The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-08-02

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ing as they depreciate tse self-sacri-.
fcing efforts OF far better Inc noble
people than they are. or can eve pre-
tens to be. There Is no objection to
sincere. fair. serious criticism o. real
shortcomings. but why essay TO make
the shortcomings greater than they
really are. and by constantly parading
extreme wealth and proverty side by
side to say with a jibe and a sheer.
Behold how great are riches and how
little proverty can do. That sort of
criticism is born of intemperance and
dislike, and when il comes from per-
o OF southern birth is apt to be
prompted by ingratitude and servility
to another more favored and plethoric
section.
The south has no Harvard OF Yale
or Princeton or Chicago or Cornell.
and why? Because no southern insti-
buttons have endowments counting
high into the millions. But IL the south
is behind the great. rich. largely pa
tronized foremost Of northern seats OF
learning, IL has Universities of merit
and great usefulness and a large array
of distinguished m~atriculates like the
University of North Carolina, the UNI
versity OF Virginia. Tulane and others.
In Johns Hopkins. it has a past-grad-
uate university OF deservedly high rank.
1t has a goodiy number OF colleges or
genuine merit. of we'll equipped facul-
ties, and good endowments. and lib
eral patronage. But these things viii
not command the kind consideration
of GROWERS and roarers who do not like
the south and care really nothing in
particular for what it is.
North Carolina before the war was
ahead of nearly all the states in both
great sections in its common school
system. In 1895, it chartered the Uni
versity and showed appreciation and
= diligence in education. Professor
Smith, a native Of Granville county,
n. c., now of the Baptist college in
Missouri, while taking a post-gradu-
ate course at Johns Hopkins Univer-
sity, prepared a volume of much inter-
est on education in his native North
Carolina in the eighteenth century. He
toll us some eight years ago that he
received fifteen letters from prominent
educators and others in Massachusetts
thanking him for his needed, instruc-
tive work.
There are two things to be cons;d.
cred in comparing a rich, small state
like Massachusetts with a southern
state. The area of the Yankee state
is very much smaller h North Car
Dina or Georgia. and a baby compared
with great Texas. Then there is the
great wealth of the New England
state, which makes it easy to build up
schools. Then again, the population
all over the south is sparse. We find
some statistics in an address delivered
in 1895, by a Virginian which shows |
how the populations run and how wide !
ly scattered are the schoo children in
the south. This fact i~ntensifies the !!
difficulty in providing sufficient school
houses and teachers and schools. The
figures are: |
New England has II people to the !
square mile; the Middle states, 121; the I
southern states. %; Massachusetts,, 27S; !
and Virginia only Al; Connecticut Isl, !
eAAA N~oA oAAy - IA = v CAiiio 4Aif .
and Alabama only 20. AS it is neces- !
sary to maintain throughout the vast |,
territory OF the south separate schools |
for the two races. the foregoing COM
parsons which are based on the total !
population do not fairly represent the 3
serious obstacle in main :
tanning good schools by reason of the
sparseness of population in the south.
For instance, Alabama, with a total
population of 1,513, or, has. as we have !
said, an average of 20 people to the
square mile; but Alabama has S33, us !;
white people, or Is to the square mile; /
and 679, 299 colored people, Of Is to the |
square mile, making is practically two
states. so far as the maintenance of :
schools are concerned. with the excep- !
tion of the cost Of superintendence.' /!
These are the figures of President
Dreher, of Roanoke College, Va He /;
thinks the University of Virginia is
the best in the south" But is it? 1t
is at least debatable. North Carolina
provided a University 1O6 years ago.
1t has educated thousands. 1t has a !,
fine record of distinguished matricu- J
lates. 1t lacks funds. but it is doing
a very important work. North Caro- |
lima leads the south in providing for a
system or common schools. Thanks to /
the foresight Of the energy, and devo-
ton of the late Rev. Calvin H. Wiley, |
D. D. 1t was before the war, remem-
Der, and by several years.
We are gratifed to find another state |
ment made by DR.. Dreher that is high |
ly honorable and creditable to the /
south. DR.. Dreher is not a special |
eulogist of the southern educational |
conditions. but makes unfavorable |
comparisons with the north. But he /,
says this. and so far as we are inform. |
ed it is correct: !
When the free school system was |
established throughout the south. af- |
ter the war, the state had to bear the
burden OF maintaining the common
schools and the state universities also.
AnnrOnriafiOpg had m ha rolz -