He has won a worthy reputation as one of the great leaders of his race, widely known and much respected at home and abroad as an accomplished educator, a great orator, and a true philanthropist.
The Hon.

John D.Long, the Secretary of the Navy, said in part:-- I cannot make a speech to-day.

My heart is too full--full of hope, admiration, and pride for my countrymen of both sections and both colours.

I am filled with gratitude and admiration for your work, and from this time forward I shall have absolute confidence in your progress and in the solution of the problem in which you are engaged.
The problem, I say, has been solved.

A picture has been presented to-day which should be put upon canvas with the pictures of Washington and Lincoln, and transmitted to future time and generations--a picture which the press of the country should spread broadcast over the land, a most dramatic picture, and that picture is this: The President of the United States standing on this platform; on one side the Governor of Alabama, on the other, completing the trinity, a representative of a race only a few years ago in bondage, the coloured President of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute.
God bless the President under whose majesty such a scene as that is presented to the American people.