leaning works.
Then the laundry work was done by negroes; now they are with difficulty
able to manage the new labor-saving machinery." Even in the
non-mechanical occupations the negro is losing where he once had a
monopoly. In Chicago "there is now scarcely a negro barber in the
business district. Nearly all the janitor work in the large buildings
has been taken away from them by the Swedes. White men and women as
waiters have supplanted colored men in nearly all the first-class hotels
and restaurants. Practically all of the shoe polishing is now done by
Greeks."[17]

Individual negroes have made great progress, but what we need to know is
whether the masses of the negroes have advanced. The investigators of
Atlanta University, in summarizing the reports of three hundred and
forty-four employers of negroes, conclude: "There are a large number of
negro mechanics all over the land, but especially in the South. Some of
these are progressive, efficient workmen. More are careless, slovenly,
and ill-trained. There are signs of lethargy among these artisans, and
work is slipping from them in some places; in others they are awakening
and seizing the opportunities of the new industrial South."[18]

The prejudice of white workmen has undoubtedly played a part in
excluding the negro from mechanical trades, but the testimony of large
employers, who have no race prejudice where profits can be made, also
shows that low-priced negro labor often costs more than high-priced
white labor. The iron and steel mills of Alabama have no advantage in
labor cost over mills of Pennsylvania and Ohio.

The foundation of intelligence for the modern workingman is his
understanding of mechanics. Not until he learns through manual and
technical training to handle the forces of nature can the workingman
rise to positions of responsibility and independence. This is as
important in agricultural labor, to which the negro is largely
restricted, as in manufactures. Intelligence in mechanics leads to
intelligence in economics and politics, and the higher wages of
mechanical intelligence furnish the resources by which the workman can
demand and secure his political and economic rights.

The second requisite of democracy is independence and manliness. These
are moral qualities based on will power and steadfastness in pursuit of
a worthy object. But these qualities are not produced merely by
exhortation and religious revivals. They have a more prosaic and se