Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1886-04-01
Blair Educational Bill.
SPEECH or HON. EUGENE HALE N THt q. ;
SENATE. MARCH >. 1856.

In favor Of the following amenduent Of
fer,I b, Hon. William B. Nilsson, Of Iowa I:
And in each State ii which there snail
he separate schools for white and colored
children, the money pa! IN such Stale shall
be apportion-d and paid out for the support
Of such white aud colored school, 10 the pro-
portion that the inlicrac, Of the white and
color-d persons aforesaid bear. % each
other, a, shown b! said census
MR. HALE said
.Hr President: The amendment offered
by the Senator from Iowa penetrate. The
hitherto imposing srmor ofih- bill and di.-
closes It's fatsl holowness. Il shows how
the bill has departed from il, original pur-
pose, always heretofore maintained IN The
early stages of the discussion upon this most
important subject. Of legislation for the
purpose Of meeting llliteracy in the South
wherever It was found in il ro,, pronounced
and dangerous aspect. All the record that
has been given Us so completed. by tie sen
.tor from New Hampshire in charge Of this
bull. made up Of reports presented nov and
heretofore b, him. from .rra, educational
associations, Of representations coming dis
tnclively from Southern sources. from edl-
caiioni.ts ar! .philsnthropists everywhere,
states that the object sought "a, the re-
nova Of the distinctive ma, of lllreracy IN
the South Ia the colotel race
There were only TWO NAYS Of the entire
distribution OF thi, money. el,her by popu-
laton or b, .choo, ages, and i j. curiou.
tina, the tables which have been pre,en,e! 10
US by the Senator from New Hampshire
show that the percentage Of ii!teracy i just
about the same as between the two race.
whether YOU take the eu;ire population or
whether YOU take the school ages. So there
were two methods, either . distribute 10
State and 10 localities BY population or By
school age. which i. one method, ,or upon the
basis Of illit.rsc,.
Wha, las the committee done Il has
adopted both bases 1t would no, do to
make the whole distribution upon the basis
Of population or school age in the entire
country, for then the South would not re-
ceIye the largest proportion, as every body
desires that il shall, and the object of The
bill would be defeated II would no, ID to
carry the test of il.Iteraey into the dis'ri-
button and expenditure OF the money be-
cause that would give inevitably and un-
erringly the larger proportion 10 t.e colored
race And so the committee rejected thai
and the bill IS made up on this proposition,
and that Of Itself ought to defeat il or ought
the Senator from Iowa. that illiteracy may
be the basis to swell the fund, but not The
bas, upon which II shall be expended.
! That IS all there is in this bill You swell
the amoun, that shall 20 10 tie Southern
States by adopting the basis Of l.llteracy;but
when YOU have secured f,e-slxths of the
amount Of money Included in its provisions
/ then although you approach nearer 70 the
1 colossal evil that is sought to be remedled
4 clares that it will 90 to the rejected basis
that it would not consider as applying 70 the
/ States, and take either population or school
! age, one of which is about the same as the
/ other. That is the objection that the amend
nent Offered by the Senator from Iowa pro-
I poses to remedy 1t is entirely clear and
/ distinct in its provisions. 1t is perfect!
/ plain course to follow and this has been
mos, sngularly violated in the dill.
/ If there is any one thing that is alread!
settled by Southern policy, that has beer
! ingrafted upon the laws of the States there
and in many cases adopted as the organic
and constitutional form law, it is this asser
ton, bald and square and open, of the dis
| tinction between the two races. You may a.
we'll talk about our recognizing the flow Of
! our legisating now in reference to any dis.
| tnction of races. 1t has become the es
| tablished and almost natural condition in
the South to-day, and is not to be easil,
broken down and destroyed and removed.
There is no Southern State that will re-
ceive the benefits of this benefaction thai
has not now line which can not be removed
running between white and colored schools
and no Senator who has opposed the pro
visions of the Allison amendment has, whel
interrogated, dared to express hope tha
he or his children will live to see that lin,
removed. We are confronted BY that il
legislating, and that the Senator from lows
must have had clearly in his mind when hi
offered this amendment. Therefore it is no
the amendment that raises the question o
the color line. The Senator from New
Hampshire AMI the Senator from New York
in the debate the other day, deprecated an!
legislation of this kind, as did the Senate
from, Massachusetts. The Senator from
New York declared that it would inaugurat'
q war of races if We recognized that dis
,inc,ion; and the Senator from Massachu