want to do something for my wife
and children; but I do not know how,--I do not know what to do." I
looked into his lean and haggard face, and realised more deeply than
ever before the absolute need of captains of industry among the great
masses of the coloured people.

It is possible for a race or an individual to have mental development
and yet be so handicapped by custom, prejudice, and lack of employment
as to dwarf and discourage the whole life. This is the condition that
prevails among the race in many of the large cities of the North; and
it is to prevent this same condition in the South that I plead with
all the earnestness of my heart. Mental development alone will not
give us what we want, but mental development tied to hand and heart
training will be the salvation of the Negro.

In many respects the next twenty years are going to be the most
serious in the history of the race. Within this period it will be
largely decided whether the Negro will be able to retain the hold
which he now has upon the industries of the South or whether his place
will be filled by white people from a distance. The only way he can
prevent the industrial occupations slipping from him in all parts of
the South, as they have already in certain parts, is for all
educators, ministers, and friends of the race to unite in pushing
forward in a whole-souled manner the industrial or business
development of the Negro, whether in school or out of school. Four
times as many young men and women of the race should be receiving
industrial training. Just now the Negro is in a position to feel and
appreciate the need of this in a way that no one else can. No one can
fully appreciate what I am saying who has not walked the streets of a
Northern city day after day seeking employment, only to find every
door closed against him on account of his colour, except in menial
service. It is to prevent the same thing taking place in the South
that I plead. We may argue that mental development will take care of
all this. Mental development is a good thing. Gold is also a good
thing, but gold is worthless without an opportunity to make itself
touch the world of trade. Education increases greatly an individual's
wants. It is cruel in many cases to increase the wants of the black
youth by mental development alone without, at the same time,
increasing his ability to supply these increased wants in occupations
in which he can find employment.

The place made vac