The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1894-02-28
The South in Education.

The recently published statistics OF
education, issued by the census Office,
are4maae she basis Of u very interest
ing article in the current issue Of Har-
per's Weekly, the chief object of which
is to account satisfactorily for the un-
looked-for fact that the Southern
States, despite their great burden of
negro population. have actually dis
tanced New England and the middle
States in the proportion of common
school enrollmeet to population.
For purposes Of comparison, the
country, lis divided into Eve grand
divisions or groups Of States; the
North Atlantic comprising the Middle
and New England States, the South At
lsntic the Southern States from Mary
land to Florida. the North Central the
States. from Ohio to Kansas, both
inslasise.) } and extending Southwark to
Kentueky, the South Central the States
from alabama to Texas, (both inclu-
sise and extending Nortbward to the
North Central line, and the Western
the newer States and Territories West
of Missouri, Iowa and Kansas.
The census figures Of the proportion
Of total population enrolled in the COM
mon schools in 1890 as compared with
1876, show the following remarkable
changes in the several grand divisions !:
In che North Central division the
percentage has decreased in twenty
years from 24.S per cent. to 22.4 per
cent.
To the North Atlantic division it has
decreased from % per cent. to Il 9 per
cent.
In the Western it has increased from
Il per cent. to II per cent.
In the South Central it has increased
from 11.6 per cent to 81 per cent.
In the South Atlantic it has in-
creased from 10 per cent. to 1877 per
cent.
The increase for the Union has been
from 19.1 per ceat. to 203 per cent.
These are startling figures They
show that the North has retrograded 10
respect. Of the utilization Of common
school advantages. that the far West
has advanced moderately. while the
South has almost doubled its proper
tienal use of the schools. New Eng
lard, the birthplace of the common
school, actually has smaller proper
tion Of her population at school than
South Carolina The great Middle
West is surpassed by Arkansas aud
Texas. Both divisions of the South
rank higher than the. most densely pop
ulated States of the North. The New
England and Middle States. indeed, are
almost at the foot Of the list, but a
fraction above the far West, while the
two Southern divisions almost rival the
North Central division, which is at the
head of the list. with one-fourth Of It's
total population at school.
This, however, is not the only test.
The following figures show the
changes from 1870 to 1890 in the pro-
portion of school population 6 to 18
years. actually enrolled in the public
schools of the several great divisions
In the North Central division it de-
creased from 76.9 per cent to 76.5 per
cent.
In the North Atlantic division 1t de-
creased from 78 per cent. to 70.5 per
cent.
In the Western i. increased from
54.8 to 70 per cent.
In the South Central it increased
from 81 2 to 60.1 per cent.
In the South Atlantic it increased
from 80. 5 to 59.2 per cent
In the entire Union it increased from
6l.5 to 68 6 per cent.
Again all the increase is found in the
South aud far West, and all the de-
crease in the North, East and Middle
West. Yet it will be seen that
although the South has in twenty years
nearly doubled the percentage of her
school attendance to school population.
she is yet behind the other sections in
that regard.
The writer in Harper's-Mr. F. w.
Heyes-attributes the decadence of
school attendance in the North and
East to various causes-the diminish
ing size of Northern families. the
n,assiDg 10 the most populous centres
of new class of degraded Immigrants
who do not seek education for their
children, the increasing use of private
schools by the rich, etc But that
part Of the inquiry does not concern
rs. What does, is the fact that de-
spite poverty. sparse population and
the burden upon the Southern whites
Of educating an enormous number OF
negroes, such wonderful progress has
been made. It will serve to make US