The Washington bee., 1910-03-19
Taft'S Great Speech
ARMSTRONG AND NEGRO
PROGRESS
WILBERFORCE NIGHT

President Taft, Senator Dick and
Prof. Scarobough Speak Before
Capacity House.
The Metropolitan meeting, Tues
day night, March 9Th, was a mag
nihCent assemblage, and attested
the popularity OF the Wiiberforce
Club, and the admiration for Viii
berforce University.
Senator Dick, DR.. John Hurst,
Justice Harlan, Mr.. Louis Gregory
were speakers in addition to Presi-
dent Taft and Prof. Scarborough,
Dr. w. T. Vernon introduced the
President in a speech and paid a
high tribute to the Chief Executive.
The President, when he arose, lost
no time, but plunged at once into
his speech. The President spoke as
follows:
Mr.. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen
First, | want to congratulate Viii
berforce University on having the
influence to bring together so large
and so intelligent an audience. [ am
sure it augurs we'll for the cause
which President Scarborough is pres
sing. OF course, when l see him III
a week or two, | will ask him to
put it down in figures, and perhaps
then he will think he will have tc
call two or three other meetings for
the purpose.
But what | am anxious to do IS r
testify by my presence to the deef
interest | take in the progress o1
that institution of learning which
for fifty years has been in my native
state and has been full of usefulness
for the race and for the country.
Confession is good for the soul
and I have to say that | reached my
interest in the education of the Ne
Sro through the responsibilities that
were thrust on me with reference
to the education of another race. i
isn't until you have responsibilities
until you have to do something af
hrmative-that you look into ques
ton with a seriousness that make!
you a bit thorough; and when l
went to the Philippines, with a popu
lation of 100000, and with only
seven per cent speaking Spanish
thus indicating the proportion OF the
people that had any education at all
| begun to meet a problem with refer
ence to education that gave me al
interest in every other problem oi
the kind in the world, and when
returned from there the Negro prob
lem forced itself on me with an EN-
phasis that | didn't before under
stand and gave me an interest in j
that I never before had.
OF. course, the first feeling tina
one has with reference to the eduCa
ton of the Negro is that education
that it is possible to bring to al
colored men and women, and. o.
course, the only education that yOl
can bring to all colored men and wo
men-as, indeed, the only education
that you can bring to all white mer
and wOmen-is primary education
with industrial education added A!
you study the problem, and the i'm
portanCe of that industrial education
forces itself on you, you forget fol
the time that any significance is Il
be given to secondary and higher, OF
university, education; and you fal
frequently into the error of sayins
that money spent in university edu
cation is wasted; that the Negroe.
who are educated at universities, who
IS are engaged in studying Greek anC
Latin, and who are preparing them
selves in an academic way. are max
ing an error. You Weld to such aph
orisms as DR.. Wiley has used witt
respect to woman's education-tha
it is better for woman to learn how
TO cook than to learn calculus. Blu
there is nothing quite so misleading
as an eplgram.
The Negro race is a great anC
growing TaCe-4ooo,oOO when the
war closed: 10000, 900 today rae,
with whose history the United State
has been bound, and with whose pro
gress and improvement this country
must always be bound and united
While the white race and the Ne
gro race live contentedly together il