before it. It is a
certainty that capital will inevitably seek and secure the cheapest
labor. Besides cheapness, other qualifications have made, and will
continue to make, him indispensable to the South's development and
make him far superior to the foreign element for which a few seem to
clamor.

Coming out of slavery ignorant, irresponsible, no name, no home, no
"mule," there is no better way to measure the influence of Christian
education than by the increased ability to earn, to save and to wisely
invest money. The spirit of home-getting and the eagerness for
education are very hopeful signs. We proudly quote from a lengthy
editorial in a recent issue of the Atlanta Constitution: "The building
up of wealth follows a sharpening of intellect. If the untutored
colored man of the past quarter of a century could amass nearly a half
a billion of dollars, why may not the educated Negro, during the next
quarter of a century, quadruple the amount?"

As a skilled laborer it will take time for the race to make a mark,
because here he will meet with sharper competition. This is the
opportunity of the industrial school. The lack of sufficient numbers
of skilled colored mechanics and because of the existence of
prejudice, the employer shows timidity in attempting to supplant white
labor with Negro labor. This fear will decrease as the supply
increases. We indorse industrial training for the masses, but as
efficient as it is, it is not sufficient. The tendency of these
schools is to make the training of the hand of primary importance and
that of the brain secondary. This might suffice for a while, but in
this age of progress, of invention, when the genius of the age seems
to have directed all its power to the invention of labor-saving
machines, the demand for brainy mechanics is increasing so rapidly
that the industrial school of to-day will wake up to-morrow only to
find itself behind the times.

The Northern section of our country, with its large manufacturing
interests and the constant demand for skilled labor, has encouraged
the combining of labor into trades unions as a means of protection
against the encroachments of capital. Because of the social side of
these organizations the Negro has been debarred, with some exceptions.
The unions will operate against him just as long as the interests of
the unions are not in jeopardy and the supply of skilled colored
mechanics is insufficient. But in the South, where Negro labor is