RACE QUESTION
REVIEWED
BY CHARLES SPENCER SMITH, M. D., D. D.
KDITOR OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL PUBLICATIONS OF THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL.
CHURCH, AUTHOR OF "GLIMPSES OF AFRICA," "LIBERIA IN THE LIGHT
OF LIVING TESTIMONY," "THE THREE NEGRO
REPUBLICS OF THE WORLD," ETC.
WITH INDIVIDUAL COMMENTS AND PRESS NOTICES
NASHVILLE, TENN.
1899
PREFATORY.
If I live until next November, I shall have completed thirty years of active
public life. In 1869 I began the labors of public life as a school-teacher in
Kentucky, under the auspices of the Freedmen's Bureau, and while engaged in
that vocation at Hopkinsville, in that State, in 1870, was among the first to assist
in celebrating the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Federal Consti¬
tution. I was a delegate to the first State Convention of Colored Men held in
Kentucky; was a member of the House of Representatives of the Legislature of
Alabama for two years, beginning with November, 1874; was a member of the
Colored Men's National Convention which was held in Nashville, Tenn., April,
1876; was one of the signers of the call for the Colored Men's Interstate Confer¬
ence which assembled in Pittsburg, Pa., April, 1884; have attended religious and
■educational bodies of a national character in various places and at sundry times;
have visited the great majority of the institutions in this country for the norma)
and collegiate education of colored youth, and have traveled both at home and
abroad almost incessantly since 1880. In 1894 I made a trip to the west and
•southwest coast of Africa, for a distance of 3,000 miles, from Sierra Leone to fcst.
Paul de Loanda, including a visit to Boma, the capital of the Congo Free State,
and in 1896 made a tour of the West Indies and South America. These journeys
were made with a specific end in view—viz., to observe the present status of the
African and his descendants wherever found congregated in any considerable
number in any part of the world, in order that I might be able to compare the
present condition of the Negro in this country with that of h*is kinsmen abroad;
and am one of the few American citizens to visit the three Negro Republics of the
the world—Liberia, Hayti, and San Domingo. During the period intervening
between November, 1869, and the present—I have been intimately associated with
all the great political, educational, and religious movements in this country
which have been directed toward the Negro's advancement.
These initial statements are made simply to indicate the extent of my oppor¬
tunities to note the movements of the Negro in this country since his emancipa¬
tion, and that the words which I have written are fortified by years of experience
and personal observation acquired and made while in the discharge of duties
directly connected with the Negro's progress. C. S. S.
CHARLES SPENCER SMITH, M.D., D.D.
The idea that the American Negro was created for some specific
place in the circle of human activities perished when American slavery
was shot to death, and it cannot be resurrected.
Faithfully yours,
INDEX TO INDIVIDUAL COMMENTS.
PAGE.
Adams, J. H 30
Anderson, B. C 39
Argyle, ]£. M 26
Arnett, B. W 13
Atwater, A. W 28
Beal, E. L 19
Beard, A. F 23
.Beckett, W. W 41
Bell, H. C 41
Blackshear, J. J 40
Braden, John 14
Braxton, J. W 35
Brooks, W. B 26
Bruce, J. E 34
Burgan, I. M 35
Byrd, D. W 32
Caliman, D. F 39
Carew, J. A 35
Cargyle, C. C 41
Carnes, J. R 37
Carolina, F. B 32
Chappell, W. D..... 17
Chiles, A. J 39
Connor, J. M 38
Conway, W 36
Cooper, A. R.. 29
Coppin, L. J 26
Cottrell, E 32
Councill, W. H 15
Cravath, E. M 14
Cray, I. C 30
Dangerfield, VV. F 35
Davis, J. A 34
Deal, R 30
Deaver, H. M 35
Dendy, F. Y 39
Denham, T. C 27
Derrick, W. B 14
Dickerson, John..
Eason, S. H
Edmondson, N. L,
Epton, J. B
Fisher, P. H
Fitzpa trick, I. N.
Flegler, S. F
Fortson, T. A....
p VJE.
Fortune, T. Thomas 27
Frazier, W. W , 31
Gaines, Geo. W 37
Gaines, Marshall R 15
Gaines, W. C 31
Giles, William H 35
Goins, J. Y 34
Grimes, J. G 36
Henderson, James M 16
Henderson, Jno. M 27
Hill, Richard 27
Holmes, E. P 40
Hubbard, A 41
Hubbard, P. A 33
Irwin, R. C 34
Jefferson, F. L 36
Jenifer, J. T 38
Johnson, Bishop W 38
Johnson, D. H.. 31
Johnson, W. J 20
Jones, J. A 38
Jones, J. E 38
Jones, J. Harvey 38
King, C. H 33
Laws, P. M 34
Leak, R. H. W 40
Leak, William 30
Lee, B. F 13
Lee, E. W 25
Loftin, J. B 30
Lowe, J. 1 39
Lynch, John R 31
McDonald, J. F 21
Martin, S. L 40
Martin, J. H 37
Mason, McB 40
Mayo, M. M 27
Melden, C. M 15
Miller, Kelly 18
Mitchell, John G 16
Mitchell, Lee 36
Mitchell, S. T 37
Mixon, W. H 38
Moorer, Thomas 41
Morris, E. C 23
Nelson, C. P 29
INDIVIDUAL COMMENTS RECEIVED TOO LATE
FOR CLASSIFICATION.
Prof. John R. Hawkins, A.M., secretary of
the Educational Department of the African
Methodist Episcopal Church: "Allow me to
congratulate you on the high stand taken by
you in your manly and masterly defense of
the manhood and merit of the Negro. I firm¬
ly believe the position you take to be the
proper one, and have long since concluded
that we would be in a better condition had it
not been for so much fawning and cringing
on the part of our leaders."
David Abner, Jr., A.M., Ph.D., president
Guadalupe College, Seguin, Texas: " I ad¬
mire your position. It is both sound and
practicable on all the questions that affect us
as a people. I am with you in the thought
that there is too much danger in fostering the
idea that our elevation as a race depends
solely upon industrial education. I am sur*
that three-fourths of the intelligent Negroes
of this country agree with you."
C. R. Harris, D.D., Salisbury, N. C., one of
the bishops of the African Methodist Episco¬
pal Zion Church: " I rejoice that the cause
is so ably represented and advocated by you.
If the Negro is not justly treated, it will not
be for lack of presentation of the truth. May
God bless your efforts in the interest of the
race."
J. B. Small, D.D., one of the bishops of the
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church:
" I heartily congratulate you on your terse
and manly utterances on the ' Race Problem.'
It is the duty of every lover of his race to
encourage and give some expression of appre¬
ciation when any man places himsel- as a
true vindicator of right and justice to the
much ora^essed, and especially when it is
the expression of true manhood. Men who
play the sycophant, expecting to receive the
favor of white men, invariably miss the boon
sought. The ' manly man ' is the only spe¬
cies of manhood admired. Even his enemies
praise the hero."
RACE QUESTION REVIEWED.
r
RftCE, QUESTION
IS REVIEWED.
Rev. C. S. Smith., the Noted Colored
Divine and Orator, Gives
His Views.
DEFENDS THE. NEGRO RAGE.
Booker Washington's Idea of Indus
trial Training Pronounced
Unsound.
NEGROES OPPOSED TO RAPE.
Political Status of the Colored Man Set
Forth—Plea Made for the Whites
and Blacks to Live Together
in Peace.
[Reprint from the Nashville. Tenn., American,
January 29, 1899.]
The revival of the race question is but
one of the crucibles in which the Chris¬
tian religion is being tested. The theory
of the brotherhood of man must evolve
into a living reality before Christianity
shall liave done its perfect work. It is
useless to expatiate about the inferiority
of the darker races and the divine right
of the white race to rule them, which im¬
plies that God has delegated a part of his
sovereignty to the latter. Human pride
and. arrogance, engendered by the transi¬
tion from a low to a high estate, may as¬
sume such; still God is sovereign and su¬
preme, and is as jealous of his sovereignty
and as unwilling to share it with any of
his creatures as he was when his wrath
was provoked by the Israelites when they
fashioned their jewels into a golden calf.
God may assign to the white race, as a
part of its stewardship, the civilization
and redemption of the darker races,
but their civilization and redemption
must be according to his plans, and not
according to the dictum of race prejudice.
It would be well, then, for the proud An¬
glo-Saxon to be certain of his steward¬
ship in this particular, lest in the end he
should find himself as much deceived as
was Cajsar when he based his conquest
of the Britons on the assumption of di¬
vine right.
Industrial and Mechanical Training.
Yes, I am heartily in favor of in¬
dustrial and mechanical training for such
Negroes as may feel that their calling is
on the farm or in the factory, but I chal¬
lenge the assertion of those who claim that
the only solutionofthe so-called race prob¬
lem lies in the direction of the industrial
and mechanical training of the Negro.
Then, again, the mechanical and indus¬
trial training of the Negro has been in
progress ever since the first cargo of slaves
was landed on the banks <^f the James
River in Virginia.
Slavery Was a School.
Surprisingly strange, perhaps, but nev- "
ertheless true, slavery itself furnished the
slave with valuable lessons in industrial
and mechanical training, and produced a
grade of high-class mechanics, skilled
workers in wood and iron and metals of
various kinds, many of whom remain un¬
til this day, and, I regret to say, far
more than can obtain employment, caused
by the unreasonable and unfriendly atti¬
tude of the Trades Unions toward colored
mechanics How, then, can the multipli¬
cation of Negro mechanics help to solve
the so-called race problem, when those
who are already skilled cannot obtain
employment? In this city, to my per¬
sonal knowledge, there are a score or
more of skilled Negro mechanics who are
subject to enforced idleness by reason of
the colorphobia which dominates the
Trades Unions. Those who are disposed
to advance the Negro's best interests can
render him invaluable service by de¬
manding, in tones of thunder loud and
long, that the Trades Unions shall cease
to draw the color line, and that fitness
and character shall be the only passport
to their fellowship. When this barrier
shall have been removed, the time for the
multiplication of Negro mechanics, on
anything like a large scale, will have be¬
come opportune; but not until then.
■8
RACE QUESTION REVIEWED.
'The Contra-Argument.
I know full well the argument of the
•contra-contendents—how that an appre¬
ciable increase in the present number of
Negro mechanics would make a white
"contractor independent of white mechan¬
ics when his interests might warrant the
■employment of Negro tradesmen. But it
•cannot be justly claimed that this lan¬
guage rises to the force and dignity of an
argument. It is at the very best but a
mere theory, and one shorn of plausibil¬
ity for the reason that it apparently over¬
looks the fact that the Trades Unions, by
the power of the boycott, could influence
the dealers both in raw and manufactured
imaterial not to sell to said contractor,
:and\1ihu6 .abort his designs to defy them
Iby tfche ..employment of Negro artisans.
"The'.Trades Unions constitute a most po-
tterit organization, and it is very difficult
tfco.thwart its will. Therefore, the primal
sand essential accomplishment is to influ¬
ence its directors to abandon the cruel
and frigid color line.
But, then, it may be answered that if
the Negro mechanic cannot find employ¬
ment for bis skilled hands, let him go to
.the farm and engage in agricultural pur¬
suits—learn how to scientifically raise
rsweet potatoes—as the present chief reviv¬
alist of industrial training for the Negro
Is wont to urge.
A Pertinent Question.
When am the unregistered seons of the
.-genesis of creative development—when
prehistoric man roamed at will, and be¬
fore God had fixed the bounds of man's
habitation—in what recorded cycle of
time was it written on the tablet of divine
fiat that the universal position of the Ne¬
gro should be that of a tiller of the soil?
It may mot be a self-evident truth that all
men -are created free and equal, but it is
an axiomatic verity that all men, other
than imbeciles and idiots, are endowed
with mental and spiritual capacities capa¬
ble of varied and illimitable expansion;
and the Negro, being a man, is irremova-
bly within the sphere of this axiomatic
verity. Hence, unless it can bo estab¬
lished that the Negro is not an integral
and component part of the original plan
of man's creation, but the increment of a
mere accident, the crystallization of the
particles of the surplus dust that marked
the creative place of generic man, it must
be accepted as the corollary of the axio¬
matic verity that the Negro, in common
with all the other race varieties, is en¬
dowed with mental and spiritual capaci¬
ties, capable of varied and illimitable ex¬
pansion ; and that, as a whole, his sphere
of operation cannot be limited to the till¬
ing of the soil; but that his development
will be marked by variety of attainments
and accomplishments, thus proving him¬
self to be an originator as well as an im¬
itator.
Not to Any Great Extent.
Moreover, the acquisition of scientific
agriculture cannot possibly profit the
masses of the Negroes to any great extent,
seeing that they are not the owners of
the soil. By this I refer to the diversifica¬
tion of crops as the result of a knowledge
of scientific agriculture. The diversifica¬
tion of crops is not dictated and controlled
by the tillers of the soil, but by the own¬
ers. The plantation hand in the South
exercises no choice whatever as to the
number of acres he shall plant in cotton
or the number he shall plant in corn or
wheat or any other cereal. In this re¬
gard he must obey the mandate of his
employer. In view of this, is the sugges¬
tion valueless that so far as the utility of
a diversification of crops is concerned, that
this advice should be pressed upon the
owner of the soil rather than upon the
tiller? It is the owner alone who can
change the existing condition of things.
The advice which Secretary of Agricul¬
ture "Wilson gave to the young white men
of the South in his address at the McKin-
ley banquet in Savannah, Ga., was most
opportune, and should impress the pres¬
ent chief revivalist of industrial training
for the Negro with the fact that in insist¬
ing on the study of scientific agriculture
RACE QUESTION REVIEWED.
9
by the masses of the Negroes, lie is build¬
ing a cage for a bird that is yet to be
caught; unless, perchance, the Negroes
should become the owners of the soil.
There can be no doubt that the practical
application of the principles of scientific
agriculture will increase the yield of a
given crop in a stated area; but if by this
it is meant that a knowledge of scientific
agriculture is essential to teach the Negro
how to hoe cotton and plant corn, such
is as far from the reality as the east is
from the west; as the Negro has long
.since graduated in the accomplishment
of hoeing cotton and planting corn, and
his diploma was stamped on the great
majority of the 10,000,000 bales of cotton
which were marketed in this country last
year. Therefore it would be well to aspire
to add to the Negro's present limited fund
•of knowledge by teaching him how to do
something which he does not now know
how to do.
Not by Any Means New.
The necessity of the Negro's training
in industrial pursuits, either as a theory
or a dictum, did not originate with this
generation, but is coeval with his exist¬
ence on the American continent. With
equal propriety might one term John
Wesley the apostle of Christianity as to
term the Master of Tuskegee the apostle
of industrial training for the Negro. The
former was simply the revivalist of a long
existing doctrine; the latter is merely the
revivalist of an ancient dictum, "Teach
the Negro how to work;" and in reecho¬
ing this dictum has struck a popular chord
in the minds, if not the hearts, of a large
element of the American people, some of
whom emphasize their approval by
throwing dollars into his open hands.
Mob Law.
That " rape means rope " is quoted as
a favorite expression of persons promi¬
nent in public affairs, which is to be
regretted since they are in a position
to influence thousands. Mob law is a
menace to good government, and is de¬
structive and revolutionary in its tenden¬
cies. It is without reason or conscience,
and is as uncontrollable as an exasperated
bull. It does not always seek out the
guilty, but demands a victim whether
guilty or innocent. It does not investi¬
gate, but assumes; does not seek for
truth, but takes everything for granted.
The greatest danger to the South from the
reign of mob law is the fact that it is an
easy thing for any white villain to blacken
his neck and face, his hands and arms,
put on a wig of crispy hair and personate
a Negro, and in that disguise commit the
most nameless and shameless of crimes—
for which some innocent Negro may be
made to suffer. It is not known that any
Negro as yet has attempted to personate
a white man—that is practically impos¬
sible.
The Position of the Negro as to Rape.
I do not hesitate to say that the Negro
is as unalterably opposed to rape as he is
to murder or any other heinous crime. It
is a mistake to suppose that he has no
sympathy for the rapist's victim. He has
compassion for the outraged and would
avenge her wrongs as speedily as any one
else. Moreover, the Negro, does not covet
the white women of the South or of any
other section. Why should he? Has he
not fair maidens of his own? If a white
complexion is the desideratum, can he
not gratify his taste among his own peo¬
ple? Unlike the white man, whose wom¬
en are universally white, the Negro can
select from among his own females varie¬
ties of colors—including white, black, and
all the intermediary hues. But, in a
more serious vein, I most emphatically
declare that he will go as far to protect
the white women and girls of the South
from violence as will their own fathers,
brothers, and sons. I have never yet
heard a Negro of any hue or condition
offer an apology for the crime of rape per
se. It is not possible to organize a court
with a Negro judge and jury that would
fail to convict a Negro of the crime of
rape where the proof warranted it. So
far from palliating the crime, he devoutly
10
A'A CE Q UESTION RE VIE WED.
wishes that all rapists, whether white or
black, were banished from the earth.
Put our sincerity to test, if you please.
Let the white men of the South enter
into a compact with us to go as far with
us in helping to protect our wives and
daughters as we will go with them in
helping to protect theirs, and neither
the jaws of death nor the gates of hell
will cause us to falter or fail. Be this as
it may, we pray God to write upon our
hearts the law which enjoins us not to
covet our neighbor's wife nor his daugh¬
ters. No crime that has ever been alleged
against the Negro has so stung Idm as
that of the charge of rape—it being ex¬
tended even to the child of tender years.
He remembers with what painful solici¬
tude and unflagging watchfulness he pro¬
tected the wives and children of the
Southland when their own marital and
paternal protectors had been called away
by the demands of war; and that he was
then, though a slave, true to sacred trusts.
Is he less trustworthy now that he is free?
Whatever others may think, he knows
that he is not. In pleading for the main¬
tenance of law and order, and that all
law-breakers shall be tried according to
the established forms of law, the Negro
cannot be justly branded as an apologist
for crime. He is by every impulse of his
being disposed to law and order. He is
not a revolutionist, an anarchist, nor a
traitor, and I thank God that the people
with whom I am identified have not yet
given birth to a Judas Iscariot or a Bene¬
dict Arnold.
Social Equality.
Another erroneous allegation directed
against the Negro is that his chief desire
is for social equality with white people.
Now, the Negro may be ignorant of some
things—yea, many things—but of one
thing he is not ignorant, and that is that
social equality does not exist anywhere or
among any people as a universal rule.
Moreover, he knows that all white peo¬
ple are not social equals, which is equally
true of all colored people. Social equality
is based upon individual choice and pref¬
erence, and does not lie within the sphere
of statutory enactments or police regula¬
tions. The Negro does not desire to pose
as an intruder, and repels with righteous
indignation every assertion that he is dis¬
posed to force his association on those
who are averse to receiving it. It is not
to be understood by this that he is indif¬
ferent to the rights which belong to him
under the common law. He may not in¬
sist on riding in the same railroad coach
with white passengers, but he does rebel
against paying first-class fare for second-
class accommodations, an injustice which
he regards as nothing less than a bold
stroke of highway robbery. He may not
demand that he be allowed to eat at the
same table with white people, but he does
demand that he be allowed to buy some¬
thing to eat when hunger overtakes him
on the highway. That cities like Chatta¬
nooga and Knoxville, Tenn., and Atlanta
and Macon, Ga., should tolerate lunch
counters in connection with railroad sta¬
tions which refuse colored passengers the
privilege of purchasing food is, to say the
least, a cankerous blot upon civilization,
and in a so-called Christian community
is an impeachment, a contradiction of,
and a travesty on that mandate of the
gospel of divine love which says: "If
thine enemy hunger, feed him." You
cannot find a Negro in all the land so ig¬
norant, so poor, so degraded, so destitute
of the milk of human kindness as to re¬
fuse to sell a cup of coffee and a morsel of
bread to a white wayfaring traveler. Do
not be worried; the Negro will not seek
to force an entrance into any private
abode. He is delightfully happy in the
circle of his own chosen associates.
Will the Negro Eschew Politics 1
Will the Negro eschew politics? To
this question but one reasonable answer
can be given. No. Why should he?
What is there in existing conditions to
warrant him in voluntarily surrendering
his political rights? Why invite him to
do what the Revolutionary sires refused
RACE QUESTION REVIEWED.
11
to do—submit to taxation without repre¬
sentation? It is estimated that the Ne¬
groes in America pay taxes on $364,000,-
000 worth of property—the accumulation
of less than thirty-five years. Are the
owners of these millions entitled to no
representation in political affairs? Shall
they contribute to the support of the
Government, and yet be barred of all
share in the management of its concerns?
Some so-called leading (?) Negroes may
announce their willingness to eschew pol¬
itics, but no manly Negro will do so. In
the exercise of his suffrage the Negro has
always been prompted by motives that
he has regarded as patriotic. The rank
and file have never placed a money value
on their vote. Not all of their leaders
have been wise; but some of their leaders
have been wise—yea, a majority of them.
His misfortune has been that he has been
forced to array himself against the domi¬
nant element in the midst of whom he
lives, and to him this has been a contin¬
ual source of regret. The "white Demo¬
cratic primary" in the South is as much
of a Chinese wall barring the full opera¬
tion of the Negro voter as the Trades
Union in operating against the Negro me¬
chanic. No Negro, though he be a Demo¬
crat, can vote in a white Democratic pri¬
mary in the South. His citizenship is
scorned, and his right to exercise it is de¬
nied. Therefore, if the Negro does not
vote with the wealth and intelligence of
the South, it is because that element re¬
fuses him the opportunity to do so. When
he seeks affiliation with this class, he is
invariably met with the cry: "This is a
white man's country."
The suffrage of the Negro in the South
may be suppressed by arbitrary constitu¬
tional amendments, a procedure which
cannot obtain in the North. There he
can vote at Republican, Democratic, or
Populist party primaries, and his vote
will be counted. To-day he holds the
balance of power in Illinois, Indiana,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and
New York; and unless party politics are
reorganized on lines radically differing
from those of the present no political
party can win in a Presidential election
without his support. If the South insists
on suppressing the Negro's suffrage it
will eventually lead thousands of them to
migrate to selected parts of the great
Northwest, to the remaining Territories,
New Mexico, Arizona, etc., and help to
make them solidly Republican. What
will be the result? A solid political
North against a solid political South, with
the latter always in the minority.
Now, the Negro does not take kindly
to the thought of being forced to leave his
Southern home. He fully realizes that
the Christian white people of the South
are in a position to help him forward
much faster than are the people of any
other section. He is anxious that no
strife should exist between him and those
who furnish him the employment which
yields him his daily bread. He would
gladly help to readjust political lines so
that he could have representation in the
management of political affairs according
to his character, intelligence, and prop¬
erty interests. He will never protest
against an educational qualification in
state and national elections which will be
applicable to all in every essential and in
every detail. In municipal elections he
would not object to a property qualifica¬
tion in addition to an educational one.
