be voted
for; to elect officers and to hold office. If the mass of illiterate and
impoverished Negroes are to be represented in State Legislatures and in
Congress by persons as ignorant and poor as they are themselves, these
representatives will, of course, if in the majority, be liable to rule and
ruin; if in a large minority, they will hold a balance of power that may
easily be controlled by demagogues. To educate this mass up to the point
of intelligence and the acquisition of property is America's great duty
and the guaranty of her safety.

There is one thing more about it. We have said that if the Negro is to
have the free exercise of the ballot, he will insist on being voted for as
well as voting. If the Negroes have power to elect, they will wish to
elect some of their own number. They will not, and certainly they ought
not to vote for a man simply because he is black. They should vote for the
best qualified man whether he is black or white. If they have the power
they will certainly elect some of their own number. But this means, if it
means anything good, that there shall be those of their own number who are
qualified to hold office and to hold it honorably to themselves and
usefully to their constituents and the country. But this implies higher
education to a good many colored people. It will not do for them to have a
few men educated as professional politicians. May Heaven save them from
the day when they will encourage the growth of such a class of men. They
will need to have a large number of educated men in the various walks of
life, from whom suitable candidates may be selected, just as white men
have. But if they are to have such a class of men, adequate measures must
be taken for their higher education, and those friends of the Negro who
desire and help to educate him only in primary studies, while they are
doing a great and essential work, are not doing all that is needed. It may
be all well enough to say to the Negro, "Work hard and keep out of
politics." But if h