The age-herald., 1897-08-15
ALABAMA EXCEPTIONALLY.
Deplorable State of the Public
 Schools.
THE MARVELLOUS PROGRESS
In the Industrial Realm Should Stimulate Forward Movement in Education Some.
 thing of Work In Massachusetts.

Alabama Here " Ret" what a. significant fa5 tia. we have lRerany adopted theestate's motto as far as edu- eaton is eQrcsrne1 In the broad feds ofscommeq'cs we are making gr=a s.r.des. The great aconnnlercial newspapers ,qeem with reports of our a1vane m Tt in every resp c. save,. one. In the prsduc ion of iron. cod and timber, in raj road build iHS, in all Ene of i@4du;t try and progress we are ero wding others states for first plsce. But the structure upon which all true- advallc emen. and prog ess must { kese their p-aims w are neglecting. The Very idealaof true happiness and true prosperity has been a dead issue win us. Col A. K. Mcclure, in his paper, pays this state a handsome tribute.
 He says: There are few of our pc pie who know that Alabama is the r.c1eet state in the union. Is wea,lh fag sur passes thal3 of California or Colorado with all heir gold ard silver. It has as fine wheat and corn lands as can be found in Lanea ster county; it has the richest cotton belt of the eoljah: i has 5000 square milss of virgin timber, and as
 
 1t has natural highways into :he very heart of t,s wealth and as genial a clI- | gl92lte as can be found on the continent. It is 1apidly developing .hc countless wealth of th's fcres: and mn.e, and yet ,hsr lands are cheap; cheaper than in he wsst, aand vastly more productive" What glorious tribute What magnificent words to utter aboul; the state. The |, t, ,i, glowing tribute of all our wond a.ful re- sources not one word is heard of the ed- ucational intors sits. It Is with mortifica- tion that we are compelled to say tn at among he states of ths union we stand fourth to las, educalionaly. Just think! A state with such magnificent possibil- 'ii5s with about half her eit.z ms ignorant and illiter2te. People of Alabama, prog ress loving, progress advancing peop shall this s,ate of affaa.s exist always? I say no! most emphadeally, No! Then arise with your might, and while we seek to advance our state in all kinds of ma- terial progress, let us not forget how sine stands educ&Lionally.
 Thera can be no true prosperity, no real prosperity. unless based upon the $ ructure of intelligence. The eyes of he world are upon us. We must have care, for if we expect to continue and keep up our material welfare we must not negl e. our educational fuure It may b9 said that we have many excellent schools Yes, we have, but they are confnsd 10 few towns and dis ricts, while the com mon schools, the schools for tlrs masses of our people, are very much in need. Aln- bama expended less per capita than any state in the union, save one. In 1880 we save an average of eighty days for each school per year per pupil. In 1896 it was only seventy days in the year. Thsse statements are taken from authoritative reports and cannot be contradicted Ii may b. urged that we are doing as much as we are able This is largely because we nave not pu. our efforts to the ask. . Tell me that s, ate eiat has such I'd sseved tribute paid to il by such an able writer as Cole sNIcClure; a state hat has such bounteous wealth besl owed upon her by an Advise Giver muclt be contens i:o r main almost at the foot of the ladder of educations A state wi h all t.is en- dowment of wealth way down below some of he bleak and barren states, n-t endowed n?sturally but becoming wealth -pradueing blythe giving intelligence to their caizens. Look at Massachusetts. She is one of the wealthest states in the pnion,, It is mol natural wealth, but made wealthy by the thrift and economy, and brought, about by ghs splendid system of common public schools, fortered and buiJt up by the great and noble Horace Mann. Forty years ago Massachusetts was comparatively poor stsi.e. She had every little material wealth, but Horace Mann, with his grsat love for hm hma Mann, with his grea, energy and love for better education, devoted his life in the upbullding and uplifting of the common schools. The effeoa of giving intelligs nee to all her citizens has been eaching. It has not only made the state wealthy, bu2 fhisn general intelligence gtves more satisfaction tos her people. It has not only done this, but 1I has also ena bled her laborers to obtain high average pay per day for every man, woman and child Ths average pay per day for Massachu- sets is TO. cents. while in many ether states it will not be over 40 cens. Massa- chusetts gives her pupils an average of ? 200 days schooling for the year, while Alabama only givss seventy Yet Ala bama is blessed WI h far more material advar1sages@ I've have almost untold wealth at our doors, and can not we do with all 'shese endowments what Mas,a- chusetts has done without tham?
 t5., f EDWARD L. PATTON.