The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1884-04-03
SENATORBUTLER AND THE PUB
IIC SCHOOLS.

educational bill which asks federal
aid for education in the States, on
the basis Of illiteracy, was under
consideration, Senator Butler made
q fierce onslaught upon the bill
This is a surprise to his friends and
source Of regret to the citizens OF
the State whose agent he is, and
who have been led by his public ut
terances to look upon him as the
champion of the very measure
which he now seeks to defeat.
If this had been the Senator's
first public expression of his views
on the subject Of national aid for
education in the States, it would
not have caused great surprise
while it might have created some
regret, for he, as well as others, has
the right to entertain and freely ex-
press his own opinions. But in
1882 Senator Butler himself intro
duced a bill seeking to set aside
all money arising from patents and
sales Of public lands, for the pur-
pose of educating the people. That
bill, which he strenuously advocated
did not differ in principle from that
which he now bitterly opposes and
pronounces unconstitutional.
In 1882 the General Assembly
of this State adopted a unanimous
resolution urging Our Senators and
Representatives in Congress to use
all their endeavors to obtain fed
eral aid for the promotion of our
public schools. Hugh S. Thompson
went to Washington and earnestly
pressed the claims, while urging the
needs, of our State. In the begin.
ming of 1888 Senator Butler pre-
sented, in support of his educa-
tional bill, memorials asking for
federal aid; and he informed the
Senate that these memorials rep
resented the very best element in his
State, being signed by the Cover
nor, the State officers, Senators,
Representatives, college faculties,
and other influential and respecta-
BILE men throughout the State. He
said that, while they prayed for the
enactment of his bill, they would
be satisfied with another Of like
character. Now he is opposed to
federal aid, and prefers to rely up
on the pluck and energy Of his own
State, asserting that we do not
need the money which the bill
seeks to appropriate.
When Senator Butler extols the
pluck and energy Of our State--her
great reYerses and the heroic spirit
ofendurance with which she has met
them, his words are grateful to the
feelings of all Carolinians. But
when he says that we are able to
take care of ourselves, and do not
need aid for the promotion of our
schools; above all, when he fiercely
attacks the very measure which
aims to give us the aid for which
we have sought, he ceases to be
statesmanlike and shows vault
ing state pride which foolishly over
leaps itself and the immediate ben
efts held out to his State by the
Blair educational bill.
The man who says that public
schools are not public blessing is,
it seems to US, q victim Of that
kind of stupidity against which the
gods themselves are said to be pow
erless. And the man who says
that we neither want nor need ma
tional aid for our public schools,
plants himself in direct opposition
to the well known public sentiment
of our State. We do need help,
and our need is pressing, If our
citizens were all white we might
take our position with Senator But
Ter; but unhappily it is quite ether
wise. As a direct result Of the
war 100000 slaves were liberated
and elevated to the rights of citi-
zenship in the South. Unfit for
self-government, and strangers to
civil liberty, they were dead
weight upon the body polite. They
now number more than 100000;
and forty per cent of the voters of
the States in which they are found
in greatest numbers cannot read
the ballots they cast. The national
government nourished the institu-
tion of slavery for three-fourths of
a century, and it should now help
to enlighten this mass of filliteracy
which is a standing menace to our