Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-05-23

superintendent should remain in office
long enough to be thoroughly familiar
with the duties of his exalted position,
and should be an expert. capable of ad-
vising executive and legislature,
and school officers and teach
ers, and in full and intel
ligent sympathy with the educational
problems that are so important and nu-
merous. Greatly blessed is a state and
are the children who have at head of
school affairs such men as Mann, Sears.
Dickinson, Draper, White, Ruffnef and
our peerless Harris.
The statistics of defective schools and
consequent illfteracy teach their own sad
lessons. The calamities which, in the in
evttable order of events, must result from
having so large portion of the people
in ignorance need not be elaborated, but
thew should fill every patriot with alarm
and impel to the adoption OF early ana
adequate remedies as an antidote for
what is so menacing to free institutions
and to general prosperity. w lille lgno-
rance so abounds how can we nope 1or
purity in elections and safety from dema-
gogism, immortality, lawlessnesS ana
crime? whatever children we suffer TO
grow up amongst us we must live with
as men; and our children must be their
contemporaries. They are to be our Co
partners in the relations of life, our
EQUALS at the polls, our rulers in leglsla-
courts However intolerable at nome,
they cannot be banished to any foreign
land: however worthless, they Will not pc
sent to die in camps or to be slain IN pat
tie: however fiagitious, but few or them
will be seuuestered from society by I'M
prisonment, or doomed TO eXplale lheii
offenses with their lives
Perhaps the argument most likely 10
reach the general public is the close re-
Iation between public free schools and
the increased productive power OF lapof
and enterprise. The political economy
which busies itself about capital ana
labor, and revenue reform and free com
age, and ignores such factor as mentai
DEVELOPMENT, is SupremeSt folly, Tor 10
increase the intelligence of the laborer
is to increase largely his producing pow
err Education creates new wealth., de-
yelops new and untold treasures, tncreas-
es the growth of intellect, gives erect
i've power and the power OF self-help,
of will and of combining things and
agencies. The secretary or the poafu
of education off Massachusetts, In ms
last report makes some valuable state
ments and suggestions. No other state
is giving as much education, and yet
each inhabitant is receiving on an aV-
erage nearly seven years OF 2OO days
each, while the average given each cit
izen in the whole nation is only four
and three-tenths of such years. While
the citizens of MaSSa chuSettS get nearly
twice the average amount of education,
her wealth-producing power, as COM
pared with other states, stands almost
in the same ratio This increased wealth.
producing power means that the 2,5O0O0
people produce $250,000,000 more than
they would produce If they were only
average earners. And this is twenty-five
times the annual expenditure for schools.
The capacity to read and write tends to
the creation and distribution of wealth
and adds fully rs per cent to the wages
of the working classes. 1t renders an
additional service in stimulating mate
rial wants and making them more nu-
merous, complex and refined. We hear
on every hand louder calls for skilled
labor and high directive ability. 1t
is lack of common business sagacity
to finch from the cost of such a wealth.
producing agency. This question is not
how can we afford to do It, but can we
afford not to do 1t.
All experience shows only ore means of
securing universal education. Private
and parish schools educate only about IL
per cent of the children, and if they could
educate all there would remain insuper-
able objections to them in the way of
management, classification, efficiency and
support Our institutions and rights de-
,napd free schools for all the people, and