The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-11-03
'Ths Arsument Of che speIiing-DooIs.

Our duty to the black man has not been an In
frequent topic in these columns. Perhaps II will
be a relief to our readers if we to-day vary the
theme, and, while still pursuing the same sub
ect, speak of our duty to ourselves
Let the question then be, What do we owe to
ourselves in regard to the issues of the hour
How, in this respect shall we, as Yankees best
promote our own interests9 How shall we
most surely continue our existence as a repub-
lie? How most effectively establish our national
peace and advance our prosperity? What Is the
practical thing which at the present moment we
ought to do to accomplish these ends 49,.
We're we speaking of our duty collectVely, 10
be performed through the Legislatures, we
should say, let the negro have the paioti out,
as we are speaking of our duty lnnlVluually, 10
be performed without any ieglsiaoI,E.;e i9yeIEeh
| ton we say give the negro the spelllng-Dook.
II there be one thing plalneI tnHn announcer III
is that, as q republic, general intellgence Is the
condition of our eXistencei Inat nay popular Govern
ment supposes popular education; that univer-
sal suffrage without universal enlightenment,
would be universal anarchy
This being so, we ask, What are we going to
do with the Egyptian darkness that broods over
the Southern half Of this country; with the
stark ignorance which has sat like nightmare
on the energies of the people, and allowed a
century ofrevel to crime and cruelty9
There are in the South four millions of blacks
(less the two hundred thousand taught by the
freedmen's aid soceties) who do not know a
letter of the alphabet: and there are at least half
as many whites who are in like condition,
such mass of ignorance can only be con-
tinued at the peril of the republic. The query
therefore is not what we owe to the negro, but
What do we owe ourselves in this matter 1t
is very grave question, and one which de-
mands prompt and well-considered answer.
Let us seek a reply to this question In a
hypothesis. Suppose that these Northern
States had been for the last fifty years without
a system of popular instructions; without pr-'
GphOOIa infant eph0nIo raT T0ad
mission schools, normal schools, and all the
multitudlnous schools which constitute our
machinery for lifting up the masses; what
would be the condition of these States-suppos-
ing them to be still in eXistence--at the present
time?
Go down to the Battery, and look at the car
goes OF ignorance and squalor-not unmixed
with vice-which are there dumped on our
shores in weekly shiploads; and as you look
remember that this process has been going on
for half century. Remember, or, if you are
TOO young to remember, read the current his
tory OF the day, and note the confident prophe-
cies which used to be made of our ruin from
this very cause "Let them have our refuse
social and political" said the aristocrats of the
old country. ''They are good riddance; and
besides no Government can long stand such an
inhuX.n Don't let them come so FAST said
some of our own forefathers, including even
Benjamin Franklin. People ignorant OF letters,
ignorant of our language, unused to self-con-
trol, and Gstrangers to our form of govern
ment, may, if they come in very large numbers
prove an unmanageable element of society.
Let them come, as many as WILL" said another
and an iurther-seeng class; "the more the better.
There is room for ALL and need for all. We want
them to fell our forests, to make our roads, and
dig our canals. Let them come. We will take
care that the republic suffers no detrimept."
laeq Aqq d6fX ad SO take care; for happily these
immigration became the policy of the country.
And to this policy are largely due the deyelop-
ment of our national resourcesIand our rapidly
acquired strength and power among the nations
oil the earth. Some inconvenience, IL is true,
we have suffered from this source; but, COM
pared with the advantage, it has been as the
small dust in the balance.
Why and how has this been ? Simply from the
fact that, as these ship-loads have come over
Celts from the bogs of Galway, and Teutons
from the valleys OF Swabia-we have pitched
them, as SO much raw material, into the mill
OF our public schools, and worked them up into
good citizens. The adults we employ on our
public works and in our fields of agriculture
meanwhile matchmaking their minds with the
principles and accustoming their hands to the
practice OF our democratic self-government.
Their children are sent to school-day school,
Sunday School, and sometimes the school of
coIrection-and these now help to constitute
what we boast of as the free and enlightened
people of America. Had we done less than this,
these successive cargoes of ignorance and vice
would have sunk us as nation below the reach
OF pummet.
Now we are confronted with a danger not
III
is at the South this time, and not at the North,
that the mass of ignorance threatens to engulf
us. What are we going to do about it? 1t is
true that democratic government Is very strong.
1t has proved itself capable of carrying bigger
load than any other form of political rule. But
no Government can long stand the strain made
upon it by SIX millions of ignorant citizens.
For the blacks are now citizens entitled by law
to all the rights and soon to be invested with all
the franchises of citizenship. What then are
we going to do about 1t? What can we do, as
practical men, but initiate our fathers and well
coming this accession to national strength as
simulate and incorporate it into our national
eXistenceP What but accept the methods which
have proved so effectual towards emigrants from
abroad, many OF whom have been less inteli-
gent, and most of them less friendly, and apply
them to the newcomers Lere at home who are
polite? These are aircady "naturaiized," and
need no probationary process to determine their
loyalty While the stalwart adults are plough
ing our fields and hoeing our corn and cotton
let them in the intervals he taking lessons fEom
that best of ''school.marms +" Democratic Lib
erty. No teacher in the world has power like
her to "briug on pupils Give her the "stump"
and the usual sixty days canvass, and the
work is done even with the most stolid.
And while we are thus teaching the adults,
let the children besent to SCHOOL, let the schools
be placed in the populous centres of every
Southern State; let the foundations be laid
broad and deep for an etfectual system of popu-
lar education. This eau be done, ought to be
done, and must be done, and that without delay,
II we would save our country from an imminent
and deadly peril. How it should be done, and
by whom, is matter which we shah consider
at future time.
Peat in Italy.-It is estimated that the Lom
bard provinces in Italy contain 1900 hectares
OF peat deposit, calculated to be capable of