The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-04-07
Interesting Incident at
 Tuskegee.
President of University of Alsbams Represents southern Idea, and sen of Abolition Leader speaks
 For Many of the North.
by F. c. Burrows.

By F. c. Burrows. Tuskegee, April 6---(Special.) )-Therc has been considerable comment here to-
 day over the clash of opinions which occurred at the morning exercises Of the Tuskegee Institute celebration yes terday between President John W. Abercrombie of the University of Ala bama. and William Lloyd Garrison. the son of the father of abolition. on the subjects of the negro problem and tne institution of slavery.
 Perhaps not since the close of the civil war has there been stronger contrast of the views held by the peo- pIe of the two sections expressed than that of yesterday morning. and the speeches of the two men have furnish | ed food for thought. not only to the l inhabitants of the village of Tuskegee l and of the institute. but also for the members of the Armstrong party which came from the North to attend | the anniversary celebration of the in- stitute.
 1 Owing to an erroneous report given | out blythe Associated Press, which was printed in newspapers in all parts of | the country, the clash referred to was | spoken of as a difference of opinion | between President Northrup of the l University of Minnesota and William Lloyd Garrison Instead of represent | ing two different opinions held in the | North howeve the true effect of the conflict was to bring out expressions. which. bearing in mind the prominence of the speakers. may be considered to represent the views held by the larger portionSof the people in the two sec tions.
 A Significant Feature. A significant feature of the affair. however. was that there was no anil mus in the controversy. There was no clash In the harmony of the occasion. If there were gunpowder beneath the surface of the speeches of the two men, there was at least no explosion. It was simply case where two men, believing two distinctly different | things, as did their fathers before them, stated their opinion of certain problem. But this question, holding. as 1t has for the last twenty years. | the center of the stage in all discus sious of the problems which confront | the Southern people, was fraught with | the highest importance. It was con | fict, which, in the very nature of I things, where two men with different experiences and different association with the subject of controversy, ex- pressed themselves, each in the light | in which he saw the proposition under discussion.
 It Is not considered surprising by the people here that the clash should have come. Rather is 1t held as mat ter of comment that, with speakers from the North and the South on the celebration program. the difference In opinion did not take it's appearance before. But when the line of division became apparent, the tatement of each was definite and clear. There was no misunderstanding of the light in
 which each spoke. and there was no possibility of misunderstanding the sentiment which the two leaders ex- pressed.
 The Different Viewpoints. | There was this difference in the statements of the chief figures in the controversy, however. Presiden- Aber- crombie spoke from the viewpoint of | the man who has lived among the ne- groes. and who has all his life been able to watch at close hand the prob | lem presented by the white and the black races. Mir. Garrison. on the other hand, spoke from the point of remote ness from the real situation. The one spoke from his knowledge of the con crete proposition, while the remarks of the other were of the abstract princl pie.
 The antithesis of the views held by
 the two speakers came out toward the close of the address of President Aber- ! crombie. on"An Alabama Interpretation of the Work at Tuskegee." At the out set of his remarks, the speaker had extended his congratulations to the Tuskegee Institute, characterizing 1t as being of its kind the most remark
 able educational development in the world" He stated that he was pleas. ed to bear testimony to the soundness of the principles which underlie the work that is sought to be accomplished
 here" The opposition which exists to- ward the education of the negro, ho further declared. was usually ill-found- ed, or the result of selfshness and prej- udice.
 The topic of slavery was the first of his remarks which was to bring forth
 rejoinder from the Northern leader. Referring to it, he said:
 Tt would be useless for me to under take to place the blame for slavery
 Suffice 1t to say the sections were joint
 ly respon sible, and that neither section,
 so long as slavery proved financially
 profitable, questioned the wisdom oc
 its continuance. While it's abolition
 was accomplished" he continued, by
 the most stupendous expenditure ot blood and treasure, the people of 'he South no less than the North rejoice
 that human slavery no longer exists
 The Greatest Blunder.
 Referring to tLe mistakes which had
 been made shortly after the close or
 the Civil War, he said that the South
 ern whites and the negroes were not
 the only people who blundered. The
 greatest of all mistakes made in the
 early days of freedom was the sudden
 enfranchisement of a race comprising
 over 3,O00,00 of people He character
 ized it as the colossal mistake of the
 times" He said it drove a dagger into
 the heart of the South. and it compli-
 cated. If 1t did not create, Nthe race
 problem.
 It was on the question of education.
 however, that President Abercrombi9
 aroused the greatest commotion. Stat
 Ing that outside of education
 there is no solution for the race
 problem, he maintained that tho edu-
 cation must be of the right kind. and
 must be universally applied. If the
 continued inaction of the national gov
 ernment renders 1t necessary for one
 of the races to receive meager educa-
 tional advantages, 1t is best for the
 negro, that for a season. the advant-
 ages should go to the dominant race.
 The best way to secure universal edu-
 cation for the negro is to give univcr-
 sal education to the white man. Edu-
 cate the white man properly. and the
 white man will educate the negro"
 In the deliverance of his address, Dr.