Page:Boys Life of Booker T. Washington.djvu/131

Rh appointed. In other words, he was trying to improve the quality rather than increase the quantity of negro officeholders. After one of Washington's speeches, in which he laid special emphasis on this idea, President Roosevelt sent him the following letter:

Throughout the administrations of President Roosevelt and President Taft, Washington was constantly called into conference and rendered a lasting service to his own race and to the people of the country in giving wise counsel, not only about politics but about a great many things pertaining to the welfare of his people.

Washington was often criticized very severely by members of his own race for his position with reference to voting. His ideas on this question are well stated in the following quotation:

"I am often asked to express myself more freely than I do upon the political condition and the political future of my race. . . . My own