Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-04-10

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An increase Of 3Sl per cent.
In 1870, illiterato negro voters . ioOb'l
IN $50. in kentucky, illitcrato whiio '''''''
IN 'f iss5,..a s si:ssI
An increase of nearly 25 per cent.
in 1870, illlterate negro yoters..,,,..... 37,ssg
In $50, Texas iilterate voters .',.', 1885
An increase of nearly 100 per cent.
And Of the constituency of the two dis
tlnguished senators-leaders, really, In
this crusade against education;
In 1870 Texas illlteratc voters - 4le35
A gain OF only, nearly 25 per cent. and
not quite SO bad.
Have we any hope that change IN
these figures win occur2 Aye, verify, by
1890 they will be worse How does Il
appear In the great aggregate2 IL will
grow worse and worse unless the South
gets help, strong help TO bear her double
load OF Ignorance and poverty too.
The increase in illiterate voters in the
South, excepting little Delaware, from
1870 to 1880 amounted TO 1877, 1911. In
this downward progress in this race the
races have kept well together. The in
crease OF the illiter8te white vote was
1929; Of the colored, 1892. This is
bad--it IL not the worst, however,
TO me the saddest picture still, know
not how to classify 1t, for whether in de-
tail or In the aggregate II IL the same.
cite, however, only two cases. In Ken
lucky there are and OF white women
above twenty-one years Of age 1913 per
cent. who cannot write; In North Caro-
lima 1874 per cent. Universal suffrage In
the South is the unquestioned prerogative
Of universal illiteracy. Can the South
educate her peoplel | answer she can
not. Texas, the most favored, cannot.
The state OF New York Is worth
In taxable property as much as all the
Southern states. These expended on their
schools, 1881, S18,S59, 1884; In 1881 New
York expended S9,936, G62 The total
taxable property In New York, 1880,
81 SOL $40, 900. The Southern states,
emitting Missouri, S2,370, 1928, 300, or
New York is richer than the whole thIr-
teen Southern states grouped In the
census tables Of 1870. Compare two
cities; the assessed values OF the city OF
Charleston in 1860, were $45,000,000
in 1850, 81 900, 600, a reduction OF more
than half, with the obligation TO educate
double the number Of children. Taxa
ton In the city of Charleston in 1880 was
80 mills, state, county and city, In all
amounting to SCI, 900 only for school
purposes. Boston gives total Of "a
mills for all her school enterprises.
Charleston solely for primary instruction.
That is, Charleston gives for her schools
Of lowest grades nearly hall as much
again as Boston. Add TO this burden
the stu greater, viz; Charleston pays
a total tax OF p cents, while that Of Bos-
ton is only IA.
Now TO the practical question. Can
the Southern states, with less than half
the resources Of 1860, educate now
double the number Of children then knock
Ing at the door,
One more comparison: The people OF
North Carolina pay the same ad yalorem
tax that Massachusetts does, and yet the
schools OF the former cannot be kept open
longer than three months.
Massachusetts, 1850, had Of taxable
property, 81, 900, 900, 900, and the school
tax amounted TO 81 900, 900, or 81 20 every
$500 Of taxable property.
North Carolina paid upon $50, 900;
school tax was $780, 900, or 81 70 every
$500; or North Carolina pays for school
property ten times as much as Massachu-
sets per dollar, or she gets only one