# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1906_S52
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

52 Proceedings of the twenty-first convention

months of the year and afterwards make the country unsafe. They are too lazy to work, skilled at swindles and other crimes. If it is true "that a little learning is a dangerous thing" [printed in English], then the growing Negro youth is becoming ever more dangerous. The old ignorant Negro preachers, some of whom are honest, who thank God that they could not read, are not so very much in the wrong when they assert "that book learning makes rascals" [printed in English], if by "learning" [printed in English] they understand what is offered to the Negroes and used by them. To protect an institution against such Negro students is very difficult. Usually they procure good recommendations, pose as gentlemen, lament with a deep sigh the condition of their race, and try to ingratiate themselves with all kinds of eulogies. One cannot turn them away at once, especially when they come with good recommendations and some money. One can also be mistaken. Only through daily association, not in the classroom alone, is it possible to get to know them thoroughly.

On 3 October 1905 the newly called professor, Martin Lochner, trained at the seminary in St. Louis, was solemnly installed in his office in the presence of the students and of Pastor Schmidt. On the basis of 2 Tim. 2:24 I spoke on the following theme: "Three Qualifications of a Teacher in a Christian Institution, to-wit: Aptness to Teach, Gentleness, Patience." [printed in English]

The enrollment did not exceed 40, 18 young men and 22 girls; the two rented dwellings could not house more. They were divided among the following classes: Class A 7, B 5, C 8, High School 20. Of these 22 lived in the institution, the rest with parents or relatives in the neighborhood. Two were expelled from the institution and 13 had to go to work before the end of school; 25 were present at the closing exercise. Average attendance was considerably better than in previous years.

For the first time this year we have had graduates. Three girls and two young men have completed the preparatory course: Julia Doswell of Meherrin, Va., Elizah Johnston of Charlotte, N. C., Sallie Scott of Gold Hill, N. C., Charley Peay of Concord, N. C., and John Alston of Greensboro, N. C. All are fruits of our mission schools, which supply the best material for our institution. Greek excepted, they have all gone through the same course. The two young men will, God willing, study theology next year.

In my earlier reports I have pointed out how difficult it is to govern a mixed school such as ours. It has been especially difficult this year, first because the two dwellings stand so close together, and then because young men and young women had to sit crowded together in a small dining room. The well from which all drew water was located in the dining room. No fence separated the two houses. For the larger classes were