pts to follow the bale of cotton up through the higher stages,
through the mill where it is made into the finer fabrics, where the
larger profit appears, he is told that he is not wanted.

The Negro can work in wood and iron; and no one objects so long as he
confines his work to the felling of trees and sawing of boards, to the
digging of iron ore and making of pig iron. But, when the Negro
attempts to follow this tree into the factory where it is made into
desks and chairs and railway coaches, or when he attempts to follow
the pig iron into the factory where it is made into knife-blades and
watch-springs, the Negro's trouble begins. And what is the objection?
Simply that the Negro lacks the skill, coupled with brains, necessary
to compete with the white man, or that, when white men refuse to work
with coloured men, enough skilled and educated coloured men cannot be
found able to superintend and man every part of any one large
industry; and hence, for these reasons, they are constantly being
barred out. The Negro must become, in a larger measure, an intelligent
producer as well as a consumer. There should be a more vital and
practical connection between the Negro's educated brain and his
opportunity of earning his daily living.

A very weak argument often used against pushing industrial training
for the Negro is that the Southern white man favours it, and,
therefore, it is not best for the Negro. Although I was born a slave,
I am thankful that I am able so far to rid myself of prejudice as to
be able to accept a good thing, whether it comes from a black man or a
white man, a Southern man or a Northern man. Industrial education will
not only help the Negro directly in the matter of industrial
development, but also in bringing about more satisfactory relations
between him and the Southern white man. For the sake of the Negro and
the Southern white man there are many things in the relation of the
two races that must soon be changed. We cannot depend wholly upon
abuse or condemnation of the Southern white man to bring about these
changes. Each race must be educated to see matters in a broad, high,
generous, Christian spirit: we must bring the two races together, not
estrange them. The Negro must live for all time by the side of the
Southern white man. The man is unwise who does not cultivate in every
manly way the friendship and good will of his next-door neighbour,
whether he be black or white. I repeat that industrial tr