go PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS SECTION E. 



(2) To natural attraction tozvards one's oion kind — "Us 

 s'asscmblent qui rcsemhlcnt." We see this every day in religion, 

 in politics, in trades unions, and in class distinctions and all the 

 problems of caste, as well as in racial prejudice. 



(3) To the instinct of self-preservation. — This is the 

 natural legacy from a generation constantly threatened with 

 annihilation by savages. 



A close study of the reports presented to the First Universal 

 Races Congress in London in 19 11 seems to jx)int to the fact that 

 race prejudice may be overcome in the course of time, but how- 

 ever little justification there may be for the existence of this 

 prejudice on moral or physical grounds, the fact remains that 

 to-day it is one of the most serious obstacles to the ui)lifting 

 and regeneration of the Bantu races of Africa. 



Fear of competition is only a variation of the instinct of 

 self-preservation. It may be as well, however, to point out that 

 there are no really serious grounds on which fear of competi- 

 tion /from the natives can be based. The mental equipment of 

 the white man is so vastly superior to that of the Bantu that the 

 latter has about as much chance of success in the struggle for 

 progress as a man whose opj^onent is given fifty yards start in 

 a hundred yards race. Those who croak about the danger of 

 Natives ousting white men from their work seem to take it for 

 granted that as the Native progresses in efficiency the white 

 man will stand still. As a matter of fact, the progress of the 

 white man should l)e directly proportionate to the progress of 

 the lower race. It is true that the tortoise in the old fable won 

 the race, but it was only because the hare went to sleep ! The 

 argument that the development of the latent powers of the 

 Natives should- be retarded lest they should l>eat us in com])€ti- 

 tion appears to me to be an insult to the intelligence of the 

 white man. 



Finally, it must l)e borne in mind that the progress and 

 prosperitv of a community or State are directly dependent on the 

 progress and prosperity of every section and individual of wdiich 

 it may be composed. 



Another serious difficulty encountered by the advocate of 

 Native Education lies in the zvant of self-respect generally found 

 ■ in the Native character. For centuries the negro races have 

 been taught, by bitter experience, that they are inferior to their 

 white-skinned masters. From childhood all opposition and self- 

 assertion have been crushed, and the effect upon the race may 

 be seen in the want of faith in his own inability shown by almost 

 every individual of Bantu origin. It is true that success engen- 

 ders' self-conceit in many individuals, but even in such cases 

 there is generally an undercurrent feeling of self-consciousness, 

 which in itself indicates weakness of moral fibre. 



Now self -depreciation is a serious fault in any character, 

 and in the Bantu races it is largely responsible for the moral 

 depravity and the lack of initiative, application and stamina, of 

 which they are frequently accused. The fact that: tliis self- 



