The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1897-03-03
PLEA FOR EDUCATION
SMITH ASKS A UNIVERSITY FOu
CO.ORED YOUTHS.
Common Schools Are Provided, Hut
His Rncc Needs and Wishes u
Higher Plane of study.

is tho text OF Representative Smiths
speech made in tho house this morning in
support OF tho bill providing for the iooa-
ton OF university for colored youths:
Mr. Speaker: l come before you this
morning the only representative Of a
race that constitutes more than one-f:th
OF tho population of the great State OF
Texas. To those among us who have studied
sociology. who reason from cause to ef-
feet, who rightly understand what the
age requires, the warning of the sphinx
comes with as terrible a Significance az 1t
did to Ocdipus, Answer rightly the CUES
ton of life or die" Our civilization is that
of tina roundhead and tho cavalier. 1t is
essentially the product OF the school house
and tho church. Not ono single epoch has
been marked by any great event thai
was not tho offspring of an intellectual or
| moral force operating from within outward.
When the puritans stepped upon tho shores
OF this continent, bringing with him free
dom To worship God they planted Harvard;
they planted Yale as they moved on and us
State after State was wrested from ma
lures wild domain and turned over to
civilization, college after college bespoke
tho tribute that tho New Highlander paid
| to the power Of the trained intellect 10
| Western land tho influence OF New England
| Ideas and methods holds sway 1t was tho
Same south OF Mason and Dickscn's line.
| Thu oldest commonwealth OF them all es-
| tablished William and Mary's college and
| tha most profound statesman OF our Re-
public, q son of tho Old Dominion. chose
as a fitting tribute to he engraved upon
tho stone that should mark his resting
place and tell to coming generations some
| thing of ll1 SCrNlpg to tina ncOulp. thCSp
| words; Here lies Thomas Jefferson. author
| OF tho Declaration OF Independence, The
| statute for religious freedom and founder
OF tho University Of virginia"
| 1t Is a saying commonly accepted that
our system of education begins with the
common school and ends with the univcr-
| sity. Tho history OF the growth of eluca-
tion will show tho reverse of this to lie
| true that in every State in tho Union the
| schools for higher education were estao-
| lished first and the common schools ate.
| ward.
Mr.. Speaker. these citizens that come
before you through me. their repres M
alive, were, a few years ago. your slascs.
| Laws enacted upon your statute book made
| it penal offence for kindly dispose
among tho master class to open to our view
! that goodly inheritance-a knowledge OF
| books Tho books of seven seals Wero not
moro closed to those y no ossayed to open
than the accumulated wisdom of the ages
n,l,ad IL, an.ai o',i,,' -. a. rl..
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| no incentive to industry because we could
acquire 10 property. We had no incentive
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