The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-10-28

pfeacn the Bospel, OF 10 teacn scnOol, Just
in proportion as the white people can
ton, the old feeling of education against
us will disappear
Negro Laborer Not Reliable
Il am perfectly aware of the fact that
there Is complaint in many sections of
the south where the negro is depended
upon as laborer because employers say
that the colored man cannot be depended
upon to work regularly, to work six hours
a day, during a long period of time. Here
again, regardless of sentiment and preju-
dice, we must face the facts; so people
in the world can be led to perform salts
factory labor except as they have mo-
tive In view for working. No man works
for nothing he must have a motive: he
must have something in view that he
wants to accomplish.
There is no white man in the south who
Is accustomed to employing colored peo-
pie as laborers in large numbers who
will not testify to the fact that the most
unsatisfactory class of colored laborers
are those who have nothing and want
nothing except a little coarse food and
enough money to secure some tobacco
and whisky at the end of the week. That
kind of man cannot be depended upon
to work with any degree of regularity
six days in the week because his wants
are so few and so simple that he can
satisfy these wants by working two or
three days in the week; at the end of
that time he stops. This is a principle
of human nature not peculiar to the
negro, but is true of all nationalities. The
only way to overcome this shortcoming,
as 1 have said, is to increase the. ne
gro's wants through education and when
say education, l am not combining my
self to the old form of technical, book
ish education, but education in the broad
est sense education that teaches the
dignity of labor; education that teaches
cleanliness; education that teaches health;
education that teaches industry as we'll
as education that broadens and strength
ems the mind and education that makes
one ambitious to improve and increase
his possessions. Ask any white employer
or labor in the south what kind of colored
man can be most depended upon as a la
borer and / will guarantee to say that
this employer will say that the negro
who renders the best service is the one
who can read and white a little, who
| owns one house and wants to improve
that house or get another house, or who
has a little bank account and wants to
add to that bank account Just in proper
tion as the colored people have their
wants increased so that the woman in
the house wants another room added to
the home; wants to have it painted or
whitewashed on the outside and inside:
wants some flowers in the garden; wants
a few pieces of carpet or rugs on the
! floor. wants some pictures on the walls:
wants some newspapers and magazines;
| just in proportion as the colored people
in community feel that they must spend
| money for educating their children and
want to build better schoolhouses better
church houses, have better teachers and
better ministers; just In the same degree
will they be more satisfactory as laborers
whether they labor for white people or
for members of our own race.
In many parts of the south people
are not prosperous in commercial direc-
tions simply because they are poor pro-
ducers and consequently poor buyers.
prosperity cappot exist among merchants
or others IN trade except as they are
people who not only have money, but
have a lot of wants to be supplied. Let
me repeat then, just in the degree that
we receive education that will increase
our wants in the same degree will be
more satisfactory as laborers for white
people or black people l am speaking
plainly, and frankly, and directly upon
all these vital subjects simply because /
love Alabama and every county in 1t,
and I want to be of the highest service
TO both races