It is by no means a happy thought to the
Negro that while his suffrage is dishon¬
ored by the Democratic leaders in the
South, it is courted and honored by the
Democratic leaders of the North. James
Matthews, a Negro in Albany, N. Y.,
holds a twenty-year tenure position, with
an annual salary of $5,000, by the votes of
wrhite Democrats; and the highest diplo¬
matic position ever tendered a Negro was
that of Minister to Bolivia, which was of¬
fered to C. H. J. Taylor by former Presi¬
dent Cleveland. The suffrage of 8,000,000
people cannot be permanently suppressed
in a republic; neither is it desirable that
it should be, if it could.
12
RACE QUESTION REVIEWED.
Negro Domination.
No intelligent Negro has ever dreamed
of trying to reduce the mythical term
"Negro domination" to an actuality. It
is a bugbear—a ghost that was not born
in the womb of his imagination, however
distorted at times it miiht have been.
He has never sought nor desired to domi¬
nate in political affairs, but to participate.
He would not control to the exclusion of
the white element if he could. His gen¬
erous nature, and his love of justice and
fair play, would forbid his withholding
from any person any right or privilege to
which he might be entitled, and which
•would contribute to his well-being in per¬
son and property. He knows full well
that slavery did not furnish him with a
knowledge of statecraft, and that the op¬
portunity to gain such knowledge, in an
adequate degree, in a single generation, is
not sufficient. He is, therefore, willing
to wait and be taught, and as he advances
in knowledge covets the opportunity to
exercise it—whether it be in the field of
agriculture, mechanics, science, law, the¬
ology, letters, medicine, the arts, military
affairs, philosophy, or politics; but none
of these attainments will he ever use to
dominate his white fellow-citizens. He
seeks, according to his worth and fitness,
to participate in public affairs; he scorns
the thought to dominate; he will be con¬
tent with the former, but content with
nothing less.
Some Things to be Learned.
When the present chief advocate of in¬
dustrial training for the Negro as the
speediest and most effectual solution of
the so-called race problem shall have gone
outside of his own bailiwick, as has the
writer; when he shall have placed him¬
self in a position to observe the present
status of the various elements of man¬
kind, notably in Europe, West and South¬
west Africa, South America, and the
Caribbean Archipelago; when he shall
have seen a woman and a dog hitched
together and drawing a loaded cart
through the streets of Antwerp, Belgium;
when he shall have seen Hungarian
women digging coal in the mines of their
own native land; when he shall have
looked upon the peasantry of Europe, so
poorly fed, poorly clad, poorly housed,
and poorly paid; when his attention
shall have been directed to the fact that
three-fifths of all the inhabitants of earth
live in a one-room hut; that scientific
agriculture is as little known to the peas¬
antry of Europe as it is to the plantation
hands of our own Southland, and that the
former has no more to do with the diver¬
sification of the crops than do the latter,
he may at least find some of his views
modified thereby; come to realize that
the doctrine of the survival of the fittest
will shape and govern the destiny of the
Negro as it does that of all the other race
varieties; that the Negro cannot be lim¬
ited to any one sphere of physical or
mental operation, but will ramify every
nook and corner of Americanism, add his
quota to its strength, perpetuity, and
adornment; and will be satisfied, though
he achieves no greater accomplishment in
one generation than to unflinchingly look
into the jaws of death while bravely sup¬
porting the Rough Riders in their sangui¬
nary and successful charge to plant Old
Glory above the crest of El Caney's
heights.
Conclusion.
In all that I have said I have only
sought to express my true convictions in
a frank and candid way. That they will
give offense to some—perhaps to many—
I do not doubt. As to the sincerity of
my purpose an approving conscience at¬
tests. I love the South, which has been
the theater of my activities for nigh thir¬
ty years. That the blessings of peace
may soon come to it; that the voice of
discord between the races may be speed¬
ily and effectually hushed; that it may
quickly rise to that high estate which it
w ill reach through the development of
those resources with which nature has so
lavishly endowed it, is my cherished wish,
my most fervent prayer. '
Charles Spencer Smith.
"RACE QUESTION .REVIEWED."
INDIVIDUAL COMMENTS.
—The " w " is used to indicate that the contributor, whether an individual or a news¬
paper, is white.
Wm. Hayes Ward, D.D., LL.D., New
York City, editor of The Independent:
"I thank you for sending me your arti¬
cle on the ' Race Question.' It is a sen¬
sible article and will do good." (W.)
Henry M. Turner, D.D., LL.D., At¬
lanta, Ga., senior bishop of the Afri¬
can Methodist Episcopal Church, pres¬
ident. of the Home and Foreign Mis¬
sionary Society, president of the Sun¬
day School Onion of said church, and
editor of the Voice of Missions: "I
gladly yield sufficient space in the
Voice of Missions to reprint your mas¬
terly article reviewing the ' Race Ques¬
tion.' Your defense of the Negro is
both historic and philosophic, while
your arguments and logic are irrefu¬
table."
Benjamin W. Arnett, D.D., Wilber-
force, O., one of the bishops of the
African Methodist Ejriscopal Church:
" I have read and reread your ' Re¬
view of the Race Question,' and am
more than pleased with the manner in
which you have handled the subject.
It will be an eye opener to the ene¬
mies of the race. I agree with you on
the cardinal points discussed. We
have come too far on our way in man¬
hood's ranks to turn back without an
effort to pursue our journey. You are
right when you say that the salvation
of the Negro depends upon the educa¬
tion of the heart, head, and hands.
Your prescription—religion for the
heart, education for the head, and
money for the pocket—is good, and
should be taken in alternate doses of
the Bible, the spelling book, and the
bank book. Pursue the course which
you have laid out in your able and un¬
answerable argument, and you will
give hope to millions of our fellow-
countrymen who are scanning the
heavens for a star of hope to guide*
them to a haven of prosperity."
Benjamin Tucker Tanner, LL.D.,
Kansas City, Kan., one of the bishops
of the African Methodist Episcopal
Church: "Allow me to congratulate
you upon the ablest presentation of
the question it has been my privilege
to read. What yo» say of the whites
man's assumed stewardship and of the
labor unions is simply incomparable.
I felt like saying what General Taylor
in the Mexican War is credited with
ordering: 'A little more shot, Captain
Bragg.' So substantially is your pa¬
per written that I find it quite apropos
to make a quotation from it for my
new book."
B. F. Lee, D.D., Wilberforce, O., one
of the bishops of the African Meth¬
odist Episcopal Church, in " The Dis¬
trict Circular: " " The best article I
have read on the ' Race Question ' is
that of Dr. C. S. Smith in the Nashville
American."
Moses B. Salter, D.D., Charleston,
S. C., one of the bishops of the African
Methodist Episcopal Church: "Last
winter, when 1 listened to the lofty
strains of your eloquence and saw
how you touched all hearts, I was im¬
pressed that you were being prepared
for the delivery of some great utter¬
ance that would command the atten¬
tion of the nation; but little did I
(13)
14
Race Question Reviewed.
think, however, that it would flower
out into such a matchless defense of
the race, and that at a time when so
many hearts were failing. Henceforth
you will move along the path of duty
sustained by the benedictions of
countless thousands."
W. B. Derrick, D.D., one of the bish¬
ops of the African Methodist Episco¬
pal Church, Flushing, N. Y.: " The
conservatism which you have dis¬
played is marvelous for one of your
radical temperament, and shows how
well you have disciplined yourself to
skillfully discuss a grave and complex
subject."
Hon. George H. White, member of
Congress from North Carolina: "I
have received and read your article on
the race question with great interest.
There are very few of our people who
are profound thinkers and writers,
and still less of them who have the
manliness to express the courage of
their convictions. Your letter ex¬
presses in undeniable truths our ex¬
act situation. I have shown it to quite
a number of my white colleagues in
Congress, who read it with much fa¬
vorable comment. We are passing
through a very critical crisis. The
crucial test is being applied to us, but
I feel sure that we will prove ourselves
equal to the emergency and come out
triumphant. Public sentiment for the
last few years has been molded against
us from the foul and malicious false¬
hoods sent to the world through the
press without contradiction. It is,
therefore, quite refreshing to find
here and there a man, like yourself,
with the courage and ability to speak
out in no uncertain tones and give the
lie to the slanderer and defamer of a
much-wronged—and, in the main, gul¬
lible—people."
Alexander Walters, D.D., Jersey City,
N. J., one of the bishops of the African
Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and
president of the Afro-American Coun¬
cil: " It is the most complete summing
up of the phases discussed of the ' Race
Problem ' that I have ever read. My
wife was especially pleased with its
diction as well as thought. Every
word of your able article meets with
my hearty approval. The need of the
hour is just such articles to counter¬
act the baneful effects of the errone¬
ous teachings of Mr. Washington.
The race owes you a debt of gratitude
for such an able defense."
Rev. John Braden, D.D., Nashville,
Tenn., president of Central Tennessee
College: "1 have just read your arti¬
cle in the American on the ' Race
Problem,' and I want to say that I
think you have handled the matter
very wisely, judiciously, kindly, plain¬
ly, and unanswerably, so far as prov¬
ing your line of argument. I think
your reference to Booker Washington
wise and timely; to the demand of
social equality, I think emphatically
true; and as to the crime of rape, youf
statements must carry conviction to
the understanding of all unprejudiced
minds. Your reference to the Negro
in politics, I think, is perhaps as well
as anything could be stated at this
time. I should be very glad to see
that paper circulated very extensively
in the South. I presume it will be ex¬
tensively quoted, but there are many
places where a tract could go which
would perhaps reach where a news¬
paper would not." (W.)
Rev. E. M. Cravath, D.D., president
Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn.: "I
read with interest your article on the
Race Question Avhen it first ap¬
peared m the American. You have
stated your views clearly, frankly,
and in a most kindly and generous
spirit. The careful reading of the ar¬
ticle will have a wholesome influence
upon thoughtful people of both races "
(W.) ■
Individual Comments.
15
Rev. D. J. Sanders, president Biddle
University, Charlotte, N. C.: "I highly
approve of your able and vigorous
presentation of the Negro question in
the Nashville American. I am in
iull sympathy with the position taken
in all respects. The Negro will gain
nothing by taking any other position.
I reproduced your article in the Afro-
American Presbyterian of last week,
and have received many favorable ref¬
erences to it."
Prof. W. H. Councill, Normal, Ala.,
president of the Agricultural and Me¬
chanical College for Negroes: "I am
-very grateful for your valued letter of
the 31st ult. and for the paper con¬
taining your excellent article on ' Race
■Question Reviewed.' It is a good,
«trong paper, and will do much good."
Prof. R. R. Wright, College, Ga.,
president of the Georgia State Indus¬
trial College: " I have received and
read with pleasure your article enti¬
tled ' Race Question Reviewed.' It is
an able article, and, in my judgment,
states in a most able way the position
held by many intelligent colored men.
I agree thoroughly with you in your
position on industrial education. I
thank you for your article."
Rev. C. M. Melden, Ph.D., Atlanta,
'Ga., president of Clark University: "I
am in great sympathy with your posi¬
tion. 4 Industrial ' education is a fad.
It overlooks the very important fact
that it alone will never lift the race.
Your people must have leaders who
are the peers of any of any race, if the
great multitudes are to be led into
their promised land. Go on with your
good work, and God bless you! " (W.)
Prof. T. A. Fortson, A.M., Nashville,
Tenn., Department of Mathematics
and Librarian, Central Tennessee Col¬
lege: " I most heartily thank you for
the very able article in to-day's Amer¬
ican. It is the best I ever saw on the
Negro problem, and I wish to thank
you especially for smashing Booker
Washington's theory. I have hoped
some able colored man would jump on
it with both feet and annihilate it, and
you have done so, to my great satis¬
faction. I am glad that your article
appears in the Sunday issue of the
American. More will read it than
would if it appeared on any other day.
In the class room here and the chapel
I have declared Mr. Washington's the¬
ory dangerous, and opposed it with
might and main."
Rev. Marshall R. Gaines, A.M., Aus¬
tin, Texas, president of Tillotson Col¬
lege: "Thank you for the copy of the
article ' Race Question Reviewed,' re¬
ceived in Saturday evening's mail. I
have read it with interest and, in the
main, approval. The spirit of it is ex¬
cellent. Nothing is to be gained by
ranting; but when, with candor and
fairness, the facts are set forth, then
the seed sown will bear fruit. The
crimes against life and liberty so prev¬
alent of late must serve to call the at¬
tention of thoughtful men all over our
land to facts that will not down. For
myself, while I am a worker in educa¬
tional and religious lines of many
years' experience, my acquaintance
with Negroes at close range began
only about two and a half years ago.
For my views and feelings in regard to
some of the points discussed in your
article I am dependent wholly upoi»
the testimony of others, and, unfortu¬
nately, very largely upon the newspa¬
pers that are liable to be strongly
prejudiced. I believe that your views
in regard to ' rape ' and ' lynching'
are correct and 3'our doctrine sound.
With lynching tolerated, no life is
safe. In regard to education, too, I
think you are on the right basis. The
question concerning the industrial
status of the Negro—what trades are
to be open for him, and all that—prac¬
tically is of great importance to him,
i6
Race Question kevieweo.
and one not easily settled. Theoret¬
ically, it is clear to see that he is enti¬
tled, as a man and a citizen, to hold
any place for which he is fitted, on
just the same grounds as any other
man or citizen. Like all the rest, he
must be educated on the industrial,
mental, and spiritual sides of his na¬
ture to fit him for the work to which
evidently he is destined. The only
point to which my mind did not at
once assent in your article was where
you raise the question as to President
Booker T. Washington's keeping in
mind the fact that so many of the hu¬
man race live in ' one-room ' houses.
Much credit is due for what has been
accomplished, but I rejoice to see the
larger homes that the better class of
our colored neighbors are erecting.
They are object lessons that, in my
opinion, will prove powerful incen¬
tives to industry, economy, and moral¬
ity. Apparently many young colored
men here are earning good wages and
smoking and drinking up proceeds as
fast as realized. If we can get them to
save and invest in a good home, will
there not be a decided gain? Keep on,
brother, using the power that God has
given you, with your voice and your
pen, in behalf of liberty and Christian
civilization." (W.)
Rev. James M. Henderson, A.M., D.D.,
Atlanta, Ga., president of Morris Brown
College: "I received your article on
the ' Race Question,' and was so well
pleased with its contents that I had it
read to our college students. I believe
the article will be very helpful in cor¬
recting many false impressions on the
' Race Problem.' "
Rev. John G. Mitchell, D.D., Wilber-
force, 0., dean of Payne Theological
Seminary: "I am glad that you have
decided to review the ' Race Question.'
The repetition of a thought pregnant
with the elements of revolution will
revolutionize the world. The grand
thought—God our Father, Man our
Brother—repeated continually will
produce the highest form of Christian
civilization. Now if I can at any time-
suggest anything of worth to you, I
shall be glad to do so. I am much
pleased with your first article. I
would suggest you stand firmly upon*
the brotherhood of man. What you
have said is good in the discussion of"
the ' Race Question.' I do not think
that we can lay too much stress upon
the Fatherhood of God and the Broth¬
erhood of Man. Of course we must
encourage the industrial departments
in our schools; but while doing so, we-
should contend for a recognition in
the various labor organizations. It
would be unwise to spend time in
training the hand to work when the
hand can find nothing to do."
Rev. M. W. Thornton, A.M., Jackson,.
Miss., president of Campbell College:
" I assure you that it is a source of no-
small degree of pleasure to write you
my congratulations, first, upon the in¬
novation your importance has made in
the recognition given your thought by~
one of the leading journals of this
Southland; secondly, for the sound
and statesmanlike stand you have-
taken, as well as the infallible prem¬
ises you have presented, from which
to base your argument. I admire it
for its terse expressions, which are-
clear-cut and aim well at the point in
view. I at once perceive that when it
comes to public print, when good is to-
be obtained for the race you represent
through appeals by reason to the prej¬
udiced, you are cautious enough not
to inflame the passions of the ears-
you wish to reach, while at the same
time you never in one instance de¬
grade the manliness that has always;
characterized your nttr-rnnros ami
stamps you unquestionably the most
fearless, adroit, and able spokesman
of the race to-day. Your unchallenged'
Individual Comments.
17
position on ' industrial education, the
Negro's position in politics, and the
••stigma of rapist,' including as it does
the latest and most agitated phase of
the race problem, are, I believe, direct¬
ly in accord with my unjotted views
■on the same questions. It therefore
strikes a happy vein in my consola¬
tion to thus have them so logically,
concisely, and beautifully expressed,
•sir, by your masterful pen."
Bev. W. D. Chappelle, D.D., presi¬
dent Allen University, Columbia, S. C.:
" Your argument on the subjects dis¬
cussed is pungent, to the point, and
timely, especially your answer to the
industrial feature of Booker T. Wash¬
ington's speeches. I think you show
clearly the fallacy lodged in the argu¬
ment which he makes along industrial
lines. I have been impressed that he
was faulty in his reasoning, and that
some one ought to call attention to it.
It is a strong and able presentation of
the subject."
Prof. George A. Woodward, princi¬
pal Gregory Normal Institute, Wil¬
mington, N. C.: I thank you for send¬
ing me the copy of the Nashville
American containing your article on
the ' Race Question,' and I assure you
that I have enjoyed reading the same
more than any other article on the
great question which I have read in a
long time. I have found nothing
wherein I would take issue with you.
I think your views are pretty gener¬
ally in accord with my own. I do not
ibelieve the great problem can ever be
settled permanently until it is settled
in God's way: in a Christlike spirit.
Our white friends must first give up
their pride and prejudice before they
can legislate righteously. I wish it
were possible for every voter in both
the North and South to read your
timely article. I hope it will be cop¬
ied extensively." (W.)
2
Rev. D. J. Satterfield, Concord, N.
C., president of Scotia Seminary: " I
have read your article in the Nashville
American with much interest. View¬
ing it as an incident of the present sit¬
uation, I am not disposed to take any
exception to the contents. It is well
known to all candid people that the
animus of the attack upon the Negro
and his friends, and which is apt to be
more bitter toward the latter than the
former, is directed to-day upon the
cultured and refined of the race. Your
paper meets the attack squarely in the
defense of this class, and I do not
think you state your case too strong¬
ly; but, regarded as an exposition of
the status of the Negroes generally, 1
cannot see as you do. Your state¬
ments seem to me to be based on the
wish rather than careful research at
some points. I cannot take time to
elaborate this opinion. I think you
are right about the industrial idea. I
have said publicly that if the indus¬
trial school is chosen as the instru¬
ment of the Negro's salvation it will
hurt more than it will help him; that
our Negro mechanics now are the
worst men we have, because skilled la¬
bor without educated conscience only
supplies more money to spend on
vices; that the great demand of the
Negro is trained leadership, while the
industrial should come in as one of the
factors of a well-rounded individual
and a complete society. On the mat¬
ter of rape, of course you are right as
the-question bears on the present sit¬
uation. There never was a shallower
subterfuge than the plea that the
lynching of Negroes is all, or even
chiefly, for rape; nor has there ever
yet been any rational ground for the
fear that white women were the spe¬
cial object of Negro lust; but we must
not close our eyes to the fact that the
millions of colored people still as un¬
disciplined in morals as any heathen
i8
Race Question Reviewed.
are not standing still. Because they
are not growing more moral they are
growing more immoral, and I can see
it right here in Concord. Those whom
the Christian schools are not winning
are running wild. The churches seem
to do nothing for them, and especially
in this, matter of impurity. Some¬
times the outlook is appalling. I can
see no hope in it, and yet.it is only hu¬
man nature left to itself; but we must
not shut our eyes to the fact that this
human nature, if left to itself much
longer, is sure to bring about a real
state of things even worse than some
imagine things are now. On the ques¬
tion of the Negro in politics, I do not
think there is really any serious de¬
mand for the colored people to refrain
from voting; but, on the other hand,
I think that there are two ways of
reaching a desired end. It may be
taken for granted that any plan for
combining the colored vote to secure
any result not desired by the white
people will lead to a combination of
the white people and the most stub¬
born opposition. I am on the side of
the colored people all the time, but I
am sure I am doing them more good
by cultivating good feeling between
the two races than I possibly could by
throwing my influence in the opposite
direction. But I think I have said
enough to give you a hint of my views.
My whole soul sympathizes with these
people in their bitter wrongs and in
their deep degradation, which is in
this day the most shameful of all their
wrongs. I wish I had a thousand
tongues to call for help and had the
strength of a thousand to do that
much .more work, but I want to see
things and to show things as they are.
We must try to get the nation, and es¬
pecially the Christian people, to real¬
ize that these masses of uncared for,
whether white or black, are in danger
themselves and a cause of danger to
others." (W.)
Prof. Kelly Miller, Washington, ,D.
C., Department of Mathematics of
Howard University: "I thank you for
your kindness in sending me a copy
of the Nashville American containing
your article on the ' Race Problem/
It is certainly an able and vigorous
presentation."
Rev. I. H. Welch, D.D., Harrodsburg,
Ky., president Wayman Institute:
" Your timely and critical review of
this much-vexed ' Race Question' is
bold, forceful, and commendable in
every feature. We all deplore the hos¬
tile attitude assumed by the dominant
race in some localities against our peo¬
ple, and earnestly hope the relation of
the two races will be more amicable
and helpful in the near future. The
indignation with which we frown
upon a rapist, black or white, and our
prompt and positive approval of sum¬
mary justice being meted out to such,
discloses our determined purpose to
aid in the protection of the person and
virtue of American womanhood. We
are a unit in our readiness to strike
down any who are proved guilty of
such blood-curdling crimes. The ra¬
cial feature of industrial education as
advocated to-day is too limited in its
extent to meet the racial demands for
symmetrical training and develop¬
ment. The education of the hand to
the semi or entire exclusion of the
mind w7ill not prepare any race for
higher civilization and citizenship.
The Negro of America, with few ex¬
ceptions, has always filled the ranka
of ' hewers of wood and drawers of
water,' and to give him an educational
training that irrevocably assigns him
to the rear ranks of this class of indi¬
viduals dwarfs his mental powers
and unfits him for an intelligent and
useful citizenship. Any educational
training that does not develop the no¬
bler instincts of its recipient and fur¬
nish a high conception and an intelli-
Individual Comments.
19
geot appreciation of citizenship is a
menace to progressive civilization and
good government. I advocate that
training for the Negro of America
which will practically acquaint him
with the industrial arts and prepare
him for the intelligent discharge of all
the duties, responsibilities, and obli¬
gations of American citizenship. Any
intelligent citizen will readily concede
the fact that the development of phys¬
ical energy, at the sacrifice of mental
training and enlightenment, will not
produce a strong and intelligent cit¬
izenship in any nationality. The first
and most important duty of a nation¬
ality is to provide for the education of
its citizens, which is absolutely essen¬
tial to its progress and perpetuity.
Ignorance and superstition endanger
the interests and existence of any gov¬
ernment. The security of a republi¬
can form of government especially re¬
quires an enlightened citizenship;
therefore this country must have an
enlightened citizenship to preserve
and perpetuate its institutions and.
present form of government. Please
accept these crude lines as my entires
approval of your able and logical arti¬
cle."
