# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1906_S53
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

of the Ev. Luth. Synodical Conference of North America. 1906. 53

the rooms too small. Strict measures had to be taken in order to keep some measure of order and to avoid temptations. Strict and continual supervision and watchfulness night and day were necessary. Nevertheless the school rules were often transgressed, especially during the first half of the year. One should bear in mind that our pupils are precisely at the age at which it is hardest to govern them. In addition, they are by upbringing unaccustomed to discipline, order and morality. The Negroes are people with strong passions, and so long as they have not received power through the Spirit of God to master themselves, they give free rein to their lusts without shame or pangs of conscience. In the institution, thanks to the protecting hand of God, no gross sins have occurred. One young man was sent away because he continually rebelled against the teachers and the regulations. Another ran away by night and fog to escape deserved punishment. Among the day pupils a sad case has occurred, which however cannot be laid to the charge of the institution, since we can exercise little control over these pupils. When one considers the circumstances and conditions under which we have had to work, one can only thank God that it has gone so well. The institution enjoys a good reputation. No complaint has been raised about the conduct of the pupils outside the institution's buildings, and they have been watched fairly closely by our neighbors.

To one thing I should like to call attention in this connection: If we want to train reliable, upright preachers and teachers, it is not enough that we impart to them the necessary knowledge — which is comparatively easy — but we must bring them up. The institution must take the place of the Christian home. In the great majority of cases education must begin here and be continued. Even the pupils reared in Lutheran homes, thus the best, come to the institution rather unruly. It is therefore of great importance that we get young pupils, as far as possible, who can still be trained, and that they remain in the institution under supervision and pastoral care. We do not want later to entrust office to Negro youths whom we have known only in the classroom. No man, so far as my knowledge of men extends, can dissemble and play the hypocrite so excellently as the Negro. In that field he is a master. It is not enough to apply the Word, Law and Gospel, to the hearts in the classroom, if after the lessons one sends them home again to their godless surroundings and exposes them to manifold temptations. I have made the observation that I exert a quite different influence on those with whom I live together than on those whom I have under my eyes only during the day. After only a year the difference becomes noticeable. The former stand constantly under Christian discipline and pastoral care, the latter only when they are in the classroom. May