cluded that Madagascar was a good place to _come from_.

W. H. Hunt, the Vice-Consul, who had filed application for the
Consulship, conditioned upon my resignation, was appointed. An admirable
appointment, for the duties pertaining thereto, I have no doubt, will be
performed with much credit to himself and to the satisfaction of the
Government.

I was honored as a delegate to a very interesting assembly of colored
men from 32 States, designated the "National Negro Business Men's
League," which met in Chicago, Ill., Aug. 27, 1901. Of its object and
labors my conclusions were: That no better evidence can be produced
that the negro has a good hold on the lever which will not only give a
self-consciousness of latent powers, but will surely elevate him in the
estimation of his fellow-citizens, than the increasing interest he is
taking and engaging in many of the business ventures of the country, and
the popular acquiescence manifested by the crowded attendance at every
session of the meeting.

The President of the League, Booker T. Washington, expressed the
following golden thoughts in his opening speech:

"As a race we must learn more and more that the opinion of the world
regarding us is not much influenced by what we may say of ourselves, or
by what others say of us, but it is permanently influenced by actual,
tangible, visible results. The object-lesson of one honest Negro
succeeding magnificently in each community in some business or industry
is worth a hundred abstract speeches in securing opportunity for the
race.

"In the South, as in most parts of the world, the Negro who does
something and possesses something is respected by both races. Usefulness
in the community where we live will constitute our most lasting and
potent protection.

"We want to learn the lesson of small things and small beginnings. We
must not feel ourselves above the most humble occupation or the simple,
humble beginning. If our vision is clear, our will strong, we will use
the very obstacles that often seem to beset us as stepping-stones to a
higher and more useful life."

The enrollment of the members present was not completed at the first
session, but the hall was crowded and 200 of those present were visitors
in Chicago. Pictures and some of the product of Negro concerns decorated
the walls, as evidence that the black man is rising above the cotton
plantation, his first field of labor in this country. Pictures of brick
blocks, factor