Rev. Richard L. Beal, Hannibal, Mo.:
" I feel it a duty incumbent to state
that the presentation of the case by
you is so clear and convincing that I
have not the least doubt it is a seed¬
ling which is destined to yield a gold¬
en harvest. Divested of acrimonious
sarcasm, on the one hand, which
spends its puerile wrath on wave cur¬
rents of uselessness, against the
brazen and invulnerable walls of the
vigilant powers that be, always mak¬
ing enemies and never gaining a
friend for the cause; while, on the oth¬
er hand, you have avoided the> cring¬
ing, obsequious, timeserving, sail-
trimming, and truckling unmanliness,
which infers in its tone that, as subor¬
dinates, we must never aspire beyond
certain lines of limitation, always ac¬
knowledging our inferiority—a posi¬
tion contemptible to the dictum of rea¬
son, repugnant to our feelings, demor¬
alizing and degrading to our manhood,
and counter to the genius and princi¬
ples upon which the republic is built.
As a worthy race representative, you
have avoided these extremes; and by
your impartial and reliable testimony,
gathered from contact, travel, long ex¬
perience, study, and masterly ability*
you have proven that your solution of
the difficulty is the only just way out
of it: that our laborers and artisans
be allowed the same right to vie with
the other wage earners of the country-
The skill with which you have han¬
dled every phase of the subject—in its-
civic, industrial, domestic, social, po^
litical, religious, and varied sides—the
conciliatory tone, the Christian spirit,
the array of facts cited in placing your
case in point before the bar of equity
and justice, shows you a jurist of na
mean degree, one who has gone to»
his task well informed as to require¬
ments, and able to defend what he has-
undertaken. It - shows that you have
been prudent in untangling the skeins
of false accusations placed to our ac¬
count. You have proven our loyaltjr
and devotion by the statement that we
have never abused the confidence com¬
mitted to us in caring for those lovedl
ones left in our charge during the
days of ' blood and iron.' You have
not waived a point of the heated con¬
troversy, pro or con, but have consid¬
ered the facts as they stand to-day..
You have clearly defined our past and
present status as servants, citi¬
zens, and soldiers in illustrating how,
we have poured out our best blood in
defending the nation's honor. You
have shown that, as a law-abiding
people, we have cheerfully submitted
to the educational test of the elective
20
Race Question Reviewed.
franchise, only desiring- that an equal
chance be given us at the polls. As
tnir spokesman, you have gone farther
to champion our cause by suggesting,
if need be, property-holding power as
the standard by which we are to assist
in the balloting in municipal matters
for those who shall take charge of our
local affairs. Through the whole range
of the argument you have stood on the
defensive, bold but equable in temper,
never losing head or heart; and, with
the eye of a seer, you have mapped out
the course for our future. As I have
previously stated, the paper is clear
and convincing, and is remarkable in
diction for its originality in the ad¬
vanced thought set forth. You have
deservedly won the right to be placed
as one of the best thinkers of the peo¬
ple. You are to be congratulated on
the splendid effort, and ought to re¬
ceive the highest commendations from
all classes of our race variety."
Hev. W. J. Johnson, D.D., Spring-
lield, O.: "I received your communica¬
tion and the Nashville American, con¬
taining an article from your pen. Al¬
low me, my dear sir, to say that, with¬
out any exception of the many articles
I have read pertaining to this all-ab¬
sorbing question in papers, reviews,
and magazines, your article gives the
Negro race a higher standing of man¬
hood than any I have read. I applaud
your article from beginning to end.
Notwithstanding every condition in
which he is placed from opposing
forces or whatever foe he may be
called upon to meet on the battlefield
of life, you ask no pity or sympathy
to be extended him by the opposite
race because of his condition; but you
do ask, and that only, that he be given
a ' man's chance,' with the assurance
lie will prove himself a man. Your
views of the industrial and mechan¬
ical training of the Negro are very
much unlike those of the great Negro
apostle of Tuskegee. So far as I can
detect a difference in the two separate
theories, the former makes claim that
industrial and mechanical training
has been in practice and has been pros¬
ecuted to completion and graduation
by the race for nearly three hundred
years on the American continent; that
he is superior in this to his tutor or in¬
structor, whoever he may be. What
he wants is a removal of the prejudice
that prevents his operation of that
which he has attained. This is a plea
for manhood. The latter's views are
very much like the custom of long-
ago days, when the white boy clapped
while Sambo danced. His policy seems
to be: You white people give us money
to teach these colored boys to plow,
pick cotton, make brick, and build
houses, and these girls to sew and
make bread. To me it seems to say
to these whites, North and South:
You will want to employ these boys
and girls after a while for your do¬
mestic uses; and if you help me train
them to work, they will give you more
faithful service. A deduction of the
principle says: Yes, we will give him
a little learning while he is working,
that he may keep his account. Does
he ever make a plea for these to entex*
the workshop against the prejudice
that exists? Not that I have heard.
Your treatment of the ' rape question '
and the subsequent ' lynchings ' is, I
believe, the argument that will reach
the eyes, ears, and hearts of the South¬
ern white man, and, instead of aggra¬
vating him to greater hatred by abuse,
will, upon the face of the facts set
forth, bring him to a consideration of
helping to bring about a better and
more Christian order of affairs. The
possibility of the Southern white
man's treatment to the colored race to
the extent of driving them into the
North and Northwestern States and
Territories, by which Southern polit-
Individual Comments.
21
ical power would be practically de¬
feated, I think, is another strong-point
in your article that will awaken the
Southern politician to his own interest
in keeping- the colored race there to
hold, if not increase, his basis of repre¬
sentation in the national government.
I have said more than I intended. I
wish your article could be widely read
and circulated in the North. There
are many manly and brilliant state¬
ments throughout this review I should
like to mention. The argument set
forth in your article can stand the test
of the most potent criticism without
any other support to the writer."
Rev. J. Frank McDonald, Macon,
Mo.: " I have carefully read youf
timely and pointed article on the
'Uace Question,' and am glad to say
that, upon the whole, the document in
many particulars stands peerless on
that subject. Every point relative to
the race and its interest is touched
upon in a direct, potent, and scholarly
manner. The death knell of 'Ameri¬
can Christianity ' is sounded, and the
tocsin of the Fatherhood of God and
the Brotherhood of Man is heard to
ring out in the clear vault of pure re¬
ligion. The keynote is touched on Ne¬
gro agriculture. Mob law receives a
fatal blow from your bludgeon of com¬
mon sense. The idea of social equal¬
ity is shown in its true light, without
causing offense to the fair-minded
thinkers of other races. Your polit¬
ical clause, I think, is rather forceful
for ' the non.' "
D. Augustus Straker, attorney at
law, Detroit, Mich.: " The Nashville
American of the 29th ult., containing
your admirable article on the ' Race
Question,' is before me; also your let¬
ter asking for my views. In brief, let
me say that I concur in the views ex¬
pressed by you in toto. Especially do
I indorse your views that industrial
education is not the panacea for the
ills and sufferings of the Negro in
America. What the Negro wants is op¬
portunity, and in this he will not be
found wanting in industry. The evil
in the hue and cry for Negro indus¬
trial education lies in the avenue it
gives our enemies to fix our walk in
life to that of manual labor only. To
learn trades and fit oneself for the in¬
dustries of life is a factor in the Negro
problem worthy of advocacy, but to
declare it the destiny assigned by God
or man to the Negro race is contempti¬
ble and unworthy of any Negro assum¬
ing leadership. 1' find no fault with,
the work that Mr. Washington and
other industrial educators of the race
are doing, except as they proclaim it
as the sine qua non of Negro progress
and the sole remedy for the wrongs we
suffer. You have struck the keynote
when you say, substantially, that
more evil exists in the various organi¬
zations which exclude the Negro from
the benefits of industrial pursuits than
would arise if every Negro was a
tramp and without a trade or profes¬
sion. Does the Negro need industrial
education in the vocation of a barber?
Yet how is he treated as a competent
workman in this industry? If the idea
that the Negro should be restricted to
manual labor as our only certificate
to live in this country prevails, then,
indeed, our fate is fixed to be ' hewers
of wood and drawers of water ' only.
" 'Alas, alas, for the rarity
Of Christian charity! ' "
Eev. G. W. Porter, D.D., Clarksville,
Tenn.: " With a pleasure mingled with
peculiar satisfaction to myself I have
read and reread your very able article,
' Race Question Reviewed,' as pub¬
lished in the Nashville American of
January 29, 1899. To say that it is an
able article is to add nothing to the
fame of the writer, for numerous have
been the strong articles from his pen;
but this is an article of unusual merit,
22
Race Question Reviewed.
striking as it does a telling blow at the
chief root of all our evils as a race.
Mr. Washington's idea—or, rather, the
idea revived by him—of industrial
training for the solution of all our
race troubles has done much harm to
our cause. This article combats that
idea in the most sensible manner of
anything that it has been my pleasure
to read. It deals with the mob in a
masterly way, and places the race
where it properly belongs: in everlast¬
ing opposition to rape and the brute
who commits this awful crime, wheth¬
er he be white or black. The social-
equality bugbear is stripped of its
mask and presented in its true light.
It shows plainly that legislation can
never regulate the social status of any
people, white or black, said condition
being .based purely on individual
preferment. It asserts that the Negro
ought M)t and will not eschew poli¬
tics, and follows the assertion with
splendid reasons why. In short, the
article is an array of unanswerable
facts, touching almost every phase of
the race question as it relates to the
South especially. It is quite encour¬
aging to know that the prejudice of
the dominant race has abated suffi¬
ciently to admit an article of this gen¬
eral tenor to be published through the
leading papers of the country. The
article may give offense to some, even
to many, as in closing it seems to ap¬
prehend; but it cannot fail to strike
many a true heart whose sense of
truth and justice rise nobly above a
malignant prejudice with the true idea
that the Negro is no less a man than
his apparently more fortunate brother
in white."
Bev. C. J. Ryder, D.D., New York,
IN. Y., one of the corresponding secre¬
taries of the American Missionary As¬
sociation: "Your favor is duly re¬
ceived, together with the article which
you prepared and whieh was printed
in the Nashville American. I quite
agree with the position which you
take in the article. In my judgment,
the purpose of industrial training is
primarily intellectual development. I
have pleasure in sending you an arti¬
cle which I wrote some time ago for
the Education, in Boston, and which,
as you notice, had the cordial indorse¬
ment of Expresident Hayes. Knowing
Mr. Hayes somewhat intimately, I sent
him the article, as I was well aware he
was greatly interested in industrial
training. As you notice, I especially
develop this fact in this paper. Any¬
thing that separates the entity of be¬
ing as represented in a man and
teaches that you can do this for his
hands for the sake of his hands is a
mistaken basis of education. The de¬
velopment of the body is simply for
the development of the mind. The
man is back of the machinery which
he runs during lifetime. The neglect
of this fundamental principle of edu¬
cation seems to me to be the error in
the teachings which you criticise.
You make a man only a more danger¬
ous animal by giving him strength and
skill in the use of bodily organs when
you neglect to develop his mind. In¬
dustrial training is for the sake of in¬
tellectual development, and not sim¬
ply to teach trades or tq make it a lit¬
tle easier for the human animal to get
a living. In this paper which I inclose
you notice that I emphasize the fact
that it is industrial training, and not
manual training, which we need. This
involves more than the difference of
terminology; it involves the difference
in principle. Those who are making
the industrial training a panacea of all
ills and the sesame that shall open the
door into the large and better future
are, in my judgment, thoroughly
wrong. The mind must be developed,
or the man merges toward animalism.
I write thus freely not simply as sec¬
retary, but as editor of the publica-
Individual Comments.
23
tions of the American Missionary As¬
sociation, to which position I have re¬
cently been elected, and so perhaps
the more take deeper interest in such
a keen and analytical discussion as
yours." (W.)
Rev. A. F. Beard, D.D., New York,
N. Y., one of the corresponding secre¬
taries of the American Missionary As¬
sociation: "I have just read with
much interest your paper upon the
1 Race Question' published in the
Nashville American of January 29.
I think you have made a well-balanced
and thoroughly just statement of the
possibilities of the Negro people, and
that you are right in your contention
that the position of the Negro in the
futtire is to depend' upon what he is in¬
tellectually and morally. I believe in
the industrial and mechanical train¬
ing of the Negro in his education, espe¬
cially because he labors under special
difficulties and hindrances to at¬
tain this training and instruction, un¬
less it is coupled with other educa-
tion; but to make this the summum
bonum or the ne plus ultra of desires
is to make him always a subject. I
am confident that you are right in the
position which you take upon this
phase of the education of the Negro.
I wish your article could be published
as a tract and widely distributed
among vcur people. The assertion
that when a Negro can get a mortgage
upon a white man's property it will
settle the question of relative position,
is a great mistake. It will not prevent
the white man from running out of
town the Negro who had property, as
was done at Wilmington." (W.)
Rev. E. C. Morris, D.D., Helena, Ark.,
president of the National Baptist Con¬
vention and editor of the National
Baptist Sunday School Convention
publications: " I have read with a
great deal of interest your very able
article, entitled 4 Race Question Re¬
viewed,' and it gives me no little pleas¬
ure to say that it is one of the strong¬
est papers I have ever had the privi¬
lege of reading on that subject. It, in
the main, embodies my own views
upon that perplexing problem. I am
in favor of the industrial training of
the Negro, but by no means at the ex¬
pense or neglect of a higher or classic
education. Both of these he needs,
but neither of which will, in my hum¬
ble judgment, go very far in the solu¬
tion of the race question, but serve to
aggravate the situation until the
proper rule has been found and ap»
plied; and that rule I think you have
when you say: ' The revival of the
race question is but one of the cruci¬
bles in which the Christian religion is
being tested.' The test is a severe
one, I admit, and carries with it an ac¬
ceptance of that doctrine which you
also allude to: the ' Brotherhood of
Man,' as well as the ' Fatherhood of
God.' This doctrine is preached and
will be practiced when the conscience
of the American people has been
touched by the flaming message of di¬
vine truth as borne upon the tongues
of America's great preachers. When
this has been effectually done, what¬
ever there is of a race problem will
disappear. I agree with you in tak¬
ing issue with those who hold to the
view that the Negro should ' eschew
politics.' Indeed, the Negro should
earnestly contend for every right
guaranteed him under the Constitu¬
tion of his country. I emphasize the
' his country,' for it is his by every
right by which the white man can
claim it—not to dominate it, but to en¬
joy the blessings of life, liberty, and
the pursuits of happiness, and to as¬
sume a reasonable part of the respon*
sibilities of sustaining and carrying
forward the affairs of the govern¬
ment, such as are compatible with his
ability, wealth, and education. As to
24
Rack Question Reviewed.
the Negro's social life, you voice a uni¬
versal sentiment when you say: ' The
Negro does not desire to pose as an in¬
truder, and repels with righteous in¬
dignation every assertion that he is
disposed to force his association upon
those who are averse to receiving it.'
Such a thing as social equality with
the white race is not once thought of
by the Negroes. Indeed, the same
thing is true of the Negroes that is
true of the white race—i. e., all Ne¬
groes are not social equals. Without
further comment, permit me to thank
you very sincerely for that most ex¬
cellent paper, for which I believe you
will be doubly paid by the fruit it will
bear when it has been fully digested
by the public."
Hon. C. H. J. Taylor, Atlanta, Ga..
Exminister to Liberia, Exrecorder of
Deeds, and editor of The Appeal: "J
have read your great article in the
American. It is sense, every word of
it. It is happily put. Not one phrase,
word, or letter would I change from
its corrected form as sent to me. I am
not easily taken off my feet. In spite
of this fact, I am bound to say that,
taken altogether, in every way—choice
of language, length of article, what is
said and what is left unsaid, spirit of
article, and its very pleasant close—
it is the greatest race utterance of the
century. Every Senator, Congress¬
man, legislator, judge, and all State,
county, and township officials should
have one; also every bishop and
preacher of every degree in the United
States, as well as all of our teachers
and other men in the professions."
Rev. J. P. Sampson, D.D., Philadel¬
phia, Pa.: " The article is manly, cour¬
teous, charitable, and just, with a due.
regard for the best interest of the rul¬
ing classes who own the property.
You do not go out of the way unnec¬
essarily, as is often done in a deceptive
manner, to patronize the whites and re¬
flect upon the best people of the Negro
race by putting a limitation on their
intellectual possibilities in the matter
of employment for no other reason
than race identity. The best blood of
the coimtry, descendants of the revo¬
lutionary sires, and the best families of
England who came over as colonists,
are in the South, the Northern colo¬
nists having long since amalgamated
with the lower classes—immigrants
from Europe, who have been coming-
over constantly in large numbers and
settling among them. Hence the
South, by a greater heredity, is natu¬
rally chivalric, gallant, full of patriot¬
ism and family pride. They admire
intelligence and all the no'bler graces
wherever found, whether in white or
colored; they despise a traitor to his
race or to any worthy cause which it
is struggling" to accomplish for its pro¬
motion; they have no faith in those
who turn their backs upon their owu
people and patronize them in order to
obtain standing and popular favor
with them for whatever purpose, such
as they themselves, under similar con¬
ditions, would not do unless they were
dishonest. Personally, 1 admire the
chief advocate of industrial training
for our people, but I have no faith in
his policy; and I am sure in your ' Re¬
view of the Race Question ' you not
only represent the intelligence and
best thought of the race, but you have
considered the best interest of the rul¬
ing or property classes of the South
as well, with an honest desire to har¬
monize the interests of all in their re¬
spective places, conditions, and rela¬
tions to each other, without reflecting
upon the claims and character of your
own people in aspiring to any work or
profession for which they are capable
and without limitation in order that,
they, like others, may make them->
selves a credit to the community in
which they live. I do not doubt that
Individual Comments.
25
the better class of white people in ev¬
ery Southern community would heart¬
ily indorse the line of thought as set
forth in your admirable paper. Just
as the dallying with the peace treaty
in Congress was the cause of the loss
of American lives by the attack of the
insurgents in the Philippines, so the
unnecessary utterances by the chief
advocate of industrial training for our
people, for the limitation of our edu¬
cation, have largely been the cause of
the friction, outrages, race riots, etc.,
in the South, as has been indicated by
a member of the United States Senate
in his reference to his utterances
against his own people."
Rev. G. E. Taylor, D.D., Brenham,
Texas: " Ycur review and treatment
of the ' Race Question ' is, in my opin¬
ion, the ablest presentation of the sub¬
ject that has ever been made. Your
review fully comprehends the entire
situation, and most ably discusses ev¬
ery phase of that absorbing and per¬
plexing question now engaging the at¬
tention of the best minds of three con¬
tinents, among whom are statesmen,
lawyers, doctors, and ministers, as>
well as persons of other professions
and callings. I do not know whom to
congratulate most, you or the people
—you for your wise and able counsel
or the people upon having such a wise
counselor and safe leader. Your po¬
sition is the result of careful study
and close observation. Your premises
and conclusions are logical and youi-
position tenable. Unlike a majority
of writers when writing to Southern
papers, you do not in the least sacri¬
fice the truth and slander your race
in order to get a hearing; but, on the
contrary, you boldly present facts, and
depend tipon them alone for argu¬
ment, and which are so potent and
convincing that they are like nails
driven in a sure place. It is a manly
a-nd courageous stand for the right;
and then you do not use the fire-
flinging and blood-flinging argument
which so often operates against us,
but prefer to use the keen blade of
truth, which is always effective, be¬
cause it is born of God. While the ar~
ticle is pointed, straightforward, and
cutting, it is conservative. Such arti¬
cles being circulated through one of
the leading newspapers of the South
cannot help doing good for the race.
While we all admit that Mr. Booker T.
Washington is doing a great work—a
very much-needed work, and, there¬
fore, great good for the race—I have
all along maintained that his position
was ' a curry-favor one,' having for
its main object the loosening of the
purse strings of the money holders,
whose thoughts were vehicled through
him. Your arraignment of the poli¬
tics of the South is a climax. While
the South is solid in its purpose to
prevent what they are pleased to call
' Negro domination,' it does seem to
me that you present the most reason¬
able plan to perpetuate the political
power of the South, if it would adopt
it and thereby save it from permanent
minority influence; and the plan is a
simple one: ' Treat the Negro as a cit¬
izen and a voter right.' I have long
since held that the best way out of po¬
litical difficulties was to be perfectly
independent in politics; but how can
we become independent and scatter
our votes, when all party doors except
Republicanism are closed against
us? "
Rev. E. W. Lee, Macon, Ga.: " Your
views are ably set forth. They are
manly, and yet conservative. No fair-
minded man can take offense at any
sentence. I have never agreed with
Mr. Washington's views. I said at the
time his famous Atlanta speech was
made that it had done the Negro more
harm than any utterance since the
New England dinner speech by Henry
26
Race Question Reviewed.
W. Grady. I indorse every sentiment
■expressed in your article."
Eev. L. J. Coppin, D.D., Philadelphia,
Pa., editor the Allen Endeavor Visitor:
" I have just read the paper which you
were good enough to send me. If I
understand it—and I think I do—it is
a straightforward plea for simple jus¬
tice for the Negro, the same as for any
other man, with the presumption that
under like conditions he needs and de¬
serves the same training and opportu¬
nities as others. It is also, and neces¬
sarily, a plea for the application of the
Golden Eule. This we have a right to
expect at the hands of a Christian na¬
tion. I, therefore, most heartily agree
with its doctrines, and pronounce it
an able and manly statement of the
case."
Eev. C. T. Shaffer, M.D., Philadel¬
phia, Pa., secretary of the Church Ex¬
tension Society of the African Meth¬
odist Episcopal Church: "Your favor
and article, ' Eace Question Eeviewed,'
came duly to hand, and was read with
a great deal of interest and, 1 trust,
profit; and after this careful perusal
of the article, I am free to say I con¬
sider it a strong, thoughtful, and un¬
compromising presentation of the
facts of the case. As a review, it is
sufficiently comprehensive to cover
and embrace almost every phase of
the subject, dealing with them under
their respective heads in a manly and
straightforward manner. I, therefore,
very heartily commend the article as a
review of the subject."
Mr. W. H. Stokes, M uncle, Ind.: " To
make us a people there must not be
any special lines. We must be like
other Americans: engage in all mat¬
ters and affairs that go to make up
true manhood and womanhood. As
your article says, the trades -unions
are the great barrier to our success as
artisans; but I. am happy in the fact
that they are making great prepara¬
tions, and some time in the near fu¬
ture they will, when they get better
footing, launch a ticket, and 0!
won't we get even with them? Just
think how we will slaughter them
from stem to stern! However, there
is so much truth drawn out in the:
point of mobs as to victims, and most
especially in the matter of a white
man losing his identity by besmirch¬
ing himself to commit a crime; and,
on the other hand, the divine Provi¬
dence has made it a matter of impossi¬
bility almost for one of us to do so.
There is no room for criticism. My
wife would be glad to see some more
equally as fine, and we all appreciate
it."
Rev. W. B. Brooks, Kansas City,
Kan.: "The 'Race Question' as re¬
viewed by you meets my hearty ap¬
proval, so far as I clearly comprehend
your sayings. However, I think that
every man should be educated in par¬
ticular for that position in life that
God and nature have best fitted him.
On all other subjects treated by you in
the paper we agree verbatim."
