Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1881-11-04

! VI llb lnhbibutlOnss nc thIl1 hlhNthutu WtIb
evidently fully conscious Of the fact. Presi-
4 dent Washington in his earliest message said,
knowledge is in every country the surest
basis Of public happiness" And in his fare
well message ho used these words, which
! should never be forgotten Promote, then,
as an object of primary importance, insttu.
tons for the general diffusion of knowledge.
In proportion as the structure of q govern.
ment gives force to public opinion it is essen-
tial that public opinion should be enlghten.
ed"
Equally direct and emphatic is the language
of President Monroe 'Let US by all wise
and constitutional measures promote intelli-
! gence among the people as the best means of
preserving our liberties"
/ might also quote from the messages OF
jefferson and the Adamses, and from many
other statesmen, who have endeavored "a
enforce upon the country the self-evident
truth that the intelligence of a free people
| is the best safeguard of their liberty.
Gentlemen, have made these remarks as
preliminary TO the statement of some un-
pleasant statistical facts upon the subject of
| illiteracy In this country. By the last report
of the Commissioner of Education il appears
that there are one million six hundred and
y-eight thousand colored children of
school age in the sixteen southern states, and
that only six hundred and eighty-five thous.
and are in the public schools, leaving almost
a million Of them beyond the reach of public
school instruction. l am not unmindful of
| the existence of many other institutions of
learning in those states which the munif-
cence Of our northern people, including, l
am happy to say, some of our own citizens,
| has established for the benefit of the colored
race; but the attendance upon all these does
not exceed fifteen thousand, making the
whole number of colored children in attend
ance upon schools of all kinds only about
seven hundred thousand. The per cent. of
the illiteracy of the adult population is, of
| course, much larger than that of the children,
so that of the whole colored population of
the South, not far from three Millions or
| about three-fourths of the whole number, are
| iliterate.
The condition of the white children in tn at
| section is not much more assuring. The
| statistics show that there are three million
seven hundred and fifty eight thousand of
school age, of which number only two mill
ion thirteen thousand are in the public
| schools, leaving one million seven hundred
and forty-five thousand to grow up in igno.
rance, for from this million and three-quar-
ters it is not reasonable to suppose that many
thousands can be deducted as in attendance
| upon private institutions.
The poor whites were of course, indignant
at the despised blacks having equal rights
with themselves to vote and hold Office. 1t
made no difference that they were as ragged
and hungry and poor and degraded as were
their colored brethren. They had never
| been slaves they had always voted, when
told how, and they had a white skin,
which was their patent of nobility. It was
| quite natural that the ruling class proud of
their ancestral blood, homes and wealth,
should revolt at the idea of their former
slaves being their political equals, especially
| when they were not inclined to vote with
| them. 1t was a wonderful change in social
affairs that southern gentlemen were called
| upon to witness, when the freedmen carried
several of the state elections. 1t is but just
TO say, however. that the indignation of the
whites was doubtless greatly increased by the
INSCRIPTIONS character and measures of some
of the white political leaders of the colored
voters. Nevertheless it was their plain duty
| to have submitted to the enfranchsement of
| the slaves and, as a matter of policy, they
should have accorded them the fullest enjoy
ment of their political rights and sought in
time to have won them to their support
| The course they did pursue is not for me to
| discuss here. II forms one of the darkest
and most shameful chapters in American
history. 1t required courage in them to
meet the armies of the Union in the open
field. 1t was cowardly to hunt down and
| murder a defenceless race.
| l would gladly draw q veil over the other
| part of the picture, but here in New England.
the seat of learning the home of the arts and
sciences, there are l57, 900 persons over ten
years of age who cannot read, and in the
| twenty-five northern states there are 100,
600 illiterate persons, an increase in New
| England of IL 1000, aud in the twenty two
states of 100. 600, since 1870. OF course, the
great mass Of this ignorant population are of
| foreign birth, aud therefore all the more
| dangerous, because they come here with no
knowledge of our traditions, and animated by
none of the spirit of our institutions and
| yet, having first declared their intention to
become citizens, in two years thereafter they
may be naturalized and have the right of suf-
frage.
The saying, that republican government
depends upon the intelligence and virtue of
the people, has become a political maxim,
| and yet there are four and half millions of
the children Of the country of school age
| who are not enrolled as in attendance on the
public schools which fact, l admit, is not
| accurate proof of the extent Of ignorance, for
the reason that in some of the states the
school age extends TO twenty. one years, and
a portion of the school population have re.
ceived the benefits of the schools and gradu-
| ated therefrom. Besides, a large number,
especially in the northern states, are not thus
enrolled because of their attendance upon
| private schools. But STILL every allowance
being made, the mass of ignorance left is
positively appalling; for We are confronted
with the startling fact that in the northern
states one -thirty-t third, in the southern about
one-f fifth, and in the whole United States
one tenth of the population are illiterAte.
The population of the sixteen southern states
by the present census is 1S, 504, 900; of these,
| 1920, 600, over ten years of age, are unable
to read The population of the northern
states and the territories is above 33, 900, 900,
1000, 900 of whom, over ten years of age, are
| unable to read.
Is the maxim wrong? Is the reverse true,
| that ignorance and vice are a surer foundation
for popular government than intelligence
and virtue, or is the saying mere platitude
that sounds well and means nothing, and it
is, after all, matter of indifference whether
the people are intelligent or ignorant
Should they not be
''The pith and marrow of a Nation,
Drawing force from all her men,
Highest, humbes weakest, all,
For her time of need, and then
| Pulsing 1t again through them,
TIL the basest Of them can no longer cover,
| Feeling his soul spring up divnely tall,
Touched but in passing by her mantle-hem."
danger that has been much talked about
in the last few years is Capitalization of polit-
ical power, and it is a grave danger-not Hs
the result apprehended from the election of a
certain man to the presidency, but as the sure
consequence of ignorance and apathy in the
people. The south, where the masses blind
ly follow few political leaders, has always
illustrated this danger, and the freedmen may
illustrate II even more forcibly in the years to
come; but the city of New York has furnish
ed a more glaring exemplifcation of it than
any other locality in the country. make no
distinction of party in this paper. The man.
ner in which the hordes of ignorant foreign
ers and native-born citizens have been swept
into the ranks of one political party or the
other, knowing and caring nothing for the
candidates or the issues for which they were
brought to the polls, only knowing that they
received a certain price for their votes or that
they obeyed the behests of certain demagogues,