The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1875-09-08
Free Governmsnt Enemies.

$40 WV OPROCO OWA cy0tC" "a VIZ
schools are the enemies Of our fire.
Institutions. no matter who they are
When the people are the governmcn
the masses must be educated, or oul
government cannot DO maintained
ceeded in maintaining free govern
nents, has been because the people
have not been educated, and if We re.
main free and independent we must
maintain our free schools We copy
the following from the Washington
Republic:
Government of the People, for the
: People, and by the People" as Abra.
ham Lincoln SO wisely and senten.
! tiously described the Republican
form-is always in danger from that
{ ignorance which is not merely litter.
ate, but shuts out all the widening
influences of active knowledge, by re
road to liberalizing influences.
The worlds history is full of the
most damning proofs Of this state.
drenched in fratricidal blood, in order
to make it apparent. Yet, in the face
OF these things, the powers of dark
uCoo AdAAy ~ lCACWCu dGtdCAS I'll lAG
free school system-that agency which
is potent to stimulate intelligence and
able to make men and women capable
OF self-goyernment. There are vari-
Gus forces at this terrible work. For
present purposes, the one to be dealt
with is more Immediately formid-
able. '-s'30
The illiteracy Of the South is
alarming. Not only have the former
adult slaves grown up in abject ignor-
ance, but whole decade has passed
during which little or no effort was
made to secure the education Of the
generation of whites then growing up.
A war. the merciless CONSUMPTION to
sustain which, almost robbed the era
die and the grave. swept the male
youth to the camp and the battle
field. The secession insanity plum
dered the school funds to sustain the
armies of the Confederacy. So feeble
were all attempts at public schools in
the South before the civil war, that it
swept them out of existence, and left
the rising generation without the
most ordinary means of education.
Not until 1859 and 1870 was there q
revival, or rather creative effort
made.
The Republican party established a
free school system in each one of the
ex-Confederate States. They embo.
died provisions IN the Constitution
under which Congress re admitted
them to representation. Those sys-
TENS exist, and have grown to increas-
ing usefulness, to- just the extent that
the Democracy has failed to re-secure
control of any State. Wherever such
control has been obtained. an attack
on the common schools has followed.
They cannot be entirely broken down,
but they have been greatly impaired.
Yet the need Is very great. Let Us
look at the facts. The following ia
bic exhibits the danger:
PERSONS OVER TEN YEARS OF AGE
WHO CANNOT READ.
Total Cannot
Section. Populat'n Read.
Eastern and Middle States
lnciuding foreigners 49,. 12,3U3 53i II 0S6
Western States tinclading
ToreIsnersl l2.G23,629 4O9,l15
southern States including
fOreiSnefs) 1857, 43o 3,oo0, 425
Thus 255 per cent. of the popula-
ton of that age, in the South. are
illiterate. against 3.8 per cent. in the
ILdSt6Iu anu anu o. III TUG
Western States.
Again. taking the total of the male
population OF the voting age, and it
will be found that of those who cam
not read, the Eastern and Middle
States have 226 1892; the Western,
2l7. 4o3; the Southern, 1,137 1903, or,
In other words, there are 80 per cent.
of the Southern voters who are litter
ate, as against 8 per cent. In the other
two sections.
As to the cost, the reports of the
Bureau of Education furnishes the
materials for the following compare
son:
Section. Population for
Education.
Eastern and Middle
ws safs States y 12ss So $500 a. sss
Southern States...---.-..- Is,szs.4a5 n,I76,s4a
From this table it appears that the
Southern States, with population
larger than either of the other Sec
tons, expend only about one third
the amount. The per capita compar
ison is even more striking Taking
the population between six and
sixteen as a basis, and the rate is as
follows In the North: Massachu-
sets, the highest $21!74. Main. the
lowest S6 81. In the South: Mary
land, the highest 1855. North Caro-
lima, the lowest 62. Thus the lowest
expenditure per capita in any North.
ern State is higher than the highest
in the South; while the lowest in the
South is only fraction of a dollarl
Yet with these terrible facts staring
al T.. o.
are still defiant Of and hostile towards
the common school system. G Light
breaks in various directions That is
to be seen, but the general tone of
which IS one of prevailing hostility,
not only to negro instruction, but to
free schools. Yet, according to the
census of 1870, there we're In the
Southern section nearly 284, coo illit-
crate whites between the ages of Ia
and 81, while of white adults there
we're 797 900, making a total above
the age Of Is of not less than OBI ,O0(
who were then growing up in ignor-
ance. Hostility to common schools
and general education does not then
End its only genesis in colorphobia
1t goes back of race and partisan poll.
cies. and strikes at the fundamental
conditions by which alone govern.
ment of the people, by the people. fol
the people, can exist. The Southern
Democrats and all others who oppose
the common school system are the
deliberate and intentional enemies o.
free government.
When the Republican rarty turned
over the State government of Texas