The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1907-11-21

is being made. In the parts OF AT
RIGA lately taken under our protec-
ton wars have been stopped. steam
orS traverse the rivers and railroads
are being constructed
I'm South Africa and the West
Indies, which we have held for a
much longer period. education is ad-
vancing and the arts and customs of
civilization have made way. No
where, perhaps. does the progress
seem to be quite so satisfactory or
at any rate quite SO interesting and
full Of promise, as In BaSuta Land,
where Kaff1r people Of several hun
dred thousand souls are developing.
under the guidance of British OFF,
Gals, but retaining it's own tribal sys-
tenn, it's own chiefs, it's own language,
industrious and prosperous In the ter
ritory 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 a soil which COM
PEELED exertion and gave that stimu-
lus 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 north
ern Europe or among the aborig1nes
Of America. because all the influence
which 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 fac
tors that make manhood. were at
tanned, and how short even the time
since the progenitors Of the colored
people we're living as savages In Al
rican 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 pa
thence hope. To see an institution
equipped as this university is
strengthens ones hope. Mr.. Booker
Washington, whom no one can men
ton without a tribute Of respect and
admiration for the work he has done,
has urged that industrial 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 4
library education is what the great
bulk of the race most need for some
time to come, | feel certain. 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
vet numerous, but enough to show
what may come later, and needing to
be prov ided for now. You have such
men here. and we have th3m in our
colonies. | remember TO have once
examined for admission to the En-
glish bar a Negro student without a
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,
Swiss missionary. that a young BaS-
uto had just written tale of native
life not only interesting, but beaut1-
full completely native in thought and
imagery, full ESQ he tells mel. OF
real and instructive poetry Doubt
less there are many instances like
these among colored people here.
But apart from instances, is it not
supreme necessity for the race that
there shall be the best instruction
provided for those who are to be it's
clcrgymen, its physicians, it's law
yers, and-perhaps most of all--it5
school teachers? The MEN who fill
these professions will very largely
guide and mold the coming genera
tons. Through them, and better
perhaps through them than in any
ether way. the best American in
Aucnces will find their way among
the masses Of the south"
Commissioner of Education Brown.