Although American sacrifices in the European War have been great, we find compensation for them in many directions. Not the least of these is the vastly increased number of opportunities the reconstruction period will offer to many of our citizens. Today the United States is the leading nation of the world in virtually every line of activity. We have been thrust into a new world leadership by the war. It behooves us to make the most of our new opportunities. To equip ourselves creditably we must utilize the best there is in the manhood and womanhood of our nation, drawing upon the intellect and ability of every person who has either to give. Approximately ten percent of our present population is colored. Every man, woman and child of this ten percent should be given the opportunity to utilize whatever ability he has in the struggle for the maintenance of world leadership which we now face. Just insofar as we refuse to give this part of our population an opportunity to lend its strength to helping us set a pace for the rest of the world, as best it can, so do we weaken the total strength of our nation. In other words, we can either give our colored population the right and the opportunity to do the best work of which it is capable and increase our efficiency, or we can deny them their rights and opportunities, as we have done in many instances, and decrease our efficiency proportionately. Of course, the question naturally arises as to how efficient the colored man and the colored woman are when given the opportunity to demonstrate their ability. No better answer can be found than that given by the splendid work of the majority of our colored people during the war. On the firing line, in the camps behind the line, and in civil life our colored population has done well indeed. Four hundred thousand Negroes offered their lives for their country. Many more made noble sacrifices in civilian life. It was my privilege not only to observe the work done in civil life by colored persons in this country during the war, but to visit colored troops in France during hostilities.