Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1905-08-26


as man and leader OF his race I have
always had the warmest admiration.
His life is a romance which appeals
10 the heart of universal humanity.
The story Of little ragged. barefoot
ed piccaninny who lifted his eyes
3 from q cabin in the hills Of Virginia.
saw a vision and followed il, until
az last he presides over the richest
Z and most powerful institution Of
j learning In the South and sits down
with crowned heads and presidents.
q has no parallel even in the Tales OF
3 the Arabian Nights.
And again
The spirit Of the man. too. has al
ways impressed me with its breadth.
/ generosity and wisdom. The aim
Of HIS work IS noble and inspiring
As 7 understand il from his own
words II is "to make Negroes pro-
I ducers. lovers Of labor. honest. indie
pendent good. His plan for doing
this is 90 lead the Negro TO the goal
through the development Of solid
character. intelligent industry and
material acquisition.
Only a fool or a knave can find
Z fault with such an ideal. Il rests
sQuarely on the eternal verities.
And yet &c will not solve the Negro
problem nor bring us within sight o.
It's solution. Upon the other hand
it will only intensity that problems
. dangerous features. complicate and
make more difficult its ultimate set
. Element
IL is this tragic fact 20 which I am.
H frr.f rtrr 20. IN 90
ton.
7, viii be seen then that at the
outset that Mr.. Dixon is making an
assault upon the Industrial educa-
ton of the Negro. There is no Ques
ton as TO his opposition 20 the high
er education of this same unfortu-
nate.
Despite all Of this he proclaims min
self as being one OF the best friends
of race thar he continually misre-
presents and essays TO condemn TO
q condition Of eternal servitude. EN-
blazoned no where on the horizon b.
the dawn OF coming day.
1t is gratifying 20 note that he has
not been unmlndfuI of the
condemnation he has received
at the hands of those intel
ligent. educated Negroes, who are
qualified both by experience and
learning 20 speak for themselves and
TO determine whether his caricatures
of some OF the unfortunate members
OF the race were unjust and over
drawn But Mr.. Dixon says
have for the Negro race only
pity and sympathy. though every
large convention OF Negroes since
the appearance Of my first nistori-
cal novel on the race problem has
gone out OF its way to denounce ne
and declare my books caricatCe es
and libels on their people Their
mistake is a natural one. My books
are hard reading for a Negro. and
yet the Negroes, in denouncing them
are unwittingly denouncing one OF
their best friends.
But Mr.. Dixon is showing another
phase OF his character when he
says
have been intimately associated
with Negroes since the morning OF
my birth during the Civil War. My
household servants are all Negroes.
took them 10 Boston with me,
moved them to New York, and they
now have entire charge of my Vir-
ginia home. The first row I ever
-. tI,a N-aoro r,rchlaF7, rx~ac xrrhcrv
moved TO Boston from the South
TO take charge of a fashionable
church at the Hub. attempted
to import my baby's Negro nurse into
a Boston hotel. The proprietor in
formed me that no coon" could oc-
cupy a room in his house in any ca
pacity, either as guest or servant.
] gave him a piece of my mind and
left within an hour.
This is all very well. Mr.. Dixon
We can show you here In this sec
tion hundreds. yea. thousands of the
old F. F. V. stock. who would have
scattered throughout the South
done the same thing. They are
land and their children are imbued
with the same spirit. The visit OF
the writer to New York last Septem
Der was upon the invitation of a
southerner of the old school, who
now resides within a stones throw
of New York's -four hundred" and
whose ears are often attuned during
business bours by the chimes from
Trinity.
Our troubles here are not along
the by-ways OF servant, SIR, butt