The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1873-02-09
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the importance OF The Hubjec OF educa-
tion. manufactures and immigration.
Indeed, it cannot be over-ostimated.
From this quarter must come relief from
tho oppressive and multiform evils which
weigh us down. The key to it is popu-
lar enlightenment. improved moral tone,
diversified, industry,4 and thrifty. On !
teemiug population. Widespread igno:
rance is bad enough in itself, but uni &
yersal suffrage 90 has made it pernioious.
The first great educational duty. then, is
to diffdde knowledge as widely, md make
it as thoiohgA, as posa:bis. We ,are
plsssSd stoe be abb to recognize lsome
cropping in this direction Of the Rspubli-
can party. It rightly Judges that the
foundations upon which it rests are inse-
cure. and. we would fain hope, that it
sees with similar olearness, that they ale
equally unfit as supports Of the public
institutions and the public liberties. +,
.is working na way Chilly, through many
,ebstaoles, and by suoh remedial measures
as are at 1ts pommapd, from the darkh9ss
inwhich, it had its birth. It has, done
WE'LL but it has planned more wisely than
itshss executed. The system OF free
public schools which it has endeayored
to establish here. was just the thing
needed It was never fully practicable
before the advent of the Republican party
to power, because. OF the sparse
.nesa of. the population, snd the SUI.
hoienoy OF othersehoo}s then in existence.
In carrying out this system, it has been
banked by ignorange, incompetenoyinnd
fr49dalept peytafsikp Of the funds. The
Superintendent of Education has worked
faithfully, we believe, but the ,founda-
+ions are hardly laid yet. Public .inte-
rest is not awake to the greatness Of the
undertaking. Schools languish, the
stste Board iof Education is not con-
oerned enough to hold their annual meet
ings. teachers are unpaid, ft men de-
cline the positions of teachers. and We
have only the travesty and mockery of
education The main trouble in this,
as in other branches of the public aer-
vice, has been to introduce conscience
and some, sense OF moral responsibility
into itworkings. But we shalla hbpe
better things hereafter. We incline TO
believe that stricter accountability will,
in the future, be required OF those
charged sith this Stewardship. The
conservative interest desires to strength
en- the handsof the more Intelligent Re-
publicans. ID providing ways and means
of carrying on the public schools. SO
far as public institutions go, the State is
now we'll provided with them. And to
these will soon be added another--the
State Nafmal School. Faithful admins
tration, OF the trusts. honest haudling OF
the funds. good and earnest teachers,
abreast with the progress Of the times.
and active with energy and enthusiasm,
are now the difficult conditions to fill.
Manufactures willspring up in no great
while. Capital and labor will aea tho
advantages Of the invitation which we
are about sending ont to them. The
chief difficulty in the way of new
awakening will have been overcome
when the bill. which proposes to refund
tax on capital employed in manufactures
for term of years, has become Inv of
the land. Accessions to population will
como n:the train of manufacturing onpi-
tai, in connection with busy looms and
whirling spindles. Farmers from abroad
will next learn the value of our lands
and climate, the suffioiency OF our rail-
road lines4and river navigation. and turn
their steps in. this direction. Why should
foreigners prefer the bleak and frozen
regions Of the North west to this balmy
land OF ours? The accounts OF loss Of
life there, recently, to the number of
hundreds. from the severity and sudden
ness OF snow storms, are terrible and ap-
palling. Here we can grow almost any
crop. md two in year. Our lands may
be bought ab moderate prices; our
streams are never impeded by ice; our
mills can bo operated every day in the
year; fuel is abundant; cattle can winter,
without other food, upon the grasses aud