The sun., 1908-11-27
SQUARE DEALFOR THE NEGRO
PRESIDENT URGES EQUALITY
81. BEFORE THE LAW. p
Not Social Equality, He Says. bnt Equality
st Of Opportunity TO Earn . i4VinE-Ad'
/, dress Ut the Laying OF the Corner
: stone OF Negro y. NJ. q. 4. building.

x, WARRINGTON. Nov. 20. - President
Roosevelt. accompanied by Secretary
Loeb and Capt. Archibald Butt, military
aide, attended the ceremonies OF laying
( the cornerstone OF the colored Y M. G. A
building in Washington this afternoon
I The President delivered an address and
Z wialded the trowel He was received
s with enthusiasm by several thousand
negroes, who applauded nearly every
sentence Of his speech. but were especially
demonstrative when the President called
to one Of the workmen. Levi Adams.
huge negro in overa'ls. and shook hands
I With him.
sCome here!" commanded the President
70 Adams. Il want your hands to shake"
Adams came forward awkwardly and
the President met him.
e q SI always want to shake hands with the
man behind the gun-the man who ha 8
done the work." shouted the President,
and his colored hearers cheered and cried
sGoodl"
The new building, which is to cost
: 300 900, is to be erected at the corner Of
Twelfth and L streets N. w. When
the President reached the scene Of the
white men were on the programme Of
speakers. They were President Roose-
velt, Henry B. F. Macfarland president
Of the Board of Commissioners Of the
District of Columbia who introduced
President Roosevelt. and Richard c
Morse of New York. general secretary
[ Of the international committee of the
u. NJ. c. A. The rest of the programme,
Including the musical feature. was rem
dered by negroes, The president OF the
y. NJ. G., A, announced that the building
3Was being constructed entirely by negro
labor.
The negro Y. NJ. C. A. of Washington
had it's beginnings in 1904-1905. Several
determined Christian negro men held
meetings and laid their plans, They
showed so much zeal in their work that
John d. Rockefeller offered to con-
tribute $3.50 to the public fund pro-
viding an equal fund could be raised by
popular subscription. The organizers
went to work and soon raised 1872 900. |
Ground was broken on September "a.
The building will be of pressed brick
and will have four stories and a base
nnent. The basement will be used for a
Turkish BATH swimming pools and
athletics. The first floor will contain the
sscretary's offices, directors fooms.
gymnasium. reading room and dining
room, and the second floor will have a
lscture room. boys educational rooms
and women's retiring room. The third
and fourth floors will be used for DOR
mitories.
The Preside nt's speech to-day was
heard by number Of prominent oolored
men, including w. T. Vernon, register
os the Treasury; Ralph Tyler. auditor
for the Navy Department; John G. Dancy.
Recorder of Deeds for the District Of
Columbia, R. H. Terrill, justice of the
peace in Washington: and W. Calvin
Chase, editor Of the Bee and son-in-law
of the late Frederick Douglass.
President Roosevelts address was In
part as follows:
-ft Is to me q matter Of peculiar pleas |
slfe 10 be present on this occasion, at the
layinR Of the cornerstone Of the building |
for the Colored Young Mems Christian |
Associstion Of Washington. The Y NJ.
O. A. has worked among colored men for
less than thirty years For number OF
reasons, for some time after the work
was begun very little progress was made;
indeed. at first, curiously enough. the
churches tended to antagonize the Y M.
@. A.
"But during the last twenty years
the Y. M. G. A. work among our oolored
fellow citizens has proceeded rapidly,
and these are the very twenty years In
which the colored race in America has
pie, those standing highest in the colored
churches, now appreciate, as they failed
e6 appreciate a quarter of a century ago,
that Innocent sports and amusements
should be encouraged and that the poor
est lesson to be taught to any men Of any
rice is that pleasure and vice are synon-
yFnous terms. The bowling alleys. the
the Y. NJ. G. A. buildings are adjuncts OF
D very important kind to the effort for
the moral and religious uplift with which
the Y. nj. c. A. movement has always
been identified. Moreover, the Y. NJ. c.
A. reaches both the classes that are
that the churches faif to reach. Such a
building as this will be Is open every day
and every evening 1t brings In men Of
many different types. for 1t appeals to
many different sides Of human nature.
As for the white man. let him remem-
ber In this. as in all other matters, that to
DO justice u the colored man Is demanded
man but by the interest OF the white
man also. Sooner or later in this COM
nunity every class Of citizens will feel
the effect OF the raising or degradation
of any other class. AN men up Is a
much safer motto than Some men down;
and it is to the interest Of every class of
any community that the members OF
svery other class shall feel that industry.
gobriety. good behavior. the conduct
that marks a man as being good !
Deighbor and good citizen should re-
ceive a proper reward. 80 as thereby 70
put premium upon the development Of
,uch qualities
~ am not speaking now Of social re-
treatment before the law, OF equality
of opportunity to earn living, of equality
Of opportunity to earn the respect chat
should be accorded to the man who be- {
aaves decently and is a good neighbor and , ,
rood citizen.
There are plenty of very difficult prob
ems In this country, plenty OF prob {
ems requiring infinite patience, forbear-
snce and good judgment IL they are to .
Do dealt with wisely. and which cannot !
BY any possibility receive even an ap- /
complete solution within a q
short time. What is known as the race \
lt exists in the North as well as in the q
South. But OF one thing we can rest >
and that is that the only way in :. '
Ehich to bring nearer the time when there e
hall be even an approximately fair So 3
ution OF the problem is to treat each man q
IN his merits as q man. He should not \
b treated badly because he happens 9
10 be OF given color, nor should he y
receive immunity for misconduct be-