The Booker T. Washington Papers, Vol.7, page 188, July 1903, U. of Illinois Press

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The BOOKER T. WASHINGTON Papers blacks. One thing of which I feel absolutely sure is that without mutual confidence ant] cooperation there is little hope for the progress which we all desire. In the present season of anxiety, and almost of despair, which possesses an element of the race, there are two things which I will say as strongly as I may. First, let no man of the race become discouraged or hopeless. Though their voices may not be often or loudly lifted, there are in this country, North and South, men who mean to help see that justice is meted out to the race in all avenues of life. Such a man is fudge Thomas G. Jones, of Alabama, to whom more credit should be given for blotting out the infamous system of peonage than to any other. Judge Jones represents the very highest type of Southern manhood, and there are hosts of others like him. There is a class of brave, earnest men in the South, as well as in the North, who are more determined than ever before to see that the race is given an opportunity to elevate itself; and we owe it to these friends as well as to ourselves to see that no act of ours causes them embarrassment. Second, let us keep before us the fact that, almost without exception, every race or nation that has ever got upon its feet has done so through struggle and trial and persecution; and that out of this very resistance to wrong, out of the struggle against odds, it has gained strength, self-confidence, and experience which it could not have gained in any other way. And not the least of the blessings of such struggle is that it keeps one humble and nearer to the heart of the Giver of all gifts. Show me the individual who is permitted to go through life without anxious thought, without ever having experienced a sense of poverty and wrong, want and struggle, and I will show you a man who is likely to fail in life. ''Whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth.'' No one should seek to close his eyes to the truth that the race is passing through a very serious and trying period of its development, a period that calls for the use of our ripest thought, our most sober judgment, and frequent appeals to Him who has promised strength to the weak. During the season through which we are now passing, I wish to ask, with all the emphasis I am able to command, that each individual of the race keep a calm mind and exercise the greatest selfcontrol; and that we all keep a brave heart. Let nothing lead us into extremes of utterance or action. By this method of procedure 188