Evening star., 1897-01-23
WHITE AND COLORED.
The Problem of Their Relative Quail.
ffcatiOns Students.


To the Editor of The Evening Star:
The investigation which Mr.. George r.
Stetson has undertaken to determine the
pills in the public schools Is Of great inter-
est and value from an educational as we'll
as from a broader sociological point of
view. The educator needs to know the
psychology Of the child mind as thoroughly
as he knows his social environments The
true system Of education should preserve
a just balance between the inner and the
outer life of the pupil.
How far the colored schools should be
identical with the white schools, and how
far they should differ from them, will soon
become practical question in the District
of Columbia. 1t is well known that the So
cial environments of the two races are
vastly different. but one nowhere finds a
definite statement Of their psychological
tendencies. Washington affords the best
possible field for comparative studies Of
this nature. Every educator and every
student Of social problems must be inter.
ested In the work inaugurated by Mr.. Stet.
son.
The fact that the colored pupils MAIN
tanned higher memory average than the
whites Is in harmony with the general be-
lief that the negro excels In memory stud
les Attempt Is made in some quarters to
dlsparage memory culture as being Of less
Importance than the development of other
justly shows. memory depends upon con-
trolled attention. which Is the most essen
tial principle of mental discipline.
There is an evident mistake in the print,
Where the school records are made to give
the colored pupils a general average of
"a. 73. and the whites 74.32 Judging from
the deduced conclusions, the correct fig
ures are probably. colored general average
1!.73: white, 1892. Here, again, the facts
Of observation accord with the general
theory. Benjamin Kidd In his Social Evo-
luton, quotes approvingly of Herbert Spen-
GERS observation that the children of So
called lower races are more apt than Eu-
ropean children in the studies of the pri-
mary grades.
When Mr.. Stetson concludes that the
whites are superior in intellect from the
simple fact that they reach the grades at
an earlier age. he overlooks an important
fact. which casual knowledge Of the sit
uation would have supplied. The colored
pupil Often does not begin school until he
mas reached considerable age. Their
more irregular attendance also retards
their advancement. Such causes would, as
matter OF course, affect the age average
unfavorably. KELLY MILLER.
Mr.. StetsOn's Explanation.
In reference to Mr.. Miller's remark that an
evident mistake in figures had been made,
Mr.. Stetson said to a Star reporter today:
Il think that possibly Mr. Miller has mis-
taken my average of the study grade of
the 1000 children for the average of the
whole number In those grades Fourth and
fifth My average only applies to the study
rank Of those examined by me, and is In
the blacks 600, 64.73; whites 600, 1892.
In memory rank, blacks, 5S.27, 500 each;
whites, $500. The blacks were slightly su-
perior. The difficulty, SO to speak, with
my results are that they do not in Wash
1ngton accord with the general theory.
with a purer race Of negroes the result
would very likely be more favorable to the
negroes as far as memory is concerned"