The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1857-08-28

~~,sSAAsON AN ALL INA
THE SOUTHERN Poor ARE CARED For -iu 'ne
report Of the proceedings OF the Educational y, VI
ventIon of Virginia, which appears in another
column, Will be found some curious facts concern
ing the manner in which education is conducted
in the Old Dominion. They will serve to cxplain
why our Southern frienda in general make such
bad business men, aud lag so far behind the
N0rIherners in commercial shrewdness and &C
tivi.y.
There is in Virginia distinctive fund devoted
to the purposes Of general education, which is
known as the Literary Fund. This is made up
from two sources-one of them being the fiues,
penalties, escbeats, or other property compulsori.
ly devolving TO the State, and the other the CAPT.
iation tax of forty cents on each male white,
which was specially appropriated to this object
in March, 1853. The revenue from these heads
for the last year was:-
Csptsauon Mx. StSVVyV
Total. ....................ss2,'a
The statement Of expenditure was as fol-
lows
Primary and free schools 600
TO co. for poor children. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. SO 900
To the University OF vrgins ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 1900
To the Virginia Military Institute. 1880
TctsI. 500 500
The committee appointed by the Convention to
examine whether this distribution was as useful
as it might be made, report strongly against any
special ALLEGATION to what they call "the aristo-
crscy Of rags" AS but few counties in Virginia
have adopted the free school system, they con-
tend that the appropriation to poor schools ex-
cluGes from the benefits Of the fund a large pro
portion of the children of the common wealth who
co not properly come u,,6er the classification OF
poor children. But 10 show that the disbsrse-
mens for the poor is not III itself productive Of
satisfactory results, the committee state that from
$40 to 1850, notwithstanding The increase in
the population, the diminuti0n In the number of
persons over twenty who were unable TO read or
write waE only forty-seven hundreiShs Of one per
cent, thereby proving the total faiiare OF the
peuper system
An unexpected light was thrown upon the
cause of this failure by Governor Wise who on
being called upon for further explanations as to
the school disbursements, stated that he was un>
able on that occasion to go into details in conse-
Quence of important errors which he had that
morning detected in the statistics Of the education
fund: hut one important discovery he had made,
and that was thai very large amount Of the CAPT.
tatin tax had remained without interest in the
bands O! the Commissioners aud Superintendent,
and instead of being applied to the purposes of
education had been doing no other good than
that Of aiding the retail trade OF the country.
As genera! rule, the Governor stated 1t az his
conviction that the poor did not so to school at
all, and that those who derived most benefit from
the education fund were those entrusted with its
disbursement
Considering the long period during which these
abuses have been in exis,cDce, we think it proves
but little in favor of the utility of Virginian
educational conventions, or Of the business
habits Of the Virginia men generally, that facts
having such an important bearing upon the in
tcres!s OF the commonwealth should only nov be
dragged TO light. The State authorities, as well
as those who possess an interest in the cause of
public education, are all equally culpable for the
indifference which they have manifested TO the
proper administration of this fund. Let us hope
that the Convention which has stumbled acct
dentaly On these facts will turn them to account,
and press upon the Legislature Of Virginia the
reforms embodied in the report OF their commit
tee. This will at least be one practical result
rom The labors Of Southern Convention.