Norwich bulletin., 1910-05-13
Big Audiences Hear B. I. Washington
Colored peaker and lead of uskegee Institute Heard
with -eep Interest He Told of the Problems of
His Race-Grard Work of His School.

Every seat in Park Congregations
i church was filed and extra chairs
brought in from the chapel on Thurs
day evening. so great was the inter-
est in the address given by Booker T.
Washington In Introducing the speak
/ er-@R Rev. DR.. Howe emphasized the fact
| that this was not a church function
! but one in which every citizen was in
4 terested- Everyone knows of Mr.
| Washfngtons work and recognizes
| Tuskegee institute as a national as
set.
| j. F. Slater and Moses Pierce.
| Mr.. Washington expressed spe AL
pleasure and qualification at coming
| to Norwich again as this was the
| nome of the great man. John f. Stat
| err. to whom his race owes so much.
! His original gift of one million dollars
has been increased b. judicious in
. vcsJment to one and a half millions.
| Also TlISkegee has q special sense of
| gratitude to Moses Pierce whose wise
forest ght ednesS in buying needed land
/ when easily obtained years ago made
! him a great benefactor. Mr.. Washing
| toms only embarrassment was that
| he couldn't for the life of him remem
Der which address it was he gave when
he was here last and he afraid he
| might repeat the same one
There is one question which is al
ways widely discussed-the negro
question in the United States. Various
ways of solving it have been present.
ed. Some have advocated sending them
back to Africa and 500 of them ac
tually did go back-but coo babies
were born that same day in the south.
Some would colombo them in some
wild, unsettled place in the west, but
it would need a wall around it to keep
the negro in, and five walls to keep the
white man out. He will not disappear
or be absorbed by the other ra ces,
for it takes 100 per cent. of white
blood to make a white man and only
j
a colored man. The negro is the only
colored race that can live side by side
with the white man.
colored Man in Everything.
True. the white man came first, but
he soon became lonesome and brought
the negro here at his own expense.
He has been in everything ever since.
When the Pacific was reached, the
Rockies first crossed. Oregon explor-
ed, the battle of Bunker Hill fought
he was with the white man. He was
on both side in the civil war-as al
ways, impartial-and when the North
pole was reached. big black man
was there. The great and fundamen-
tai question is how these two peoples
may live together in peace and har-
mony-each helping instead of hinder
ing the other. For the colored race
to do its fun share in this it must
give attention TO those principles
which viii enable it to succeed and
70 snow OIneTS It's success
Taught Wrong at Start.
Slavery was a school in which the
negro was taught that labor was de-
grading. Consequently his first am
bition on being free was to get to a
point where he did not have to work
with his hands. This lesson must be
unlearned. And down in Alabama this
problem is the greatest one to solve.
Mr.. Washington went there from
Hampton on graduating years ago. and
began teaching in q poor shack. Soon
an unused hen house was added to
the equipment From this beginning
has grown Tuskegee with 1000 stu
dents. 172 instructors. 5000 acres Of
land. 96 buildings and one million en-
dowment. The constant aim through
out is not increase of students land
or money-but Christian usefulness. A
study of the conditions of the masses
shows that this idea of the degrade
ton of labor must he overcome
industrial Schools Necessary.
Industrial schools are necessary to |
teach the dignity of labor and the dis
grace of idIeness. For $50 years the
negro was worked In slavery. Now
he is being taught how to Work. Work
ing and being worked is the difference
between freedom and slavery, and they
have learned the difference in these !
% years. This change of opinion in /
regard to labor is the greatest achieve
ment of the schools in this time. They
are . Young and Inexperienced race. !
with their future still ahead of them
and like al Young people. liaole 20
make mistakes They sometimes try /
to get the LAM things in ciViiizat ton |
first This silly period is passing and !
the educated negroes now lead the /,
most simple. humble lives. sense Of !
soberness and earnestness comes from |
this eaching the youthful race to keep !
its feet on the ground. !
Tuskesee Pupils and Graduates.
Farming-not Agriculture taught /
At TuSkegee where 900 acres are cul- |
tivated- The buildings are erected by |
student abor and live problems taken /
school studies. An essay on raising |
an acre of turnips given at the last !
commencement had the advantage /
hat both speaker and audience knew
what they were ia lking about.
Most of the 5000 graduates are
-eaching in the public schools. In !,
me place 90 cents year IS allowed I
or each child's education. The race
Some loaf-but the most of them work.
Fhe trouble is they are ignorant and
spend their money foolishIw
Result of Educatiohn in South.
What have been the results of edu-
cation in the south? Those who have
or forty years contributed interest
md money from here have a right to
tSh III CtOISld taxes are Ddlu on
,2e-51S. coo. in all the SOUTH on $780,
100000. They own property to the
.xtent e the territory Of Holland and~i
Belgium They are entering business
md noG conduct II 600 drveoods and
grocery stores. 200 drug stores 30
has even robbed a hank.
There are ten million negroes in the
We measure them by our
,wn standard. which is q severe test.
rhey are not SO iIliterate as the peo-
,Ie of Spain. Russia ar Portugal. Fiji
y-seven per cent can read and write. |
Settling Race Problem.
Faster than you know they are set
ling the race problem and the black |
ina white men in most places in the /
iouth are living in peace and harmony
together. They are more like t1.e
whites than any other foreign race
which comes here. They speak the
ame langua se have the same reIig-
on, food and dress. They are above
ILL., American citizens (applauSe)
They are never beggars. Ten million
iollars q year are annually appropri- |
ted by the government to feed and
lothe the Indians, but not one dollar
las ever been thus given the negro
applause) They pay their own way
It Tuskegee in every thing but the $50 !
Nbnv 79x {