The age-herald., 1897-09-30
TECHNICS FROM
 CURRENT TOPICS,

A SoHultfon, nOL a theory, conIrOnVs Hfe citizens of Birmingham on the pub lie school question Elimination and rs- elimination amount to nothing but a loss of time and temper The poverty of the city treasury cannot, successfully. be controverted, neither can the judicious and economical management of the school interests by the board of e5luca- ton be denied. The position taken by a large number of the patrons of Blr- mingiham putiGc schools in demand ng that their children shall be educated free of cost is a atural and inevitable outcome of the serious economic prob em. The state and city owe it to the citizens to furnish to the poorest, alumblest enid an opportunity to acquire the rudimen.s of a thorough English education. The time is coming when the leading minds of Alabama will demand more than ab- sd'uteiy free schools for every child within the limits of the commonwealth. Thay will require that education sn Its earlier or primary branches, shall be imperative and compulsory.
 But, for the immediate present, the citizens and parents have to dead with the condition a7aat confroits them, and leave theories and speculations to & later time. The status that now obtains has been predicted by the press, and those statesmen, having the abiding good of Alabama at heart. An effort, perhaps too brief. has been made in the past to arouse the minds of the people to the necessity for the enactment of new and wholesome laws which would enable the authorities to meet the demands Of rapidly growing citizenship. Patriotic men have appealed to the masses for a convention, have urged the members of both branches of the state legislature to enact certain laws which would avert the inevitable lindta- tions under the present laws. But all to no purpose. The people at large, and q of the lawmakers of the stale wilfully closed their eyes to the crying
 
 movement made in the past, whether through the press or by the politicians was voted down by men who wasted precious hours discussing shirt-waist and bloomer bills
 The expected and the predicted flas and Aiabamians should reatize that they are individually responsible for the deplcrabie realization of that pre- diction.
 There can be no possible means of al- tefing ithe sad oond lt.ons of 1.-the presemlt exc aat by an .ogGther and tln a,17mo,5s struggle Un the part oR Alabamisns to secure a new and 'blOader coliS .5Bu ton; one that is large enough ard gra. d enough to cover the a1ecisstties eff ev,ry individual fin the s.aIte. Only by 'Dfe en- of other Gawts can the ttreasu.y of either state or city be supplied with the necessary 'B,tri5s to meet he require menlIs of the psIblic school tsys tem of Ala bama.
 The difficulties nciw surrounding the free siatio6rs of AlaIbama sin ,Tid p4pve @ helpful lesson. Wdlen the question elf 1onal conyen ion was b,T,g pre- sen ed Ito the attention of the people Ralst winter lt1ose wlfo cppos d the Tfovdnen1 brough forward the most triv.al ard absurd objections with which to con found the minds tof the c7tizeas of tihe s 'a.e. The real issues were lost sight of in a discussion of whether the dsp:to1 was ito fbe moved from Montgomery; whether certain classes of lgnoral- It wot- ers would noit Toe kepB from Hihc tlaI,ot boxes, etc., qln.if the GnajcTaty eff A a. were fo geiful of the great m5l- ters at stake. 'Tns talk of a change of 'Jhe caipitol's Vocation was simply the merost ohGId s flay; 4ale educ9 .f.ulal limit llo political suffrage is what Ala'ban1a needs, and must secure. The soonaf the plablao schools are made absolutely Gree ths soa-er w.di this F5on come to the p 'o- pfc. A man who ca'nastat read and w Ete should aiot llaWe the privilege of making eaws for thlose who can, and it is the ranke1t political chicanery to cater to "a contrary sentiment l
 Tho ma sses elf the people are she s,-f- ferers in iafe poverty of the state and treasslrses, as thsy always are when through fg1orance CT creduAty fihey have been deluduant 10 follow the leadership of patriots and stat -Gmen to secure reform. They have regarded GSA suggestions for an Improvements in Ala a,ama's constitution as a movemsu in the interest of lthe classes, not masses. They were ready tools in the aIands of office-seekers. Net until the vo.es df the people are cast fcr which will alter and enlarge the present. conditions wifl ithere be any permanent improvement in the. public school system of the state Thear.es count for 1betle when siblIb7sern faidts block the way of progress and reform
 BAIlL.