
 toasts:
 Hon. John w. Abercrombie, Presiden
 of the University; John A. Rogers. Os
 car L. Gray, R. E. Steiner, T. G. Bush
 Morris Loveman, Hugh W. Roberts O
 Birmingham and V. H. Bell.
 A pleasing feature of this commence
 ment are the reunions of several classe
 which are now in progress. MT. Hil Ferguson, President of the Alumni As
 sociation, called for reunions of ever class since 1875. the numbers of whic
 end in "5" or "0." Several of tn classes have responded. The famou
 Company E, which won the medal fo the best drilled military organizatio
 at the New Orleans Exposition, is als holding a reunion. Thirteen of tn original members have already ar
 rived. and more are expected. Genera
 Louis V. Clarke and MT. Algernol ] Nelson of Birmingham are among thos attending the reunion of the company
 General Clarke was the cadet captai in command of the company when