Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1883-10-04


The Interstate Educational Convention
met at Louisville on the 10Th ultimo, Judge
Beckner presiding. Col. Asbury Coward, ,
the State superintendent of education of
this State, was present as one of the dele
gates, the States represented being: Ala
bama, California, Connecticut, District of
kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachu-
sets, Mississippi, Missouri, New York,
Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Vermont, Viz
ginia and West Virginia.
At the session of the Convention on Thurs
day, the proceedings were opened by 4 pre-
amble and resolutions by Hon. "A. S. Willis,
of kentucky, reciting that the Convention
approves most heartily of the adoption of
some measure of material legislation which
shall carry out the measures which are now
pending in Congress booking to an appro-
priation to be distributed among the several
States in aid Of popular education. The
resolutions were referred to the committee
on resolutions.
DIR. J. l.. NJ. Curry, Of Virginia, entered
into an interesting discussion of the subject
of "Federal Aid to State schools" After
showing that the basis Of all freedom was
intelligence and integrity, and that no leg
islation was so important as that which
led to the education Of the people, DIR.
Curry argued that universal education,
even approximately, was impossible, eX-
cept through Government aid. He asserted
that it was fact that universal education
had never existed through private aid.
Prior to the war, the slave excluded, the
wealth of the South was greater than any
other country. 1t had its scolleges, but it had
no public schools, SO that only the wealthy
fo, boz Il ,fo Of n1n
was lamentable fact that the mass OF the
people were ignorant and illiterate.
According to the speaker, denominational
education would never affect whole COM
munity, and the cheapest defence for the
property and lives of the citizens OF any
State was education. He stated that in the
entire South, at present, the entire school
fund was paid by the white man, though
it was equally distributed among both
whites and blacks. He praised Kentucky
for her recent action in putting both white
and colored children upon equal basis as
regards the distribution Of school money.
He had heard with ineXpressible alarm that
movement was on foot to divide the
school tax, so that the whites should raise
funds for the education Of white children,
and the blacks for the colOred children. 1t
was his opinion that such a movement
would only eternaliZe the ignorance OF the
colored man. He said that the South was
now poor, and that there had been great
diminution in her taxable property in all
but three of her States. She had been i'm
poverished by the war, and the condition
of things in 1865 was most deplorable but
there was nothing in history that presented
sublimer aspect than the effort of the
South to rise again, and no people had ever
accomplished so much in so short time
with such obstacles to conted against. Her
illiteracy, however, was fearful, over thirty
per cent. of her white and seventy per cent.
of the colored population being illiterate:
kentucky had $1,000 illiterate white, and
$4,000 illiterate colored voters. The same
condition Of things existed in all the South
ern States, 50 that there was about $780,
600 illiterate votersStn the South. What
had already been done toward educating
the negro was very encouraging, ana the
result should only stimulate towards greater
efforts. He spoke of slavery and thanked
God that the negroes were free. They were
brought to this country by cruel compulSlOn,
and though they were free, they were still
the slaves of ignorance. The Ignorance OF
the negro was scarcely more APPALLING than
the illitcracy of the whites. The extension
of Federal aid to the cause of education, he
held, should be made upon general princi-
pies. 1t should be immediate to relieve the
present exigencies. The States should help
themselves, and, in turn, should receive
assistance from the General Government.
The measure should lie outside of party
politics, from which education should be far
removed. The speaker said the cOnstitu-
tiOnality Of the measure would scarcely
be questioned, and in closing, Mr. Curry
gave Il recital of the perils that beset the
free institutions of this country from illlt-
eracy, and said it was the duty of every one
in time of peace to guard against internal
foes. The country needed schoOl-houses and
good teachers, and no better use Of portion
of the immense revenue Of the United States
could be made than by applying 1T to the
advancement Of education.
At the close of Mr.. Curry's remarks, Gen.
Eaton arose and asked that Hon. a. ).
Willis, member Of Congress from the Louis
Vile District, speak on the subject of Fed
eral aid to schools. In substance, Mr.. Willis
said that if kentucky gave, in proportion,
the same support to her schools that Massa-
chusettS did, She would have to raise fund
of 81 ,OOOOOO. Though Kentucky was better
off than most Of the Southern States, about
ne-f0urth of the voters could not read the
ballots they cast. The speaker then cited
several instances where Southern cities sup
ported excellent school systems by heavy
was doing her best, but she needed aSsis-
lance from the Government. He was in
favor of proportioning the aid extended by
the National Government to the amount OF
school fund raised by each Of the various
States He did not mean by this that the
Federal Government was to take control
of the school system, but it was simply
to supplement whatever the States them
selves might do in educating their people.
The government would have no trouble III
furnishing the money necessary for this aid,
since the surplus revenue in the treasury,
he said, is about $100,OOO, 600 annually. He
estimated that in five years $500, 600, 900 will
have accumulated in the treasury. No bet
ter use could be made of this immense sum
than to devote part of it to aiding the
spread of education throughout the whole
country. He held that the question of Fed
eral aid was Il national one in which the
North and the South were alike interested.
Congressman H. ID. Money, of Mississippi,
followed Mr.. Willis, favoring the principles
set forth by the other speakers, and said
that the South had broken loose from her
old moorings into the broad stream of life.
He was for Federal aid, because upon it
depends the perpetuity of national institu-
tions. a bill embodying the principles
enunciated here will, he said, be presented
to Congress, and before ten years it will be
matter of wonder that any diversity of
opinion ever existed.
DIR. Dickerson, secretary of the State board
of education of Massachusetts, favored the
extension of Federal aid. DR.. Basil Manly,
president of the Southern Baptist Thcologi-
cal Seminary, Louisville, next spoke. He
addressed his remarks mainly to the condi-
ton of education in the South. This con-
cluded the discussion of the subject of "Fed-