The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1884-03-12
PREMIUMS FOR lLLITERACY,
The Question Of Federal Aid to Ed
ucation to be Called Up in
Congress To-day.
Various Schemes for Reducing Plethora
Of the Public Purse in Com
menable Pursuit.
Liberal Rewards Offered for Illiteracy- In.
ducements for States to Advertise
Their Peoples Ignorance.

Their Peoples Ignorance,
WAsHNGTON. d. c., March Ito.
morrow the order of the day in the Sen.
ate is the Fitz John Porter bill, but sub.
| jcct to that Senator Bair's educational
bill has been set down for the day. This
I bill approprates for Common School edu.
cation Sl20,0OO00O to be expended in
fifteen years-sl5 1000, 900 the first year,
| $4,000, 900 the next year and 50 on down
to nothing. This sum is to be divided
annually among the States and Territor.
les in the ratio of the number OF persons
| in each State who are over the age of ten
years and can not read and write. In.
| dustrial education for both sexes is in,
cluded with the common English branch.
es as objects of assistance, and the States
receiving this aid must give free educa
ton without distinction of race,
except that separate schools for the
two races may be provided States
must eXpend during the first five years at
least one-thrd as much from their own
| funds as they receive from the Govern.
ment, and during the next five years
they must eXpend Of their own funds an
amount equal to that received from the
general Government. Not exceeding
| onc-tenti Of the Government bounty may
be spent for Normal Schools, and none OF
the Governments money is to be spent
for buildings, If in any State the Hitter
ate population over ten years old does
not exceed five per cent. of the total popu-
| lation, it may spend its dividend in
any way it pleases, provided it spends
it for the benefit of the Common Schools.
BY misapplication Of the funds a State
may lose its right to its share.
THE WILLIS BILL.
The bill of Mr.. Willis, of Kentucky,
which has been reported by the
House Committee on Education
only undertakes to appropriate
$50, 1000 900 in ten years, be.
ginning with slO,O00,000 and dimin.
ishing 81 100000 annually. The appor.
tiOnment is to be made according to Hit.
! eracy, and is 20 be Il to State officers.
sit being the inten this act to leave
each State the full ,vntrol and dsburse-
ment of said fund according to It's own
educational system and under its own
laws, subject only to the conditions and
provisions of this act" After the first
year no State is TO receive more money
from the Federal Government than il eX.
pended on schools from its own funds in
the previous year To be entitled to any
Of this money State must provide free
Common School education for three
months at least in each year to all of its
children, irrespective of color though the
races may have separate schools. None
| OF the Federal money shall be spent for
buildings or superintendent, and not
over five per cent. for Normal Schools,
and in case of misapplication of funds a
State shall get no more.
OTHER BILLS.
More than dozen other bills of this
kind have been introduced at this ses-
sion. Senator LOgan's provides for the
annual appropriation of $50, 900, 600, to
be derived from the internal revenue
(thiS is a slight change from the original
PLAN, to be divided among the States ac.
cording to their total population; but in
order to get any of the money a state
must make attendance on school for ut
least six months in each year obligatory
on all children between the aces of seven
and twelve years.
The late Mr. Mackey, of South Caro-
lima, introduced a bill to appropriate SlO.-
OOO,00 year for five years for school
purpose, the money to be divided accord
ing to illiteracy. Mr.. Perkins, of Kansas,
introduced bill almost exactly like Sen
tor Logan'S, except that the amount
he names is 100000, 900. Mr., York,
OF North Carolina, proposes to
divide all the surplus money now in the
Treasury, and all revenue from spirits and
tobacco, among the States, according to
illiteracy. The plan proposed by John ID.
White, of Kentucky, was TO appropriate
$4,000, 600 year for five years and to
divide it according to illiteracy, no State
to receive more than it spent of its own
funds the previous year. Mr.. Evans, of
Pennsylvania, introduced bill to divide
all the surplus revenues ineXcess of $50
100000 into two portions, one part to be
divided according to illiteracy among the
States in aid of Common Schools. and the
other half to be divided according to
total population for the purpose of pay
ing off local debts or diminishing local
taxes. Mr.. Oates, of Alabama. intro
duced a bill devoting to Common Schools
the net proceeds from the sales of public
lands, and to make the division according
to illiteracy. Mr., Hewitt, of Alabama,
preferred a plan to divide. $4,000, 900
year for ten years among the States ac-
cording to illiteracy.
The plan proposed in a bill by Mr..
Ryan, of Kansas, was more complicated.
That bill proposed to set apart as an edu,
cational fund the net proceeds from pat
ents, and all repayments of principle and
interest from Pacific Railroad Compa-
MES, and five per cent. of the net internal
revenue collections and the whole income
from the permanent educational fund, to
be divided among the States according to
the population, between the ages of four
and twenty-one, upon various conditions
not materially different from these in
bills already mentioned. Mr. Ryan's bill
Il 10 4 al al .h,t +,