The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1893-11-22

cial strirgency makes it impossible to
give. Bisid, s, such institutions are
not expected to clash with the free
schools in their curriculum-their c:fice
is to develop to higher plane the
training already secured in the elemen-
tary school. To do o berwise is to over
step the limits assigned, and thus
lower the dignity of the institution.
We come back, then, to the great
problem, "How can we educate, not
the majority, but every child ia the
South"
Ireiterate, the public fund provided
for this purpose, aud as at present. ma
nipulated, is clearly insufficient. What
Gov. Seay says of Alabama, is, alas, too
true of every Southern State. In his
Inaugural. Address he says:
"The State of Alabama has not failed
to do her duty. We would blazon it
to the world that We do appropriate
about one-third Of our revenue to the
cause Of education, and yet we recog-
nize that the State has not the ability
to meet this great energency."
And in the same strain, Mr.. Palmer,
Superintendent of Education of that
State, adds, "Just now the South needs
assistance as she has never needed it
before, to en-. bic her to educate her
sons and daughters, that they may be
fitted for intelligent citizenship and
useful lives, and without assistance /
fear the State will never be able to give
thousands of her children; now verg-
ing into manhood and womanhood,
that education so necessary to qualify
them for usefulness, to make them
ornaments in society, and benefactors
to mankind"
1t is needless to look to our "fathers
and mothers,n as Senator Morgan as
serted, for the education ofthe young"
Such expressions are ridiculous when
we remember that fully one-thrd of the
| fathers and mothers can neither read
nor write; while probably another third
| have the most meager intellectual at
| tain ments. The very fathers and
mothers upon whom the heaviest bur-
den of this duty would fall are unfortu-
nately the very class least prepared to
perform the task. If, therefore, the
| parents and the State are unable to edu-
cate the young, how is the imperative
work to he done? presume to answer
the question. believe it can be done
effectively.
l. By Federal aid, as has been sug-
gested by the Blair Educational Bill.
| 1 am aware that such a measure has
met, and will continue to meet, the
| opposition OF our statesmen. 1t is
claimed that such q step would con-
flict with the theory Of States Rights
and our conception of Federal Govern
ment,-a theory, by the way, that has
not been sustained by the arbitrament
of arms! "These political theories
form," says President Dabney, of the
University of Tennessee, "the greatest
obstruction of the development of COM
mon schools 10 the South" "Many Of
our political leaders give these schools
only reluctant, half-hearted support,
because they do not yet believe they
are consistent with their theories Of
government" Let me ask this ques-
ton: IF the Treasury of the United
States is to be emptied Of millions in
the selfish schemes of pensions for the
/ Northern soldier, why should it be
| thought so criminal to eXpend some
millions in the South to make the peo-
pie intellectually free?"
do not, however, press this point.
| Indeed do not believe that aid, from
an external source comports with the
true dignity and'nobility of our people;
nor do l believe that such aid would
be productive Of the most beneficial
results.
The strong reliance of every section
must lie in its oe0n domain. Each Sec
ton mast 'aCork out" its oa0n educational
redemption.
! Most eminently is this to be the case
in the South. With our long-engen-
dered predictions; genius indigen-
GUS 10 the soil; dissemilarity in tastes,
customs, habits, and modes Of thought;
antsgonistic in our theories aud con-
ceptions Of government, and possessing
q tradition peculiarly our own; we must
depend upon ourselves for our liberia
ton from mental bondage. Although
We have, in addition to 8 large per-
cen tage of ignorant whites, or s mill
lions Of negroes, both mentally and
morally unfit for citizenship; systems
of livelihood largely undeveloped; vast
areas of territory suffering from the
want Of diversified industry; and dis
tracing exigency in financial matters;
still believe the apparently i1npossi-
BILE task Of educating the masses is to
be the aUOTk Of our oaU7a al,aaided hands.
And / have faith to believe, also, that
that salvation is within our reach if we
have the stout heart and the inmnci6ie
aoM to grasp it!
|
| And looks to that alone,
! Laughs at impossibiities,
| And cries, 1T shall be doncn"
But such blessings can come alone
by the profound s udy and Inaugural
ton Of economic measures, and the TO-
tensificatiou of existing forces; all these
enforced by the impartial execution Of
riqil law.
The first step is: To diversity as
we'll as antensity our industries and vo-
catious
1t has been truly said that no people
have ever become eminently prosper
Gus by depending upon single indus
try. The snail-paced policy of one
clop year must be largely abandoned.
New directions must be given to our
energies by discovering and attempt
ing fields hitherto unknown and un-
tried. Out Of 265 occu upations followed
by the citizens of the United States,
less than 81 per cent. claim the atten-
ton of our Southern people. Not only
must there be improvement in the old,
but there must be the introduction of
the new. Constantly increasing popu-
lation must be supplied through the
channels of varied enterprise, and these
must thrill through the electric touch
Of intensified activity. When this is
done, our people will not Le far from
intellectual freedom.
The second step is: To cheaper the
means of obtaining an education.
Economy must must be the order of
the day. Channels of waste must be
filled up. Expenditures he limited
to necessity. Extravaganza among
all sexes and classes must he curtailed
mot by that oEe-sided economy out
lined in the stanza,
"He taught his wife the sin of dress
With eloquence and power,
And then played billiards all night long
AT sixty cents an hour"