Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-10-18

Public schools All over tl,e state,


Public schools All over the State!
Yes, public schools all over the State. A
contamination most earnestly desired by
all patriots, al philanthropists, all who are
the true friends OF good order and OF moral
and intellectual progress. Aside from
christianity there is no subject of such i'm
portance claiming the attention OF the peo-
pie of Tennessee. Lamentable as 1t may
be, we are behind, yes far behind our sister
States in the great enterprise of establishing
public schools, thus furnishing facilities for
the education of the masses. There is car
tainly an imperious necessity for a united
effort and an onward movement IN this great
work Of beneyolence. There is no truer
sentiment than that, universal suffrage ne
cessitates universal education. In eastern
countries where civil power is in the hands
of the few, and is hereditary, and where
popular elections are unfrequent, 1t is not
so important that knowledge should be so
generally diffused, but in our country where
all power is vested in the hands of the peo-
pie, and where all offices, from that of Pres
ident down to Alderman are filed by the
popular vote, there is certainly an urgent
necessity for the general enlightenment of
the masses, if we would peTpetuate
our civil and religious institu-
tions. Shall State pride influence us to
withhold from the public the shameful truth
that there is in Tennessee more illiteracy
thanin any other State in the Union?
While we viii not allow outsiders to aIude
to this blot on our escutcheOn, we can talk
about it ourselves, trusting that we may be
stimulated to remedy the evil as speedily as
possible. There were in the year 1910 in
Tennessee, over the age of twenty, 1881
persons who could neither read nor write.
In Virginia, a State almost twice as large as
our own, there were of the same class of
persons 5S, 732, only two hundred more;
while in each of the other States, large and
small, the number of illiterate was very
much less. There has no doubt been some
improvement in our State since that period,
so far as the white population is concerned,
but add to the present number of illite-
rate whites the thousands of the colored
race who are admitted to the privileges of
citizenship, and bow fearful the proportion
of uneducated voters in our midst! Eel
low-citizens of Tennessee, we must educate.
We must educate in self-defence. For the
maintenance of civil authority, for the sup
preston of crime, for the peace and good
order of society, for the moral and intel
leetual elevation of the thousands around
us, our whole duty is comprehended in the
injunction, ne must educate.
The surest State policy as well as the
promptingS of humanity demand that the
mass of uncared for youth that roam our
streets and are found upon our mountain
sides and in our widespread yallies should
be so nurtured as to be saved from lives of
crime and wretchedness, and made virtuous,
wise and useful members of society. To
accomplish this important object our
wealthy citizens must of their abundance
contribute literally ereR If they hare no
children TO educate. The citizens generally
must willingly submit to the assessment of
a liberal tax for educational purposes. They
must do this or submit to a heavier assess
ment for the purpose of keeping up aims
houses, pauper asylums, jails, and Criminal
Courts. II was wisely said by one of our
most distinguished statesmen, ''if you re-
trench the wages of the schOol-teacher you
must add to the salary of the Criminal
Judge, prosecuting Attorney, Sheriff and
Jailor''-in short, if you diminish educa-
tional facilities you must increase the pay
of those who have charge of criminals, and
whose business it is to enforce the penal
laws of the State, for in the ratio that ignor-
ance increases will their labors be aug
mented. That there is connec-
ton between ignorance and crime,
you may see by looking on the prison
records of your country: of the 55l conyicts
in your State Penitentiary one year ago 449
could neither read nor write. Of 1872
persons reported by the Sheriff of different
counties of the State of New York, being
.
had secured ''commOn education" 10
tolerable good education and 6 only, report
ed as being iceU educated. OF 1.345 GRIM
inals returned for another year, % had
common, IL tolerably good and 10 only a
good education. The whole number of
persons returned to the Office of the Seere-
tary of State as having been convicted Of
crime during a period of nine years was
27,949; of these 1882 were reported as
having received a common education, Ala
toferably good education and 12S as being
l1eu educated. The statistics of all the
other States of the Union indicate about
the same state of things. The same is
found to be true in tie criminal statistics of
England, France, Germany, indeed of every
country where there is really a distinction
marked between virtue and vice. The
This is scarcely ever found where the mass
es are educated. In Norway, Sweden,
Denmark, Holland, Belgium, and most
of the German States where they
have free schools established, pauperism
is almost unknown. Not so in England;
there "a few years ago. there were no free
schools; education was confined to the
few; England was too parsimonious to set
on foot system of public schools. What
was the result of such financiering? Why,
in England every eighth man was a pauper,
and she had to pay thirty millions year for
the subsistence Of her paupers, and great
deal more to punish them for their crimes.
England found out a practical truth which
is now of immense value TO her, viz, that it
was for her pecuniary interest to educate
the masses; and every State and government
will find such procedure good .fndncier-
ing. Tennessee will find such procedure
to turn to her financial advantage not only
in regard to the white population, but now
more especially as it relates to her colOred
We must either by training
raise them in the scale of moral and intel
lectual existence, or our now burdensome
taxes will have to be raised to take care of
them as criminals and paupers. We have
an elephant on our hands-it is true we did
not voluntarily draw him, yet we have him
to take care Oft will be dangerous to
turn him loose without restraint-it will
be expensive to send him back to
his own country and equally
costly to feed him when hungry asd punish
him when he does wrong; prudence dictates
the policy of training him, so that he may
be made of great practical benefit to the
country.
Finally, we trust that a new era is dawn
ing upon the once prosperous and happy
commonwealth. The twilight of bright
er day is seen in the distance. The friends
of education are girding themselves for
better work than they have done in former
times. Davidson county with her eighty
public schools is leading the way; other
counties are following in the wake, and we
trust the spirit now ripe in our midst viii
spread all over the State until the two tlund-
red thousand children in Tennessee win re-
ceive instruction at the public expense.
From the honorable Legislature now in
session may we not expect much aid and
encouragement in carrying forward this
glorious work. J. c. PRovINE,
President of Board Of Education David
son county.
TENNESSEE NEWS.