Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1874-11-22
~ Taxpayer In Answer to "Jus-
tice,S Who, We Hope, Sleeps
without Fear of the
Negro.
The Condition and Progress OF the fop'
Iar-Street High SCHOOL Qaes-
lion for Candidates.
Our COmments--Sreuments FOR bduca
tIOn Supplied by the Census
Facts and Figures Worth
StutllBg.

We continue to-day the Letters Of cor
respondents touching the public school
question. All Of them are of interest,"
aud add something to the general STOCK
of information and comment upon
the absorbing topic Of the hour.
.Vigilance" declines 70 reveal his
identity, and justifies his former
structures, asserting himself as ear
nest friend of one class as another OF
our citizens, while he urges with peril
nent logic the necessity for secular edu-
cation, utterly free Of religious bias
osNon-Tax-Psyer," who enters the field
for the first time, is one OF the most I'D
eraI Of all those who have advocated the
city school system, aud we heartily IN
dorse him with this explanation OF his
last sentence that he means by wipiDg
out of the color line by education, that
when the negroes are able to read, write
and cypher understandingly they VIII
be able to learn for themselves the
differences between parties and can
didates, and voting understand
ingly, will not as now, array them
selves en- nlGssee against their white
neighbors. And this is true. Every in
teIligent man must confess it so. Since
1855 many of the southern States IN fac'
OF the most intelligent statement o.
their condition under Radical rule
w-re held in bondage through be votes
Of the iIliterate Of their population
In our own State this was To,
csse. and might still be so
were it not for the generous con
duct Of Senter who, enfranchisin.
the intelligence of the State, enabled j
to assume the control to which its supe
rior condition by reason Of education
entitled it. During the late civil wa
/ il is well known that ma
i9rity of those most violently Op
posed to the Confederate movement
were the grossly illiterate, wh'
never could be argued into a compre
hension Of States rights, and that, com
bined with the liberated negroes, thes'
formed the great body OF the BrownloV
party that triumphed until Senter IN
tervened; and we may add additionally
taat il is TO them we owe our greatly IN
creased State debt. We say this not be-
cause we would revive the war OK Id
consequences, or would be understood
now to reflect in political sense upor
that class of our fellow-eidzens. We Sun
Div adduce the fact in support of our pc
sition. 1t is the knowledge, too, OF tn
presence OF 50 large a class OF tina
character in our State that together will
the hitherto indifference Of our peopi
to public education prevents tn
! immigration we need to occupy on
neglected acres. Out of %, 600, 600 acre
Of land in the State, only q little owe
/ 6 OOO. 600 are under cultivation, the Il
remaining $4,000, 600 lying idle
contributing nothing to the State
a burden to the owner
many Of whom are to
short-sighted to realize that il occupie
~ a wide-awake population like that
for instance, OF Ohio, the taxes nos
complained Of would not be a feather
weight by comparison. StatisticianscOm
pute the value Of an intelligent Lahore
at twenty-five per cent. more than tina
of an ignorant one. Looking at the il
! literacy Of Tennessee Jour most burn
| ing disgrace), and keeping in min
her idle acres, we get a glimpse Of on
Of the main reasons for our backward
uess as compared with States that en-
tered the Union subsequent to the dat
] inscribed on our shield. The recent eel
sus says that the number OF illiterat
D -rsons in Tennessee was in 1870 owe
1854 COS, OF whom 13S. 955 were betwee
/ the ages Of ten and twenty, and 225. II
we're tWenty-One and over. o. th
adults there were 37,7l3 whit
males ana 81. 927 colored, q total Of 49,
$40 voters, as potential by their votes f.
God Or evil az the most intelligent an
wisest Of the cultured men of the STATE
The total vote at the last election wa
l59. 423, and Of these 50, 640 were utterl
ignorant. Is this not q strong additions
argument in favor Of public edu
ca ione But we have not %
done. This same census report cred
! lis Tennessee with an increas
OF population during the previous d'
eade OF only l3 per cent, while the il
crease Of white illiterates in the sam
tine, was 80 per cent. And what dot
the penitentiary tell US, why that
1872 cut Of 76S prisoners, 6bs cOul
neither read nor write, and OF the r
naming l00one-half only could read an
write. ~ we estimate the pr
! ductive labor OF these prisOne
at $500 per annum each, v
have an amount that would educa
= eight times their number. But to tn
, we have to add the enormous sum e.
pended for their prosecution and convi
ton, amounting to over S2O0, 900, a su
over three times that required to mai
( tain the city schools Of Memphis. L
Z Us repeat the prosecution az
{ conviction of the criminals
! tennessee cost over three tim
) more per aDnum than the ed
= cation Of the $500 children Of the peOp
, OF Memphis attending her public school
Can anything more forcibie in favor
5 education be adduced? We think nc
2 Go out into the workshops and the farm
0 and see who IL is that labors intelliger
I ly, and you viii And those only vi
!. have been educated 70 think, those vi
s have been under the training Of q
, schools. Go into any Of the counties
!, the State, and ask the intelligent vol
= wbv he does not take more interest
, elections, and he viii tell you it is
b cs,,se ignorance can beat him ten
: one. Ard 40 our broad, rich acres
Z living untitled, q oITT;@:1;-.e; 70 Ine.F poss'
+ sors' our prisons are filed, and INN
< grafton 70 Tennessee desefied
: cause Of the lniteraey undes VIII
We groan. A thorough public scnS
d system is then what most We neeo
1i f,stsr and encourage. This obtained
2 slss win De added unto ua. lnsSsi
therefore, Of eurtailiRg our edacAnol