The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1895-11-19

n Governor Winthrop In his Yorktow
d address expressed these views FIRE
Q governments must stand or fall wit
common schools. These alone ca
o supply the firm foundation" DIR.
2 l.. M. Curry said "Behind the ba
: lots shonld stand intelligence" Sue
: writer's on the English Constitution a
8 Montesquieu and Blackstone, in writ
Y ing on suffrage concur that thOs
should be excluded from voting who's
I education is such that they cannot b
3 presumed to have a will of their owl
: or what Is equivalent, an independen
, end Intelligent will" DIR. Eliot o
| Harvard says: "We deceive ourselve
: dangerously when we think that edu
cation whether primary or universit,
can guarantee Republican institutions
Education can do no such thing. Th,
Republican people should indeed bt
educated and Intelligent, but it by nj
mean follows that and educated anC
Intelligent people will be Republican
Let us cling fast to the genuine Amer
lean method In the matter of educa
tiOn. The essential features of that
system are local taxes for universal
elementary education voted by the
citizens themselves; local elective
boards to spend the money raised by
taxation and to control the schools
and for the higher grades of in
| struction permanent endowments ad-
ministered by Incorporated bodies OF
trusteess.
He then read number OF extracts
from DR.. Thornwell bearing on the
same subject.
He then said we pay less for primary
| a1 fofn in
United States. 1 just mentioned in the
beginning that Edgefield has 81. 40 to
educate man year. Our people are
an agricultural people; only few of
us live in cities. Contrast the charac-
ter of the educational conditions with
those of the North. Three years ago
Maine raised 39 bushels OF corn TO the
acre; South Carolina, with her fertile
soil makes seven or eight bushels. 1t
makes this difference: South Carolina
has made more corn on an acre than
any State in the Union. 1t means that
Maine has an intelligent and self-reli-
ant active citizenship-every man TAX
ing charge of his opportunities. 1t Is
painfully otherwise today ovesh this
country. 1t is painful to ride along
our roads and notice the depression Of
the value of lands in this country. 1
know farms in our county where the
real return from cotton is 25 per cent.
less than it was 10 years ago. 1t is
because the lands are in the hands of
densely ignorant people who are ruin
ing the soil and there can be no pros
perity in our country until we have q
wide-awake citizenship among our
farmers. at one time Intelligence
directed labor in this country. The
labOrer was a machine. These densely
ignorant men are cultivating and MAX
ing our lands poorer day by day.
want to impress it upon you that the
hope of higher education is the pri-
mary school. Contrast the Southern
system for one minute if you please,
with the Northern system. Over 100
years ago it was in England that the
governor of Virginia was asked what
he was doing for primary schools he
replied that they had none and no
newspapers and hoped they wouldn't
have any for 200 years. The governor
of Connecticut says: 1--WE arc de-
voting one-fOurth Of the whole income
from the province for the maintenance
of the primary schools" And then
you arc not willing to give that So per
capita to educate the people. Their
high school system Is better than our
colleges. They get together and de-
termine how much it will take to run
the public schools and then they vote
1t. Talk about not giving mills. Sup
pose a man has $500 worth of property,
1t only increases his taxes so cents.
A man with family of five children
pays so cents and 81 poll tax and gets
schooling for year. Say that it is a
tax on factories and railroads. The
rich ought to help educate the poor.
He pays no more than the poor man,
for he has more to protect. We have
got no skilled laborers. We have to go
to the North for our hoes, our plows
and shoes and hats and everything.
Then we so to Kentucky or somewhere
else for our whiskey, and we are bound
to be poor as long as we have no
skilled laborers. Emigrants are not
going to come here when you tell them
that you have no common schools to
give them. Would man come here
from country where he can send
children to a free school and put them
in the field with negroes.
No sensible man would ever come to
| State that cannot offer something in
the way of education to country
| where large part of the whole popu-
latiou cannot read and write.
Another danger that | would i'm
press upon you, and especially upon the
country people, and that is the danger
| of the intelligent and wide-awake far
mers leaving their plantations and go
ing to the towns to educate their chill
| dren.
| They are doing it today-abandon
ing their farms to the negroes and
| just e6ing out an existence that they
may give their children an education.
| We must put these schools In reach Of
the country people. We must not let
all these intelligent people go to the
| cities.
| Mr.. Parrott-Don't you think the
country members are in favor Of this
three-mill tax?
Mr.. Watson-I hope they are.
Mr.. Patterson-From my personal
observation the members from the
towns and cities are heartily in favor
Of it, and If the country people will
only support 1t we will put 1t through.
Mr.. Watson-I have only one more
word to say. The governor said "Put
out no lights" want to say, "Kindle
lights on every hilltop and in every
valley In South Carolina that every
body may see them"
TILLMAN ON EDUCATION.
Senator Tillman discussed the
general subject OF education In support