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

in order that its development may NEE
the necessities of our condition. Th
States of this Union which to-day stane
first in population, wealth and politica
influence are those in which, through
efficient public school systems, knowl
edge is most widely difused among th
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 estab
lishment of an educa ional 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 a.
the Citadel is still in possession of tht
United States Government. 1t is ol
great Importance to our educational in
terests that it be restored and DEVOTED, a!
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 colored youth of tht
State in connection with Clafin Univer
sity. The South Carolina College o
Agriculture and Mechanic Arts for the
special education of the white youth O
the State in this connection was opened
in October last, and is also supported by
the interest of this fund. These institu
tions deserve, as I am sure they vii
receive, the fostering care of the Genera
Assembly.
The Constitution of the State make!
it the duty of the General Assembly tc
provide for the maintenance of the Soutf
Carolina University. 1t is not, perhaps
within our power 10 renew its sphere o
usefulness at this time, but the direction
of the Constitution should be obeyed a
as early day as practicable. A Uni
versity of high grade, working in har
mony with the excellent colleges now II
operation in the State, would have the
effect of stimulating education in tht
public schools and would complete oul
educational system.
MATERIAL PROGRESS.
During the two months of the recen
political canvass, it was my fortune tt
pass through every county in the State
except one. Devoted for the greater
part of my life to agricultural purs uits
and familiar with most parts of the State
I was surprised and grati6ed at the diver
si6ed and abundant harvests that were
everywhere witnessed. Much of this
was due to propitious seasons, but il wa:
evident that more was due to improved
methods of culture and the hopefu
energy and increased thrift of all classes
of our people. To one cognizant only o.
the recent past in the agriculture of the
State, some of the results attained art
scarcely credible. I saw one field O
three hundred and fifty acres which
have since learned yielded this year, a:
it had done last year, three hundred and
fifty bales of cotton weighing 500 pound:
each. Over large area of the same
county the crops upon the uplands were
as lu1uriant as upon the finest alluvia
soils. These uplands were of the char
acter usual throughout the middle bell
of the State, which, in their unimproyec
condition, would require three or more
acres to produce a bale. Our farmers
too, are diversifying their crops and pay
ing more attention to live stock thar
formerly. The results attained in tht
small grain-oats particularly-art
equally surprising. From seventy-five tt
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 larges
and best display of live stock have wit
messed in the State since the war. The
development on the sea islands in specia
instances, by means of tile drainage ant
fertilization, in the production of th'
peculiarly valuable cotton there grown
is equally worthy of note. 1t ha
eaualled four and FIVE times the result
formerly attained.
Near Charleston four and a half tom
per acre of Bermuda hay have beer
grown this year upon light, sandy land
specially fertilized and in another par
of the State, upon alluvial lands not fer
tilized, meadow has yielded for thre'
years past an average of two and hal
tons to the acre of the same valuable
hay equal, if not superior, in feedin:
quality to the best Timothy. and selling
in the adjacent markets at from twent,
to twenty-five dollars to the ton.
This improved condition of our chic
industrial interests is indeed gratifying
and illustrates the capabilities of ou
favored soil and climate. But ou
abounding resources still sadly need de
velopment. Our mineral wealth, ou
water powers, the products of our forests
our agriculture itself, have scarcely beef
touched. "The harvest is plenteous, blu
the laborers are few" One of the mos
pressing needs of the State Industrial.
is the advent of an intelligentand thrift.
immigration. | commend this subject tt
you; and l commend to your care th'
recently established Department of Agri
culture, which, wisely conducted, l an
persuaded, will be a most valuable agen
in advancing all of the material interest
of the State.
CONCLUSION.
These happy results-this restoration
of the State to the methods of good gov
eminent; this hopeful industry of al
classes of our people and rapid adyanc
in prosperity, are due, under the provi
dence Of God, to the resumption of tn
chief control of our local affairs by tha
portion of our citizens in whom the ca
pacity of self-government is an inheri
tance derived from a thousand years o
a free ancestry. 1t stands in striking
contrast to the wretched period of riotou
misrule which preceded it under tn
domination of the lately enfranchise'
freedmen. South Carolina cannot ant
will not again become q PROSTATE State
The God-given right of self-preservatiol
inheres in communities as we'll as in in
dividuals. 1t is higher than law ant
older than constitutions; but the prob
lem with US to-day is to preserve the lif
of the State within the conditions tha
surround US, It is true that never be