Eev. P. G. Simmons, Anniston, Ala.:
" You have swooped down on me
again with one of the ablest docu¬
ments it has ever been my privilege
to read. You have outdone yourself
in this paper, ' Eace Question Re¬
viewed,' in a plain and simple man¬
ner and without one word of abuse.
You have spoken my sentiments on
all the subjects discussed. I indorse
it as being a medium that will re¬
dound to much good for our people.
The composition is without fault."
Eev. E. M. Argyle, Grenada, Miss.:
" I have carefully read your ' Race
Question Eeviewed' in the Nashville
American of January 29, 1899. I am
convinced of the fact that they are
the most manly utterances I have read
in years. They show you to be thor¬
oughly acquainted with the Negro's
Individual Comments.
27
environments in the South. They also
show that if the Negro is given equal
chance he can, and will, ascend to the
higher civilization long since attained
"by his Anglo-Saxon brother. There is
no cringing or cowardly pandering for
popularity, and there is no appeal to
the arrogant prejudices of the haters
of the race's progress; but, all in all,
it is a manly defense of the Negro in
all trades and professions, and is an
earnest appeal to the casual scoffers of
the race to study the Negro better. I
commend you for the position you
take, and only wish we had a thousand
C. S. Smiths in the United States to
defend the Negro at the bar of public
opinion."
Rev. J. M. Henderson, M.D., New
York City, editor the Methodist Her¬
ald: "Your splendid reply to the prej¬
udiced views of the South concerning
the Afro-American is before me. A
man who thinks thus clearly, fearless¬
ly, and soundly, and who can speak
-with the strength and backing of so
extensive acquaintance with the race
as you can, is one whom we need at
this hour above all others."
Mr. T. Thomas Fortune, New York,
N. Y., editor of the New York Age: " I
have read with much interest your re¬
view of the situation as published in
the Nashville American. It is a clear-
cut and able presentation from your
point of view, and contains many solid
truths which I am glad the readers of
the American had forced upon them."
Prof. Richard Hill, Nashville, Tenn.,
chief of the Negro Department of Ten¬
nessee Centennial, 1897: " For the able
and convincing way you have stated
our case, expressing the thoughts and
convictions of every true, manly,
thoughtful Negro, accept my sincere
gratitude, my hearty congratulations."
Rev. N. L. Edmondson, Florence,
Ala.: " I have received your article and
perused its contents, and must say it
should meet the hearty co-operation of
every thoughtful mind, especially of
the Negro race. First, your views
upon the industrial training are clear
and practical, and cannot be disputed.
Secondly, upon mob violence you have
said all that reasonably could be said
by any man of the race; in fact, it
places the Negro in his proper sphere
as a man for protection of virtue.
Thirdly, as a politician, it meets my
approval; for I have often said it
seems as if he is an absolute failure.
His environments seem to be getting
worse; and if things continue at the
same ratio, I v;ill agree with you that
he will be compelled to migrate to the
extreme Northwestern States, Territo¬
ries, or to Africa. I conclude by say¬
ing, sir, that we are proud of your
views."
Dr. F. A. Stewart, A.M., Nashville,
Tenn., Professor of Pathology, Me-
harry Medical College: " I consider
that you have done a distinct service
for the race by the manly and schol¬
arly way in which you discussed the
several topics which appeared in your
paper. That is certainly one way—
and a good one—to help solve the so-
called ' Negro Problem.' "
Rev. M. M. Mayo, West Point, Miss..:
" On my arrival from West Point,
Miss., I found ' Race Question Re¬
viewed.' I had just read in the Chris¬
tian Recorder what Dr. Johnson said
about it, and longed to see the arti¬
cle; but I must confess the half had
not been told or hinted at. Your ar¬
ticle is the best thing I have seen
touching the race question. It is the
truth, the whole truth, from begin¬
ning to end."
Rev. T. C. Denham, D.D., Waco,
Texas: " I have read your article crit¬
ically close. I am certain that it will
be fruitful and effective. Your posi¬
tion is perfectly tenable. The defense
you make for the race, to say the least,
28
Race Question Reviewed.
is manly. Your premises are sound;
your deductions, logical. I have al¬
ways maintained that ' industrial ed¬
ucation ' is not a Moses to the race.
The Negro's condition, being the same,
needs the same tuition as any other
race. Whatever makes races great,
as a general thing, will make ours
great; at least it should, unless, as
you say, ' the Negro is the dust of cre¬
ation.' I would like to expatiate, but
that would be inopportune. Please ac¬
cept my heartiest indorsement of the
article. I think, after a crucial test,
it will be found one of the ablest in¬
struments ever forged in behalf of a
persecuted people."
Rev. A. W. Atwater, Uniontown,
Ala.: "The only criticism I make is
that it is a big thing for the race and
backbone for yourself in speaking so
plainly. It ably defends the Negro
race. I am shouting over the manner
you have placed the master of Tuske-
gee before the world. All you have
said in your article is true, and it has
my hearty approval and indorsement."
Rev. L. Sturges, Elizabeth, N. J.: "I
have just read your article with
much pleasure; and, according to my
mind, you are very correct. I am glad
you take the stand you have in refer¬
ence to the ' Race Problem,' and I hope
you will continue your remarks on
the points you set forth, because I be¬
lieve that you are right."
Rev. L. H. Smith, Savannah, Ga.: "I
have, with great profit and pleasure,
read your excellent article on the
' Race Question ' which appeared in
the Nashville American of the 29th ult.
Every thoughtful person, especially of
our own United States, should care¬
fully read it and sincerely thank you
for your wise, patriotic, and highly
Christian sentiments on the ' Negro
Problem.' You are, indeed, one of the
few worthy spokesmen or writers of
our inhumanly-treated, misrepresent¬
ed—and, consequently, wrongly
judged—people, who, occupying a
proper position, has, with manly judg¬
ment, stated our condition, the rem¬
edy therefor, in a way that, if duly
considered and timely acted upon, will
be most highly and lastingly beneficial
to the whole people of these United'
States. I thank you, and trust God
will abundantly bless your labors."
Rev. W. D. F. Pyle, Ennis, Texas:
" I beg to say that I should commit a.
trespass against my manhood and my
race, and possibly a wicked sin against,
my Maker, not to fully indorse such a
strong argument of facts. I see noth¬
ing to be criticised. I do not condemn.
' industrial education.' Of course the-
negro ought to be master of every¬
thing that constitutes the greatness of
races, but he doesn't need it just now.
I view Ham not in the light of aiv
alien, as do others, but as a prodigal,,
who, when he reflects and exerts the
becoming volition and in the right di¬
rection, will some day be embraced
by a forgiving and loving Father. I
would to Heaven all men would thus
fearlessly speak their honest convic¬
tions! "
Rev. J. A. Jones, D.D., Chattanooga,.
Tefin.: " Your article in the American
is before me. I have read it over care¬
fully from first to last, and then re¬
read it. Then I considered and notedi
with scrutiny special features of the
document. The more 1 consider the
article as a whole, the more I see in it.
I also observe by ' reading between,
lines ' that almost as much has beeni
implied as is found in the text. I con¬
sider it the only great exposition of
the ' Race Question' that has fallen;
under my eyes appearing in a white
newspaper. There will be no reply ta
it, for it is unanswerable. In reading
your article, I am reminded of a giant
with a huge maul dealing effectual
blows in splitting a knotty log which
Individual, Comments.
29
has baffled the efforts of all the pig¬
mies who have before attempted it."
Rev. I. N. Fitzpatrick, Opelika, Ala.:
After critically reading1 your article,
Race Question Reviewed,' which ap¬
peared in the Nashville American on
•Sunday, January 29, 1899, I have no
hesitancy in pronouncing it a gem of
facts. In your philosophic exegesis
.you have buried potentialities and the¬
ory under the monument of practical
truth. If the leaders of the dominant
race in this country, as well as the
.great theorists of our own race, would
read and digest what your article con¬
tains, the sunlight of better days for
the American Negro and America
would soon kiss the horizon of the
Western Continent and rise in splen¬
dor upon a peaceful, prosperous, in¬
dustrious, and happy people. Allow
me to thank you for your bold effort
to vindicate the race."
Rev. C. Pierce Nelson, Columbia, S.
-C.: "I am in receipt of your letter;
and, after careful perusal, I am
pleased with its contents, and really
think that it deals with issues up to
date. I have no comments to make,
further than to say that we need more
such articles."
Rev. H. Leon Trapp, Houston, Texas:
M I have, with much pleasure and de¬
light, at my leisure moments, careful¬
ly read your defense, entitled ' Race
^Question Reviewed,' g-iven to the peo¬
ple of the United States. I consider
it to be a master effort of statesman¬
ship. As a moral, religious, and
political philosopher, your profound
thought and candid expressions easily
place you in the front rank of logical
thinkers. Your position is clear and
your forecast correct. You, sir, more
than any living man, have at last placed
the Negro properly before the Amer¬
ican people. Your explanation of the
principles of the doctrine of the Fa¬
therhood of God and the Brotherhood
of Man has gone like the whirlwind
against the giant oaks of misunder¬
standing that have stood and will mol¬
lify the intensity of the heat of the
sun that has poured its relentless rays
upon us for a quarter of a century.
You have done what few have dared to
do: speak the truth. It is justly con¬
sidered to be the greatest speech of
the century. God bless you! 'As thy
days, so may thy strength be.' "
Rev. John Dickerson, Hamilton, 0.:
" Your very able article ought to be
read by every race man in the United
States. It is full of good, wholesome
thought. It is as a nail driven in a
sure place, as gold tried in the fire. I
have passed it around to be read by
many of my friends, and to a man they
are loud in their praise to you for
such an able article."
Rev. J. B. Epton, Savanilah, Ga.: " I
have carefully read and reread your
masterly article on the ' Race Quea*
tion.' Your reference to the so-called
leader of the industrial and mechan¬
ical training for Negroes is sound from
beginning to end. In fact, your
thoughts on rape, social equality, and
politics are deep and weighty, and
should be read and appreciated by ev¬
ery Negro. We are glad to know that
one of our Southern newspapers has
opened its columns for the discussion
of this great subject, and that it has
been discussed by one of the leaders of
the Negro race of to-day—not of to¬
morrow, but of to-day."
Rev. A. R. Cooper, Macon, Ga.: "I
have carefully read your article, and
commend it from start to finish. The
facts produced meet my hearty ap¬
proval. ,1 never did, and do not now,
agree with Booker T. Washington's
' wild-cat' idea of industrial training
as a solution of the so-called ' Race
Question.' It is more of a ' Grace
Question.' The Negro now under¬
stands better than any other race how
3°
Race Question Reviewed.
to raise cotton and corn. What we
need is diversified training so as to be
able to fill any position in the higher
pursuits of life as well as in its lower
walks."
Rev. R. Deal, Palestine, Texas:
" Your defense of the Negro race is
grand and to the point. It is full of
thought and good logic. It is wide-
sweeping, and nothing narrow about
it at all."
Rev. J. H. Tyson, Ardmore, I. T.:
"Any all-round man, let him be white
or black, who believes in the Father¬
hood of God and the Brotherhood of
Man could have said nothing less.
The very idea of confining our race to
industrial pursuits is unfair, and very
unfair indeed. The great question to
agitate is to get knowledge, for
knowledge is power; and it is what
the Negro heeds, not only in one
sphere, but in all. They should be
able to master the situation from the
grubbing of the forests to the tilling
of the mellow soil, from the kitchen to
the parlor, from seamstress to clerk¬
ship, from the blacksmith shop to the
sculptor's studio, from justice of the
peace to Supreme Judge, and from
Congress to the White House."
Rev. William Leak, Athens, Texas:
" I heartily indorse all that you say,
particularly your references to Negro
mechanics before the war. I was ap¬
prenticed to learn the blacksmith's
trade when I was fourteen years of
age."
Rev. Isaac C. Cray, Lyons, Ga.: "I
sincerely indorse every word which
you have written relative to the ' Race
Question.' It will doubtless be highly
esteemed and cherished by all fair-
minded persons."
Rev. T. N. M. Smith, Savannah, Ga.,
editor of The Southern Weekly News:
" It is one of the best articles on the
subject that I have ever read. May we
soon have something else from you on
the same subject."
Rev. J. B. Lofton, D.D., Columbus,
Ga.: " You have uttered one solid
truth, fearless of friend or foe. I take
it to be the very core of the solution
of the ' Race Problem,' if such there be.
God help you to continue to stand up
for righteousness, though you may at
times stand alone."
Rev. J. H. Adams, D.D., Athens, Ga.:
" The article, ' Race Question Re¬
viewed,' and your letter soliciting my
opinion as to the merits of the same
have been received and given special
perusal and consideration. First, I
compliment and congratulate you on
the article and on having the honor of
expressing your views through the col¬
umns of a leading Southern newspa¬
per. Your views concerning the stew¬
ardship of the Anglo-Saxon are to the
point. The attack upon Booker T.
Washington's idea of industrial train¬
ing is a very forcible, thoughtful argu¬
ment. Indeed, the Negro has been on
the plantation all of his days. There
are other spheres for him to range in
than that of scientific agriculture, and
he will never attain that which he de¬
serves or reach the heights of fame
until he learns to do something which
he does not now know how or what, to
do. I admire Mr. Washington for his-
energy and intellectual attainments;
but as to his ideas, I do not fully agree.
If the Negro should become the owner
of the soil, then his ideas and plans
would better fit. I also concur with
you on the rape question. It is a set¬
tled fact that the better class of col¬
ored people are opposed to such. We
have wives and daughters in our
homes as well as any other race; and
should any, white or black, attempt to
or infringe on their rights, we would
protect them to the farthest extent
possible. As we do not want our fe¬
males raped, we do not care to rape
Individual Comments.
31
any one else's. Yes, we're opposed to
such. You struck the key. No, we do
not care for social equality; I don't.
You are quite pointed on this line, and
give a sound and logical discourse.
You bespeak my sentiments. Your
argument on Will the Negro eschew
politics? ' is right, perfectly so. The
Negro has no right to eschew politics.
Let him deal in it with all his might;
for his rights, if any, are involved in it.
I do not seek to say any more than
you. I indorse the political argu¬
ment; and not only that part, but I
indorse the whole article. So- far as
I see, your article is to the point, and
I commend you very highly for the
able defense of our race."
Major John R. Lynch, Washington,
D. C., exmember of Congress, former¬
ly Fourth Auditor United State3
Treasury, now paymaster in the Unit¬
ed States army: " I have read your
strong and able article on the 4 Race
Question.' It is one of the best I have
read. I fully indorse every word in it.
You have expressed my own views
and opinions better than I could ex¬
press them myself. I would not add
to it or take away from it a single
word or sentence. It is not only a
strong-, manly, and able defense of the
race, but its spirit, tone, and temper
will commend it to public favor and
thoughtful consideration by every in¬
telligent person in the country. I
thank you for it and congratulate you
upon it."
Rev. William W. Frazier, Selma, Ala.:
" I think it is the best and most forci¬
ble article I have ever read on that all-
absorbing theme of to-day. It should
be printed in pamphlet form and read
and digested by every educated Afro-
American on this continent. It com¬
pares most favorably with anything- I
have ever read written by an Afro-
American. You are entitled to rank
among the brilliant galaxy of ad¬
vanced thinkers and writers who shall
surely immortalize themselves by
their writings upon the 4 Race Prob¬
lem,' as did Frederick Douglass and
others upon the question of slavery."
Rev. W. C. Gaines, Macon, Ga.: 441
embrace this opportunity, though
late, to compliment your article on
the 4 Race Question,' and particularly
your demurrer against Mr. Booker T.
Washington's false theories; I am
glad that we have such an able man
as yourself to make such a reply and
to show to the world that we have oth¬
er men of fame and ability besides
him."
Rev. D. H. Johnson, editor Christian
Quiver, Abbeville, S. C.: 141 consider
it the best and ablest presentation
upon the so-called ' Race Problem'
that I have ever read. I have won¬
dered why some master mind did not
take up the cudgel against Washing¬
ton's teachings before now. I am
glad you have spoken out for the race
from such a manly standpoint, for a
people must consider themselves to be
men to be accorded the rights and
privileges of such. I think President
Miller, of our State Agriculture Col¬
lege is aping Washington. I lose re¬
spect for a man when I learn that he
is imbibing the Washington idea re»
garding the Negro, because he (Wash¬
ington) seems to have the ear of the
press, which wants the Negro to re¬
gard himself as inferior and menial."
Rev. S. D. Roseborough, Savannah,
Ga.: 44 I have read and reread the arti¬
cle with the most profound interest.
It is the most unbiased, simple, plain,
and clear-cut. discussion of the subject
I have ever known to appear in *
Southern daily paper. I have never
attempted a public discussion of the
subject through the press or other¬
wise. I have made it a study, how¬
ever, for over twenty years; and the
claims set forth in your article are all
that the self-reliant, industrious Negro
asks for. When the white man learn*
32
i
Race Question Reviewed.
to keep the laws which he makes and
to do to others as he would have oth¬
ers do to him, the ' Race Problem ' will
be solved, and not until then. The
Afro-American will not be satisfied
when he has to pay for what he does
not get, and be ostracized by those
who are inferior to him materially, in¬
tellectually, and otherwise. He knows
that, as a race, the white man is his
superior, and yet that in individual
cases the Negro is the superior of some
white men."
Calvin Ray burn, attorney at law,
Bloomington, 111.: "I most heartily
concur in the sentiments uttered. I
remember with pleasure the many
conversations we had upon this and
kindred topics at the time you were a
resident of this city, and I am pleased
to note that you have not allowed the
subject to pass from your mind. I
have been waiting for some time to
hear that you were giving your atten¬
tion and active thought to this great
subject, and I believe that you are on
the right track. The ' Race Problem '
is not the ' White Man's Burden.' It
is a burden which the colored race
must assume and struggle with with¬
out assistance, or with but little as¬
sistance, if it gets any, from the white
man, until it works out its own salva¬
tion. The white man has for more
than two hundred years proved his
inability to bear this burden. Every
decade has shown weakness and a
constant tendency to shift the burden
upon other shoulders, or even deny
that a burden exists. The course pur¬
sued by the people who have had most
to do with the black race in the last
twenty years has demonstrated that
such people are out of sympathy with
the spirit of the age, and have turned
their backs on the amendments to the
Federal Constitution, and have adopt¬
ed constitutions in some of the States
and enacted laws in others which are
in derogation of the Federal Consti¬
tution, which guarantees to the peo¬
ple of the. respective States a republi¬
can form of government. You have
clearly demonstrated that social
equality does not exist in this or un¬
der any form of government, and that
it is a matter of choice; but there are
inalienable rights which not even
' choice ' should be permitted to be de¬
nied or even ignored. A man cannot
be held guiltless who abandons his
manhood, and this is true of a people
or a race. A people, to exist for any
length of time after it has assumed
the responsibility of sharing in gov¬
ernmental affairs, must insist upon
the exercise of all the rights which fol¬
low upon or attach to responsible fac¬
tors in governmental affairs." (W.)
D. W. Byrd, Nashville, Tenn., pro¬
fessor of languages in Central Ten¬
nessee College: " I fully appreciate
your excellent and timely article. It
is a splendid statement of right views
upon the question of our education.
I shall reproduce the article in the
March number of our college journal,
and feel it will accomplish much
good, as we send copies to the alumni
of the medical and literary depart¬
ments and friends of the school."
Rev. F. B. Carolina, Little Rock,
Ark.: "I heartily indorse every sen¬
tence of your able article. Were it in
my power, I would have it published
in every paper in the land."
E. Cottrell, Holly Springs, Miss.,
one of the bishops of the Colored
Methodist Episcopal Church of Amer¬
ica : " I heartily indorse your views
on the subject. I congratulate you
more upon your success in having
these views published in one of the
leading dailies of the South. I volcw
the sentiment of a goodly number ol
the race when I say we thank the
Nashville American for the publica¬
tion of such unvarnished facts, where
they may be read by intelligent white
Individual Comments.
33
people. Emphasize, reiterate, repub-
lish your views on the above subject.'"
^ Rev. p. w. Wade, Little Rock, Ark.:
Your article on the ' Race Question'
is a matchless one. You entered the
field with well-poised lance, catching1
the antagonist in the joints at every
thrust, and you cannot be downed by
sarcasm or contempt. The men and
women who are educated under Mr.
Washington's influence can but feel
that they are inferior to the dominant
race. What we need to solve the
problem is more respect for ourselves,
the concentration of our moneys, and
a business carried on by Negroes
which, will be felt in the money world
should we withdraw it. Encourage
our people to go West or anywhere
else in large numbers, and colonize,
build a town, and feel that they are
at home anywhere under the sun. I
think our young men ought to be es¬
pecially appealed to. It is not a ques¬
tion of knowing trades or picking
cotton, but a question of money or its
equivalent. We want something which
somebody else wants besides our mus¬
cle."
Rev. G. R. Norman, Nashville, Tenn.:
" It is one of the best articles which
I have had the pleasure of reading on
the question discussed. In many re¬
spects your thoughts are new, and far
in advance of those usually expressed
on the subject."
Rev. H. B. Parks, D.D., New York
City, secretary of the Home and For¬
eign Missionary Society of the Afri¬
can Methodist Episcopal Church:
" Your article on the ' Race Question '
takes its place among the best discus¬
sions upon that subject which have
appeared in any of the journals for
years. I am highly pleased for many
reasons."
Rev T. R- Sinkfield, Roanoke, Va.:
" It is the most weighty, timely, and
far-reaching article on the subject dis¬
cussed which has ever appeared in
public print. I accept every expres¬
sion in it, believing them to be in¬
spired of God."
Prof. W. S. Scarborough, A.M., Wil-
berforce, O., vice president of Wilber-
force University: "I have just found
time to give your excellent article a
careful reading. I congratulate you.
The masterly handling of the subject
sustains your record as a writer and
debater. I am grateful to you for
sending it to me. It is an able expo¬
sition of the subject, clear and logical
from beginning to end. The race has
no abler defender than yourself, not
only when its special interests are at
stake, but in all matters of public
policy."
Rev. P. A. Hubbard, Manitou, Col.:
"According to my way of thinking, it
is the ablest discussion of the subject
that has yet been presented."
Rev. George W. Prioleau, chaplain
Ninth Cavalry, U. S. A.: "I have
heard you many times, have read
many of your speeches and extracts,
but I have never read one which
comes up to your last. Permit your
humble servant to congratulate you.
Those sentiments are the expressions
of a true leader. We want no cringers
or compromisers. We want bold, fear¬
less men as our leaders. We have too
many men—so-called leaders—who do
more harm by their thoughtless and
radical expressions and their compro¬
mises than they do good. It was the
effort of your life. Please continue to
advocate the same doctrines. May
God bless you."
Rev. C. H. King, Raleigh, N. C.: " It
is by far the best resume of the
' Race Question' which I have evet
read. It places you to the front as
one of the greatest leaders the race
has to-day or has ever had. The only
criticism I have to make is that you
seem to favor a qualified suffrage.
34
Race Question Reviewed.
Under such a rule as will be applied
to the Negro, very few, if any, of them
will be allowed to vote. This being1 a
fact, I think it is dangerous for any
Negro to even seemingly indorse it.
Otherwise I accept your article as a
fine production and worthy of your
noble self."
