The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-10-28
NEGRO FAIR
 COMES TO CLOSE
Walter s. Buchanan Makes Instruc-
 tive Address

Utica, Miss. October 27.--(Special)-Th second annual negro fair, held under the auspices of the Utica Normal and Indus trial institute one of the largest schools that have come out of the famous Tus- kegee institute, came to a close here to- day. The closing day brought nearly 200O persons, including farmers and their wives, visitors from different points in Kinds and Copiah counties, and the stu dentbody of the institute.
 Competitive games, races and a barbe- cue furnished the entertainment, while much interest was manifested in the large number of exhibits brought by the far mers and their wives and furnished by the various industrial divisions of the institution.
 Walter s. Buchanan, president of the 4 agricultural and Mechanical college for negroes, located at Normal, Ala, made the principal address of the fair. He was introduced by Principal Holtzclaw. Pro- lessor Buchanan urged his people to build up good schools in the remote rural dis tricts where the negroes live in large numbers and have an opportunity to plant themselves firmly in the soil. He cited figures showing the difference in state appropriations for white and col pred children and added:
 "On the basis of school population, one white teacher is provided in the state of Mississippi to every 49 children and in North Carolina, one for every 6S. While for negroes these states provide one teach CT to every S3 children in North Carolina and one for every 152 children in Ala hama. This inequality of facilities is em- phasized by the fact that white teachers are paid from two to three times as much as negro teachers, which means, of course, that negro schools, especially in .ae rural districts, cannot offer sufficient salary to attract as efficient teachers as the white schools can employ. AS poor AS the negro rural schools are some Of them are still kept open less than three months per year.
 Now I have not stated these facts to discourage you, nor to make you feel more keenly the injustice practiced upon us in he distribution of the public school fund. But I think our race needs to know the facts in order to better understand the part which they are to play in providing better educational advantages for negro cnildren.
 If the negro through his own efforts does not SupplelilchI tiic PbbiiN StiioOi fund and provide better schools for negro children in the remote rural districts, we shall eventually lose our hold upon the soil and let slip away from us forever the opportunity to gain firm and most last ing foothold upon the agricultural re- sources of the south. It is very plain to- day that the negro is losing ground in the various mechanical pursuits because his industrial training has not kept pace with the growing demands of the many trades which the black man formerly monopo- l zed.
 Negro teachers must still be imbued with the missionary spirit. They must be willing to sacrifice salary and pleas u,e and go out into the backwoods. where T ey are needed and teach the people how to make a better living on less acreage. our teachers must learn scientific farm ing and teach it in the country schools. In this way we can keep our people on the farms, for which they have peculiar adap- tability and where they can make a sure welcome place for themselves"