The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-08-12

the other several departments. All were in
tcrcsting. / wonld especially mention Mr.
Nickcrshaul, superintendent Of schools foi
PENNSYLVANIA, both for the ability of his dis
cusSions in the department of superintend
ence and for his generous and kindly spirit
towards the southern members Of the ASso
citation. understand he is regarded us The
ablcSt school superintendent in the country
In the final evening session Of the Genera
Association, after the dispatch Of general bI
sincSS, the time was devoted to spcech-nakins
at large, and the era of good feeling" was
inaueurated. The several States were called
in order, and many handsome responses
were made. Rev. T. X. Beecher, brother Of
Henry Ward, and q preacher in Elmra,
made a most remarkable address, drawing a
picture Of the "ideal teacher" which no re
port could fairly represent. So much oftht
proceedings of this meeting rs will most i'll
terest your readers is embraced in the fol.
lowing report, clipped from the E2nsira Ga
5ette Of this day: ...
Professor Joynes, of Washington and Lee
University, Virginia, being called on by the
President to represent the South, said that he
had not come here as Southern man TO q
Northern Association, but as national mar
to National Association, and he was grateful
for the national spirit in which he had been
received, and for the general tone of the Asso
citation toward the southern people. He had
hoped not to hear the words North and South
mentioned here. and he regretted that he had
been compelled to protest, in individual in.
stances, against what he deemed injustice
towards the South. II he had done so with
feeling, he hoped he had done so without
aspcrity. He regretted, too, that even those
reports from the South which seemed to
have been conceived in spirit of kindness
had dealt so exclusively with the darker
side of the question. He hoped that in ftl.
ture meetings other elements Of southern
thought and feeling might be more largely
represented. He said there was bright
side as well as a dark side in the affairs OF
the South. He would not allude to the
causes Of deEaeSsion there, but he would
state some facts of his personal knowledge
to show what was being done in Virginia
for the higher education, leaving Mr.. Bin
ford to speak of the public schools. lie
then made statement of the condition and
work of the universities and colleges Of N!r-
ginia since the war, and Of the sacrifices
made by southern people to educate their
children. which was indeed surprising to the
Association, and which at several points was
greeted with hearty applause.
In conclusion, he said if anything was to
be done for the South it must be through
the people of the South-the whole people,
aud not any separate classes or races thereof.
What the South needed was not class legls-
lation nor Government interference (ofthese
there had been too much already, but peace
and union both at home and with the North,
and the liberty to do the best they could for
themselves in their own way. 1t would do
no good to dwell upon their faults or their
m;sfortunes here or elsewhere, but true
and generous sympathy would do good.
The southern people were asensitive people,
but they were also generous people, and
they would not fail to appreciate generosity.
Mr.. Binford, of Virginia, followed with a
statement of the condition Of the public
schools of Richmond and of Virginia, which
exhibited the most gratifying facts. He
said Virginia aspired to be the first State in
the education of the future as she had been
in the political glories of the past. But she
claimed fair play and equal rights.
The President thanked Mr.. Binford for
the Association, and the two shook hands
"across the bloody chasm" amidst loud ap-
plause.
MIR. McKeever. superint endent of schools
vi MUM Nalollilt ioiio"SA III ~ N~NiAAA ,.'NN>
clear statement of school matters in that
State. He said that all the people OF the
State were enlisted in the cause, without re-
gard to politics or caste. He emphalically
denied the statement Of Mr.. Fairchild, OF
kentucky, that the old shareholders were
opposed to popular education. He said the
best men of the old families of North Caro-
lima and of the Conservative party were
among the strongest advocates of education,
and his most efficient assistants ut home. He,
too, asked that justice might be done.
| Mr.. Jilson, superintendent of South Caro-
lima, and Mr.. Brown (colorcd), of Louisiana,
made similar statements. They said the
public schools met with no opposition from
any class of the community, but the whole
people were becoming rapidly united i'll
their support.
These statements made profound impress
| sion upon the audience. They were the
more important in view of the untayorablt
effect produced at an earlier; period by tht
remarks of DR.. McCosh and Mr.. Fairchild
and thanks are due to President NorthroE
for giving the South this opportunity t(
speak for herself. ,,--....:
Finally, at 10 P. NJ, the Association ad
| journed sine die.