The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-01-25
The: EDUCATIONAL TEST IN Lou.
ISLANA.

wazsfudngiy. The republicans and
xDypllEsts di not vote together against
# Only some two parishes were car
rfed by the opponents. The negroes
znd popufists voted together. The re-
usbIRcans voted with the democrats
mainly Tt is said that the republicans
are actually more united and enthuSi-
astic as to DISTINGUISHING the negroes
than tine democrats are. An exchange
Says that the vote of Louisiana is:
White. 1Z5, 900; egr 10000. Under
the proposed changed it is estimated
that 20, 900 whites and 100, 600 negroes
Will be disfranchised, leaving a white
vote Of 1O5, 600 and a egr vote of
%, 900. The negroes will be in a minor
Tay in all tine parishes in the state ex-
cept two, and will cut a very small
figure in politics, if h plan proposed
IS carried out.
The reading negroes ave prepared a
petition to be laid before the cCnven-
zion. The plea offered is that the
school term for negroes is inadequate
and advantages ditto. The contention
Is that in 1895, there were 1919, 1856 negro
Children Capable of education:
Tine number of colOred schools fer
FFfe same year was 895, and of teacherS
361; thus we have one school for every
Z21 scholars, and one teacher for every
therefore, If we assume 40 as the nor
NAL Ffmit of scholars to teachers We
need at least five times as many teach
-A oxr NJ 1~nr.1r n~ II f Vyra
take so scholars to the teachers, it
would require 1000 teachers to meet
the present Demand
THE New Orleans Picayune shows
that in 1895 the enrolment was:
White children enrolled ........ 98, 400
Average attendance ............. 5000
ColOred children enrolled ........ 65,919
Average ............. 1851
From this it will be seen that less
than one-half the white children of
those ages are enrolled, and not more
chan one-third attend school, while OF
the colored children, not more than
one-third are enrolled and less than
O~rte-fourth attend school"
THE ages are between 6 and IS. The
PFcayune ridfcules the idea of 1000
teachers, and rightly says that the
negroes cannot properly ask f more
ar vantages than those given to the
whites, as the latter pay most of the
taxes and own nine-tenths of tne prop
erty. They act upon the principle if
they do not ask much they will not
greedy.
Taking up the figuring of the negro
petition the Washington Post shows
Ehat only 1861 of 1877, $50 cOlored chill.
tIren attended school, and only Go, 81!
were enrolled as desiring education
There We're 895 schools and 961 teach
e14s- This leads the Post to say thai
@f all the cOlored children enrolled haC
attended school, there would have
been abundant accommodation TO
them in the matter of buildings, anC
There would have been one teacher fO
each 6S pupils. AS a matter of fact
however, only 43, 661 colored childre1
attended, so there was one teacher t.
about AZ pupils-a larger proportion
than the petition laim as necessary
why should the state he called upon
to employ 5000 more colored teacher
when official statistics row that ther
IS nothing for them to do
The trouble in most southern state
rs that the schOOl terms for both race
are too short, the pay of teacher.
an adequate, and the standard of re
aurement too low. That is the frs
I-r-~,,IlO - NO nrNa~,,otor-,1 .,
Zhe education of THE masse!
The next trouble is very ser
SONS. The children of neither race
avail themselves of such opportunities
Cor learning as are offered. The whites
a fam short of duty in compelling
their children to attend school. If any
thing, in North Carolina the whites are
behind the negroes in the matter of
public schooling. We notice in the last
Monroe Journal that there We're 931
children of chOOl age in one district.
and but 445 in actual attendance or A.
yer CEN We favor an education
qualification for all electors after a
arertain time specified. If the whites
will not nave their children taught to
read and write let them be disfran-
chised with all other ilTiterates. The
south is moving in this matter of an
educational qualification to vote, and
AN Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia and
South Carolina the matter is canvass
sd freely. In Mississippi, however,
There is already an educational quail
Esation in the constitution we believe.