The Washington bee., 1907-03-30
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON.
Continued from Ist page

ards" unusually eloquent and timely ad-
dress of quarters of an hour was
the value of constructive effort in the
solution of the race problem. "Our
greatest need at his time" urged DR..
Washington, "is the dogged pioneer spir-
it that goes into the forests, the mines,
on the farms, ferrets out the hidden
treasures of nature, develops the crude
materials of earth and creates original
opportunities for racial progress. The
old-time leaders were called upon to
destroy something-primarily that mon
ster evil, slavery; the newer leadership
is called upon TO build up something
store, church, school, bank, and
to make positions of advantage that did
not exist before.
"We want and must have educated
men of the race who will become crea-
tors of wealth, of tangible evidences Of
our capacity in the religious, educational
business, professional and all of the
branches that touch our daily life. Com
plants, indignation meetings and pro-
tests are sometimes justiiable, for we
do suffer grievous wrongs, but let it be
I emphasized with all the force at the
races command that the acquisition of
land, the building of homes, the sue
cessful management of bank, dry goods
store, a drug store or a dairy-the cul-
tivation of farm, the invention of a
useful piece of machinery will go many
times farther toward solving the race
problem than all the abstract theorizing
that we can indulge in from now until
doomsday. When a Negro actually ere
ates something of value to civilization,
through skilled black hands, backed by
cultivated black brains, he has furnished
an object lesson in racial capacity that
cannot be fouted even by his bitterest
foes.
Display TGngibls Eg1dences of Negro
GeniaS.
DR.. Washington said he wished to see
the colored business men in the great
centers like Philadelphia, Boston, Chi
Cago, becoming members of the COM
mercial clubs, and thought it would be
one of the most profitable of ventures if
the colored business men would arrange
to display of the products of Negro
genius and material progress in some
public place where the white people,
whose opportunities for studying the
new Negro are decidedly limited, might
be able to see for themselves Just what
is being done. Instead of dwelling on
the negative side of our problem, the
intelligent Negro should bear heavily
on the positive side, by showing his
!, creditable achievements. There is moth
ing but disaster III store when we con-
fine our activities to complaining of our
disadvantages-by calling continued at
tention to our weaknesses and failures
No enterprising people want to invest
!, anything in a sick man or a sick race
l.. The natural instinct of mankind IS to
; deal only in successes. Therefore, he
declared, every Negro who desires tC
see the race problem solved along prac-
teal and permanent lines should look
. forward, not backward, should take note
of the bright side of the picture, bt
cheerful, have race pride, and be sure
to get on the front seat Of the oonstruc.
tive bandwagon. We live in the bes
2 age since the world began. We have
! more, know more and can do more thar
+, at any time since emancipation. W.
E must not become discouraged or embit
E tered. Study the object lessons fur
r nished by our creators of opoprtunltie
el-urge that their tribe increase-and fol