The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-05-31
BILL ARP'S LETTER.
iH"nfo f"nstitnfion.

day passes but what | hear somebody
say: ~ wish to the Lord that they
were all out Of the country. don t
know about that The iron makers
and miners and lumber men and rail.
road men and the biz farmers would
object, for their labor is both useful
and profitable wish we could seat
ter and apportion them all over the
country from the Atlantic to the Pa.
cific. There are at least 800 in this
little town that we would like to spare,
but we would like to pick them. There
are no doubt 10000 in Atlanta most
~ young bucks and wcnches who have
been educated and are now yagabonds
parasites who live off the labor Of
good working negroes just as the vag-
abonds do here. We have many good
negroes here who are good citizens and
give no trouble. and they are our dray-
men, our carpenters, carriage makers,
blacksmiths, BARRIERS, gardeners. cooks
and washcrwomcn. These trades are
shut out to them at the north, but the
north keeps on sendiug money down
here to educate them and to keep their
leaders IN line politically. The truth
is that all this dcvilment that has oe
late SO agitatcd our people comes from
politics. 1t is planned and designed
Tor party purposes and Mr.. Mckinley
was a party to it when he appointed
negroes to be postmasters and revenue
officers in white communities. have
had TO respect for him since he did it.
They say that he has quit it, but lie
has not apologized. How much longer
IS he going to keep that educated ne
gro politician in Office at Hogansville?
And yet there are thousands Of demo
Gratis, men and women, in Atlanta who
gave him welcome and threw him
flowers and shouted "All hail McKin-
ley. I've no respect for them, either.
| want to live long enough to see
man liz the presidential chair who is
Tar above such machine politics. They
say they want to break up the solid
south and yet they do the very things
to keep it solid.
But my wife is calling me again.
She says it's about time for me to be-
gin to water the roses. 1t takes about
fifty buckets of water every evening,
but the hydrant is near by and l don't
mind it. The little chaps try to help
me with little buckets and they get
their clothes wet and Of course am
scolded for it. IF they get dirty or
take cold or run at the nose it's all
my fault. They say that spoil them
so nobody else can do anything with
them. l don't care. They shall have
good time as long as live, for there
will be trouble enough after am
gone.
Now about this thing that is called
education | do not wish to be misun-
derstood. Millions are wasted on it
to no good purpose. Every mothers
son and daughter should be taught to
read aud to write and multiply. Good
reading books should be placed within
their reach-books that teach good
moral lessons, books that exalt virtue
and condemn vicc-but work, toll, in
dustTy is bigger thing than books.
Modern education is confined to the
head, the intellect, and is mixed up
with training the hands to play ball
and the legs to run, and the boys
tramp all over the country to play
match games and the old man 8 money
is spent for something that is not
worth cent to the young man when
he settles down to the business of life.
The average boy has no more use for
algebra or comic sections or calculus
or astronomy or Greek or French than
wagon has for fifth wheel. It is
valuable time wasted. Outside of the
professors have never found but one
college graduate who could translate
line Of Greek or solve problem in
geometry. Perhaps one in thousand
shows fitness for these higher
branches and that one SHOULD have
chance at them if possible, fer the
world needs astronomers and mathe-
maticians and scientists and linguists,
and will have them, even if the re-
quirement has to be hammered out at
the anvil as Elihu Burritt did. Work
is the big thing in this practical age.
To make living is imperative, and it
lis struggle. But to be great ora.
tor or poet or preacher is gift, and
like Patrick Henry or Henry Clay or
John Wesley, will come to fruition
with or without higher education.
To read we'll and to read wisely is the