The age-herald., 1902-02-20
Education in the South.

From the New York Times.
 The accounts recently published in regard to the plans of the Southern
 Educational Conference may be pre- | mature but the plans outlined are clearly within the scope of the purpose
 of the conference, and it is more than probable that the gentlemen named in these accounts will take an active part In carrying out this purpose.
 According to the statement of The Tribune of the 12th, MT. John D. Rockefeller and his son have determ- ined to invest large sums in the pro- motion of Southern education, and MT. Baldwin, the present president of the Long Island Railroad, is to be the head of the organization formed to this end All these gentlemen are intensely interested in the work of education, and no one could be found more thoroughly equipped for the charge of large plan in this direc- tion than Mr. Baldwin. With the CO., operation of the gentlemen named, and especially with the assurance of the active supervision of 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 advo- cated by the speakers at the dinner given by MT. Ogden in November last, of which this later plan is a develop ment. It is that what is intended Is help, but it is not in any sense char ity. This is due to two facts. In the an n work recognize that the whole coun- try has both an interest and duty with reference to education in the South It has profound interest be- cause a failure of any part of the country to secure facilities for educa- tion up to the standard of the rest of the country Is a menace to all. The prosperity and the safety of the na- | tion depend on the highest attainable intelligence among all the people. h. | telligence cannot be raised to high
 level without general schooling. The
 general schooling of the South $ very defective. It Is for the protection of
 New York and Illinois and Pennsyl-
 vania as much as for that of the
 South that the defects. should be re-
 moved as far as practicable. It is not
 less the duty than the interest of the rest of the country to aid in this work. The South is relatively poor It is so because only little more than a gen. eration since it was swept clean by the civil war and suffered losses with out precedent in modern history. Those losses were inflicted by the rest of the country in order to preserve the Union. and the effort was suc- Ill sary that the war should be fought out and the result was worth the cost. But the cost fell heaviest on the South, and now it is the duty of the North to help the South in that work which is the most essential to the progress of the whole country. e plans of the conference en- brace the entire South and all the people of the South. Up to the pres ent time aid has been extended to a greater extent for the schooling of the blacks. It was inevitable that it should be so, for their needs were greatest and the means available for the work were least. But in the iudg- ment of those who have made the closest study of the subject. citizens of the South as we'll as of the North, | the time has come when all possible aid should be given toward the educa- | tion of the white children and youth. l This is the more imperative because | in the South heroic efforts are being | made in this direction. and what may be called strong and excellent sys- | tenn has been begun. It will be the aim of the men engaged in the con- l ference to work on the foundations