The Nashville globe. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1906-193?, 1907-05-10
GRANDEST COMMENCEMENT AT
WALDEN UNIVERSITY.
CONTINUED from Page Two }


will be chronicled as they appear to
Negroes, The demand will be sup
piled by daily newspapers owned, CON
trolled and operated by Negroes. In
the realms of literature an enlightened
populace having its surfeit of the fall
lacies and calumnies circulated under
The guise of fiction, history, science,
ETC., by prejudiced authors will call
lor DOCKS and magazines, the product
OF the Negroes brain and skill. The
call will be answered by publishing
houses which will give employment to
thousands of cur race In commercial
printing it seems that | can see vista.
SO broad, glittering with so many pos
sibilities, spreading before us that its
very brilliance dazzles the magma
ton. Finally, when the Negro printer
has met successfully all the demands
OF his own race and is able to compete
in all branches of printing with his
more favored brother, he will find un-
der the theory that the ittest survive,
the business of the world at his feet
His to possess, if he can do the work
better and cheaper.
Am | too optimistic? If any doubt
the great possibilities, the great oppor-
tunities before the Negro, | would call
his attention to the magnificent insti-
tuition established by Bishop G. s..
Smith, of the A. M. E. Church, and the
work 1t Is doing under Dr.. Chappelle
Or better still the great plant which
is monument to another of our
townsmen, the Rev. DR.. R. H. Boyd.
Ten years ago this man arrived in our
city with only hand satchel and a
large supply of determination as his
only assets. Now he rs at the head of
an establishment which gives employ
ment to hundreds of skilled workmen
the greatest plant of it's kind owned
and controlled by Negroes in the
world. With such plants in our midst
with such men as an inspiration, with
such achievements accomplished in
such an increditable short space of
time, ought we not be optimistic az to
the future?
To the members of the printing
class, l would speak as a fellow-crafts-
man who has an ambition to be in the
glorious future which lies open before
us-a brother who has had some ex-
perience in the practical problems of
our trade, a man whose business
makes him student of the affairs of
today. In coming from this school
you join with us in what is really the
pioneer work of the race in the trade.
You enter your chosen calling, para
doXical as it may seem, at an advan-
tage, yet you are handicapped. The
spirit of the age is Capitalization, the
combining of the specialist in all al
lied trades to produce the one har-
monious whole where the greatest re-
suits can be accomplished at the least
expense. In no trade which have
observed (and | must confess that my
range OF observation has been limited)
is the specialist so much in evidence
as in that of printing In the modern
printing-office, the composing room,
the press room and the bindery have
dozens of specialists, each doing diff
ferent class of work and only that
class of work all the time. The aver
age white youth entering an establish
| iAiSh1 90 uh uppl OuIlCO lullucuIdI6ly
begins preparing himself for special
ist, learning only one branch of the
work in one department of the plant.
AS consequence the horizon of his
advancement is limited to that one de-
partment, But not so with you. Here
in this university you are brought
face to face with conditions as you
will meet them in after life. You have
been given the opportunity to grasp
the fundamental principles of all de
partments Of the craft. This advan
tage prepares you for higher things
You will be handicapped, first of all
by the low wages you will receive il
you enter an office as a journeyman
You will be barred from offices by the
unions. If you establish an office, you
will find that your greatest drawbacks
will be the poverty of those from
whom you must draw your patronage
and the need of machinery to meet the
prices of your competitors These hin
ORANGES often test the metal of mos
enthusiastic members of the craft
Don't be gutter. Have faith in your
self; have faith in your trade These
disadvantages are disappearing You
are young, and if you love your trade
and will put forth the proper effor
to increase your own proficiency, you
will be, to use hunting phrase, iii
at the death"
In conclusion, let me say to you