The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-06-01

Hampton, Va, May 3o.-A notable
| address was delivered to the students
| of Hampton Institute this afternoon
| by President Roosevelt. He dwelt par
| ticularly on the necessity for the de-
| velopment of character, not only in
| the negro, but in the white man as
well, maintaining that education alone
would fit neither for decent citizen
| ship unless accompanying it there was
! the right type of family life in
| the home.
The president and Mrs. Roosevelt
| and their party arrived off Old Point
| Comfort in the Mayfower shortly be-
fore 4:30 o'clock and was taken ashore
in launches. The hundreds Of negro
and Indian students of both sexes We're
| assembled in front of the administra-
! ton building of the institute and re-
ceived them with a cordial welcome
song. The buildings We're handsome
ly draped with flags. The president
| was escorted to the veranda of the
| administration building from which
| he made his address. Before the ad-
dress the students sang with remark
| able effect some characteristic songs.
| At the conclusion of one of them. "a
| great camp meeting in the promised
land" the president applauded hearth
ly and shouted More, more" The
| students, in response, sang We Are
| Climbing Jacobs Ladder
DR. Frissell, the principal of the in
| stitute introduced the president say
| ing in conclusion:
I'VE believe in you; we honor you;
we love you. We believe you are
| come to bring peace on earth and
| good will to all men,
President Roosevelt spoke extempor-
aneously and with deep earnestness.
| He began by saying after the stu
dents had given him cordial welcome
| that they were no more anxious for
| him to visit them than he was to visit
| the institute Speaking directly to the
| negro students he said:
| Now the first thing upon which |
wish to lay emphasis is that school
such as this, which strives TO raise the
| colored man and colored woman, to
| make them better men and better
women, better citizens, is preeminent-
| ly in the interests of the white man
| There is nothing that can be better for
| the white man who is to live side by
| side with the cOlored man, than 10
train that colored man up to be good
citizen. The good man, who is a white
man, by his presence is benefit tC
| every colored man in the community
| and the safety of the white man is ir
| having the colored man grow TO be q
| good and decent man. From sand poin'
of the white man, the safest and best
| thing that can happen is to have the
hfy9
thrifty, Industrious, home makers and
home keepers, for you never yet had
| any formidable quantity Of criminal:
from people or locality where the av'
| erage type was the home maker anc
the home keeper. So that from the
| standpoint of the white man nothing
| better can be done than to give to the
| colored man that real education, thai
| real training which he gets here a.
| Hampton and in similar institutions
| From the standpoint of the colore6
man, the only real way to help him Ii
| to help him help himself In the lOne
run in this world. no human being
can be carried. What this institu
| ton does is TO train young men and
! women TO walk by themselves.
The coiored man who helps HI!
| race most is he who helps teach tht
members Of his race how TO conduc
| themselves with self respect as har6
! working, Intelligent, law abiding citi
| zens. It is the humble creatures tha
count in the long run No race, NJ
nationality ever really raises itself b,
| the exhibition Of genius in few men
| what counts f. character, the charac
| ter of the average man and the aver
age woman II we can develop in th'
average colored citizen those qualitie'
4 SxF oh a ~1 NJ Or - "a IN
| ness, of sense Of obligation. of willing
| ness to work. Of desire to behave de
| Gently toward those round about you
you have taken the longest and mos
effective step toward securing for tn
people of your own race their owl
self respect and the respect Of others
which will follow inevitably In tn
training of that self respect
You have sent out from Hampton
Institute in all something like 500
| graduates and il I remember right,