The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-02-21
Education in the South.

New fork Times.
 The accounts recently published in re- sard 10 The plans of the Southern Edu. cational Conference may be prernat,Ire. but the plans outlined are clearly within the scope of the purpose of the confer ence. and 1t Is more than probable that the gentlemen named in these Accounts VII take an active part in carrying out this purpose. According to the state ment of The Tribune of the I2th. MT. John D. Rockefeller and his son have determined to invest large sums in the promotion of Southern education, and Mir Baldwin. the present President of me Long Island Railroad, is to be the mead of the organization formed to this end. All these gentlemen are intensely interested in the general work of edu. thoroughly equipped for the charge of \ large plan in this direction than Mr. Baldwin. With the cooperation of the gentlemen named, and especially with the assurance of the active supervision or MT. Baldwin, it would not, we are sure, be difficult to secure all the money needed for the work
 One thing is peculiarly noteworthy in the plan as described and advocated by the speakers at the dinner given by MT. Ogden In November last, of which this later plan Is development. It is that what Is intended is help but 1t is not in any sense charity. This is due to two facts; naass Il. In the the first place. the men en-
 
 whole country has both an interest and a duty with reference to education in the South. It has a profound Interest be- Cause the failure of any part of the perity and the safety of the nation de- pend on the highest atta.nable intelIi- gence among all the people. Intelligence cannot be raised to high level without general ing ds .h hsehseoling The general schooi- for the protection of New York and fIli. i nois and Pennsylvania as much as for that Of the South that the defects should De removed as far as practicable. It Is not less the duty than the interest of inc rest of the country to aid in this work. The South Is relatively poor. It Is SO be- cause only little more than a genera uCn since 1t was swept clean by the Civil var ana suffered losses without prece- oent Tn modern history. Those losses were inflicted by the rest of the country Tn order to preserve the Union, and the eHort was successful. It was best and II was necessary that the war should be cost. But the cost fell heaviest on ths south, and now 1t is the duty of the worth to help the South in that work which the most essential to the pro- gresS Of the whole country,
 The .pIans of the conference embrace the entire South and all the people of the South. Up to the present time aid nas neen extended to a greater extent TOT .ne scnool1ng Of the blacks. It was inevitable that it should be so, for their needs wers greatest and the means avail able Tor the work were least. But in the Judgment of those who have made the closest study of the subject, citizens of the South as well as of the North. the time. has come when all possible aid should also be given toward the educa- tlon of the white children and youth. Ih1s Is the more imperative because in the South heroic efforts are being made Tn this direction. and what may be called the establishment of strong and ex- cellent system has been begun It will be the aim of the men engaged in the conference to work on the foundations already laid. Their first task.-one, tn- deed. in which they have been proceed Ing for some ume-will be the careful study of the situation. In order that the best use may be made of the funds sup piled Naturally one object of peculiar interest will be to foster the common schools, and to do all that Is practicable to secure, the extension and improvement of that branch of the educational sys- tenn. But the institutions of a higher grade, intended for more advanced in. struction w.n also receive careful con And in every direction the purpose will be to make increasingly fertile the efforts of the several com munities. reinforcing and stimulating them rather than attempting in any way to supersede them.