The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1881-12-01
Popular Education in the South


of this city, at meeting of the Peabody Board
OF Trustees, OF which he is a member, pre-
sented an able and exhaustive paper on the
| subject of popular EDUCATION in the south, in
which he recommended the donation of the
public lands to the building up of the educa-
tional system in the late slave holding states.
AT the time the paper appeared, widespread
interest was awakened in the subject. and we
commented upon it in these columns. The
plan proposed, and the forcible manner of its
presentation called forth much discussion, and
excited general appreciation. Many compli-
mentary letters were received by Mr.. Stuart,
and the press, for while, teemed with COM
ment and suggestion. Building upon Mr.
Stuart's idea, the City Council of Charleston,
South Carolina, has recently ;ssueda pamphlet
urging the General Government to aid the
school system Of the South by the donation of
OF the schools of Charleston from their ioun-
dation in 1911, and shows by statistics that
while the needs of the schools have over
doubled, within the last twenty years. the
means for supplying those needs haYe decreas-
ed one-half. The taxable values of the city
in 1860 were So, 100000. and in 1880 only $751;
100000. The white pupils at the public schools
in 1860 numbered 1000, whilst the white and
colored children who should now be attending
oveF double that number As a matter of fact,
however, but 414O children, equally divided
between the two races are enabled to attend
school, owing to the inadequate provisions for
their accommodation.
The case of Charleston cannot be regarded
as exceptional. Whilst in this particular in
stance the figures may stand out with marked
prominence, yet it is nevertheless true that, to
more or less extent, the same conditions ex-
ist throughout the entire South. Upon an i'm
mense reduction of values consequent upon
the war, we have been compelled to meet de-
mands for educational purposes over double
the original drafts upon our resources. The
total colored population of the South is about
100000, Of whom at least one-fourth are
children largely without instruction. For the
education of these We must provide from al
ready depleted Golfers. The taxable values of
the South. In 1850. aggregated $5,426, 047, 724,
which the war reduced to $3,553, 757 ,O00-a
loss of one-third The population of the South
i'll 1870 was 13748. $40, of whom 4 AZ, 684 were
colored. 1t is safe to assume that oyer one.
half the population is incapable of bearing
taxation, and the remainder are comparatively
poor.
In discussing the equity of the policy of
government aid, the Charleston pamphlet sum-
marises Mr.. Stuarts paper on this point, and
shows that 169,219,8S6 acres of the public |
lands have been granted to new States for the
construction of railroads and canals, and ST.
9SS,o14 acres were distributed among twenty
six new States and Territories for the support |
of schools, besides what was given for uniyer-
sites and deafmute asylums. Minnesota |
alone received land warth sa00Oa,OO0 for this
purpose. The original thirteen States, out of
the public domain, originally wholly their
own, have received no benefit which has not
been shared in equally by the new States Gre
ated out Of that domain. In 1867 there still |
unappropriated of the public lands
,4l4 ,567 ,594 acres, and although much of it is
"OAS"'c, SsiiA SltoaSA AViilhlub W pIOHlue IOT l.
the education of the illiterate in the South,
and to pnt the old States ON a par of benefits I
with the new. As to the mode of administer
ing assistance, the City Council of Charleston
is of opinion that the officers of the. school
systems of the various States should be the
agents for the application of any funds derived
from the government in the same manner as
hey at present eMplay the funds derived from
The Peabody trust. The bureau of education
1t Washington, it is suggested, might act as
\ central agency and have the general direct
on of the entire system.h
We respectfully call the attention OF Cong
'ess to this important subject, and to the sug-
yestions SO ably set forth by Mr. Stuart. 1t is
/ matter in which the whole Union has deep
md lasting interest, and our southern repre-
'entatiyes should see that it be not allowed to
jumber.