New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-12-05
cUTTIyG DOWN THE NEGRO SCHOOLS.

| work out the answer IN Inc Dach oI lHo DO'',
but 1t will reach a final result. Hopeful insu-
tutions like universal suffrage and popular euu-
cation may be somewhat battered and bruised
In the struegle hut the end will be some modus
yivendi. 1t IL the oldest phenomenon OF pl-
o,ogv over again. but to understand 1t rightly
| It must be clearly seen that II is not 'ne
| struggle for existence OF n people composed OK
| two races as Il Is likely to appear to North
| erner To the white SOutherner the black Is only
| a part Of his environment. The African Is one
| Of the "untoward conditions of nature Biology
| has little use for altrulsm.
Just at present an important step In what Is
| conceived to be the interest Of the whites IS
| under consideration. The Legislatures of Georgia
| and Mississippi contemplating change IN
| the educational systems of those states by
| which the elementary opportunities OF the ne
| groes will be reduced materially Both In COM
| mon with many other Southern states ma
| difficulty in meeting the expenses OF their
schools White parents are dissatisfied with the
| educational facilities afforded to their children
| The cost Of the negro schools Is in utter dis
proportion to the amount of taxes paid by the
| blacks Why should the white mans money
] 90 for the education OF the black mans chill
] dren while his own lack satisfactory opportuni-
| ties? Let the black pay for his own
| schools There Is logic in that. the logic whose
| history is written in "scarped cliff and quarried
stone" The question Is not what justice de-
mands, what humanity dictates what the best
| interests Of the State in the long run require
| but what the obtrusive first person singular or
| plural just now wants.
Representative Norris of Cobb County, who
| champions in the Georgia Legislature this idea,
| says:
There is a total of nearly s1,5O0OO0 for the
| free school education OF the children of Georgia.
| black and white and 1t Is divided between the
| races in proportion to population, the negroes
| getting not quite. but nearly one-half or the
| total or the 100000 which is levied direct on
| property holders the negroes get within 100000
| OF as much the whites get This In the
face OF the fact that the whites are assessed
| on $4,000 100000 worth Of property, while the
| blacks have only S14000000. Ny bill will place
the amount secured from direct property
| taxation of whites exclusively for white chill
| dren and the amount levied on the black prop
| erty holders exclusively for the blacks.
II the bill becomes law the blacks will re-
| celve Of the $4,000 raised for educational
purposes by real property taxation about one
dollar in thirty. OF the whole sum their share
will be about one-sxth In Mississippi con-
| stitutonal amendment is TO be introduced
similarly changing the system of dividing the
school funds. The plan is hailed as perfect JUS
| tice by the Southern press.
Reasons for dissatisfaction with the results
| OF the education Of the negro are presented by
| Governor Gambler of Georgia in his annual
| message. Strict Justice demanding only that
the negro shall have expended on his schools
his own share OF the taxes, the Governor at
tempts to show that philanthropy and interests
of the State do not require greater expenditure.
He says
| II by education in the text books taught In
the schools crime diminished as many Of
us at time hoped would be the case, there
| might be some reason for imposing even heavier
| taxes upon our people for the support of schools
But this Is not true. for 1t is startling fact es-
| tablished by the experience of thirty years,
| that while under our system or free schools
| illiteracy has rapidly decreased, especially
| among colored population, crime has much
more rapidly increased among them.
| Ninety per cent of the crimes committed by
negroes are committed by those who have had
the opportunities OF free schools. and only 10
per cent by the ex-slaves. who are fhterate
| while 80 per cent of the property acquired by
| the since emancipation Is in the hands OF
the ex-saves and not in the hands OF those
| educated in the free schools
In spite Of the somewhat just provocation OF
the South against the smart niger" We do
| not think the Governor has made his case
against education. His figures too sweep
| ing too convincngl We refuse to believe 1t Is
| as bad as all that! Besides should have
| supposed that even in Georgia the conception
|
crime had been too long in the rubbish heap to
| find it's way into so respectable document as
a Governors message.
| Ung-acious as comment is TO the South. we
cannot help making 1t, despite the danger OF
being left in the embarrassing position in which,
| according TO a Macon paper the Governor leaves
| Outside Intermediates" without leg to stand
| on" The contemplated change is still open for
| debate. and we feel that the South should not
make It without careful estimate OF all Its
| possible consequences. Perhaps the schooling
OF the negro Is not Improbable a venture after
| ALL II we read its papers Alright. the desire and
ambition of the South now Is more diversified
| industry. II wishes to supplement its agricult-
ure with manufacture, 1t aspres to complete
the processes OF production within its own Dor
ders. More cotton mills its hope. It is
achieving all these aims We read that the
amount Of wages paid to it's factory hands has
increased from S75 900 900 In 1880 to $3.50 600
600 in 1898. The capital invested in cotton
mills has grown from S2l 100000 in 1880 to
So, 100000 at the present time. For this
growth economic adaptability OF Its population
was necessary. For It's continuance increasing
| adaptability is demanded. Intelligent labor is
essential The negro is the natural laborer OF
the South. He does not need TO know Homer
and Aristotle and the Calculus to work in a
cotton mill. but II his intelligence has never been
quckened from the lethargy OF the plantation
or the ldeness OF the Southern city slum he
will make poor pillar Of an industrial society
Again, would not the reduction In the educa-
tional facilities OF the negro now be a tempting
precedent for further reductions In the f,tureg
The buiwark Of white supremacy in several
| tat a ed al