The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-03-23
FDUcArIoN IN THE sOuTH.
Review of the Meeting of the Na-
tfonaI Educators Association.

ri. FOR this meeting az this season of /
~. wear vas a reciprocal blessing. First
n -iving our northern. educatiQnal leaders
81 oDrartunity to eeland 10 feel as
-.-aa of the spirit and work Of our
--,-barn teachers. Second il gave our
..-barn people an assurance of the good
s..rng upon the part Of the north, of
.s.f- interest in our labors, enyirOned.
t,r5icapped by disadvantages unknown
~ Am i'm the north. 1t did more. 1t
s.~4nethened and infused into our teach
Els a fresh spirit.
d. W. T. Harris. the head of our
s.hool system, and easily the foremost
man Ia. our educational, work, was there
rsDsating his Atlanta speech, and TO say
-..f irl-the last twenty years. that while
he south has increased d per GEM. II. IN
r,bplatiOn, the enrolment OF It's schooI
t-fAndance had increased 80 per cent,
r53t is 70. say, more than tWfce as last
a. at ti IN he neople of the south, white
al black. one in five is in attendance
I'M school for some portion OF Inc year.
mis- is the per centum in SaXony, Wmcn
eZseIs all countries IN europe Ut. har-
5s dds. 1T appears in such strange
iighf IL we take fnto consideration other
s-aristics In the twenty years iIOm 1871
m lSgi the value OF the sehool properly
Increased from S600O,V5J to s5l5V9lOy!, an
.ddition OF S2,09OUJ0 a year IN loft the
scpraga value OF school house Was
"a. In 1894 the value had risen To Sb43.
said he. 'Twenty-three out OF every
oua hundred white inhabitants are en-
rolled ia the schools, and nineteen out
Of every one hundred OF the eoiofed IN
babffahts" This, of course, mas reItr-
euce TO elementary education lie auuS'
"If.yiier education has also good record.
While, in 1874 the number OF c9Hege SUI
DENTS for the south numbered LUZ; IN
1874 twenty years later, the number is
ga. or two and one-half times as many.
SAID heS You are indeed DuAdlhs a new
4 south and its cornerstone IS the school.
Eut the brother in black must pc mem
toned more IN detail The doctor mas lhlS
fo saw specially in regard 10 the coloted
rsce In 1876 CHS Atlanta speech,) the
s9utb mad an enrolment in Its schools
Of 81 sos colored children ana l,Sza l55
white children, but in loy4 eighteen years
later the white pupils had increased 70
SS5.5s3. while the colored pupils had IN
T1 Now as TO- the cost of the education of
i this race, says the doctor. Table IL gives
" "a Communicative view of the enrolment OF
4 Inc TWO races in the south for the past
4 eighteen years, together WITH the lotal
expenditure The statistics or eNpehul-
! tur4s 40 not show the separate SUMS
FOR the two races, but II may De saIely
4 esfimafed that the expenditure from pub
/ lie taxes - school funds for the -coiored
race anOunts to about one-Ioufth OF the
a whole. N upwards of $S0,090O0J for the en-
tire period of eighteen years. Anat Is
IN round numbers OF the amount Of S5-U,-
an nd sDent for the education of the chill
Iren of the south in eighteen years, the
c0iOred received $S0,OO0OO -,
But neither Dr.. Harris nor the tabieS
show who pays this large amount. We OF
the south know it is paid mainly yes
uinety-fiVe per cent. of IT, by the Whle
taxpayers, and they have done TINS cheer-
fluffy since the war, most, II not all, the
"a southern states dividing equally the
amounts raised between the white and col
Ored pupils.
ton. before this same department OF the
4 n. Il. A. L insisted that the general gov
4 eminent should do this, that the right
assumed by the President in both manu-
hitting and enfranchising the colored man
carried with it the duty to prepare MN
81 for this new state-American cltlzenShlp.
The Blair bill proposed TO distribute upon
N the basis of uliteracy during the period
NJ of eight years S11000,000 TO educate both
white and colored, not only in the south,
81 bnt ia an the country. Had this wise pro-
vision prevailed, the south Woulu nave
been partially relieved. While the south
has accepted the situation and has done
so, nobly and justly, her duty towards
" The colOred man as to receive such COM
mendation as the commissioner has seen
nit has been warranted in making, STILL
the great truth remains. The general gov
~ erument ought to have done IL, ought 10
N do ii now.
But his, by the way. The above is what
has been done by the southern states.
During this meeting State Superintendent
.Sheats of Florida gave quite an array OF
statistics, showing particularly that Flor
Ida was doing her whole duty, anu the
result showed in not a few instances her
Superiority over her sister states. Said
he The record of the school year, 1928
(the latest data obtainable) is used. The
school age for the group is reduced TO
basis of five to eighteen while that OF
Florida IS from six to twenty-one, evil
F. GENTLY "A disadvantage. for very lew over
s. j. years old attend school L Will men,
E ton the points of comparison and aver
age per cent made by the group of ten
states Including Florida, and the average
#ot the latter alone. The ten states are:
North Carolina, South Carollnag Iennes-
See Kentucky, Arkansas, mississippi
Alabama, Georgia, Florida and Louisiana
Inc first refers to the group, the latter
IA % the state. Number enrolled in the com
mon schools to every 100 of population
Fl sNty-one to siXty-siX, the latter more than
thode Island or New Jersey and nearly
DE same as Pennsylvania. OF these sew
enly-tour of each 100 are whites, and nifty
ZstNen OF each 100 are negroes. Counting
lht whites alone 1t is fiVe points hlgher
man the average of the United States.
average attendance of pupils as COM
pared with the enrolment, SiXty-tWo to
s!Ay-slX. This is larger than the aver
ese OF the United States, and greater than
mel average of Connecticut New York
" New Jersey. Average length of school
,5Im ito l05,. or, Florida gave her chill
rgen eighteen days more schooling in the
Uniting many comparisons just as
eGIhl4g as these given, Supt. Sheats con-
r1led. Al, said he, "concede that the
cow gracefully to receive, and cheerful
carry the load for the taxation of all,
aAu II can be truEhfully said that there
10y a child in the state, white or black
ldl IS not within reach of a school and
w OBTAIN from sixteen to one hundred
all twenty months of schooling at public
g1ptnse II he will avail himself of the
privilege"
out of the mouths of these witnesses,
He commissioner of education speaking
III the entire south and Supt. Sheats for
ne state of Florida, it does seem that the
IutH, the wonderful progress of the
~lth edRcationally has Oeen established
again, agriculturally and commercially,
~ progress of this section has been
Net as great as the educational adj
ssncement. Without going into statis-
~ every evidence is visible of the real
Sosperlty and thrift of the section
TouSa which the writer Travelled.
LOUISIANA, Alabama, Georgia and Flor
70 gave unmistakable signs that they
Ne IN the midst of better days.
twenty years ago l could not have gone
-Gm Fort Worth to New Orleans on
foad at all, much less upon the same
f. e, over 500 miles, and the entire dis
49, TO Jacksonville, over LOCO miles on
W mes of three roads. Twenty years
~ rom New Orleans to Montgomery,
aoag Ihere were two separate corpora
E+S-Aobile and New Orleans and the
~ Bomery and Mobile railways. Now,
e. w Louisville and Nya GhviIlp having MIR