and adequately. We
will here mention and quote from a sheaf of letters taken at random
from his files which partially illustrate the range of his interests
and the variety of the calls which were constantly made upon him.

A railroad official in Colorado asked his opinion on the question of
separate schools for white and black children apropos of a movement to
amend the State constitution so as to make possible such separate
schools. In his reply Mr. Washington said: "As a rule, colored people
in the Northern States are very much opposed to any plans for
separate schools, and I think their feelings in the matter deserve
consideration. The real objection to separate schools, from their
point of view, is that they do not like to feel that they are
compelled to go to one school rather than the other. It seems as if it
was taking away part of their freedom. This feeling is likely to be
all the stronger where the matter is made a subject of public
agitation. On the other hand, my experience is that if this matter is
left to the discretion of the school officials it usually settles
itself. As the colored people usually live pretty closely together,
there will naturally be schools in which colored students are in the
majority. In that case, the process of separation takes place
naturally and without the necessity of changing the constitution. If
you make it a constitutional question, the colored people are going to
be opposed to it. If you leave it simply an administrative question,
which it really is, the matter will very likely settle itself."

We next find a courteous reply to the letter of some poor crank who
wanted to secure his backing for a preparation which he had concocted
for taking the curl out of Negroes' hair. Then comes a letter to a man
who wants to know whether it is true that the Negro race is dying out.
To him Mr. Washington quoted the United States census figures for
1910, which indicate an increase of 11-3/10 per cent. in the Negro
population for the decade.

Next, we come upon a letter written to a man who is interested in an
effort of the Freedman's Aid Society to raise a half a million dollars
for Negro schools in the South. Since this letter so well describes
an important phase of Booker Washington's leadership we give it almost
in full. It was written in 1913 and runs thus:

"I think the most interesting work that Tuskegee has done in recent
years is its work in rural schools in the country surrou