Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1909-05-27
of New Carnegie Library
Laid by President.
FUTURE OF coIoRED RACE
Speaker Says it Never Was More
Hopeful Than Today.
MUST SOLVE HIS OWN PROBLEMS
Negroes salvation Depends Upon His
Making Himself Useful TO the
Community in which
He Lives.

WASHINGTON, May 96.-speakins to the
graduates of Howard university, near this
city today President Taft declared that
never at any time has the future OF the
negro, as a race, appeared more hopeful
and bright than at the present day.
The president impressed upon his hearers
the fact that it is for the negroes them
selves to work out their work futurue and
to make themselves valuable citizens in
the communities In which they live Con-
ditions for the negro in the south, the
president said he believed are growing
better and better. Southern people of the
better class are coming to look more and
more upon the negro race as one of their
valuable assets Mr.. Taft declared, and he
again urged upon the negro the Importance
of gaining the respect and the friendship
of the white people among whom he is to
live.
The task OF educating the negro and es-
pecially of educating leaders among the
race, the president asserted was a debt
owned by the government; debt only too
difficult of repayment because of the con-
stitutional limits of the government in
dealing with the individual.
President Taft personally handed to the
more than 100 candidates for degrees their
parchment rolls. When the commencement
exercises were ended, he was escorted to
the foundation of the new Carnegie library
of the university where he officiated at the
laying of the cornerstone. The president
evidently enjoyed the privilege OF being a
real mason, for he not only applied the
customary first dash of mortar, but worked
industrously with the silver trowel until
he had covered the entire resting place for
the well-proportioned stone.
Secretary of the Interior Ballnger, Min
lister Legar, of Hayti. and President Thir-
kield, OF the University, also were called
upon to WELD the troweI. Come on Balm
ger you might as we'll help" said the
president to the secretary, under whose
department the control of Howard Univer-
sity comes. But don't put on too much"
the president added, and spill the job"
Address of MIR. Taft.
Secretary Ballinger made a brief address
at the commencement exercises, the forth
ieth. The announcement was made OF
the comforting Of the honorary degree of
Dieter of Laws upon former Secretary Jas.
X. Garfield. There was great crush to
hear the president, more than thousand
colored people stood in the rain outside the
university chapel while he was speaking.
This university" said the president, in
his speech, rs the partial repayment Of the
debt to a race TO which a government and
the people of the United States are etern-
ally Indebted. They brought that race in
to this country against its will. They
planted it here irretrievably. They first
4 put It in bondage seemed to make necess-
| ary, under the system then In vogue Then
! they freed It and put upon It theresponsi-
| bilities of citizenship. Now some sort of
obligation follows that cdaim of facts with
! reference to the people who are responsible
for yhat that government did. The Obliga-
| tion will be clearer, or rather, the method
of its discharge would be easier, were IL
not for our constitutional system, which
throws generally upon the statutes the bur-
den Of education and leaves the general
government only certain limited jurisdic-
| tion with respect to the people.
Need of Race Leaders.
II am far from saying that the colored
race today would be better off II they all
had university education. I think they
would he in a bad way II they had, be-
cause they would not know how 10 use II
and they would not find means of using it.
| No race would be better off If all were
educated as university men. The great
body Of the colored race, as the great body
of the white race, must depend for their
| livelihood upon their manual labor, skilled
! or unskilled, or upon some occupation
which requires less education than that
which is conferred by a university and il
that education is too widely extended the
| effect of IL is 10 put lot of men into life
who do not find occupations which are
suited to their tastes and 70 make them
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