The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-03-05 00:00:00

THE "ILLITERATE" OF THE BOROUGH

The Mayor said he had a communication to
make, and O::e which he could not approach with-
out feelings of the greatest sadness and sorrow.
It was a letter from Sir Charles Dilke, a member
of the Government, who was in charge of the
Ballot Act, and was addressed to him as returning
officer for the Parliamentary borough. He then
read the letter, which was as follows :
Sir,---In the returns lately issued of the voters
at the last election who availed themselves of the
provisions of voting of persons unable to write, I
find the number at Dudley was 1,522. I shalt feel
much obliged if you can explain to me the extra-
ordinary proportion of the whole constituency;
that it is extraordinay may be seen by comparing
the neighbouring borough of Wolverhampton.
There the constituency of 21,821 is nearly half as
large again as that of Dudley (15,000), and the
number of illiterate voters only returned is 889, or
a little more than one-half of the number who
voted in your borough. Will you be good enough
to inform me why at the last election one voter in
every ten availed himself of the illiterate pro-
visions? A postscript to the letter said: In taking
Wolverhampton I have chosen a borough in which
the number of illiterates is greatly above the
average, In Birmingham, with a constituency Of
63 398, the number of illiterates is 1,002, and
though it is only one in 60, as compared with yours
(Dudley) of one in ten, it is a much greater pro-
pa:lion than in many towns.
The Mayor, commenting upon the letter, sail it
was only right that the Council should know what
was the educational position of the Parliamentary
borough at the present time. He had been trustee
to a school for many years, and he and his brother
trustees had been hoping and believing that they
were doing some good in their generation, and
were bringing up persons with a sufficient amount
of knowledge to go about the world; and he hoped
and trusted that in the course of twenty or thirty
years the work which the School Board and other
educational institutions in the borough were doing
would wipe away the dreadful stigma attaching to
the borough—(hear, hear). It was something he
could not bear to think about, and he appealed to
the Council to tell him if anything could be done in.
addition to present efforts by whicn this state of
things could be improved. There were other things
in the borough which had a saddening effect. The
distres-;, misery, and wretchedness of the people, and
their miserable homes were enough to break the
heart of any man who spoke about it. With re-
ference to the letter, he had written to say that the
matter was so important that be must take time to
consider his reply, and he asked for any suggestion
from the Council to assist him in doing so.
Alderman Dunn said his experience was that the
number of "illiterates " did not exactly correspond
with the educational status of a borough, and that
people who could re.id or write but imperfectly
were instructed to say they they were unable to
write their names, so that that their voting papers
might be tilled up correctly.
Councillor Waring exp-es3ed his opinion that the
educational status in the town was not so bad as
in he outlying portion of the borough.
With this the subject dropped.
A statement read by Alderman North showed
that the total cot of the new public baths bad been
£lO,OBO 2s 9d.
The rest of the business was formal.