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124 THE CRISIS store for it a development that cannot be retarded by the death of one leader, no matter how great his influence. "No students of history, certainly no ethnologists longer assert that the colored race is incapable of achievement. The recent discoveries of the free cities it established in early in early times in Africa, the achievements of its forerunners, the Egyptians, its remarkable evolution in eastern Asia, and middle Africa in mediaeval times, have been studied in recent years to the justification of modern efforts by the race. "Everything about the black man's past goes to show that, until the blight of slavery was put upon him by peoples who had a better running start toward power, his history was honorable, though, because of climatic conditions, it did not follow the lines of the northern races. The colored man in America, with the help of such institutions as Tuskegee, has shown himself capable of advancement, and the advancement has largely been accomplished through efforts of men like Washington, DuBois and others of the race." - Press, New York, and Washington (D.C.) Times. "Dr. Washington was a wiser leader than those impetus souls who demanded for the Negro at once every political right and cultural opportunity. The Negro is on the soil. He is in the South. His surest, shortest road to an assured road is efficiency. Dr. Washington as far-seeing in his desire to work in harmony with white men of his section. It is to the credit of the whites that they were so ready to work with him." - World, New York City. "The death of Booker T. Washington should recall every square-toed American citizen to the fact that, sooner or later, in the North, in New England and in Massachusetts, we must face manfully, and in justice to both races and to the cause of humanity, a problem which we have been cruelly and cowardly dodging. "Fair words about the 'great American melting pot,' as we welcome to our ports all sorts and conditions of men, are all very fine, but what are we going to do about the boys and girls, the men and women, who, born here, reared here, educated here, are turned loose to find the doors of opportunity closed to them as if by constitutional mandate?" - Traveler and Evening Herald, Boston, Mass. "Near the beginning of his career in the White House President Roosevelt invited Booker Washington to dine with him. The South broke into fury. Its Republican congressmen, few and far between, were put to it to account for the episode. Linny, of North Carolina, explained to his confiding constituents that when the noon hour came Roosevelt looked up to say: 'Aren't you hungry, Booker? Of course you are. Here, Mandy, go and get Booker something to eat; give it to him out there with you; there now, Booker, you'll feel better.' "Democratic congressmen took the opposite tack. They exaggerated the episode. Alabama elected Heflin to Congress after declaring that he wished the same man who assassinated McKinley had been there to throw a bomb under the table... "The South won, in the controversy, to this extent: Roosevelt never invited Booker Washington to dine with him again, nor did Taft or President Wilson ever proffer similar hospitalities. It is doubtful in the near future any President risks the favor of the South by doing so. As a nation, we enforce the most serious race proscription in the world." - Herald, Boston Mass. "To wage a militant campaign for the rights of the Negro, as Mr. DuBois is doing, appeals to the sympathies. But we believe that the verdict of time will give to Dr. Washington the palm for the greater accomplishment in seeking conciliation rather than deepening of hatreds, in bearing wrongs with infinite patience instead of breaking out in revolt against them, and in making his people intrinsically worthy of the things denied them." - Evening Post, Chicago,I11. "He held that the present duty of all Negroes is to improve their economic position by thrift and industry and build up a reputation as law-abiding citizens leaving political problems to be settled later. For this he was bitterly attacked by the more impatient leaders of his own OPINIONS 125 race; but the chances are heavy that the cool judgement of Washington will be found a better guide than the impassioned eloquence of DuBois." - Evening Journal, Chicago, I11. "Estimated in gross, it may be that the influence of this son of a slave woman and an unknown father has been the greatest of all American forces for progress in our generation. The computation is beyond finite minds. Only the supreme Judge can know the answer to the question. But at least we mortals can bid farewell to the departed man with deep respect and an acknowledgment of his to us unmeasureable value to our time." - Free Press, Detroit, Mich. Since the ending of slavery, two really strong men of Negro blood stand out. Not that the race has produced but two men of marked ability, but those who have places fixed in history are Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington. The former performed a great service for his people in settling their political and civil status in the formative period following emancipation. "Fully as commanding a figure is Booker Washington, though he addressed himself to a different problem - the economic and social uplift of his race." - Bee, Omaha, Neb. THE COPPER HEAD PRESS "HIS success is keeping clear of political pitfalls was remarkable. Only once did he make a misstep in that direction. On that occasion he accepted an invitation to lunch at the White House, extended to him by President Roosevelt. Because that incident aroused feeling against him in the South, it was a mistake to accept it. No intelligent American could have failed to enjoy a talk to Booker T. Washington, but invitations to 'break bread' in the White House carry with them what is called social recognition. It was unfortunate to have that question raised in the case of a man of such intellectual distinction as Mr. Washington and carrying such important responsibilities as he had assumed." - Post, Hartford, Conn. "The temptation to those interested in benefiting the Negro was to scold the whites for their refusal to recognize him. Race pride protested against Jim Crow cars, segregation in theaters, restrictions in residence. "This is precisely the kind of work Dr. Washington did not do. He seldom scolded the whites and took his rebuffs with philosophy. Instead of calling upon the colored men to assert their rights, he set out to eradicate those Negro, characteristics which made it impossible for Negroes to achieve rights." - Tribune, Chicago, I11. "Booker Washington was a black, thick-lipped, ungainly specimen, born in slavery without a knowledge of his father or his birth date. That is the picture of a real Negro.... "He plodded along, pulling his race with him, looking after the needs of the mostly lowly in a moral and intellectual way, demonstrating to the Negro that he could never be anything else but a Negro, that there was really no place worthy his effort in the political life of this nation to which he could reasonably aspire as a race for generations to come." - Record, Long Branch, N.J. THE SOUTH "THE death of Booker T. Washington is national misfortune, for his life was a national benefaction. He stood head and shoulders above any man of his race, and his towering figure for more than a generation was as a pillar of fire to light his people out of the darkness of ignorance, indolence and error. He was the Negro's wisest, bravest teacher and leader. He saw, as none more clearly, the black man's shortcomings and possibilities, his need and his hope. He devoted his life-every day of it, every energy of it-to bringing the descendants of the slaves to see these things as he saw them, to setting their feet upon the one path that opens their way to real freedom, material independence, respected and self respecting citizenship. His work, great in purpose, great in its results, was monumental. Now that he has laid it down may there be others as able, as devoted, to take it up. But where are they?" - Louisville (Ky.) Courier Journal
