The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1880-12-09
EDUCATION.

| Our pu0ilc school system demands aud
should receive the most careful attention
in order that its development may meet
the necessities of our condition. The
States of this Union which TO day stand
flrst in population, wealth and political
influence are those in which, through
efficient public school systems, knowl-
edge is most widely diffused among the
people. The social and political restora-
ton of our State, and the development,
TO the fullest extent, of our natural re-
sources, will surely follow upon the cstab.
lishment of an educational system which
will reach down to the child Of the hum
blest man, without regard to race or color
and qualify him for the duties of future
citizenship.
The property in Charleston known as
the Citadel is still in possession of the
United States Government. 1t is of
great importance TO our educational in.
terests that it be restored and devoted, rs
formerly, to the purpose of State Mill
tary Academy.
Part Of the interest of the fund do
mated by Congress for the maintenance
of institutions for instruction in agricul-
ture and the mechanic arts has been
applied for some years to the higher
education of the colo,ed youth of the
State i. connection with Claflin Uniycr-
sity. Tho South Carolina College of
Agriculture and Mechanic Arts for the
special education of the white youth of
the State in this connection was opened
in October last, and is also supported by
the interest Of this fund. These institu.
tions deserve, rs l am sure they will
receive, the fostering care of the General
Assembly.
The Constitution of the State makes
IL the duty Of the General Assembly to
provide for the maintenance Of the South
Carolina University. 1t is not, perhaps,
within our power 10 renew its sphere of
usefulness at this time, but the direction
of the Constitution should be obeycd at
rs carly dfy as practicable. A Uni
versity of high grade, working in har-
moDy with tho excellent colleges now in
operation in the State, would have the
effect Of stimulating education in the
public schools and would complete our
educational system.
MATERIAL PROGRESS.
During the two months of the recent
political canvass, it was my fortune to
pass through every county in the State
except one. Devoted for the greater
hnd familiar with most parts Of the State,
/ was surprised and gratified at the diver.
sitied ana abundant harvests that were
everywhere witnessed. Much Of this.
was due to propitious seasons, but il was
evident that more was due to improved
methods Of culture and the hopeful
energy and increased thrift of all classes
of our people. To one cognizant only of
the recent past in the agriculture of the
State, some of the results attained arc
scarcely credible. I saw one field of
three hundred and fifty acres which I
have since learned yielded this year, as
it had done last year, three hundred and
fifty bales of cotton weighing 500 pounds
each. Over large area of the same
county the crops upon the uplands were
as luxuriant as upon the finest alluvial
soils. These uplands were of the char
acter usual throughout the middle belt
of the State, which, in their unimproyed
condition, %ould require three or moro
acres to produce q bale. Our farmers
too, are diversitying their crops and pay.
ing more attention to live stock than
formerly. The results attained in the
small grain-oats particularly-ar
equally surprising. From seventy-five to
one hundred bushels to the acre ON up.
lands are credibly reported in many
instances; and the last Fair of the State
Agricultural Society exhibited the largest
and best display of live stock have wit
messed in the State since the war. The
development on the sea islands in special
instances by means of tile drainage and
fertilization, in the production of the
peculiarly valuable cotton there grown,
is equally worthy Of note. It has
equalled four and five times the results
formerly attained.
Near Charleston four end half tons
per acre of Bermuda hay have been
grown this year upon light, sandy lands
specially fertiized; and in another part
of the State, upon alluvial lands not fer
tilted, meadow has yielded for three
years past an average of two and half
tons to the acre of the same valuable
hay. equal, if not superior, in feeding
quality to the best Timothy. and selling
IN the adjacent markets at from twenty
to twenty-five dollars to the ton.
This improved condition of our chic :
industrial interests is indeed gratifying,
and illustrates the capabilities of our
favored soil and climate. But our
abounding resources still sadly need de-
velopment. Our mineral wealth, our
water pow g, the products of our forests.
our agriculture itself, have scarcely been
touched. "The harvest is plenteous, but
the laborers are few" One of the most
pressing needs of the State industrially
is the advent Of an intelligent and thrifty
immigration. | commend this subject to
you; and l commend to your care the
recently established Department of Agri.
culture, which, wisely conducted, am
persuaded, will be a most valuable agent
in advancing all of The material interests
of the State.
CONCLUSION.
These happy results-this restoration
of the State TO the methods of good gov.
eminent; this hopeful industry of all
classes of our people and rapid advance
in prosperity, ere dec, anddoo. tho tho pIvvi-
dence of God. to the resumption of tho
chief control of our local affairs by that
portion of our citizens in whom the ca
pacity of selfgovernment is an inheri-
tance derived from thousand years Of
q free ancestry. It stands in striking
contrast TO the wretched period of riotous
misrule which preceded it under the
domination of the lately enfranchised
freedmen. South Carolina cannot and
will not again become o. PROSTATE State,
The God-giyen right of sclf.preservation
inheres in communities as we'll as in in
dividuals. 1t Ia higher than law aLG
older than constitutions; but the prob.
lem with us to-day is to preserve the life
| of the State within the conditions that
surround us. 1t is true that never be-