Rev. James W. Walker, Selma, Ala.:
" Permit me to express my appreci¬
ation for such an able article. • I think
it is just what the country was hun¬
gering for. I regard it as scholarly,
plain, manly, and irrefutable. God
give you long life, a keen intellect to
discern the truth, and a manly spirit
to proclaim it."
Rev. A. H. Ross, Covington, Ky:
"How true is the opening sentence of
your article: ' The revival of the race
qiiestion is but one of the crucibles in
which the Christian religion is being
tested! ' How true, and how often
have I asserted that henceforth our
race would have to lift its burden and
plea for justice and humanity out of
the catalogue of heartless and deaf
demagogism into the realm of moral¬
ity and Christianity! Your perora¬
tion is simply sublime, so diplomatic:
' I love the South.' Yes, we love the
South better than those who make
diplomatic stageplavs through our
daily journals for commercial, politi¬
cal, and mercenary purposes."
Rev. R. C. Irvin, Helena, S. C.: "I re¬
gard your article as strong and well
founded. I thank God for such talent
in our church."
Mr. J. E. Bruce (Bruce Grit), Al¬
bany, N. Y,: "I am in full accord with
your views, and shall say so in my own
way in the near future."
Rev. J. A. Davis, Macon, Ga.: "Your
statement concerning the Negro's sen¬
timent about rape and its attitude
in government affairs, and the strong
reasons you give and facts presented,
would aid us much if properly consid¬
ered by the right parties."
Rev. S. F. Flegler, Marion, S. C.:
" The clearest evidence of a people's
fitness for citizenship in any country
is the character of their aspirations
and qualifications. Second-hand qual¬
ifications leave us but half prepared to
discharge the duties of citizenship,
and for us to accept such a position
would only go to show that we have no
true aspirations, and hence that we do
not need the same qualifications as
other citizens. I am pleased with the
just and true stand which you have
taken in defending the race."
Rev. J. Y. Goins, San Antonio,
Texas: " How true and rightly said
that which the Negro most needs to be
taught is that which he does not now
know! Let those, therefore, who
have a clear knowledge of economy
and an honest way of acquiring
wealth put forth shining examples
for the less fortunate. Your views on
the rape question should be sounded
loud and long throughout these Unit¬
ed States. I suggest as a help to the
solution of the ' Race Question ' that
we faithfully support Negro lawyers,
doctors, business men, and mechan¬
ics; have our own college presidents,
and vote for our own men."
Rev. W. O. P. Sherman, Hawkins-
ville, Ga.: "Allow me to say that I
fully indorse every word of your arti¬
cle, and am satisfied that you voice the
sentiment of the majority of the true
and intelligent Negroes of the South.
Such able and timely articles will do
more to force the opposers of the race
to respect us and accord us a respect¬
ful standing than will three hundred
of the Booker T. Washington kind.
Accept my congratulations and thanks
for the article."
Rev. P. M. Laws, D.D., president
Preachers' Union, Dallas, Texas: "The
Preachers' Union of this city indorses
your digest of the 'Negro Problem'
—first, because of its feasibility; sec¬
ondly, because it reveals a cause which
Individual, Comments.
35
if followed will lead us to a glorious ef¬
fect for the tfood of all. The article
should be put in pamphlet form and
scattered to the ends of the earth."
^ev* J- A. Carew, Grenada, Miss :
Your masterly, able, and pointed pro¬
duction is indeed a treat. Your argu¬
ment makes the crack in the dark more
visible."
Rev. Wm. H. Giles, Asbury Park,
N. J.: "^ou do not contend that the
acme of the race is restricted to the de¬
velopment of a certain side of our nature,
but for the highest development of the
entire nature. The Negro can only be¬
come great by the same training and de¬
velopment which make other races
great; and, as I understand it, this is
what you contend for. I am with you.
Push the battle to a finish."
Rev. J. W. Braxton, Kansas City,
Kan.: "The article as a whole meets
my hearty approval, believing it to be
the true and only solution of the great
race problem."
Rev. H. M. Deaver, Pine Bluff, Ark.:
"I admit that Mr. Booker T. Washing¬
ton is a scholarly man, but he is not the
one to advocate the Negro's rights at
the bar of public opinion, especially at
this critical period. I highly commend
your logical and manly utterances."
Rev. B. W. Roberts, D.D., Pales¬
tine, Texas: "You score a grand
point on the theory of the Brother¬
hood of Man when you say: ' It must
evolve into, a living reality before
Christianity shall have done its per¬
fect work.' You put it to them hard
when you challenged the assertion of
those who claim that the only solu¬
tion of the so-called ' Race Problem '
lies in the direction of the industrial
and mechanical training of the Negro.
I agree with you when you unhesitat¬
ingly say that the Negro is unaltera¬
bly opposed to rape. Your views on
' Mob' Law,' ' Social Equality,' ' Will
the Negro Eschew Politics? ' and
' Negro Domination ' ought to be read
■not only by our own people, but by
every white man and woman in the
South. You are right, and may God
help you to continue in welldoing1."
Rev. I. M. Burgan, D.D., president
Paul Quinn College, Waco, Texas: "I
have not the time or the physical or
mental energy to say just what I
would like to say about your very
commendable effort. Especially do I
commend the bold and thoughtful
statement that we have more work¬
men than we have chances to work,
and that if our skilled working- pow¬
ers were employed the ' Race Prob¬
lem ' would be in a fair way of solu¬
tion. Many are now conceding to you
the place which I gave to you years
ago—in the very front rank as an ad¬
vanced thinker."
Rev. J. W. Rankin, D.D., Corsicana,
Texas: "Your position on the 'Race
Question' is an honorable, straight¬
forward, and fearless one. It is the
ablest defense of the race which it
has been my pleasure to read. You
have expressed thoughts which I have-
long entertained with regard to the
so-called ' Race Problem,' and it seems;
to me that you were divinely inspired"
to think and write in this instance as.
I have never known you to write be¬
fore. Thank God for men who cane
bestir this great nation with words
from the heart of manhood and right¬
eousness! "
Rev. W. F. Dangerfield, Vicksburg",
Miss.: "It is the grandest production
that I have ever read on the great
' Race Question.' I wish it were in the
home of every family in the land. I
pray God that you may live long- and
do the race much good."
Rev. J. W. Whitesides, Pine Blufl^
Ark.: "The article referred to meets
my fullest and heartiest approval. I
fully concur with the whole trend of
thought advanced in your argument.
36
IiAce Question Reviewed.
The facts adduced in sustaining your
position are incontrovertible, add
pages to the volume of Negro man¬
hood, and put in motion a force that
will assert itself in the disputation of
many things which have been said de¬
rogatory to the Negro as a man."
Rev. W. Conway Smith, editor The
Golden Rule, Lafayette, La.: "Allow
me to congratulate yon on your noble
defense of the race. It is most timely,
and I would be pleased to know it
were read by every Negro tinder the
sun. In my opinion, a few more arti-
■cles like it would engender better feel¬
ings in the white race toward the Ne¬
gro."
Rev. Lee Mitchell, Memphis, Tenn.:
" You have produced the ablest and
most satisfactory paper on the ' Ne¬
gro Problem' that it has been my
pleasure to read. You have doubtless
expressed the sentiment of every in¬
telligent, liberal, and lofty-minded
Hegro and white person in this coun¬
try. We need more men like you and
Bishop Turner, who are fearless when
the Negro race demands a spokesman.
'The Negro wants, and must have, all
the requisites that belong to a cul¬
tured race, regardless of what a few
parasitic Negroes may think or say."
Rev. J. G. Grimes, Bastrop, Texas:
"Your article on the 'Race Question'
must have been written by inspira¬
tion. I have read and reread it, and I
am sure that you did not write it
merely for favor or a big name. You
have stated the facts just as they are.
Unlike some of our leaders, you have
not deemed it necessary to> humiliate
your race in order to gain a hearing
from the white people. With others,
I pray that the spirit of inspiration
may touch you again. Words fail,
and language is inadequate, to ex¬
press all that I wish to say by way of
indorsement."
Rev. J. S. Wood, editor the Afro-
American Review, Mattoon, 111.: "We
are going to publish every word of
your article in a double number of the
Afro-American. You and Dr. Shaffer
have sounded the keynote; and, so far
as your ideas are concerned, we shall
send them on the wings of 25,000 cop¬
ies of the Afro-American Review over
all the land so far as they will extend.
The time has come, it seems to me,
when our words of wisdom and ad¬
vice should be sounded far and near.
We have yet a battle to fight, and your
humble servant will endeavor to ren¬
der what assistance he can with voice
and pen."
Rev. A. K. Woods, Jesup, Ga.: "I
am utterly disgusted with some of the
leaders (?) of our race, who aver that
if the Negro is to be saved he must
work out his salvation in the field.
Lynching excepted, the Negro in the
West Indies is engaged in every voca¬
tion that the white man in this coun¬
try is engaged in, and the Negro in
this country should strive for the
same opportunities."
Mr. Charles Stewart, general news¬
paper correspondent, Chicago, 111.:
"At the time of the publication of
your article I had just met with a mis¬
fortune in Mississippi, and have been
busy ever since, and did not get time
.to go through it until this week.
Much credit is due you for the man¬
ner in which you have discussed this
matter. It is a comprehensive review
of the ' Race Question; ' and while we
cannot agree on all things, it must be
admitted that the race must come to
many things in your article before
there is anything like a solution to
the problem. Your position on the
' Negro's Opinion as to Rape,' 4 Social
Equality,' and 'Politics,' as well as
'Negro Domination,' furnishes food
for thought."
Mr. F. L. Jefferson, Steelton, Pa.:
Individual Comments.
37
As one who takes deep interest in ev¬
erything' pertaining to the 'Race
Question,' I want t(> thank you for
j our very excellent article which ap¬
peared recently in tlie Richmond
Planet. I had begun to think that all
of our leaders were either dead or
sleeping-, and to find one against
whom the pronunciamento, ' Mene,
Mene, Tekel, Upharsin,' has not been
placed is, to the thinking1 men of our
race, a pleasure indeed. We, the rank
and file of the race, have been looking
long* and anxiously for some one who
would lead us aright, and what have
we found? Some have, by their writ¬
ings and speaking, led us to Mexico
and the far West; some have taken us
across the billows of the Atlantic to
sunny Africa to meet and greet our
dear cousins many generations re¬
moved; I believe some of them are so
highly inflated with sociological gas
that they would suggest the coloniza¬
tion of Mars, did they not foresee that
the white man would soon claim own¬
ership by right of prior and telescopic
discovery; some have suggested
money as the means of lifting us up;
and some, ' Let the Negro learn to la¬
bor,' as if we had not already learned
that, as you so wisely say in your pa¬
per; and has money made the Jew
proof against the attack of the Rus¬
sian? It is, sir, as you suggest, wise
enough for us to learn to labor; but,
above all, we want to learn to be men;
to stand up for our rights, and to de¬
mand them from our legislators. . . .
To enumerate all the points that the
young men thank you for would be
wearisome to you; but we feel that
you are courageous and manly, living
as you do in the South, and that you
care not for the few dollars that su-
pineness an<l evasion might bring you.
I hope thus may not be the last of such
articles."
jjev ,T. K. C.irnes, Hillsboro, Texas:
" Having read with care and great
consideration your article as pub¬
lished in the periodicals of our
church, I beg leave to state that I have
read nothing so comprehensive upon
the subject treated from the pen of
any man, living or dead. I regard it
as a concise and general view of every
feature of the question. Your argu¬
ment is both manly, logical, and fair.
You deal with the subject with such
logical fairness that even your oppo¬
nent is compelled to praise your gen¬
erosity and good-heartedness in allow¬
ing fair play in the fight. Another re¬
markable thing is that you go on your
opponent's own ground to prove the
falsity of his theory. As Dr. Watts
says: ' Reprove a man by his own con¬
versation.' "
Rev. S. T. Mitchell, A.M., Wilber-
force, 0., President Wilberforce Uni¬
versity:
" I am glad to note that your arti¬
cle has been reproduced in various
papers. It is truly a classie on the
Negro question, and you have placed
the race under tribute to you for it.
I belie\e there is but one paragraph
in the article—that which relates t»
farming—which my view of things
would modify. I have heard nothing-
but words of high commendation for
your splendid defense of the race.""
Rev. George W. Gaines, Chicago, Ill.r
" I read your article on the race
question with interest. Ten millions;
of people who are daily subjected to
indignities and barbarities which
would shame a Turk or a Spaniard owe
you a debt of gratitude for the manner
in which you have handled your sub¬
ject. I heartily indorse your position,
with the exception of your reference
to the 'Jim Crow car,' wherein I think
you compromise your race. The way
to kill a snake is to kill it."
Rev. J. H. Martin, Delhi, La.:
" Your article on the race question
38
Race Question Reviewed.
is the ablest that I have ever read on
that subject. I am sorry it cannot be
read by every member of the race."
Rev. J. Harvey Jones, Evangelist,
Hallettsville, Texas:
"In the production of your master¬
piece, ' Race Question Reviewed,' you
not only have expressed my sentiments
on that all-absorbing problem, but
those of hundreds of others to whom
I have delighted in reading it. You
struck the keynote that has made
every note vibrate in full harmony and
put every Afro-American under last¬
ing obligations to you for your most
conservative, manly, and masterly
handling of the subject. I shall use it
in my lectures and associate it with
my efforts to lift up a ' nation strug¬
gling into manhood.' "
Rev. J. A. Jones, Hornersville, Ga.:
" Until I read your article, ' Race
Question Reviewed,' I had despaired of
all hope of anything like a favorable
future for our race in this country.
When I read it, however, hope was re¬
vived. Then when I read your article
in the Teacher's Quarterly, telling the
Negro not to be discouraged because
perilous times are upon him, that he
is envied because of the progress he
is making, my hope was greatly
strengthened. You have greatly re¬
vived my hopes and those of many
others and imparted to us a new spirit
of encouragement. Your words have
gtsne home to the hearts of many of
the oppressed—indelibly stamped—to
live when you are dwelling in paradise.
Long may you live to be a Moses for
this people. God bless you! Accept
these few limited sentences as a his¬
tory filled with good meaning."
Hev. P. H. Fisher, Glen Allen, Miss.:
"" I have read and reread your arti¬
cle, ' Race Question Reviewed,' and I
am compelled to say that, in my
opinion, your views are correct, I
fully concur in that part of your arti¬
cle which refers to the industrial train¬
ing of the Negro."
Rev. W. Bishop Johnson, D.D., edi¬
tor the National Baptist Magazine,
Washington, D. C.: " You have my best
wishes for the success of a work that
will do more toward giving positional
eminence to the Negro as a writer and
thinker than anything yet published."'
Rev. J. M. Conner, D.D., Vicksburg,
Miss.: "Your position on the 'Race
Question' is the ablest I have ever
read. It is presented in strong and
clear terms, and should be printed in
a booklet. The race is certainly in¬
debted to you for such a manly de¬
fense."
Mr. P. J. Sims, Atlanta, Ga.: "The
article published in the Constitution,
' Race Question Reviewed,' brought no
little pleasure to the citizens of At¬
lanta. You have spoken the senti¬
ments of many thoiisand citizens in
this section."
Rev. L. J. Valentine, Paris, Tenn.:
" The ' Race Question Reviewed,' pub¬
lished in many of the leading papers,
has been read with pleasure. It cer¬
tainly expresses our condition in this
country."
Rev. W. H. Mixon, D.D., editor
Southern Christian Age, Selma, Ala.:
' Race Question Reviewed ' blazes a
path through all succeeding centuries.
To you belongs the honor of being the
pioneer in the reformation looking to
the settlement of this ' Race Ques¬
tion.' "
Rev. J. T. Jenifer, D.D., Baltimore,
Md., secretary Connection Preachers'
Aid and Mutual Relief Association of
the A. M. E. Church: " In my humble
judgment, all unbiased minds, after
reading your article, will decide that
your review is comprehensive, clear,
strong, and a truthful statement."
Rev. O. D. Robinson, D.D., Wilming-
Individual Comments.
39
^)n' ^el-: "Your article, the 'Race
uestion Reviewed,' is a masterly
presentation of undeniable facts,
which will be more fully appreciated
as time passes and develops the wis¬
dom of your position. Accept my per¬
sonal congratulations."
Rev. J. H. Pursley, Tullahoma,
Tenn.: "Your article, the 'Race Ques¬
tion Reviewed,' I must say, in all can¬
dor, is the ablest and most compre¬
hensive document I have ever read.
Your views are just right, and deserve
the commendation of both races."
J. Alexander Chiles, attorney at law,
Lexington, Ky.: " I consider your ar¬
ticle, the ' Race Question Reviewed,'
one of the best and most logical I have
ever read on that subject. However,
it contains one thought I do not ac¬
cept; that is this: ' No Negro, though
he be a Democrat, can vote in a white
primary in the South.' This used to be,
but is not now, because in the Demo¬
cratic primary election held here on
February 7, 1899, I am reliably in¬
formed that over fifty Negroes voted.
Thus we see that things have changed.
May God bless you in your effort to
help the race."
Rev. David F. Caliman, New Brigh¬
ton, Pa.: "I beg to acknowledge my
obligations to you for your article, the
' Race Question Reviewed.' I have
read many productions on the subject,
but this is the most logical as well as
most hopeful I have ever read.**
Rev. J. I. Lowe, Pine Bluff, Ark.:
" The ' Race Question Reviewed ' is the
ablest paper of its kind that has been
given to the public. While I am radi¬
cal on the ' Race Question,' yet I heart¬
ily indorse your paper. I am with
you. Strike again."
Rev. L. A. Townsley, Thomaston,
Ga.: "Your article, the 'Race Ques¬
tion Reviewed,' is, in a sense, astound¬
ing—facts, irrefutable: thought, deep;
and diction, up to date. I am with
you all the way. God bless the effort
and the writer! "
Rev. B. C. Anderson, Canton, Mo.:
" Your article is the finest I have ever
read on any question. You have cer¬
tainly reviewed the ' Race Question.' "
Rev. F. Y. Dendy, Columbia, S. C.: "I
have read your article, the ' Race Ques¬
tion Reviewed,' with care and consid¬
eration, and do highly indorse every
word, line, and sentence in it. I re¬
joice to see it copied by so many news¬
papers. This I regard as a favorable
sign of the times, and the article will
produce the proper results in this
country. Ail Negro race leaders should
take a manly position as you have on
vital issues. I bow my knees to Al¬
mighty God and humbly thank him
for giving the race a Turner and a
Smith, who, like Moses and Aaron of
old, come forward to champion the
cause of a downtrodden people."
Rev. D. W. Wells, Prospect, Tenn.:
" Your article, the ' Race Question Re¬
viewed,' has let in a light that will
shine brighter and brighter until it
melts away the gloom that has been
overshadowing the Negro for two hun¬
dred and eighty years. God must have
put his Spirit into your heart and
mind, and then directed your hand
and pen to write this great article."
Rey. S. W. Walker, Memphis, Tenn.:
" Your able and important letter, the
' Race Question Reviewed,' is, in all re¬
spects, the best letter I have ever read
on the subject. It is full of thought,
and is worthy of being read by every
man, woman, and child in this coun¬
try, regardless of race or condition."
Rev. W. T. Osborne, Columbia, Mo.:
" Your article on the ' Race Question '
is clean-cut, strong, and forceful, yet
gentle and sweet; and I believe it will
do much good."
4°
Race Question Reviewed.
Rev. John J. Blackshear, A.B., pastor
Corinthian Baptist Church, Indianap¬
olis, Ind.: " I want to say that I agree
with everything- you have said from
first to last, word for word and letter
for letter. Yon have made a truthful
statement of the facts in the case."
Rev. M. C. B. Mason, D.D., corre¬
sponding- secretary Freedman's Aid
and Southern Educational Society,
Cincinnati, O.: "I read with great in¬
terest your ' Race Question Reviewed,'
published in the Nashville Daily Amer¬
ican some time since, and was both
pleased with the spirit and position
which you took and so manfully and
successfully defended."
Rev. R. H. W. Leak, Raleigh, N. C.,
president of the Press and Authors'
Association: " I have read your arti¬
cle, ' Race Question Reviewed.' Oth¬
ers may be your equal in thinking and
writing on the needs of the American
people, as a whole, but you have sur¬
passed every one who has yet at¬
tempted to show the nation its duty
toward the black man. You took in
the whole situation and handled it like
a. Christian, statesman. It ought to be
read by every American citizen and by
every student, white and black. Espe¬
cially ought it to be read by students,
for the great trouble is not between
the old white man and the old Negro,
but between the white man and the
young Negro. I agree with you that
whatever education is necessary for
the white man is necessary for the Ne¬
gro. The race needs just such leaders
and thinkers as you, men who will
dare to speak out, men who will laugh
at impossibilities."
Rev. E. P. Holmes, Macon, Ga.: " I
highly indorse your position, as I
think that you are right, and that all
right-minded people will give your
views favorable consideration. I have
heard a great many so express them¬
selves already."
Rev. W. C. Shelton, Savannah, Ga.:
" 1 most heartily thank you for a copy
of your able article, ' Race Question
Reviewed.' I indorse every word that
you have said."
Rev. S. L. Martin, Eatonton, Ga.:
" No one who has critically read and
carefully pondered over the line of ar¬
gument which is so ably presented by
you in your review of the ' Race Prob¬
lem,' published in the Nashville
(Tenn.) American of January 29, 1899,
can fail to give your philosophic, log¬
ical, manly, and opportune article his
unqualified indorsement from start to
finish. In elegance of diction, scope
of argument, perspicuity of thought,
and profundity I hesitate not to pro¬
nounce it a. literary gem. Your man¬
ner of dealing with the topics of ' In¬
dustrial and Mechanical Training,'
' Mob Law,' ' Social Equality,' the
' Franchise,' ' Negro Domination,' etc.,
is indeed masterly, and stamps the ef¬
fort as the production of a master
mind. It is unquestionably the great¬
est production of its kind which it has
been my pleasure and privilege to read.
I am very glad to know that the Negro
race numbers among its foremost lead¬
ers a Charles Spencer Smith, who is
the peer of any and the superior of
many of his class, whether in speaking
or writing in the defense of an out¬
raged, oppressed, and downtrodden
race of people. Go on; we are with
you to a man. Your article is, I think,
in evidence as to the kind of indus¬
trial training which the Negro needs,
for the ability to produce such a doc¬
ument as the one under consideration
shows that your training is as much
industrial as that of any mechanic,
since production is not alone manual,
but is also mental. Allow me to thank
you for the moral courage displayed in
Individual* Comments.
41
the ingenious presentation of such
ac s as are stated in support of your
irrefutable argument; also to congrat-
u a e you upon your sustaining with
sue marked ability, credit, and dig-
nity your reputation as a thinker,
writer, and race advocate. May God
bless and preserve you and defend our
cause."
Rev. C. C. Cargile, Madison, Ga.:
I read your article with pleasure.
I consider it the ablest presentation 1
have ever read in behalf of the Negro.
May you live long to bless the race."
Rev. W. F. Thirkfield, D.D., Presi¬
dent Gammon Theological Seminary,
Atlanta, Ga.:
Permit me to thank you for a copy
of your strong paper on the race
problem, received some days ago.
