The Booker T. Washington Papers, Vol.12, page 56, Nov. 1912, U. of Illinois Press

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The BOOKER T. WAS HINGTON Papers and white citizens. Whatever the Negro has done at Mound Bayou in building up this community and In the construction of this cotton of! mill, the white man shares in the credit alla in the profit. At this late date it requires no argument to demonstrate the fact that white people and black people in this state are here to remain for all time and in my opinion side by side, and the building up of an enterprise of this kind in the commonwealth of Mississippi does not mean that it Is anything which will threaten or jeopardize the white man's civilization or power, but it means that which will enhance the white man's prosperity and civilization, for if one race goes down the other in the same degree goes down. If one race goes up, the other in the same degree goes up. It is far more valuable to every white man in Mississippi to have a community of prosperous, intelligent, law abiding colored people that is wilding to cooperate in every forward movement of the state than it is to have a community of black people steeped in ignorance, crime and poverty, and so again ~ congratulate Mr. Isaiah T. Montgomery, the founder of this town, and his coworkers because from the very beginning of this settlement they have had the good sense and the farsightedness to keep in close and sympathetic touch with the best white people in the state of Mississippi. ~ congratulate Gharies Banks and his fellow officers, I. T. Montgomery, J. W. Francis, A. A. Casey, who have served through all these years without a dollar's worth of remuneration, and who intend to continue to so serve until the Oil Mill Is well under way for operation. Back of this enterprise which we forrnaDy open and dedicate today, ~ know that there Is struggle, disappointment and heartache which the outside world little knows about or can little appreciate. ~ am proud of the fact that the National Negro Business League has had some influence In the starting and bringing to completion this magnificent enterprise. From the very beginning of our organization, Chas. Banks has been one of the leading spirits in keeping it alive and making the National Negro Business League powerful and useful. ~ said in the beginning that this is a unique enterprise, marking a distinctive step in the development of our race. Here only 49 years after our freedom as a race, the black people have gathered and invested nearly $~oo,ooo in this manufacturing enterprise. ~ am told that only about $ao,ooo Is needed to free it from debt and put it thoroughly upon its feet. ~ shall be disappointed if there are not scores of prosperous and thrifty colored men throughout this region who wiD be glad 56