The Booker T. Washington Papers, Vol.7, page 385, Jan. 1904, U. of Illinois Press

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JANUARY · 1904 main in the South, and especially in those sections where the present physical domination must ultimately bring political and civic equality; and that every effort should be made to uplift and develop them in their present domicile. At the same time, uncier favorable circumstances, individuals may properly be encouraged to take advantage of the more liberal conditions of the North and West. a. That in a democratic republic the right to vote is of paramount importance to every class of citizens and is preservative of all other rights and interests. The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments were justifiable, and should be upheld and enforced by national authority. We should stand at all times for full, free and equal suffrage for colored men, upon the same terms that apply to white men, and should put forth every legal effort in our power to maintain the right of suffrage. That for the furtherance of our political rights, we urge the organization of colored voters in the North and West by congressional districts for the sole purpose of electing to Congress and to the State Legislatures men who, at all times, will vote for measures promotive of the rights of the Negro race. In the South, both in those states which have revised their constitutions and in those which have not, we urge each eligible Negro voter to qualify and to vote at every election. 3. That we are opposed to all restrictions of our civil rights in matters of travel and public accommodations, and we urge the institution of suits against common carriers in cases of discrimination and that efforts be made to secure absolutely equal accommodations on all public conveyances. We stand for no compromise, or equivocal statement, respecting our civil rights, but insist on the equality of all men before the law. 4. That the education of the Negro race should consist of: (~) Thorough training of leaders and teachers in the higher Institutions ot learning; (2) Thorough elementary training for every Negro child; (~) Industrial training of the masses in trades and handicrafts. 5. That we vigorously denounce lynching and all modes of punishment without due process of law; and, while we condemn rape and every other crime, we are certain that skillfully exaggerated reports of rapeful assaults by Negroes have been and are being used 385