Your argument on certain points is
certainly convincing. 1 agree with
you that the Negro should be trained
just as any other man. Industrial
training is efficient, but not sufficient.
Let the Negro be free to develop on
all lines independently of the acci¬
dental color of his skin."
Prof. H. C. Bell, Denton, Texas:
" I want to heartily congratulate
you upon your able article, ' Race
Question Reviewed.' Your position,
from start to finish, is tenable and un¬
answerable. You state your proposi¬
tion in a clear, bold, and lucid man¬
ner, and I am sure that every intelli¬
gent colored man, together with every
unbiased and unprejudiced white man,
will agree that you have fully done
yourself, your race, your church, and
the subject discussed, proud."
Rev. W. W. Beckett, D.D., Charles¬
ton, S. C.:
" I think your article, 4 Race Ques¬
tion Review^'' is the best discussion
I have ever seen on the subject. The
entire race is indebted to you for the
masterly way in which you presented
th'eir cause to the world. Accept my
many thanks."
Rev. A. Hubbard, St. Augrustine,
Fla.:
The position you take on the ' Race
Question Reviewed ' is the only right
one; the race should prepare itself for
every walk in life."
Rev. O. D. Robinson, Wilmington,
Del.: " I have read and reread your ar¬
ticle on the ' Race Question,' with in¬
creased interest and profit each read¬
ing. It is a masterly presentation of
undeniable facts, which will be more
fully appreciated as time proves the
wisdom of your position. Accept my
personal congratulations and thanks."*
Rev. S. H. Eason, Anniston, Ala., edi¬
tor of The Baptist Leader: "I thank
you for your great effort to destroy
error and to elevate the Negro, whom
I love so dearly. May God bless you in
your heroic efEorts to point the Negro'
youth to the ' axiomatic verity.' "
Rev. J. C. C. Owens, Omaha, Neb.: " I
most heartily indorse every sentence of
your article on the ' Race Question.''
It does not sound like something that
was written for fame or buncombe. It
is an honest, manly plea for manhood
and humanity. According to my way
of thinking, it is perfectly sound and
logical, and is unanswerable."
Rev. Thomas Moorer, Tallahassee,
Fla.: "I must admit that the 'race
problem' in this country cannot be
solved by industrial and mechanical
training alone. There is no doubt that
this will help us to a great extent, but
it cannot do all that is required. Noth¬
ing will ever solve this mighty problem
but the religion of our Lord and Sav¬
ior Jesus Christ."
"RACE QUESTION REVIEWED."
PRESS NOTICES.
Florida Times-Union (W.), Jackson¬
ville, Fla., February 8, 1899:
" TROUBLE IN THE CAMP.
" It seems that Prof. Booker T.
Washington's theory of industrial de¬
velopment for the future of his race is
not to be accepted by it without de¬
mur. Rev. C. S. Smith, who is in¬
dorsed by the Nashville American as
a ' noted colored divine and orator,'
takes issue with Washington in a
' Review of the Race Question,' and
reaches some pertinent conclusions.
He says:
" ' Yes, I am heartily in favor of the
industrial and mechanical training- for
such Negroes as may feel that their
calling is on the farm or in the fac¬
tory, but I challenge the assertion of
those who claim that the only solu¬
tion of the so-called race problem lies
in the direction of the industrial and
mechanical training of the Negro.
Then, again, the mechanical and in¬
dustrial training of the Negro has
been in progress ever since the first
cargo of slaves was landed on the
banks of the James River, in Virginia.'
" Thus the statement that seems to
Washington, and to us, the strongest
argument for industrial training
proves to the mind of Rev. Smith its
inefficiency; for if industrial training
alone in three or four generations
could transform the savage of the
Congo and the Gold Coast into the
Negro as we know him, there is every
reason to hope for even better results
if it could be continued along the old
lines with greater incentives for the
progress of the pupil. That the result
attained by slavery as a school seems
great and good to Rev. Smith we show
by another quotation:
" ' Surprisingly strange perhaps, but
nevertheless true, slavery itself fur¬
nished the slave with valuable lessona
in industrial and mechanical training,
and produced a grade of high-class
mechanics, skilled workers in wood
and iron and metals of various kinds,
many of whom remain until this day,
and, we regret to say, far more than
can obtain employment, caused by the
unreasonable and unfriendly attitude
of the trades unions toward colored
mechanics. Hew, then, can the multi¬
plication of Negro mechanics help to
solve the so-called race problem, when
those who are already skilled cannot
obtain employment? In this city, to
my personal knowledge, there are a
score or more of skilled Negro me¬
chanics who are subject to enforced
idleness by reason of the colorphobia
which dominates the trades unions.
Those who are disposed to advance
the Negro's best interests can render
him invaluable service by demanding
in tones of thunder, loud and long,
that the trades unions shall cease to
draw the color line, and that fitness
and character shall be the -only pass¬
port to their fellowship. When this
barrier shall have been removed, the
time for the multiplication of Negro
mechanics on anything like a large
scale will have become opportune, but
not until then.'
" Now, Washington has never
claimed that industrial training- alone
could save the Negro, but that it was
Press Notices.
43
the stepping-stone to higher things
upon which his feet should be firmly
planted on the way. Certainly the
vast majority of the race must have
such means of livelihood as would
best promote their self-respect, their
independence of the influences which
lead them astray in politics and busi¬
ness, which could elevate their ideas
and promote their mental develop¬
ment. Within a reasonable time oth¬
ers may be trusted to go higher, as
some are doing- now, and those who
need it can take the vacated places.
We have not understood that Wash¬
ington desired to keep the race
chained to industrial training as the
only uplifting force, but as the one
most needed now and as promising
the greatest good to the greatest num¬
ber. We must say that a careful pe¬
rusal of Rev. Smith's argument has
failed to convince us that Washington
is in error.
" But we invite the attention of oth¬
ers to the fact that both Smith and
Washington recognize and appreciate
the truth that slavery has done much
for the Negro. The savage and can¬
nibal so loved his master that his son
and grandson guarded the women and
children of the South with utter fidel¬
ity and a loyalty and faith which has
never been surpassed by any race in
any time. For this the South has
been patient in much; remembering
this, the South will continue to spend
money like water and run into fresh
■danger that the Negro have the ad¬
vantage of living in civilized commu-
nities, and will grieve to see him iso¬
late himself, whether by expatriating
himself to Africa or to Mexico.
" The leading Negroes who are con¬
scientiously devoting themselves to
the uplifting of the race will receive
the moral support of our people and
the protection of all the true sons of
the South; but the Negro's worst en¬
emy is he w^° promises him that for
which he is still unprepared, and
would have him believe that he can
grasp in a century those precious
fruits of thought and culture and gov¬
ernment for which the white man has
labored and struggled for ages, and
will not surrender, save with life it¬
self."
The African Methodist, New Or¬
leans, La., February 9, 1899:
" WORDS OF WISDOM AND
DIGNITY."
"A recent issue of the Nashville
American contains an able and
lengthy letter on the ' Race Question,'
by Dr. C. S. Smith, of our Sunday
School Union. It is a manly, thought¬
ful, and ringing discussion of many
phases of the multiplex question
which others have avoided or touched
lightly."
Christian Recorder, Philadelphia,
Pa., February 9, 1899:
" THEY WON'T KNOW US.
" The Nashville American of Janu¬
ary 29 publishes an able, comprehen¬
sive, and searching review of the
' Race Question' by Dr. C. S. Smith,
secretary of the Sunday School Union.
The best comment on the article is an
expression of agreeable surprise on
the admission of such a manly and
extensive document in the columns of
the American or its entire reproduc¬
tion in the columns of the Recorder.
It will do more good through the
channel in which it has already ap¬
peared, for it will reach a class of our
Southern white friends who misjudge
and mistreat the race quite as much
from their ignorance of, as from their
prejudice against, us. Dr. Smith's
great review is an eye opener to all
such, and th» American is to be con¬
gratulated for its fair play in publish¬
ing it. We regret the abundance and
priority of other articles will not jus¬
tify the promise of an early reproduc-
44
Race Question Reviewed.
tion of the commendable article re¬
ferred to."
Christian Index, Jackson, Tenn.,
February 11, 1899:
" ' THE RACE QUESTION
REVIEWED.'
" In the Nashville American of Jan¬
uary 29 appeared a very able article
from the pen of Rev. C. S. Smith, sec¬
retary of the A. M. E. Sunday School
Union. He. wrote on the topic: ' The
Race Question Reviewed.' The ques¬
tion was discussed under four heads:
' The Industrial and Mechanical Train¬
ing of the Negro,' ' Mob Law,' ' Social
Equality,' and ' Politics.' These prop¬
ositions were argued with that accu¬
racy of statement and careful diction
so characteristic of Dr. Smith's style.
He says the ' master of Tuskegee,'
Booker T. Washington, cannot be
called the apostle of industrial train¬
ing; that he has only revived the an¬
cient doctrinal dictum, ' Teach the
Negro how to work; ' and by the
reechoing of this doctrine many
dollars have been thrown into his
hands. While we are in perfect sym¬
pathy and accord with Mr. Washing¬
ton and his work, we, like Dr. Smith,
cannot be brought to believe that the
only solution of the ' Race Question '
lies in the industrial training of the
Negro.
" Dr. Smith says the Negro has long
since graduated in the accomplish¬
ments of hoeing cotton and planting
corn, and even as late as last year his
diploma was stamped on the great
majority of the 10,000,000 bales of cot¬
ton marketed in this country. We in¬
dorse three-fourths of all he said un¬
der the first proposition and four-
fourths of everything said under the
last three. What was said under
' Mob Law,' ' Social Equality,' and
' Politics ' was an able argument in
the defense of the race. The article
is worthy of a wide circulation."
The Freeman, Indianapolis, Ind.,
February 11, 1899:
"DR. C. S. SMITH, OF NASHVILLE,
TENN.
" With a sense of extreihe satisfac¬
tion we note the tendency on the part
of the most eminent race men to give
more attention to the growing ' Race
Question,' which, as a question, com¬
pared with other latter-day questions,,
along with the agitation arising
owing- to those questions, cannot be
exaggerated—that is to say, if the
question of Protection vs. Free Trade,
when either theory has been demon¬
strated as a success at times and in
different countries, can throw the
country into cramps of violent oppo-
tion, then how much more important
is a question where the very civil
rights of a nation are at stake, which
precludes the choice of taking part in
those more general questions which
ability or the lack of it fixes the status
of a people in the eyes of the world!
" The article of Dr. C. S. Smith, of
the A. M. E. Church, which appeared
in the Nashville American recently, is
a valuable contribution to what might
be termed the racial effort. It shows
evidence of painstaking endeavor, and
will be held sound and sensible by
those who may be either for or
against the race.
" Dr. Smith again insists that racial
salvation is not to be expected by way
of industrial training. He rightfully
insists that the Negroes have other
training than an industrial one:
" ' Surprisingly strange perhaps, but
nevertheless true, slavery itself fur¬
nished the slave with valuable les¬
sons in industrial training, and pro¬
duced a grade of high-class mechan¬
ics, skilled workers in wood and iron
and metals of various kinds, many of
whom remain until this day, and, we
regret to say, far more than can ob¬
tain employment, caused by the un-
Press Notices.
45
leasonable and unfriendly attitude of
the trades unions toward colored me¬
chanics. How, then, can the multi¬
plication of Negro mechanics help to
sol\e the so-called race problem, when
those who are already skilled cannot
obtain employment? In this city, to
my personal knowledge, there are a
score or more of skilled Negro me¬
chanics who are subject to enforced
idleness by reason of colorphobia,
which dominates the trades unions.
Those who are disposed to advance
the Negro's best interests can render
him invaluable service by demanding
in tones of thunder, loud and long,
"that the trades unions shall cease to
draw the color line, and that fitness
and character shall be the only pass¬
port to their fellowship. When this
harrier shall have been removed, the
time for the multiplication of Negro
mechanics on anything like a large
scale will have become opportune, but
not until then.'
" The most casual observer will
have to agree with Dr. Smith that
there is but little incentive for such a
training industry, far less than there
is for professional life. The Negro
Tace is the only one whose employed
professional people outnumber the
artisans and trained mechanics recog¬
nized as such. This is lamentable,
but unavoidable, and it is to be hoped
that the promises of the industrial
training people will bring about a rev¬
olution in favor of employing skilled
mechanics of the race. It is con¬
tended that when enough of them are
to be found to supplant the striking
white laborers, then will be the time
to employ them, and not until then.
If such be the case, it is to be hoped
that the time will never come. It is
not the intention to build to success
o<n the calamity of the other race if
such were possible.
" More than competition enters
such problem, and it bodes no good
for the laboring men of the country,
regardless of color. We have our
Pana, Illinois, with us. They are far
too expensive. In the language of Cy¬
rano de Bergerac: ' Thank you, no.'
It must not be said that Negroes are
in training to take the places of white
men whenever there occurs a differ¬
ence in the scale of wages or other dis¬
agreements. What he ought to do to
enter into this work is a question, but
not so as to what he ought not to do.
" 'Another erroneous allegation di¬
rected against the Negro is that his
chief desire is for social equality with
white people. Now the Negro may be
ignorant of some things—yea, many
things—but of one thing he is not ig¬
norant, and that is that social equal¬
ity does not exist anywhere or among
any people as a universal rule. More¬
over, he knows that all white people
are not social equals, which is equally
true of all colored people: Social
equality is based upon individual
choice and preference, and does not
lie within the sphere of statutory en¬
actments or police regulations. The
Negro does not desire to pose as aT*
intruder, and repels with righteous in¬
dignation every assertion that he is
disposed to force his association on
those who are averse to receiving it.'
" It is true that most Negroes are
too self-respecting and too sensitive
to force themselves where they are not
expected.
" On the subject of ' Politics' he
says:
' Will the Negro eschew politics?
To that question but one reasonable
answer can be given: No. Why
should he? What is there in existing
conditions to warrant him in volun¬
tarily surrendering his political
rights? '
" Right here Dr. Smith argues as
though politics was simply to be in¬
dulged in or let alone with equal cost
to the individual."
46
Race Question Reviewed.
The Planet, Richmond, Va., Febru-
ary 11, 1899:
" Rev. C. S. Smith, of Nashville,
Term., contributes a very able article
to the Nashville American of January
29. He is severe on the discriminat¬
ing- actions of the white labor unions.
His discussion of the lynching- barba¬
rism is timely and convincing-. He
gives an emphatic neg-ative reply to
the question whether or not the citi¬
zens of color should retire from poli¬
tics. We agree with him in his state¬
ment of the case, and admire the ad¬
mirable manner in which he handles
the subject which he has undertaken
to discuss."
Southern Weekly News, Savannah,
Ga., February 11, 1899:
" ' RACE QUESTION REVIEWED.'
" The above caption is the subject of
an able and timely article from the
pen of one of the most scholarly and
thoughtful men of the race, Dr. C. S.
Smith, the great secretary of the Sab¬
bath School Union of the A. M. E.
Church, a man of genius, one who has
been thrown in close juxtaposition
with his race, and is, therefore, per¬
fectly cognizant of its dispositions
and habits. Such a man, speaking of
his own race, knows whereof he
speaks."
The Southern Christian Recorder,
Atlanta, Ga., February 16, 1899:
" Our readers will find in this issue
an address by Dr. C. S. Smith, secre¬
tary of the A. M. E. Sunday School
Union. It is the strongest defense of
the Negro we have read in some time,
and it deals with every phase of the
so-called ' Negro Problem.' Dr. Smith
has shown himself to be an advanced
thinker and a bold writer on this line."
Star of Zion, Charlotte, N. C., Feb¬
ruary 16, 1899:
" In the Nashville American of Jan¬
uary 29 is a very brilliant article from
Dr. C. S. Smith, of the A. M. E. Church,
on the ' Race Question Reviewed.' He
favors industrial education and me¬
chanical training for such Negroes
as feel that their calling is on the
farm and in the factory, but emphat¬
ically denies that these will solve the
' Race Problem.' He proves that the
Negro race is down on rape, and is not
hankering after social equality with
the whites, and will not abandon pol¬
itics or leave the South. He closes by
pleading with the two races to live to¬
gether in peace. Dr. Smith is brainy.
May great good result from his arti¬
cle."
Western Christian Recorder, Quin-
daro, Kan., February 18, 1899:
" The ' Race Question Reviewed,' a
strong address by Dr. C. S. Smith,
secretary of our Sunday School Un¬
ion, is attracting much attention in
the South where published. We give
extracts from the same, and will say
that it is easily as strong a discussion
of the subject as has been before the
American people since its agitation.
The writer and the race are to be con¬
gratulated upon the wide publicity
given it by the Nashville American,
published in the South, where it is
most needed. . . . The manly stand
of the writer is all for which we could
hope, and we regret that we are un¬
able to reproduce it entire. However,
Dr. Smith has always been noted for
independent thinking; and if the race
and church will honor independence
in its leaders more, they can look with
brighter hopes to the future."
The Appeal, Atlanta, Ga., February
18, 1899:
" THE MAN FOR AMERICA.
" With the greatest pleasure we
make room elsewhere in this paper
for one of the ablest articles of this
century on the much-discussed ' Race
Issue.' The present handler of the
subject is Rev. Dr. Charles S. Smith,
Press Notices.
47
the "widely-known Sunday school man
of the African Methodist Church. The
argument presented by Dr. Smith is,
in the opinion of this paper, put with
more elegance, precision, and exact¬
ness of speech than is usually used by
us. We submit this picture as drawn
by Artist Smith to that great army of
croakers who think that we have not
always a man in our race ready for
any occasion. Taken all in all, this
utterance is the smoothest, the sound¬
est, and the most modest, as well as
truthful, that has yet been given out
by a Negro. Now let the cowardly of
the race, as well as the reckless of our
people, make way for the sober, con¬
servative, Christian logician. It is this
class of men of both races that must
finally adjust matters. Radicals can¬
not do it, and trimmers are too dis¬
gusting to be allowed the task. What
we want is an importation of Smiths
and an exportation of Millers and
Browns. The Appeal shall keep' the
article standing in its columns one
month. Read it, members of both
races, until you are thoroughly famil¬
iar with it, for it is like the gospel
from Mount Sinai which was indorsed
by our Savior."
Florida Christian Recorder, Orlan¬
do, Fla., February 23, 1899:
" The very excellent article of Dr.
Charles Spencer Smith, secretary of
the A. M. E. Sunday School Union, on
the ' Negro Question,' appears in this
issue. It would be putting it mild to
say that the subject is ably discussed,
and eminently sets forth the fact that
the author is worthy of any laurels
that might be bestowed upon him
from the narrow confines of the
church or race."
The New York Age, New York, N.
Y., February 23, 1899:
" HIGHER AND INDUSTRIAL
EDUCATION.
" In another part of The Age to-day
we publish that portion of a long ar¬
ticle on the ' Race Problem' contrib¬
uted to the Nashville American by
Rev. Charles Spencer Smith, D.D.,
which deals with the question of in¬
dustrial education. We desire that
the readers of The Age shall know
both sides of the question—that of
higher education and that of indus¬
trial education. We are not wedded
to either side, simply because we be¬
lieve in both sides—that is, we do not
believe a man can have too much edu¬
cation. A college graduate who takes
a course in carpentering or brick ma¬
sonry or agriculture should have more
success than a man who has no col¬
lege education. The difficulty is that
too many of our men who get a col¬
lege education deem the industrial
pursuits, in which the most money is
made, beneath their activity. They
would rather starve in the professions
than make handsome incomes as boss
carpenters, masons, and the like.
"As we understand it, our views on
this subject are identical with those
of Mr. Booker T. Washington, upon
whose theories Dr. Smith expends
much fine rhetoric and obvious impa¬
tience. It is true that Mr. Washing¬
ton is not the father of the industrial
theory of education; he has not
claimed that he is; but he has fol¬
lowed in tlie comprehensive course
mapped out by General Armstrong, at
Hampton, who believed that if the
Afro-American race was going to se¬
cure and maintain an honorable status
in our citizenship it must build upon
a skilled industrial and business train¬
ing. General Armstrong did not be¬
lieve, and Mr. Washington does not
believe, that all Afro-Americans
should follow trade pursuits, but that
the great masses of the race should
be taught how to make a living in the
best and easiest way, and be encour¬
aged as far as possible to follow the
pursuits of their fathers and to im-
48
Race Question Reviewed.
prove upon these by securing an edu¬
cation that would fit them to do so.
It is the special work of the Tuskegee
and Hampton Institutes and other
schools of their character to give this
sort of education; but nobody en¬
gaged in this work asks or desires
that the schools of higher learning—
such as Howard, Atlanta, and Fisk
"Universities, and schools of their char¬
acter—shall be closed up or that those
young men who desire it and can af¬
ford the time and expense should not
g-o ahead and secure a classic educa¬
tion. The advocates of industrial ed¬
ucation concede more than the advo¬
cates of higher education: they con¬
cede that a college-bred man should
make a better skilled mechanic,
tradesman, or farmer than a man who
has no such intellectual training.
" The contention of Dr. Smith that
' the mechanical and industrial train¬
ing of the Negro has been in progress
ever since the first cargo of slaves was
landed on the banks of the James
River,' and that inferentially he does
not need, therefore, any industrial
training, does not amount to any¬
thing. A Mr. Bassett showed recent¬
ly, in a thoughtful article in the New
Haven Daily Leader, that the sort of
training we received under the slave
system and have been getting since
in the usual way bears the same rela¬
tion to the training given in such
trade schools as the Troy Polytechnic,
the Hampton and Tuskegee Institutes,
and the like, that chalk bears to
cheese. Special preparation has got
to be made by those who expect to ex¬
cel their fellows in any given pursuit.
The progress made in all lines of ac¬
tivity makes special preparation nec¬
essary.
" Buckle lays it down in the general
introduction to his ' History of Civili¬
zation ' that there can be no high civ¬
ilization, no leisure class given to the
pursuits of learning, the arts, philan¬
thropy, and the like, unless it has a
solid basis in a flourishing industrial¬
ism. On this point Buckle says:
" ' Of all the results which are pro¬
duced among a people by their cli¬
mate, food, and soil, the accumulation
of wealth is the earliest and in many
respects the most important; for al¬
though the progress of knowledge ac¬
celerates the increase of wealth, it is,
nevertheless, certain that, in The first
formation of society, the wealth must
accumulate before the knowledge can
begin. As long as every man is en¬
gaged *in collecting the materials nec¬
essary for his own subsistence there
will be neither leisure nor taste for
higher pursuits. No science can pos¬
sibly be created, and the utmost that
can be effected will be an attempt to
economize labor by the contrivance of
such rtide and imperfect instruments
as even the most barbarous people are
able to invent. In a state of society
like this the accumulation of wealth
is the first great step that can be
taken, because without wealth there
can be no leisure, and without leisure
there can be no knowledge.'
" We need such a groundwork, be¬
cause the increment of our labor for
250 years was absorbed by white men,
and is now a part of the accumulated
capital of the republic, over which we
have no control whatever. We are to
bnild from the ground up. We can
best do this by giving our children the
education necessary to enable them to
hold their proper place in the basic
occupations and industries of the na¬
tion. The exceptions can go to Har¬
vard, Yale, Atlanta, and the like, if
they want to; and the more of them
that do it, the better."
