Page:The New Negro.pdf/363

Rh circumstances a perfect meeting of minds is impossible. Any national Negro enterprise must derive its future leadership and guidance from within the race.

A national enterprise for any group is ordinarily supposed to derive its support from internal sources. There can be no stable equilibrium so long as the center of gravity falls outside. Interestingly enough, Howard University, almost from the beginning, has rested on the material maintenance of the Negro race, through its own contributions by way of tuition, and through governmental grants based upon the just dues of the Negro from the public treasury. Quite unfortunately, as the writer feels, general philanthropy that has done so much for other institutions has all but neglected the claims of this institution. The last report of the treasurer shows that for the fiscal year 1923-4, the students contributed in tuition and in other fees, $179,000. Congress appropriated $190,000, while donations from all other sources amounted to only $27,000. During the past two years, the Negro race has contributed $250,000 for the endowment of the Medical School to meet a like contribution from the General Education Board. And yet Howard University makes the strongest possible appeal, not merely to the self-support of the Negro himself, but for the vicarious help of American statesmanship, philanthropy and religion combined. The great objective of philanthropy in this field is to help the Negro to help himself, and to relieve the national tension around the issue of race. There is no institution in the land that is so well calculated to deal effectually with the Negro problem as a national issue as is Howard University. The right type of leadership is essential to any attempt at solution. Howard University, as we have seen, furnishes in very large part the leadership for the race.

In 1879, the President of Howard University persuaded Congress to vote a grant of $10,000 to aid Howard University because of the national character of the type of work it was doing. From that time to the present the annual congressional grants have gradually increased, until the fiscal year 1924, the allotment amounted to $365,000. The total sum appropriated during the forty-six years amounts to the magnificent sum of