Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-11-15

and DR.. J. W. E. Bowen of Atlanta were
tine speakers of the occasion, and to-
gather with the members of the board OF
trustees assembled in the office of the
president of the university shortly after
o. clock. The representatives of the diff
ferent colleges and universities assem-
bled in the main hall OF the university
at the same time. Shortly thereafter both
bodies marched to the chapel. where the
ceremonies began at 2:30 o'clock. Am
bassador Bryce was the first speaker In
troduced by Justice Barnard.
Ambassador Bryce's Address.
Coming from and having the honor to
represent here nation within whose en-
pire there dwell many millions Of colored
people, it is" he said. fitting that
should join in the greeting which Is TO-DAY
extended to the new president OF Howard
University and Join also in hearty GOOD
wishes for the continued prosperity and
success of an institution whose work IS
of such great and permanent Importance.
Britain and the British colonies have a
work to do similar to that which such in
stitutions as this are doing here; work
which has been promoted so generously.
both by the United States government and
by many private benefactors. We have in
South Africa more than 100000 Of KAT
frs living under British rule or protection
and still larger number of various coll
ored races IN equatorial Africa on both
sides of that continent. These are. Of
course, far further back than the coli
cred men of the south: further back also
than those who inhabit the British West
Indies. But everywhere We believe that
progress is being made. In the parts of
Africa lately taken under our protection
wars have been stopped. steamers ira
verse the rivers and railroads are being
constructed
I'm South Africa and the West Indies.
which we have held for a much longer
~
arts and customs of civilization have
made way. Nowhere. perhaps. does the
progress seem to me quite SO satisfac-
tory or at any rate quite SO interesting
and full of promise as in Basuta Land.
where a Kaff1r people Of several hundred
thousand souls is developing under the
guidance of British officials, but retaining
its own tribal system. its own chiefs, Its
own language, industrious and prosperous
in a territory which land spectators and
mining prospectors are not permitted to
enter.
Progress Has Been Gradual.
''Our upward progress has been slow as
we'll as gradual, and yet our ancestors had
the advantage of living in a climate and
on soil which compelled exertion and
gave that stimulus to progress which the
inhabitants Of tropical Africa did not
receive. Progress will. We trust, be far
more rapid among the colored people now
than it was among the races of northern
Europe or among the aborigines of Amer
lea. because all the influences which a
highly developed civilization exerts are at
work around them and on them. But
when we remember how short a time has
elapsed since freedom and responsibility
the factors that make manhood, were at
tanned and how short even the time since
the progenitors of the colored people were
living as savages in African jungles, we
shall wonder not at the defects We see
but rather that those defects are not far
greater There must be patience, and
with patience hope. To see an institution
equipped as this university is STRENGTHENS
whom no one can mention without a
tribute of respect and admiration for the
work he has done. has urged that indus
trial training is the kind of training most
needed for the colored race.
THAT he is right in the main, right In
thinking this and not a library education
Is what the great bulk of the race most
need for some time to come, I feel GER
tain. But there is also not only room.
but need for such a university as this.
There are men of exceptional gifts who
ought to receive the best instruction our
modern world can give; men not yet nu-
merous, but enough to show what may
! come later. and needing to be provided
for now. You have such men here, and
we have them In our colonies. I remem-
Der to have once examined for adms-
sion to the English bar a negro student
without drop of white blood. who was
one of the three or four best out of
eighty candidates. The other day / heard
from a friend in South Africa a Swiss
missionary. that a young Basuto had
just written a tale of native life not only
interesting. but beautiful. completely ma
tive in thought and imagery, full $50 he
tells mel. of real and instructive poetry
Doubtless there are many instances like
these among the colored people here But
apart from such instances. is it not a su-
preme necessity for the race that there
shall be the best instruction provided for
those who are to be it's clergymen its
physicians, its lawyers. and-perhaps
most of all-its school teachers? The
men, who I'LL these professions viii very
largely guide and mold the coming genera
tons. Through them, and better perhaps
through them than in any other way, the
best American influences will find their
way among the masses of the SOUTH
Commissioner of Education Brown.
DR.. Elmer Ellsworth Brown, United
States commissioner of education, was
the second speaker. He said:
universities bear double character.