The American Baptist, Louisville,
Ky., February 24, 1899:
" Some time ago the editor of the
Nashville American requested Rev. C.
S. Smith, D.D., of Nashville, Tenn., to
Press Notices.
49
give his views on the ' Race Question,'
which appeared in its issue of January
29. The demand for the article was
so great that it was reproduced
on February 12. It is an able and
scholarly presentation of the question,
and its publication in a Southern
Democratic journal places the facts
before a class of readers who will be
greatly benefited by their perusal.
The race will also be greatly benefited,
because the argument is made not
only in choice language, but in smooth
temper and in a comprehensive man¬
ner. The character of the discussion
is conservative and convincing, and it
will commend itself favorably to both
races. We commend it, and hope to
find space in our columns for it at an
early day."
The Afro-American, Baltimore, Md.,
February 25, 1899:
" Last week we gave space to a
timely article on the ' Race Question'
by Rev. C. S. Smith, D.D., secretary
of the A. M. E. Sunday School Union.
From what we have heard the article
has given general satisfaction. Dr.
Smith seldom appears in print; but
when he does, he has something to say
which is well worth a place in any
one's scrapbook."
Paul Quinn Weekly, Waco, Texas,
February 25, 1899:
" DR. SMITH'S ' RACE QUESTION
REVIEWED.'
" In this issue of the Weekly we re¬
produce Dr. C. S. Smith's article,
' Race Question Reviewed.' We do not
agree with the argument on ' Indus¬
trial and Mechanical Training,' nor is
' Will the Negro Eschew Politics? '
strongly argued, though the question
is correctly answered. However, the
article, as a whole, is strong; and if it
were not for the aberrant tendency of
the argument on the subtopics quoted
above, the Doctor's presentation
would appear to us to be the strong¬
est race defense yet made. The first
paragraph of the article is a jewel.
It is a clear statement of the sover¬
eignty of God in the affairs of men,
and is just what might be expected
from the brain of its author. Dr.
Smith is not only one of the ablest
theologians the race has produced, but
his mental force puts him in rank
with the brainiest men of this coun¬
try.
" In this criticism of the article we
do not attempt to detract from the
man; but we do attempt, rather, to
add force to the main argument that
' the theory of the Brotherhood of
Man must evolve into a living reality
before Christianity shall have done its
perfect work.' We believe that the
perfect work of Christianity will be
done only when each race, being stim¬
ulated by some means, has lifted itself
to the moral and intellectual standard
reached by the race in the lead, ab¬
sorbed or exterminated. We do not
believe that one race can prevent the
rise of another, nor do we believe that
one race can pick another up and set
it down, as it were, into a state of
equal mental and moral force with
the race in the advance. Therefore
we would eschew all such expressions
as ' those who are disposed to advance
the Negro's best interests can render
him valuable service by demanding in
tones of thunder,' etc. ' Demanding,'
whether by him or on the part of oth¬
ers, will do the Negro no good what¬
ever. The Negro is not a horse, that
he must wait till some one is ' dis¬
posed ' to demand the crowd, ' in tones
of thunder, loud and long,' to get back
to see how well the animal can run a
race. Action is required, and not vo¬
ciferation. If the Negro is a man, he
must meet his obstacles as a man;
move them out of the way himself,
and not have the effrontery to ' de¬
mand ' those over whom he has no
control to clear the path.
5°
liACE Question Reviewed.
" Dr. Smith begins his argument
ag-ainst industrial training by saying:
" ' Yes, I am heartily in favor of in¬
dustrial and mechanical training for
such Negroes as may feel that their
calling is on the farm or in the fac¬
tory; but I challenge the assertion of
those who claim that the only solution
of the so-called race problem lies in
the direction of the industrial and me¬
chanical training of the Negro.'
" Does not Dr. Smith know that, the
Negro has no option on occupations?
Can a young Negro quit the farm and
go to a clerkship in a dry goods store,
in a bank, or in some wholesale con¬
cern? Can we have successful busi¬
ness men on a large scale without first
having successful farmers? Is not
tilling the soil the basis of all wealth?
What would New York, Philadelphia,
Chicago, St. Louis, or Nashville do if
it were not for the farm? Can the
Negro own the town easier than he
can own the farm? Is not the ability
of the Negro to own a farm dependent
on his ability to farm well? Will not
industrial training make better farm¬
ers? Will not good farmers help the
whole race?
" Dr. Smith declares that the ' ac¬
quisition of scientific agriculture can¬
not possibly profit the masses of the
Negroes to any great extent, seeing
that they are not owners of the soil.'
Great Scott! Would the Doctor have
our people reduced to a state of vas¬
salage by refusing them the opportu¬
nity to learn even how to raise a lit¬
tle more cotton and corn to the acre,
and thus be better able to buy the
land they till? The Doctor should
know that industrial training, as
taught by Mr. Washington, teaches
how to produce a maximum quantity
on a minimum area at minimum cost.
If this will not enable the Negro to
buy land, what on earth will? If own¬
ing the soil will not improve his condi¬
tion, can vassalage do it?
" The Negro- must become a more
expert producer. In 1887, in the south¬
ern part of this State, we chanced to-
cross a farm tilled by a German and
colored man. The German was plow¬
ing, and the colored man was at the
house in the shade. Possibly the col¬
ored man was not in the shade from
choice, for the solar rays had rent the
ground of the Negro's cotton patch ta
such an extent that it was dangerous
for man or beast to cross it. There
was a great drought. The German's-
cotton crop was poor, but the colored
man had practically none. The dif¬
ference was between the men, and not
between the cotton patches.
" It is true with reference to farm¬
ers in general that those who know
most about farming—those who know
l-.ow to analyze the soil and fertilize it
to advantage—succeed best. Negroes*
as a class, are farmers—not front
choice, true, but from necessity. Sci¬
entific farming, therefore, is neces¬
sary for Negroes in particular—not
that they were born to farm, but be¬
cause farmers, like other men, cannot
improve their condition except they
begin by improving the opportunity
nearest them. The position that sci¬
entific farming, including ' diversifi¬
cation of crops,' will not benefit the
Negro, is fallacious, for the reason
that scientific agriculture seeks to re¬
duce the expenditure of time and la¬
bor to a minimum, which, of course,
increases the ability of the farmer ta
earn money, the earning capacity be¬
ing in favor of the landlord as well as
of the tenant. It is true that in many
places in the South landlords are so
ignorant as to demand that the ten-
ant plant so much of the land in cot¬
ton as wrill guarantee the rent; but
even in that case they prefer the ten-
j.iri. who can raise the maximum
amount of cotton to the acre, which
can be done only by the scientific
farmer. ' Hoeing cotton ' and corn is
Press Notices.
not farming'. The ability to cut weeds
requires little more than mere muscu¬
lar strength, and it is certainly ' writ¬
ten on the tablet of divine fiat that
the universal position of the Negro
should be that of tilling- the soil' so
long as his claim to proficiency is
based on mere animal force. How
can he learn the soil? What will he
do? Will he go into the cities, where
the women must go into the washtub
and the men are forced to loaf half
their time and depend on the ' boss '
for a job the other half? It is useless
to argue that God intends that any
certain race should be exclusive tillers
of the soil, but it is evident that the
Negro cannot rise above his present
condition except he do it through the
medium of the soil, just as other races
have done. When the ratio of Negro
farmers and landowners to their
wealth equals that of the white farm¬
ers and landowners, then, and not till
then, will the ratio of our merchants,
mechanics, etc., to their wealth equal
the ratio of white merchants, mechan¬
ics, etc., to their wealth. There is no
use in trying to stilt the Negro out of
the bog; he must lose or win in the
mire.
" On the question of ' Politics,' Dr.
Smith commits himself himself to the
property-qualification policy now be¬
ing followed by the South. If in
round numbers the Negro is worth
about $20,000,000 and the white man
about $50,000,000,000, that means that
it takes 250 Negroes to make one
white man, which is far worse than
the old Federal ratio of 5 to 3. It ap¬
pears from the above that politics has
about ' eschewed ' the Negro, and yet
some Negroes are not ! manly ' enough
to take the tilt, get wealth, and get
uneschewed. We do not doubt that
the question will be settled pretty
inucli in the dollars-and-cents way,
which Dr. Smith inadvertently points
ollt; but the fact that the Negro holds
the balance of power in so many of
the States teaches that the colored
man, if he had the good sense, could
do much to keep from being ' es¬
chewed.' "
The Conservator, Chicago, 111., Feb¬
ruary 25, 1899:
" One of the ablest presentations of
the ' Race Question ' yet to appear in a
paper south of Mason and Dixon's line
was that written by Rev. Charles S.
Smith, one of the best known divines
of the A. M. E. Church. This article
was first published in the Nashville
American on January 29, and it won
widespread approval. In a spirit of
most commendable fairness the Amer¬
ican reprinted the article in the issue
of February 12, the former issue hav¬
ing been completely exhausted. By
thus presenting the claims of the Ne¬
gro, as outlined by one of its most
capable defenders, before a constitu¬
ency which otherwise we could not
hope to reach, the American showed
the race a great favor, and one that
will be sincerely appreciated. It is to
be hoped that copies will be mailed to*
prominent speakers, writers, and leg¬
islators all over the country. It will
do both races good wherever it is read.
" The article is very long, and it i&
to be regretted that lack of space pre¬
vents its presentation in full here; but
it can be had no- doubt upon letter of
request to the American, of Nash¬
ville."
Buffalo Evening News (W.), Buffalo,
N. Y., February 26, 1899:
"THE 'RACE QUESTION.'
" There is a revival of the ' Race
Question ' in the South, and the po¬
litical and social status of the Negro
is receiving considerable attention by
the leaders of the race and public men
of the Southern States. The Nash¬
ville American has given three col¬
umns of its space to a race utterance
from the pen of a colored man, Rev.
52
Race Question Reviewed.
Charles Spencer Smith, who is claimed
as a noted divine and orator in Ten¬
nessee and the South.
" Next to the advancement of the
Negro in education and adherence to
the Christian rules of obedience to law
and the cultivation of habits of indus¬
try are the considerations of mob
law, the causes which lead to it, and
Negro domination in the South. Rev.
Smith acknowledges that slavery it¬
self furnished the slave with valuable
lessons in industrial and mechanical
training, and that the necessity of the
Negro's training in industrial pur¬
suits, either as a theory or a dictum,
did not originate with this genera¬
tion, but is coeval with his existence
on the American continent.
" This is true, of course, as a gen¬
eral statement; but those who fol¬
lowed the slave, or those who came
after him, needed a continuance of ed¬
ucation and moral training. In the
work that Booker Washington has
•done, and is now doing, we see the
needed advancement of the rising gen¬
eration of colored people in the South.
Education must never be allowed to
pause; it must go on, advance in
strength, and increase in effort. The
Negro educators will do well to har¬
monize their personal efforts to the
end that all friends of the race may
havfe some share in the great work of
making the Negroes of the South self-
supporting, industrious, and content¬
ed with the place given them in the
great Creator's plan of the universe
and its divisions of races and peoples.
" ' Mob law,' Rev. Smith says, ' is a
menace to good government.' That
we all agree to. We also declare with
Rev. Smith that ' mob law is without
reason or conscience, and is as uncon¬
trollable as an exasperated bull. It
does not always seek out the guilty,
but demands a victim, whether guilty
or innocent.' While this is true and
admitted by all intelligent men, North
and South, the remedy for mob law,
as practiced on the Negroes of the
South, is to remove the cause. Stop
the crime of rape, and mob law will
cease. It is dangerous to palliate this
crime, to apologize for it, to make ex¬
cuses for it. White men may assume
the disguise of colored people; they
may black their faces and hands and
put on a wig of crispy hair and per¬
sonate a Neg'ro in the commission of
the great crime, but is there a record
of one such case? If there has been
one case of this description, there
have been fifty cases where Negroes
have been detected as violators. The
only way for respectable Negroes to
do is to examine cases for themselves
by organized committees, and hold
the guilty, white or black, up to the
contempt of mankind, their neigh¬
bors, and the people of the State. All
honor to those black men of the South
who protected the wives and daugh¬
ters of the white men in the severe
trials of the Civil War! No complaint
has been made against the poor col¬
ored people when they fulfilled their
obligations as household servants and
as farm laborers; but the blame of
outrage goes to the idle and lounging
class, who waste their hours in de¬
bauchery and gambling, and, becom¬
ing reckless of restraint, fly to the
crime of outrage to revenge them¬
selves upon society and virtue that
have cast them off as disgraced and
unworthy.
" The whites and blacks can live to¬
gether in the South without trouble,
if each in their own sphere fulfill their
obligations as Christian people and go
forward with a proper appreciation of
the laws made for the protection of
communities and individuals."
Southwestern Christian Advocate,
New Orleans, La., March 2, 1899:
" We have just taken occasion to
read the article on the ' Race Ques-
Press Notices.
53
tiori.' by Dr. C. S. Smith, published in
the Nashville American of January 29,
and reproduced by the same paper in
its issue of February 12. Being- a
man of acknowledged ability, it is not
to be wondered at that Dr. Smith
should produce an able paper; but it
is surprising that he should treat this
most difficult subject in such a sound
and conservative manner as to meet
the approval of the best thinking peo¬
ple of all races, and at the same time
in such a straightforward, manly way
as to express the sentiments of the
vast majority of the people for whom
he speaks. While there are thousands
of us who admire Prof. Booker T.
Washington for his ability, his won¬
derful store of good common sense,
and for his work's sake, we, neverthe¬
less, believe there is no royal road to
the best citizenship and the highest
race development for the Negro other
than that traversed by the march of
civilization in all ages. We believe in
labor, and that most thoroughly, and
we desire to have our people perform
their share of it, whether in the count-
ingroom, on a farm, or in a coalpit,
just as their ability fits them or incli¬
nation leads them. In other words,
let the great stream of race develop¬
ment flow in natural channels.
But we are especially pleased with
Dr. Smith's views on the ' Negro's Po¬
sition as to Bape ' and ' Will the Ne¬
gro Eschew Politics? ' We cannot, be¬
cause of its length, publish the entire
article, but hope to give a portion of
it at no distant day.
The Baotist Leader, Selma, Ala.,
March 2, 1899:
" Bead, read the article on the ' Ne¬
gro Problem' by Charles Spencer
Smith. Although it is long, it is
pleasant, powerful, convincing, and in
every respect profitable. Logical and
true are his words, and to peruse them
is to fix them happily in your mind
and stamp indelibly on the pages of
memory most profound thoughts."
Baptist Vanguard, Little Bock, Ark.,
March 9, 1899:
" Dr. C. S. Smith's review of the
' Bace Question,' as published recently
in the Nashville American, is an ex¬
haustive treatment of that question.
We have read it with great interest,
as well as with much gratitude to the
writer for his bold defense of the
race. His views on industrial and
manual training, social equality, and
Negro domination could not be im¬
proved upon as we see it."
The Constitution (W.), Atlanta, Ga.,
March 12, 1899:
"A COUNTERBLAST AGAINST
BOOKEIi WASHINGTON.
"We print in another place an arti¬
cle by Kev. Charles Spencer Smith
(colored) on the ' Bace Question.' It
may be described as a counterblast
against Booker Washington and as a
protest against the advice which he
has so freely given to the Negroes.
The article is ingenious enough to
catch the attention and meet the ap¬
proval of that large body of Negroes
who take only a superficial view of
Booker Washington's teachings. We
are not surprised to find, therefore,
that a great many influential Negroes
are giving enthusiastic indorsement
to this cimning protest against the so¬
ber and serious programme which has
been outlined by the founder of Tus-
kegee Institute.
" We have said that the arguments
are ingenious. As an illustration,
take the reference to slavery as a
training school. He says that ' the
mechanical and industrial training of
the Negro has been in progress ever
since the first cargo of slaves was
landed on the James Biver, in Vir¬
ginia.' The logical inference from
this is that the race is, therefore, well
trained in industrial and mechanica.1
54
Race Question Reviewed.
pursuits. All the arguments em¬
ployed are just as plausible—and, we
may say, just as superficial—as this.
The race has been in training for more
than two hundred years, therefore
Tvhat need for further training? The
mind is led entirely away from the ob¬
vious fact that each succeeding gen¬
eration of men is born as naked with
respect to industrial and mechanical
training as it is with respect to cloth¬
ing.
" The effect which the article was
intended to have, and which it is hav¬
ing, may be found in the comments
made on it by Negroes of more or less
influence. A Negro preacher at Bren-
ham, Texas, says that he has ' all
along maintained that his [Booker
Washington's] position was " a curry-
favor one," having for its main object
the loosening of the purse strings
of the money holders whose thoughts
were vehicled through him.' It will
be observed that Rev. C. S. Smith has
tad no trouble whatever in getting his
thoughts ' vehicled' into the Texas
preacher. A Negro preacher at Ma¬
con writes to the author of the arti¬
cle to say: ' I have never agreed with
Mr. Washington's views. I said at the
time his famous Atlanta speech was
made that it had done the Negro more
harm than any utterance since the
New England dinner speech by Henry
W, Grady.' Think of that! Think
how hopeless is the condition of the
mind that can see harm to the race in
the powerful and vital address of
Booker Washington in Atlanta! Most
of the comments which have been
•called forth from the Negroes on this
line show that they have caught at the
•clever bait thrown out to them. They
«how, too, a decided disinclination to
accept Booker Washington as a leader
or to give credence to his views and
js>lans. With all this there is to be
read between the lines of the com¬
ments on the address which Rev. C. S.
Smith has carefully inserted in a
broadside of his paper called the Bu¬
gle Blast a curious indignation at the
reputation which Booker Washington
has achieved among the serious and
reflecting minds of the country.
" When Negroes who have influence
declare that the utterances of such a
man as Booker Washington have done
harm to the race, when intelligent Ne¬
groes issue counterblasts against doc¬
trines which have for thousands of
years been the basis of all real racial
progress, it must be admitted by even
hopeful minds that- the Negroes have
still a long and tedious journey before
them.
" The Rev. Charles Spencer Smith,
whose article we are discussing, leaves
carefully out of view all of Booker
Washington's plans, and leaves it to
be inferred that he proposes the train¬
ing of the hand and muscle as the aim
and end of race progress. The truth
is, as all who have indorsed Booker
Washington's views clearly under¬
stand, the mechanical and industrial
training which he advocates with so
much power and truth are mere ele¬
ments in his plan. They are to go
hand in hand with other forms of ed¬
ucation, and they fit in with the high¬
est. The Negroes who are pursuing
him with such shallow criticism as we
have indicated do not seem to under¬
stand or appreciate the purport of a
mechanical and industrial training.
They pretend to see in it a scheme to
confine the Negro race within the lim¬
its of mechanics.
" This idea shows itself all through
the Rev. C. S. Smith's article. What
would be said of a prominent white
man who protested against the study
of astronomy in the schools on the
ground that it would compel the race
to spend its time in stargazing? The
lines of study prescribed in the
schools are not intended to impart
knowledge, but to train the mind into
Press Notices.
55
"the habit of logical thinking-, so that
it may transform into knowledge the
information that comes to it from ev¬
ery side and source. Students ait
school do not study surveying because
they expect to become civil engineers
or practice drawing because they ex¬
pect, to become architects.
The whole purpose of the elemen¬
tary education that is taught in
schools and colleges is to form the
mind and perfect it for receiving and
assimilating the real education that is
to be gained by practicing the real af¬
fairs of life. Thus Booker Washing¬
ton's programme embraces a mechan¬
ical and industrial training, not only
because it imparts skill to the hands,
but because it forms in the mind a
habit, as it were, of industry, and im¬
parts to the character a strength and
solidity comparable to those qualities
which carry the country-raised boys
so rapidly forward when they secure
positions in towns and cities.
" Rev. C. S. Smith thinks that the
Neg'ro ' is irremovably in the sphere of
the axiomatic verity; ' that 'all men,
other than imbeciles or idiots, are en¬
dowed with mental and spiritual ca¬
pacities capable of varied and illimita¬
ble expansion; ' and, therefore, 'as a
whole, his sphere of operation cannot
be limited to the tilling of the soil.'
It will be observed that Rev. C. S.
Smith's ' axiomatic verity' consti¬
tutes a very large order indeed. It
certainly has not been found to be
true even of the white race that ' all
men other than imbeciles and idiots,
are endowed with mental and spiritual
capacities capable of varied and illim¬
itable expansion.' 'Varied'—yes; but
* illimitable '—that is a little too much.
Even if "this wonderful ' axiomatic
verity' stood the strain of facts, it
•would still be true that the best and
highest minds this country has pro¬
duced have begun their careers at the
plow and as tillers of the soil.
"Another taste of Rev. C. S. Smith's
logic will, we are sure, be sufficient
for our readers. He says: ' Moreover,
the acquisition of scientific agricul¬
ture, cannot possibly profit the masses
of the Negroes to any great extent,
seeing that they are not the owners of
the soil.' It is hardly necessary to
point out the depressing character of
this sort of talk. It is as far away
from hope as it is from common sense.
Because the Negroes are not the own¬
ers of the soil they are never to be¬
come owners of any part of the soil—
this is the argument; and it has noth¬
ing to rest on but a desire to criticise
Booker Washington and a keen and an
anxious purpose to belittle him, and
thus hurt his influence vfith the Negro
race.
" The whole article on which we are
commenting, as careful readers will
perceive, is plausible enough to arouse
the enthusiasm of all Negroes who are
jealous of Booker Washington, but it
falls to pieces the moment it is exam¬
ined. What is Rev. Smith's solution
of the ' Race Problem? ' Politics and
the professions. Are mechanics and
agricultural pursuits too ignoble for
the Negroes? Will mere industry pre¬
vent the ' illimitable expansion' of
their capacities?
"Although thousands of them are
owners of the soil and hundreds of
others are acquiring farms, and al¬
though the great mass of the race is
engaged in farming, yet ' the acquisi¬
tion of scientific agriculture cannot
possibly profit' them! This may be
said to be the keynote of the whole ar¬
ticle."
The Appeal, Atlanta, Ga., March 25,
1899:
" The column and a half editorial
in the Constitution on Dr. C. S. Smith's
' Race Question Reviewed ' shows that
he hit the nail in every instance on
its axiomatic head. More: On the first
56
Race Question Reviewed.
round Dr. Smith makes the Atlanta
Constitution recant from a position
it has taken and defended for the
last two years. Its settled position
has been that the Negro in this
country need never hope for any¬
thing- but labor, except those obscure
offerings not desired among respect¬
able whites. Dr. Smith has whipped
this paper into a corner, as it
now admits itself to be thoroughly
in line with Washington, who believes
that in his way all things will come
to the Negro."
Paul Quinn Weekly, Waco, Texas,
March 25, 1899:
"THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION'S
VIEW OF DR. SMITH'S ARTICLE.
