The Omaha guide., 1939-02-25
Secretary Wallace Lauds
Prof. George w. Carver
Hits Fascist Race Theories

NEW YORK, Feb. % (CNA)-Secretary of
Agriculture Henry A. Wallace paid a glowing trib-
,,to to the scientific achievements of Professor
George Carver of Tuskegee Institute in a Lincoln Day
speech in which the New Dealer ridiculed Nazl theor-
les of "Aryan' superiority as pure scientific taking
The Cabinet members speech was delivered at a
meeting of scientists and educators at the Waldorf
Astoria Hotel, under the auspices of the "Lincoln's
Birthday Committee for Democracy and Intellectual
Freedom"
Composed of % eminent scientists, the commit
tee under the Craftsmanship of Professor Franz Boas,
enonsored a series of meetings all over the nation in
defense of democracy and in opposition to facisln.
wallace, figuratively taking his gloves off,
smashed with bare knuckles at the racial doctrines
of the Nazi and of Fascist-minded circles in this
country.
Superior ability is not the exclusive possession
of any one race er any one class" he declared.
From studies in live stock breeding it is known
that complex characteristics are apart from super
ficial characteristics as kin, hair or eye color, the
Secretary pointed out.
Hits Superiority Idea
"The color of a cows hair for example, has
nothing to do with her ability to produce milk, and
therefore there is no reason to think that the color
of a mans hair has anything to do with his ability
to produce ideas" sns7i# : -.
The hard-hitting New Deal official took the oc-
casion to blast at racial theorists in this country
as we'll as those abroad, when he said:
'Tt is the fashion in certain quarters to sheer at
those so-called poor Whites who suffer from poor
education and bad diet, and who live in tumbledown
cabins without mattresses. And yet | wonder if any
scientist would care to claim that 100000 children
taken at birth from these families would rank any
lower in inborn ability than 100 900 children taken
at birth from the wealthiest one per cent of the
parents of the United States.
eff both groups were given the same food, hous-
ing, education and cultural traditions, would they not
turn out to have about equal mental and moral traits
on the average?
eff 100000 German babies were raised under
the same conditions as loo, 900 Hindu babies or 100,-
900 Jewish babies, would there be any particular diff
ference? No such experiments have been made or are
likely to be made and so no absolutely scientific
answer can be given. But when / raise such a ques-
ton, / mean to imply that every race, every nation
and people from every economic group Of society are
a great g%enetic mixture. There is far greater varia-
bility between the heredity of individuals within the
groups than between the groups"
Praises Negro Scientist
"When | was a small boy he said, George Car
yer, a Negro who is now a chemist at Tuskegee In
stitute, was a good friend of my fathers at the Iowa
State College. Carver at that time was specializing in
botany, and he would take me along on some of his
botanizing trips. It was he who first introduced me
to the mysteries of botany and plant fertilization.
Later on l was to have an intimate acquaintance
with plants myself, because I spent a good many
years breeding corn. Perhaps that was partly because
this scientist, who belonged to another race, had
deepened my appreciation Of plants in q way | could
never forget.
Carver was born in slavery, and to this day
he does not definitely know his own age. In his work