The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1909-07-08
R BOOKER WASHINGTON lSll OVER 1E E VT6|l
Distinguished Educator and Party Win Signal HonoIs Re-
arkable Enthusiasm Greeted Them All Along inv Ayne
From Norfolk Virginia, to Montgomery, West Virginia

'
in virgtnia.aa yshIl, as, elsewhere can
mot ma himself sere vuset.,l ins,t the
future than he hah in the past, and
during the time athnt Il have had an
opportunity Ito zee what you are
striving and hopIhg to, do. 1 say that
my confidence t,as your, future has
been immenssly Increased, and as .
stated In the beginning, my highest
ambition in coming here is to help
urge the NegroS}R reach the point
where every, year, he Will. be4more
useful to himself more useful TO- the
State of .Virginias End more useful to
the world at large. ,:'> ;.. .:',.> II
There are so1ae things in the life
of, every race that .must be settled
just as speedily as{ possible. kmonl,,a;
them is the n,anaer Of permanent
abode, permaaeht and. ) definite
place to live. I,AaYe the privilege OF
travelling pretty extensively through
out this country asTSweil as in foreign,
countries, and I have MO hesitation In
stating that, In, ,s4mIgsyt : opinion, the Me-
gro Is better ofetsall things conader=
ed. In our Southern States than any
where else. A, race cannot make the
highest 2progressSaaf become, in the
highest degree .deeful until 1t makes
TN Its raind.to settle down some where
and become a.pset+I part of that com
munity. 80, ;SNg ~. ,.+'-; =.
Wherever 1t, 4a .possibIe, and de,
al In arr ob ~,
owner OF a. pieeaSpf property, either
I'm town orsfn ths.cpdntry, In study
ing the eoadi tion III She race. I and
that we are better of ii: the country
districts than We are when: congre-
gated in the, large. cities. The city.
is full of~tenp tat1ans for us and for
children. 4ykll:rapes in the primitive
period Of their lives who have gotten
,upaAG their feset EaFe Gotten their
lataet kass
soil: In tie city tiles tenn pTati6n to
Hive In idienezsget the temptation to
drink, the. temptatfonsto commit,
crime are far greater than in the
country. The difficulty OF finding en-
ployment, the difficulty in finding
good houses, the difficulty In secur-
ing plenty OF good, whalesome.zfo food.
y, far greater In the city, than In, the
country, and especially Is this true
when we compare the. opportunities
In the country In the Southland with.
the opportunities presented. to our
people In the large cities 3cof the
North. In the country we can find
plenty of work; we can find q place
to live where there. is plenty, of
pure air, where we cam get out on the;
the soil, where we can become the
owner Of a piece Of land, rear a.
strong, healthy, vigorous family. +
urge our ministers, teachers and
other leaders to use their. influence
whenever possible to help Keep our
people out OF the large cities. = One
influence that is working against the
Negro today, that is making public
sentiment grow against him, is the
object lessons Of scores and some
times hundreds of idle men and wo-
men loaflng around the bar rooms
and dens Of vice and misery in our
large cities. In the country we can
save money, we can. Invest in some
th1ng that will be permanent and use
'ful. In the city the temptation to
spend money is against u.s. .
This speech was the keynote Of
his several addresses which were de-
i1Vered throughout the trip.
At Norfolk.
The party returned to Norfolk. Va
on their special train and that even
Ing for more than an hour. in tho
CRANKY Theatre, DR.. Washington in
terested and entertained an audience
composed Of both white and colored
c1ttAens, which filed the capacity of
the playhouse. Preceding his adj
dress there were vocal selections by
q quartette and DR.. L. r. Royster.
the chairman Of the Board of Trus-
tees OF the Public Schools of Norfolk.
introduced DR.. Washington. He was
never in better form and an audience
OF nearly 1000 persons gave him an
pause and many signs Of apDrecia-
ton and interest in what he had to
soy. The more prominent white peo-
pie and colored people rushed to the
stage Of the theater to get An on
portunity to shake hands with him
after his speech. "f/A.*Y -.
| About 8 miles distant from Norfolk
proper there is Negro. aamusement
resort known az white City,. and
by special trolley car DR.. Washington
and his party were conducted to this
place and given a complimentary
banquet, which was very. fnely
served by l.. W. Bright Of the ut
Vernon Hotel. ~ -
Early Tuesday morning the train
pulled out Of Norfolk enroute to
Burdette, where a platform meeting
4 s--A-
Gosasbks OF P&6ss staHT. ..
+, n - ~ ..rf