" In its issue of March 12, the At¬
lanta Constitution prints editorially
more than a. column of comment on
Dr. C. S. Smith's ' Race Question Re¬
viewed.' Among other things, that
paper says:
" ' The Rev. Charles Spencer Smith,
whose article we are discussing, leaves
carefully out of view all of Booker
Washington's plans, and leaves it to
be inferred that he proposes the train¬
ing of the hand and muscle as the aim
and end of race progress. The truth
is, as all who have indorsed Booker
Washington's views clearly under¬
stand, the mechanical and industrial
training which he advocates with so
much power and truth are mere ele¬
ments in his plan. They are to go
hand in hand with other forms of edu¬
cation, and they fit in with the highest.
The Negroes who are pursuing him
Avith such shallow criticism as we have
indicated do not seem to understand
or appreciate the purport of a mechan¬
ical and industrial training. They
pretend to see in it a scheme to confine
the Negro race within the limits of
mechanics. This idea shows itself all
through the Rev. C. S. Smith's article.
What would be said of a prominent
white man who protested against the
study of astronomy in the schools on
the ground that it would compel the
race to spend its time in stargazing?
The lines of study prescribed in the
schools are not intended to impart
knowledge, but to train the mind into
the habit of local thinking, so that it
may transform into knowledge the in¬
formation that comes to it from every
side and source. Students at school
do not study surveying because they
expect to become civil engineers, nor
practice drawing because they expect
to become architects. The whole pur¬
pose of the elementary education that
is taught in schools and colleges is to
form the mind and perfect it for re¬
ceiving and assimilating the real edu¬
cation that is to be gained by prac¬
ticing the real affairs of life. Thus
Booker Washington's programme em¬
braces a mechanical and industrial
training, not only because it imparts
skill to the hands, but because it forms
in the mind a habit, as it were, of in¬
dustry and imparts to the character
a strength and solidity comparable to
those qualities which carry the coun¬
try-raised boys so rapidly forward
when they secure positions in towns
and cities.'
" It must be remembered that Dr.
Smith's view is indorsed by prominent
men of both races. Therefore it can¬
not be said that the discussion of the
problem involves a race issue. It is
merely a matter of logic on the one
side and sentiment and false pride on
the other. Those who claim Mr.
Washington's idea is that Negroes are
mere ' drawers of water and hewers of
wood ' are either ignorant of the in¬
dustrial plan or unmindful of the plain
facts of history and race progress. We
do not disparage Dr. Smith's views on
this question, nor do we encourage
any one who may have ulterior ob¬
jects in view in assaulting the posi¬
tion of the Doctor, but we do think
it cowardly to run away from plain
facts and logical conclusion. How Dr.
Press Notices.
57
Smith or anybody else can see that
special industrial training" for the
Negro in his present condition in the
South which condition has already
wedded him to the soil—can harm, re¬
tard, or in any way hinder the Negro
from rising out of his present condi¬
tion is certainly a new way of reach¬
ing" logical conclusions, and a way
which, if persisted in, is destined to
wreck an already misguided and mis¬
directed race. How could ownership
of the soil, which is included in the
industrial scheme, reduce the number
of Negro merchants, doctors, or law¬
yers? Would not Negroes who own
their farms be better able to follow
the bent of their mind with reference
to other callings than Negro ten¬
ants? "
The Baptist Leader, Selma, Ala.,
March 25, 1899:
" ' RACE QCTESTION.'
" Constitution Comment Fails to Con¬
fute—Rev. Smith's Argument Sound
—Moral Training First—Industrial
Training Second.
" It seems almost presumptuous for
such a clever editor as that of the Bap¬
tist Leader to put forth an antago¬
nistic comment on an able editorial of
the Atlanta Constitution; yet there
are occasions, crises, and turns in af¬
fairs of things when a word from the
most insignificant, would not be out of
place. We feel that such an occasion
is now on. A turning point in Negro
history in this country is on, concern¬
ing which no Negro can afford to be in¬
different. Some weeks ago we pub¬
lished an able article by Rev. C. S.
Smith, D.D., on ' The Negro Question
Reviewed.' Many readers of this paper
will remember a review of the speech
of Prof. Booker T. Washington, be¬
fore the Teachers' Association in Sel¬
ma Ala., in 1895, we published, and the
hot discussion that followed, in which
Dr. Burwell figured conspicuously,
representing Professor Washington's
views. We took the position then that
industrial education was an element
in the solution of the Negro problem,
but not the solution; and unless held
in proper relation to pure intellectual
training, it would operate against the
Negro's best interest and highest ele¬
vation. Rev. Smith more ably and
happily stated our position in his arti¬
cle on this race question in the Nash¬
ville American. The Constitution re¬
published this article on March 12r
1899, and commented upon it. This
venerable journal, which has been
styled the ' Southern Bible,' used many
words in its effort to show fallacies
in the argument of Rev. C. S. Smith.
The editor states that the article is
ingenious. When one has read the
comment, he will be convinced that
the ingenious article is met by an in¬
genious reply from the Constitution,
which is calculated to maintain the
faith of every devotee in his old Bible;
but it will fail to proselyte ' a great
many influential Negroes.' We fail to
see any confutation of Rev. Smith's
argument in the editorial. Our fail¬
ing to see may be due to a hopeless
condition of the mind referred to by
the Constitution or to something else;
but the fact is, the cunning comment
has failed to catch \is. On Rev. Smith's
reference to slavery as a mechanical
and industrial training school, the
Constitution says: ' The logical infer¬
ence from this is that the race is there¬
fore well trained in industrial and me¬
chanical pursuits. The race has been
in training" for more than two hun¬
dred years, therefore what need for
further training? '
" The few words that the Constitu¬
tion quoted in its comment of this
reference might justify his conclu¬
sion, but the logical inference from
what Rev. Smith said on that point is
it will take more than industrial train¬
ing to solve the Negro problem, and
that industrial training should be lim-
58
Race Question Keviewed.
ited with regard to range of subjects
and number of persons to be taught,
and in regard to time given to such
education. He says he heartily in¬
dorses ' industrial and mechanical
training for such Negroes as may feel
that their calling is on the farm or in
the factory.' He- cautions the Negro
youth against being carried away in
the tidal wave of the industrial doc¬
trine and against putting all his time
and strength in learning a trade with
a view to ready money, by showing
him that there are scores of skilled
carpenters, etc., out of employment,
cannot get anything to do, and tells
him how the trades unions are operat¬
ing against him. But the mind is led
entirely away from this point in the
Constitution's comment.
" The Constitution is quite right
when it infers that there is a decided
disinclination among the Negroes to
accept Mr. Booker T. Washington as
a leader or give credence to his views
and plans. The Negro cannot convince
himself to give the major part of the
little time he has to spend in school
to that which has been the basis of all
racial progress for thousands of years
in the past, and he has been in a part
of the past and has acquired much of
that basis in the past.
" The "Constitution says mechanical
and industrial education as an aim or
end of race progress is not proposed
by Professor Washington, that the
training of the hand and miiscles are
only elements in his plan. To this we
reply it is unfortunate that Mr. Wash¬
ington has so magnified his elements
as to overshadow his plan. That this
is true the comments of some of the
best men of the race are evidence. If
his plan is set forth so obscurely that
the intelligent of his race cannot see
it, the ignorant will most probably
take the elements and miss the plan.
" This brings us to the objection we
raised on this subject three years ago.
What the Negro needs is strength, but
spiritual strength. An uncouth boy
from the country, put in an industrial
school with an inherited capacity and
an acquired ability for physical exer¬
cise, take readily to his trade, he ac¬
quires the art; but his weak mind and
little time given to study prevent his
knowledge of the science of the trade
from being perfect. He graduates and
goes out into the world with a trained
hand and poorly trained brain; hence
a mind too weak to guide the hands.
As a rule, such an educated boy is a
failure. In case he is a .failure, the
training of the muscles has been an
end of race progress instead of an ele¬
ment in a plan; hence the plan is a
failure in its practical working when
applied to the Negro- in industrial
schools.
" The regime of this government
calls for men of thought, of character,
good morals, and a developed mind.
Higher education *is in line writh this
demand. While Professor Washing¬
ton's plan takes in trained muscles
applied to the hig-hest intellectual
training, such a happy and systematic
development is not obtained in these
industrial schools of the South once
in ten years. Not one out of every
hundred graduates from these schools
has intellectual development enough
to conduct a successful peanut farm
or to understand the elements of the
Taw of reciprocity. Hence the edu¬
cation has failed of the purpose'
which the Constitution says it is for—
namety, ' to form the mind and per¬
fect it.' ' Mechanical and industrial
training imparts to the character
strength and solidity,' says the Con¬
stitution; and, proceeding farther, it-
declares: ' The best and highest minds,
this country has produced have begun
their careers at the plow and as tillers
of the soil.' The logical inference
here is that Professor Washington's
scheme is the best scheme of educa¬
tion for all peoples, and is necessary
to impart strength of character to the
Press Notices.
59
Negro—it being understood he needs
strength of character—and to bring1
him to the highest plane of elevation
to which he must come, as some of the
best minds of this country came by the
way of the plow; hence he must be
taught to plow. This argument is
plausible; but if the field or farm
"work gave strength of character and
formed the basis of success of Wash¬
ington, Lincoln, and Garfield, the
Negro cannot be sadly lacking in
strength of character. If his work on
the farm has done for him what it did
for some of ' the best minds of this
country,' he has a basis very nearly
formed for rapid progress; hence need
not spend a great deal of his time
while in school in industrial training
to complete it. Many need not spend
any time in school to acquire such a
basis; it is complete when they enter
school. But it seems in most of these
industrial schools the boy that has less
need of industrial training is called
on most to do work. Here he has
forced on him what adds but little to
his character or to his knowledge. In
such a case, Rev. Smith and some in¬
significant Negroes look upon the in¬
dustrial training to be virtually loss of
time, money, and strength. Well does
the Constitution say the best and high¬
est minds of our country began at the
plow. They did not remain at the
plow. They went with what they got
at the plow into school and got some¬
thing else. But the tendency for the
Negro is to go from the plow on the
farm to the plow in scliool. There are
a few Negro leaders who think upon
that'solid character gotten at the plow
on the farm should be built the super¬
structure of intellectual training in
the schoolroom, and our friend Booker
T. Washington has a hard task before
him to convince us to the contrary.
" We believe in the superiority of
mind to matter, hence the control of
matter by mind. We cannot afford to
pay less attention to that which gov¬
erns than we do to that which is gov¬
erned. The tools and drill that pre¬
pare the hands to serve cannot prepare
the mind to govern. To the influence
they may exercise must be added that
of the imagery of the classics, the
speculation of science, the revelations
of metaphysics, the difficulties of
mathematics, and the wisdom of his¬
tory—subjects that make up higher
education; to regulate and cultivate
the taste, to broaden the vision, to cre¬
ate lofty sentiment, to formulate
higher ideals, and to develop strength
in the person that shall master mat¬
ter and its forces. A person of lofty
sentiment and noble ideals, with his
moral nature regulated, cannot be
lazy; hence the piano is not a curse
in a log hut.
" The developments of higher edu¬
cation lead to industry; does industry
equally lead to higher 'education?
Does a farmer become a lawyer as
readily as a lawyer can become a
farmer? The strength of mind the
lawyer has received of the higher edu¬
cation will enable him to become a
farmer in three years, while the little
strength of mind of a primary educa¬
tion would prevent the farmer from
becoming a lawyer in nine years.
" We favor higher education in that
it imparts fine feelings, gives culture,
refinement, politeness. No amount of
mechanical and industrial training
will elevate the Negro without this
culture; hence our plea for higher
education, as a producer of it, for him.
There is nothing he needs to-day more
than true manliness, gentleness, tidi¬
ness, politeness, and respect for prom¬
ises and obligations. The learning of
trades seem to have nothing in it to
give these indispensable virtues or
grace to any practical degree. Pro¬
fessor Washington has these graces oi
higher education by contact with the
best people of the country. Some of
the great railroad systems are threat¬
ening to turn off all their colored fire-
6o
Race Question Reviewed.
men because of their deficiency along
these moral lines. They get drunk,
the employers say, and fail to answer
to the call of duty; they allow them¬
selves to be garnisheed for debt; they
do not aspire; their ideals are low.
Their need is not industrial training,
but moral training.
" It is this moral training about
which our poor heart is anxious; hence
we are reluctant to decide to accept as
leader one whose scheme of education
in its practical working develops a
tendency toward leaving these essen¬
tials uncared for or toward having
them considered second in importance
to physical development. This ten¬
dency is a tendency toward dethroning
God and enthroning the almighty dol¬
lar in the heart of men. That this ten¬
dency does exist, you have only to pay
a little attention to the life of our
young folks' to be convinced. Almost
every organization to-day, religious or
what not, has for its chief aim money.
Men are joining the church and leav¬
ing the church with sole regard to
money advantages. This apostasy is
due, to a great extent, to the material¬
istic arguments and discussions car¬
ried on by the apostles of industrial
education. In view of facts it is nat¬
ural for the spiritually minded, view¬
ing this question from a religious point
of view, to object to Professor Wash¬
ington as their sole leader, even if there
was no jealousy of his fame in their
bosom. Professor Washington speaks
as a natural man and says: Educate
toward holding your job and getting
a job. The spiritual man says: Edu¬
cate with an eye single to the glory
of God; regulate yourselves in proper
relation to God and you will never
be without a job, though the skilled
workmen from the North may swarm
the South like bees.
" We do not object to the mechanical
and industrial education, but we ob¬
ject to it holding the first place in any
plan of education, let that education
be for white or black folks; and with
the Negro in view of his past training
—in work and in morals—in the insti¬
tution of slavery, the moral and spirit¬
ual training is of first importance. In¬
dustrial training should be select and
special, while moral and spiritual
training should be general—given to
every student.
" Now the conclusion of the whole-
matter: We would not have the me¬
chanical department taken from our
schools; neither do we aim to injure
the fame and reputation of our illus¬
trious Booker T. Washington; but
feeling with Rev. Dr. Smith and others
called upon to do something to coun¬
teract the retrograding tendency that
has accompanied industrial doctrine
and its agitation of recent years, we
have spoken at length on this sub¬
ject. If our efforts shall serve in any
degree as a check to evil results grow¬
ing out of the doctrine, our purpose
will be fully accomplished."
The Afro-American Review, Mattoon,
111.:
" The article of Rev. C. S. Smith,
D.D., on the ' Race Question Reviewed,r
is without a doubt a masterly presen¬
tation of one of the gravest and
most difficult economic problems of
the times. In characteristic language
of eloquence, logic, and earnestness
he tells the South and the nation that
the Negro is a man capable of the-
finest feelings and the highest en¬
dowment; that he is a citizen, peace¬
ful and patriotic, worthy of every priv¬
ilege of civil franchise, and that his
most dangerous foe is in the thought
and theory that he must, by nature
and training, forever remain a ' hewer
of wood and drawer of water' because
his skin is black. Through the lenses
of Southern glasses the editor of the-
Atlanta Constitution attempts to an¬
swer Dr. Smith by a weak defense
of Booker T. Washington's one-sided
theory of solving the intricate diffi¬
culty. Says the editor:
Press Notices.
6i
' The article is ingenious enough
to catch the attention and meet the
approval of that large body of Negroes
who take only a superficial view of
Booker Washington's teachings. We
are not surprised to find, therefore,
that a great many influential Negroes
are giving enthusiastic indorsement to
this cunning protest against the sober
and serious programme which has
been outlined by the founder of Tus-
kegee Institute.'
" The only effective way of settling
this whole race question is to give the
Negro what is justly due him as a
■citizen of a great, free republic. This
is the gist of Dr. Smith's able plea,
and it is the only way to secure ab¬
solute safety to the body politic."
The Brotherhood, Mississippi:
" LOGIC OF THE SITUATION.
" Dr. C. S. Smith, of Nashville,
swung his blade of rhetoric over his
head the other day and aimed an awful
blow at the anatomy of Booker T.
Washington. We saw the flourish and
the flash thereof, but the steel—the
thing that mutilates or kills*—we have
seen neither that nor the quivering
flesh of Booker T. lying about.
" Now the logic of the situation is
just this: The colored people, if they
rise at all, must rise, as all great races
have risen, on a broad and compact in¬
dustrial foundation.
" Higher education, of course, is in¬
dispensable, but it will never be re¬
spected, since it never can be ade¬
quately supported until it rests se¬
curely on the back of the industries.
All talk about trades unions, boycotts,
nonownership of soil, and such thing's
as operating permanently against the
colored man's industrial advancement
is nothing but the lisp of an infant.
There is nothing less powerful than
divine intervention that can keep down
a people who are up in the industries.
When Dr. Smith can point out a peo¬
ple who are up in the industries and
down in the scale of well-being, his
contention will have more of argument
and less of declamation to recommend
it."
W7eekly Express, Dallas, Texas, Feb¬
ruary 25, 1899:
" Rev. C. S. Smith, Nashville, Tenn.,
has written a very able and compre¬
hensive review of the race problem as
it affects the United States. He dis¬
agrees with Booker T. Washington on
the industrial education cure for exist¬
ing ills, taking the position that the
Negro is an American citizen, and that
nothing short of American liberty will
satisfy him. He makes no mistake in
this contention."
Our Church, Portsmouth, Va., March,
1899:
" The article on the race question
by Rev. C. S. Smith, D.D., so widely
published throughout the United
States, stamps the writer of the arti¬
cle as one of the greatest thinkers of
the race. This, however, is no new
revelation to those who know Dr.
Smith, for it has been well known to
the leading minds of the race that Dr.
Smith has few equals and possibly no
superiors when it comes to a question
of depth of thought and a demand for
a race defender."
The Age, Atlanta, Ga., March 11,
1899:
" Booker Washington is on the right
line. He is worth all the Smiths and
other critics of his work that you
could corral in a score of years. The
future of the Negro, as a rule, for the
next twenty years, depends on the
kind of education that Washington's
school g-ives. While higher education
must go along with it, every institu¬
tion that would do the Negro good
must adopt Washington's theory and
practice in producing the finished stu¬
dent. Outside of a few business men,
the ever-present gospel writer, and a
few spittoon washers who, during
leisure hours, write for ' weakly ' news-
62
Race Question Reviewed.
papers, the race must depend upon the
manual laborer, the mechanic, and the
well-educated agriculturist for suc¬
cess that may come to it. We fear that
those that come from such schools as
Washington's will have to carry the
burden of the fight. Forbid it, Al¬
mighty God! Yet we feel that God
will not forbid it, as the Negro him¬
self seeks oppression; and the more
skilled laborer, the better for him; and
the seeing- that he can better accom¬
plish g-ood results by first learning-
how to work for a dollar by that labor
that white men began with, he will
be best off."
The Florida Sentinel, Jacksonville,
Fla., March 3, 1899:
" INDUSTRIAL TRAINING.
" The very able article which ap¬
peared some weeks since in the Nash¬
ville American, by Charles S. Smith,
D.D., dealing- with the Negro as a po¬
litical and industrial factor, was an
exceedingly well-prepared paper and
is doubtless read with much interest
by the thoughtful Negroes of the
country.
" Dr. Smith discussed the question
at length on industrial training, but
he did not make his position clear to
us. The mechanical and industrial
training- the Negro obtained as a slave
was, in a manner, parrotlike when
compared with the intellectual-indus¬
trial training- afforded the black boys
and girls in our institutions to-day.
To our mind the system of industrial
training as pursued at Tuskegee,
Hampton, Florida State Normal, and
similar schools is the turning point in
the evolution of Negro progression.
" The New York Age editorially re¬
fers to Dr. Smith's article in a plausi¬
ble way. The Age says:
" ' The contention of Dr. Smith that
" the mechanical and industrial train¬
ing of the Negro has been in progress
ever since the first cargo of slaves was
landed on the banks of the James
River," and that inferentially he does
not need therefore any industrial
training, does not amount to anything.
A Mr. Bassett showed recently in a
thoughtful article in the New Haven
Daily Leader that the sort of training
we received imder the slave system
and have been getting since in the
usual way bears the same relation to
the training given in such trade
schools as the Troy Polytechnic, the
Hampton, and the Tuskegee Insti¬
tutes, and the like that chalk bears to
cheese. Special preparation has got
to be made by those who expect to
excel their fellows in any given pur¬
suit. The progress made in all lines
of activity makes special preparation
necessary. We need such* a ground¬
work, because the increment of our
labor for two hundred and fifty years
was absorbed by white men and is now
a part of the accumulated capital of
the republic, over which we have no
control whatever. We are to build
from the ground up. WTe can best do
this by giving our children the educa¬
tion necessary to enable them to hold
their proper places in the basic oecu-
pations and industries of the nation.
The exceptions can go to Harvard,
Yale, Atlanta, and the like, if they
want to, and the more of them that do'
it, the better.' "
Campbell Colleg-e Journal, Jackson,
Miss., March, 1899:
" ' RACE QUESTION REVIEWED/
BY DR. C. S. SMITH.
" The article from the pen of that
distinguished churchman, Dr. C. S.
Smith, on the ' Race Question Re¬
viewed,' and as appearing in a lead¬
ing" journal of one of our Southern
cities, more than expresses the com-
mendableness of the opinions of this
erudite spokesman, .from the stand¬
point of his brother in white.
" Strong, bold, uncompromising;
fair, reasonable, and generous, is the
position most creditably taken by its
Press Notices.
63
author. For this very reason, our sur¬
prise is greatest that a paper of the
standing- of the Nashville American
would accept, to say the least, be
the medium of the circulation of such
a production from the pen of a Negro.
" More remarkable still is the fact
that Dr. Smith is no stranger to the
press of his city. That a professional
Negro nomad of the road or an indi¬
vidual whose opinions were little re¬
garded could have met such recogni¬
tion before the reading public at the
hands of this Southern journal is the
greatest absurdity. We therefore
conclude: Smith was known, his doc¬
trine sound—reasonable, at least;
worthy of the consideration, of a preju¬
diced and powerful caste."
The Southern Watchman, Mobile,
Ala.:
" Dr. C. S. Smith, of Nashville,
Tenn., in an article printed in the
Nashville American recently, takes
the trades unions throughout the
country to taw about discrimination
against the Negro, and declares that
we have more skilled mechanics and
farmers now than the white man will
let work. He believes that the Negro
is capable of doing anything that the
white man can do, and, therefore,
should not be confined to any special
trade or profession; but, like the
white man, he should be educated and
given a chance in the race of life a&d*
left to enter whatever trade or profes¬
sion nature has fitted him for. To
all of which we say: 'Amen.' "
Voice of Missions, Atlanta, Ga.:
" The race issue, reviewed by Dr. C.
S. Smith, of Nashville, Tenn., as found
in this paper, is an able treatment of
that perplexing question. We have a
host of novitiate statesmen, white and
colored, who are ever and anon at¬
tempting to treat the vexed question;
and they are equivocating, shuffling
responsibilities, and cowardly ambig¬
uous when the most essential phase of
the so-called problem is touched. Not
so, however, with Dr. Smith." He de¬
mands every right, privilege, and civil
and political immunity for our race
claimed by others, and establishes his
argument by a masterful logic that no
one not possessed of the devil would
assume to deny. Eight is right, and
any policy not founded upon right will
not stand. His review will bear the
closest scrutiny, and ranks him
among the foremost representatives
of our race. Eead it, and read it
again."