Birmingham state herald., 1896-02-02
OUR SOCIAL WORLD

(All items of social interest will be gladly noted in these columns if sent to Mrs. George c. Ball, Nineteenth street, between Tenth and Eleventh avenues South High lands. Telephone 9S8.)
 The late agitation in our national con- gress relative to the free or public school system of the south is but repetition of the misunderstanding of the subject, which it seems impossible to correct in the minds of outsiders who are utterly unfamiliar with u social conditions which existed in this section prior to 1860. Why northerners entirely igno- rant of these things, who perhaps were never in the south at any time-or if they were, for too brief a period to broad their limited views as to our people and their policies-should insist upon publicly making the most unjust and prejudiced statements regarding us. is one of the incomprehensible things of life. It has been explained time and again, the reasons for the lack of in terest in the south regarding public schools. Yet 1t appears to be ever fresh subject for debate and derision with a certain class of humanity. The statement made a few days ago by the
  emancipation of the negro caused the introduction of free schools in the south" is as false as unjust, and the resentment exhibited by southern members of con gress was natural and commendable. Free schools have been in existence in the south since long before the late war, and any student of the educational his tory of this country knows this to be true But, as is also well known and well understood by southerners-and 1.a Htrf, flap, thnxy vol all informed upon such matters-the public schools, until since the war, were never popular or well patronized with or by us There is nothing remarkable about this to one familiar with our pe- culiar surroundings and the social and financial environment of our section. Our population was divided into three distinct classes-the people of birth and breeding who. with few exceptions. were people of wealth of varying degrees the plain or common people, and the negroes, who were slaves.
 There never was better educated race on the globe than the best class of south erners previous to the war of 1861, and all the universities of America and Europe were patronzed by us. We were read ing, cultured race in the highest and best sense, and we were the opponents of the greatest civilization the world has ever known. The people of the old regime in the south, unless overtaken by financial mlSfOftuneS, ulu not encourage Tree schools to any great extent, because the cost of an education was generally a mi nor consideration with them. The other white class of our section were usually scattered over our sparsely settled states, at great distances perhaps from cities, and if in cities were too small part of uhe communities in which they lived to sustain any school system. From this class of southerners have sprung, as we all know, a few remarkable men, who have made an impress for good upon the history of our country and who have gladly claimed that the only educational advantages they ever had were obtained at the free schools within their reach. This fact is a refutation of the false charge brought against us by ignorant detractors of our people. The other class referred to were the negroes, whom We did not propose to educate, and there is no reason at this time to offer any ex- plantations on this subject. Since 1865 the most active interest has been mani fested in many parts of the south in pub lie schools, not because the negroes were emancipated, but for the simple reason that the poverty of our people forced them to seize upon the advantages offer ed by the free schools which our previous affiuence had made us indifferent to. And now that these schools are so widespread, in no part of our country have they been more encouraged than in many cities of the south. They have in no locality been brought to a higher degree of perfection than with us and by us The recent awards at the Atlanta exposition em- phasze this fact. Just here in Birming- ham our public schools have reached such degree of excellence that they bore off in triumph some of the highest prizes offered at Atlanta, and their fame has gone abroad throughout the land. Only a few weeks ago Dr. J. H. Phillips, the able superintendent of our schools, was honOre0 Dy being made preSident of one of the greatest educational organiza- tions in America. This success, this rep utation and this honor have been attained in this new Alabama town and strictly by southern men and women. Dr. Phil lips is a Kentuckian and all of the principals of our high school and vari- ous grammar schools were born south, and nearly all of them were educated below Mason and Dixon's line.
 It would be about as true snd becom- ing for a German to insist upon telling the French that there had been no musid or art in France before the sun set upon Sedan's fatefui field as for a New Eng lander 10 assert that the emancipation of the negro brought to the south the first public schools or the first concern in such matters.
 And while all this is true regarding educational conditions, we certainly have been derelict in our duty concerning the wayward youth of our section, and the time has come for us to take such pos live position on the side of reformato- tes that our indifference in the past will j.. in a measure overlooked because of the good we shall accomplish in the fu- ture. Certainly Birmingham, the most progressive city of Alabama, should take the initiative in establishing a reforma- tory, which shall be the means of saving