THE WORLD'S PROBLEMS                    555

ment of a hardier and brainier race, has, in most cases and most
places, only served to fan the flames of animosity. In other
circumstances, one would really have expected that such a
meeting and mating of people of diverse colors would have
led to a better understanding of one another, and would have
brought social amity in its train. If these factors have not
worked for good-will amongst nations, what can be expected
to do so?
  Commercialism: That, in the light of all that was said and
done at the Universal Races Congress, seems to be the answer
to this question. Or, if that word may grate against the tender
susceptibilities of some, it may be said that "enlightened selfish-
ness" is the thread that is to draw and knit the races of the
world together.
  In this day and age, when distance has been annihilated, no
country, even be it Tibet, can lead an existence all its own.
No land, no matter how strong a tariff wall it may erect to
keep out competition, can shield its market from world com-
petition. Capital, instead of being parochial, already has be-
come international, and daily the circle of its activity is widen-
ing. Industries, so long as they are scientifically organized
and conducted, are bound to be successful whether they are
under the management of Orientals or Occidentals.
   To-day, if an Afro-American perfects a useful invention,
the white people cannot afford to ignore it as a "nigger" patent;
if the Japanese can kill hundreds of thousands of Occidental
soldiers with their home-made rifles, guns and powder, and
drive to the bottom of the sea the most formidable of the
Western dreadnaughts and super-dreadnaughts with ships
made in their own dock-yards, the West cannot overlook
Nippon's progress; if the Celestial can set up modern factories
and turn out commercially successful wares, they cannot be
condemned because Mongolians manufactured them; if the
Hindu shows that he can make better bombs than the Russian
terrorist, his ability to work destruction cannot be underrated
because of the color of his hide; if the Persian, Egyptian and
Turk rise in the commercial firmament, their advance cannot be
explained by the sneering use of such a term as "unspeakable




			

OHS/National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center Serial Collection

African Methodist Episcopal Church Review, Vol. 28, Num. 2

Volume:  28
Issue Number:  02
Date:  10/1911