The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1908-11-26

Building For
Colored Men
Will Be a Tribute
ToAdUancen1ent
of the Race

President Roosevelt dclivered the 70
lowing address today at the corne
stone laying OF the Colored Youn
Mems Christian Association:
1t to me peculiar pleasure to b
present on this occasion at the layiu
of the corner Stone Of the building fc
the Colored Young Mems christla
Association of Washington. The \
Nj. C. "A. has worked among colore
man for less than thirty years. For
number of reasons, for some time al
ter the work was begun very little pre-
gress was made; indeed, at FIRST, cur
ouSly enough, the churcnes tended t
antagonize the Y. Nj G. A. But durlnI
the last twenty years the Y. NJ. C. A
work among our gulored fellow-citI
zens has proceeded rapidly. and thes,
are the very twenty years in whIcl
the colored race in America has mad,
most progress. The .eugIous people
those standing highest in the colore,
churches, now appreciate. as they fail
ed to appreciate quarter of centur,
ago, that innocent sports and amuse
mcnts should be encouraged. and tha
the poorest lesson to be taught to an,
men of any race is tr4, pleasure an,
vice are synonymous terms. The
bowling alleys, the swimming pool.
and gymnasiums of the Y. NJ. G. A
buildings are aAjuRcts of a very In
portant kind to the effort for tine NOR
al and religious uplilt with which thu
YIN. C. A. movement has always beer
Identified. Moreover, the Y. NJ. C. A
reaches bota the classes that arc
reached by the churches and the
classes that the churches fail to reach
Such a building as this viii be is oper
every day and every evening. It
brings in men Of many different types
for 1t appeals to many different sides
OF human nature. Already the colored
Y. NJ. G. A. has a membership in this
country of nearly 10000. 5000 belong.
ing to the 81 city associations, and
5000 to the student organizations. OF
the 100000 spent last year for the cur.
rent expenses Of the "a city assocla.
tions, three-fourths were paid by col.
ored men. 1t is noteworthy that OF
the 10000 coiored meH attending tne
COlOred colleges Of this country, half
are active members of the Y. NJ. C. A.
This speaks well for the spirit OF these
colleges, and gives us hope and en-.
couragement for the character of the
leaders of the colored race in the fn.
ture. over 1880 volumes were circu.
lated last year from the as yet limit.
ed number of colore1 Y. NJ. c. "a.
libraries.
No city in the country presents a
better or widcr field ynr useful Y. NJ.
C. A. work among the colored people
than washington. Here we have
more than 10000 colored men, who
have, unfortunately. but few safe
places to go for Innocent amusement
Hundreds Of young colored men are
every year being lured away from the
habit of decent living because they
are not supplied with the chance TO 90
where innocent and healthy amusa
ments are provided in surroundings
that encourage eAacatton and moral.
tty. can not too heartily commend
the action of hose colored men who
are responsible for star ting this buill.
ing. When completed ii will be a tril.
ute 10 the Advancement of the coIored
race; and also monument to the ad.
of the city of WASHINGTON,
Il will be 7 model Tor the entire coIu.
try; it will influence other cities; and
1t affords an excellent opportunity for
botn white and cOlored men to Join in
the work of uplifting class that sore.
iy needs aid. fhe cclcred man who
builds that which improves and beau.
tifies his city earns the right to the