The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-03-16

Montas que sounded the keynote OF ac-
ton for Virginia, if it would develop
ami not degenerate, when ne SAID thae
the material advancement OF state
was measured by the school privileges
Of it's people, and that its wealth pro-
ducing power goes hand IN mana Wild
the extension of free education to the
masses.
If this be true, and only those will
deny il who possibly know little about
tho educa tionai or Industrial conditions
of ri.. day, then it is well for those
who have at heart the best interests
Of thu city or community in which thsy
live to rouse themselves from selnsh
Indifference to matters of vital impor-
tancc to the State and its people, and
to ask is it worth while to know the
tru. state of affairs as existing to-day
in orr own community, and after know
ing, to lend a hand towards trying to
be.ter them.
Matters Of which we are ignorant we
ace sp: to be Indifferent to or prejudiced
against and much of the seeming indif-
ference of the people OF the State TO It's
educational interests is due to the fact
that they do not begin to realize the
true condition of the latter.
What are some Of these conditions? one
of them is that one out Of about every
eight white men in the State cannot
raed OF wrte-that is, men over twenty
one years of age, a sum total Oh o.
495 men who are illiterate!
The number of white women and white
boys and girls in the State who can
not read or write is not given in the re-
port from which these figures are taken'
were it known the outlook would De
even more disheartening. for while 1t IS
q pitiful thing for a child to have an
ilIiterate father, ten thousand times
worse is it for him to be born of an
ignorant mother.
Of negro males over twenty-one years
of age, 1864 are illterate; that is over.
half of the negro voters cannot read OF,
write and if the prisons and penitea-
tiaries of the State could be examined
even a greater proportion of their m
mates would be found TO De without any
education at all.
The world is watching Virginia to-Cay-
In the past she has ever beer state
that led, a State that created Ideals, ana
made standards, and moulded thousnt'
and if at this critical time IN ner MS
tory those who have it IN their power
to make her go forward or to ho!d ner
back are untrue to their trust III me
laws they are about to make, then thes
will handicap her future for many, many
wears to come, for, according to the posi-
tion she takes in educational matters
particularly as applying to the masses
so will she be recognized and properly
nlaced in the sisterhood of States which
make up this great nation
Whatever Virginia. has done III the
past for educa ton she must do more III
the future if she would be just 10 iier
people: but it is not merely in the length
ening of the school term. the buildlilG Oh
more school-houses or the making OF
larger appropriations that she must do
better work: it is in arousinS broader
interest in the cause of education, in
proving the vital necessity of 1t and III
creating greater demand for 1t that
the chief work lies, and this is some
thing that must be done by the whole
people of the State and not by It's lesis-
lative bodies alone and until q deeper
sense of responsibility concerning these
things is aroused in every man and Wo-
man who calls himself and herself Nlr-
ginian, the State must suffer from their
Indifference towards them.
Perhaps the supremest impulse and
action of the nineteenth century was the
birth and development of educational
opportunities for all sorts and conditions
Of people, and while it Is true that much
of this impulse was experimental and
many grave mistakes were made IN the
effort to give expression to the reallza-
ton that every child has right 10
demand of life the chance to learn how
to use his brain as we'll as his hands, 1t
is also true that the experimental stage
is largely over and that thinkers and
educators have come to see that accom-
plishments can be dispensed with until
a practical foundation is laid, and the
practical foundation has come to mean
not merely the acquisition of so much
knowledge and so many facts. but the
ability TO utilize the knowledge and facts