The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-08-20
Pubic Education in the south.

1 ical newspapers of the north VIII tel the
I truth about matters in the southi Al
/ present they seem TO take delight in giving
a falie impression about everything reiat-
/ ing to the nth. The Chicago Inter Ocean,
| for insta &c, in an article which Il published
a day or two ago, on Farms and Schools, v
after declaring that the county schools OF
! the north are not as good as they ought to
be, says: in the southern states matters
are worse. The average term Of the free
! school throughout the southern tier IS not in
! excess of three months. the teachers are OF
| low grade, the text books i'll chosen. Nor
will 1t be otherwise while the oligarces rule.
To keep the people ignorant is their settled
policy"
II is untrue that it is tho settled policy Of
those who are in power ia the southern
states to keep the people ignorant. 1t is
now, and hes been for years, the policy in
every southern state to improve the public
schools in the country districts as well as In
the cities. Tie amount of money appro-
priated for school purposes annually is
being steadily increased, and the demand
for better schools is more imperative now
than ever before. The legislature of this
state, at It's last session, provided for q very
considerable increase in the school fund, and
the state agricultural society, at its annual
meeting last week, unanimously adopted
a resolution demanding that the schools be
kept open longer time each year, and that
their standard be raised.
The Inter Ocean overlooks the fact that
IN, he 4ba . ;,s-
lie schools is much greater than in the
north. While the blacks furnish a very large
proportion of the school children, they pay
q very small part of the taxes. The white co
pie, therefore, have to pay for the education
of the children of the blacks as we'll as for
that OF their own. They do re- complain,
however of this extra burden. They bear
1t willingly, and are ready to bear still
greater burden to provide free common
school education for both white and black
children. There are no more enthusiastic
state school commissioners than those of
the south. aud by their earnestness and iu-
telligence they are gradually improving
the public schools. At no very distant day
the public schools of Georgia, Florida aud
other southern states will compare very IA
vorably with those of the nortle rn states.
Want of money and not hostility 20 pub.
he education has kept the public schools in
the south in a backward condition. In
proportion as the south has recovered from
the disasters of the war the public schools
have been improved. 1t would be difficult
to find public man of controlling influence
anywhere in the south who objects to the
public school system. The only thing, as
already stated, that has prevented the
legislatures of the different southern states
from greatly increasing the amounts appro-
priated for school purposes is the difficulty
in finding the money to appropriate, The
people are willing to support public schools
to the extent of their financial ability, but
they cannot afford to bankrupt themselves
for that purpose. 1t is doubtful if in the
northern states the people give more for
school purposes in proportion to their
wealth than the white people of the southern
states.
Broad statements like those to which the
MORNING NEWS calls attention in the
Inter Ocean are calculated to do the south
a great deal of harm. The Inter Ocean,
however, don't care for that. It's object i,
to keep people of the west from emigrating
to the south by pretending that the public
schools of the south are not such as would
afford their children such educational ad-
vantages as they desire, and hence that the
south is not desirable place of residence.
Happily, however, the northern people are
beginning to find out for themselves that
very little Of what they see in the northern
republican newspapers relative to the
south is true. The northern people who are
finding homes in the south are doing great
deal to couhteract the erroneous Impressions
of the south which are obtained from the
northern republican newspapers.