Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-10-26
SOLVING
PROBLEM
ROOSEVELT SAYS TUskEGEE IN
sTITUTE is DOING WORK OF
WIDE IMPORTANCE.

POINTS OUT DUTIES
In Address At Tuskegee the President
Declares That 1t is to the Advan-
tage of Both Races That the Me-
sroes Are Being Educated The
Future Of the Black Race.
Tuskegee, Ala, Oct. "a. - President
Roosevelt reached Tuskegee from
Montgomery at $3.50 o'clock this morn
ing. He was received by the mayor
and other distinguished citizens. The
President made short address to the
large assenblage and then proceeded
to the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial
institute. Here the President was re-
cetved by the principal, Booker T..
washington. the trustees, faculty, stud
ents and a great crowd of white and
colored people, thousands having ar
rived from the surrounding country
during the night.
Students In Parade.
The presidential party entered car
riages and proceeded to an deliberately
decorated stand from which the Presi-
dent reviewed an educational andindus-
trial parade, upon the preparation of
which the students and faculty had
been at work for several weeks. At the
conclusion of the parade all repaired
to the chapel, where the President, af
ter being presented by Principal Wash
ington, delivered the following adj
dress:
An Important Move.
ITO the white population as we'll as
to the black 1t is Of the utmost i'm
portance that the negro be encour-
aged to make himself a citizen of the
highest usefulness 1t is to the inter-
est of the white people that this pol
icy be conscientiously pursued and to
the interest of the colored people that
they clearly realize that they have op-
rortunities for economic development
here in the south, not now offered else
where. Within the last twenty years
the industrial operations Of the south
have increased so tremendously that
there is a scarcity Of labor almost ev-
erywhere; SO that 1t Is the part Of
wisdom for all who wish the prosper
ity of the south to help the negro to
become in the highest degree useful
to himself and therefore to the COM
munity in which he lives.
Importance Of Education.
1.-THE south has always depended,
and now depends, chiefly upon her ma
tive population for her work. There
fore, 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 ut
most use for developing his intelli-
gence, his skill and his capacity for
conscientious effort. Hence the work
Of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial
institute is a mater of the highest
practical Importance to both the
white man and the black man and we'll
worth the support Of both races alike
in the south and in the north Your
fifteen hundred students are not only
being educated in head and heart, but
also trained to Industrial efficiency
for from the beginning Tuskegee has
| placed especial emphasis upon the
training Of men and women in agri-
culture, mechanics anG household du-
ties. Training in these three funda.
mental directions does not embrace all
that the negro or any other race needs
but it does cover in a very large de.
gree the field in which the negro can
at present do most for himself and be
most helpful to his white neighbors
Every black man who leaves this in.
stitute better able to do mechanical
or Industrial work, adds by so much
to the wealth of the whole communi.
ty and benefits all people in the com.
munity.
| The Workers Chance.
The professional and mercantile
avenues to success are overcrowded;
for the present the best chance of sue
cess awaits the intelligent worker at
some mechanical trade or on a farm
for this man will almost certainly
achieve industrial independence. 1 am
pleased, but not in the least surprised,
to learn that among the men and wo-
men trained at Tuskegee find immedi-
ate employment as leaders and work
ers among their own people, and that
their services are generally sought by
white people for various kinds of in.
dustrial work, the demand being much
greater than the supply Viewed from
any angle, ignorance is the costliest
crop that can be raised in any part
OF this union. Every dollar put into
the education of either white man or
black man, in head, hand and in heart
yields rich dividends to the entire com.
munity.
Reasons for Support.
Merely from the economic stand
point, it is of the utmost consequence
to ali Of our citizens that institutions
such as this at Tuskegee should be a
success. But there are other and even
higher reasons that entitle it to our
support. In the interest of humanity
of Justice and Of self-preservation, ev
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