National Republican., 1883-01-06
THE NEED or THE SOUTH.
The Condition OF Things Upon witch Ia
Based the Necessity Tor Governmental
Aid to- Southern Schools.

The Condition OF Things Upon which is
Based the Necessity Tor Governmental
Ala to Southern schools.
10 the Editor.
! SIR; The Presidents last two messages
contain no words of wider import and longer
reach than those which relate to the litter
acy in our country, and especially in Che
southern states. "Many who now exercise
the right of suffrage says the message Of
1851, "are unable 10 read the ballot which
they cast. Upon many who have just
emerged from a condition of slavery were
suddenly devolved the responsibilities of citi-
zenship in that portion of the country most
! impoverished by war. All that can be done
by local legislation and private generosity
should be supplemented by such aid rs can be
constitutonally afforded by the national gov
ernment." The message of 1889 adds: "The
census returns disclose an alarming state Of
| illiteracy in certain portions of the country,
where the provision for schools is grossly in
adequate. 1t is momentous question for
| the decision of congress whether immediate
and substantial aid should not be extended
! by the general government for supplement-
| ing the efforts of private benefcence and of
state and territorial legislation in behalf of
education" Fortunately the thoughtful men
of all sections of the country are becoming
aroused to this momentous question, so justly
stated by the President.
If the constant teachings of our chief mag
istrate, from Washington TO Arthur, and the
reiterated assertions of our wisest citizens and
statesmen are mere glitter and platitudes, the
republic rests down upon the intelligence and
virtue OF the people They are its living pill
| lars, and this oft-assorted doctrine Of our ua-
! tional belief has been sufficiently proved by
the fact that the great centers Of illiteracy,
whether in northern cities or in southern
states, have been the storm centers of political
! disturbance and danger. God forbid, that we
shall live to make fuller and sadder proof of
| the truth of this certain truth of our national
creed.
Having recently returned from tour of OBJ
servation in the southern states, made in the
! interest of education, / wish to add my testi-
mouy TO the urgent need of this national aid
advised by the President. The census gives
us the alarming extent of illiteracy as counted
in numbers, but personal observation can re-
veal its serious and deplorable darkness. IL
! literacy, when confined to small minorities
| is mitigated by its surroundings. One litter
ate among ten or twenty persons who read,
and whose conversation gives him, as with u
! strong reflected light, the ideas and the Lam
guage of the worlds current thought, is sim
| ply unlottered, but not necessarily ignorant.
| But when the great majority in any cOmmu-
nifty are illiterate, when the one who can read
is surrounded by the ten who cannot, the case
changes. Illiteracy in this case means igno-
rance the deepest and darkest all.
Facts in abundance, facts as sad as they arc
grotesque, might be given to show the dense
| ignorance of the poor whites and negroes Of
many sections of the south, but they would oc-
cupy needless space. General facts, open to
every travellers observation, even from the
car windows, better tell the story, except that
the car windows do not come near some Of the
darkest spots.
l. The poverty and degradation of language
among these people, the gibberish and jargon
which serve them for speech, tell only too
clearly their utter lack of clear IDEAS The
| commonest political facts and truths which
guide good citizens in their political duties
are incommunicable in such language and are
utterly beyond the comprehension of tens Of
thousands of these voters. Their Ignorance
is even wider than the illiteracy, since this
poverty of speech makes it impossible for
many who can read to understand what they
read. Our literature is n scaled book, and the
| newspapers are to them but Chinese puzzle.
2. The low and degrading superstitions
which prevail among them are another of the
evidences of their extreme ignorance. The
| tetichsm of Africa and the dark magic of the
middle ages have their counterparts in the
| beliefs prevalent in many of the cabins of the
south.
3. Tho wretched novels, almost without
| furniture or deCency, so commonly seen scat
tered through the slovenly and ill-kept fields,
afford still more conspicuous evidence of the
character Of the ignorance which prevails. 1T
is the absence of all intelligence in their work
that keeps these people so poor. Good schools
would double the wealth and taX-paying
power of the south in ten years by simply
enlightening the present labor force in its
fields.
1t would seem invidious to enumerate more
of these signs of the popular ignorance
prevailing in sections of our common country.
My aim is not to stigmatize some, but to stir
up all to the dangers that surround us. The
best men south as well as north deplore the
condition of things, and ask its removal by
the only power competent to the giant task.
The national governments and that alone,
can adequately meet this great problem of
our national life. Not an hour should be lost
before the forces are put to work to remedy
the growing danger. Should congress adjourn
without making some provision for this crisis
in the nations history it would disappoint
the hopes of many thousands of the best men
of the country. No other of the great meas
urcs which ask its attention contain so dark u
menace to the public safety and prosperity as
looms up in this dark mass of illitcrate citi-
zenship. And in no other measure is there
hidden such a store of public good as in the
spread of popular education now possible to
make in the next few years.
JOIN NJ. GREGORY.