The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-06-11

service and the result is poor wage instead of a high wage.
 We must prove to the world by our
 actions that in the matter of labor we
 can be just as prompt in keeping our | promises and our contracts as any
 other race. and when we give our word
 to be present at given hour at giv- | en place, we should see that our prom
 ise is kept. Many men and women will work we'll for a few days until an ex-
 cursion comes through the neishbor- hood. and then it is impossible to
 bring any influence to bear to prevent
 large numbers from going of on the ! excursion even if they have to borrow the money and go in debt 60 pay their passage. Such a reputation will i'm jure any race of people, and wherever
 such reputation has been gained, we should see to 1t that we get rid of 1t.
 It is largely in the hands of ministers. \ teachers and other leaders to help our | people to cure this weakness
 T always say to our students at Tus-
 kegee, and I repeat 1t here. that when they enter Into the service of .any
 person. of whatever character the ser
 vice may be, they should be at their places earlier than the stipulated time
 and remain longer in the evening than
 the time agreed upon, and that they
 should be constantly seeking methods | of rendering the best service by talk. | Ing just as much Interest In the worF
 as If it belonged to them. Just in pro 1 portion as one enters heart and soul
 into work. tries to perform 1t in the
 very best manner. tries to put just as
 much effort and thought and con | science as possible into 1t, just in the | same degree one gets real pleasure out of work. The person who renders poor service Is never happy. The prson who
 renders good service gets real satis- | faction out of his work; he makes his
 employer happy and he himself Is sat | isfied.
 | "Whenever we are employed In work | of any character we should make 1t a
 rule. and teach our people to observe the same rule. that we should never leave employment without sufficient mo- tics being given to the person for whom
 we are working. and we should leave | with such reputation behind us that | we could go back to the same place and secure work at any time.
 Idle Glasses Bring Disgrace. Tn connection with the subject of | labor. In many of the large cities there | Is entirely too large q class of 1oafers, men and women, who are found by the | scores around street corners and low, | dirty dives. Our leaders in every one l of these cities in Alabama should try
 to bring such influence to bear upon | these people as will make them 20 to
 work either on the farm or at some other service. These are the characters
 that disgrace our race and bring about | trouble in many cases between the black | man and the white man.
 | Just in the same degree in which
 the rank and file of our people are
 taught to render satisfactory work and
 receive high pay. just in the same de- | x.rf1l | Churches and schools and colleges pros
 per because these men and these iusti- | tutions will have back of them this
 successful producing class which is the
 backbone and mainstay of all races and
 all nations.
 T have spoken plainly thus far
 about some of the weaknesses and
 some of the duties of the black race to
 itself and its duty and obligation to- | ward the white man. I believe that
 the white people in Alabama can help very mrch to remedy the present sit-
 nation. In the first place. I thing all colored people are too often condemn ed as being poor laborers. Only a few
 days ago I read an article in a news
 paper with a headline something like | this: The Negro Race Is a Failure as Laborer.' The man who wrote that
 article evidently meant to say that | some portion of the race was a failure, not all I mean to say that those who | are faithful and efficient in their labor should be praised, and the inefficient | should be condemned. It Is rather ] dtscouraging to those who try to do | their best to be classed with those who l do not try to render faithful service. | There is no white man in Alabama who has had large experience in em- l ploying negro labor who will not tes- tify that there Is always to be found a | large number who can be depended
 upon for just as good service as is true | of any other race of people. These good ones should be held out before the poor ones as examples to be copied. l Duty of the Employer.
 | 'I find again, too, that the employer
 who has faith in his laborers usually gets good service out of them. Wher-
 ever I have found a man who praised l the good qualities in the race, there with few exceptions I have found a
 man who had no trouble in getting all
 the labor he wanted. On the other
 hand. the individual who Is always condemning the labor, finding no good | in 1t, has to seek labor in vain and
 even then gets the very poorest qual-
 ity.
 T find that the employer who takes
 the most interest in his laborers, who l IS lHe HlosC hiHQ tO IHctu, lOOkS out TOT l their comfort and protection is the one who Is most rewarded with the best
 labor. while the one who takes no in- | terest in the education or comfort of those who work for him gets little satisfaction and makes little profit out of those who perform the labor. | "1 believe again, that our white friends can help especially in the mat | ter of domestic service by instituting rule not to employ persons unless l they bring proper letters of recom-
 mendation. As 1t is, it Is easy for per-
 sons who have rendered inferior ser
 vice in one family to secure employ
 ment without word of recommenda-
 tion in another family.
 | AS the years go on, believe that l the employers of labor are going to re- alize the fact that in the thousands of colored people in the South they | have the best out door laborers to be found almost anywhere in the world. What is needed to be done Is by prop | CT guidance and encouragement to help | them cure their weak points.
 Tn the person of the negro laborer, | the State of Alabama has immense wealth which I believe that more and more in the future is going to be ap- | preciated. The negro is not given to strikes. he is not an anarchist, and as a race he Is peaceful and law-abiding. | If our cotton fields were filled with thousands of foreigners, the time would
 soon come, I fear. when there would | be strikes in sections of our State
 where trouble of that kind has never
 taken place.
 Again, the negro in Alabama spends