Arizona weekly citizen., 1882-12-31
IL11rERAcY lNrgg UNITED STATES.

Much of the statistical data furnished by the late census Is interesting and in- structive. IL touches subjects of vital interest to the welfare of the country. IL presents problems of great magni- tUie and difficulty. IL enables our statesmen to operate iutelligently upon matters of winch they would otherwise have only vague Idea. Take the ques- tion of illlteracy in the United States We are all we'll aware that there IS an alarming amount of 1t. We know that Te have been receiving illIterate for eisners by tue hundreds besides inject ing int the citizen population the pro- duct of a century and half of human slavery. All know that in some DOT uons of the country the iIliterate popu- latIUn IS so extensive that local prOyi- sion for education cannot meet the emergency. Mir. John Eaton, United States Commissioner Of Education, at a meeting Of the Union League Club ia New York, made some Esry interesting statementts In re-
 
 MT. Eaton said that, though nearly twenty years had passed since the dec isration of universal freedom, there are 2,22 1878 Of the colcred population at the age of ten years and upward who could not write, or q number equal to the whole population of the original thirteen States. The illiterate whites number 2,225, 4G0 persons of the same ages. Of the achievements of religion he said: Tue church has great infiu- snce upon e lucltion. but the money in vested in the education Cf women by the Church was not One-fftieth the amount Of money experded for the col ege-sducati5n of men. let If prOvis- Ion were made by the Church to meet the want # would be at a cost of S30S,- O00,000. It would take lo,0O0,0O0 reli- zioGs papers to furnish one to each fam fly. The sitting capacity for the Sab bath is 2s,l7SO0l, but it would require an additional 2LOO0,OO0 to provide &C., commolations for the remainder of the population. Mir. Eaton said that it was absurd to expect that the Church should take the responsibility oi the education of our youth. Free education could only be promoted by the State Tn ev- cry State there are liberal provisions for the educauon oi the people. Yet these sd- vaatsges are inadequate. The speaker said that the people who seem to think that Senator Logan's proposition to make the appropriation for the educa- siou 0i the youth of this country lSG0,- GJ, 100J vas too much money to be ex- pended were mistaken. Senator Logan's lrures were SJ90l0.000 short. To pre- pare the necessary teachers for the beue- lt of the population who are unable to attend school II would require Sll,OO0,- O00 and the expense, for the first year sould be Sll0OnO)1 In our cites there IS an absence on the average of twe-d'ths Of the school population. To give Co children Of South Carolina the proper advantages for education it would require a tax ot 3 per cent. upon the people otthe State h these Southern States there are 2.9Sl, ,3S1 of the popula- tio1 aged txenty-one and upwards who cannot write. In the United States there are i,S7S,2I6 voters who cannot write, iu twelve States there are more tuan 10000 and iu eleven States alone Jae illiterats voters outnumber the voters oi ordinary intelligence. The voter 9i the two parties iu the last Pres lientlal election show that an all but five ot the States in the Union there were enough illiterate men 10 reverse the results of the election Tn each of the States.