The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-01-30
GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA
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 grow up almost untausht, almost in the
 darkness of ignoranceY
 Let us stand for education throughout
 our broad commonwealth, for the educa- ton of every child in all the South, till everywhere men and women. in the light of developed mind and developed heart. may the better bless the Lord for Ills gifts to His children"
 At the close of the remarks of Dr. Montague Dr. Abercrombie said that the
 chief speaker of the evening who had come from Virginia to address the meet ing would be introduced by the able, fearless. patriotic and popular ex-Gov- ernor of Alabama and Judge of the Fed eral Court Thomas G. Jones. Judge Jones, who was received with enthusiasm, said 1t was a gracious task to introduce to the great audience of the people of Alabama the Chief Executive of the Old Dominion. who had come to discuss methods of dealing with great problems which others had volunteered to help solve but which could not be solved without the counsel of the people of the South. He was happy, he said. to introduce the speaker of the evening as one of great heart and honesty of pur- pose, a gentleman from State in whose soil rested the bones of many of the sons of Alabama, and a State which had been with us and of us.
 Governor Montague Cheered. Governor Montague was enthusiastical- ly received. The great audience cheered him again and again as he stepped to the front of the stage.
 He was happy. he said, to be present to speak to an audience of Alabamians
 on a topic of the greatest importance to l the American people and 1t would not be | a difficult task in view of the close rela- tions that had always existed between the State of Alabama, which contained
 the first Capitol of the Confederacy, and the State of Virginia, which contained the last. They had been together in days that were happily gone and they still re- mained bound together.
 The speaker alluded feelingly to the closeness of the ties, which bound the people of the two States and the people
 of Virginia. he said, gave honor and trib-
 ute to the men of Alabama who gave up
 their lives on Virginia soil for the South.
 Such courage, such sacrifice, said Cover nor Montague, was theirs that it can never be said as long as the world lasts that there was a braver or better army.
 The free school the speaker said, had
 
 ton of Herbert Spencer that public and
 common schools are not a benefit to the
 government and the. people. They gave.
 he said, as they should. the most benefits
 to those who have the least capacity and
 to those of the least capacity the most
 benefits.
 When knowledge first dawned upon
 man." said Governor Montague. "there
 came with it the consciousness of his own
 ignorance. To make his ignorance the equal of your ignorance has been the struggle of man up to the present time. In helping him who shall lead? The fam fly or the government? The family of course. But how? By an intelligent
 moral and helpful interest in public schools"
 Taxation Locally Applied. The speaker pointed out that the man
 who puts his money in a private school | followed 1t with his help and interest. ''Win not" asked Governor Montague 'the interest in public schools be quick
 ened and stimulated by taxation locally
 appled?"
 Governor Montague declared that If he | was asked to point out the dominant
 note that came in with the new century he would say that it was the extension | of the common schools.
 | ne man WnO CdStS an ignorant pal lot' said Governor Montague. "inhicts | as deadly a blow on society as the man who casts a wicked. fraudulent ballot" He alluded to the greatness of Hilliard, Yancey and other great Alabamians and urged his hearers not to let the great race of people go to seed, No people. he said, had ever had as great a burden placed upon them as the people of the South. Slavery, with all its attendant evils. he said. was as naught compared to the burden that has been on | the people of Alabama and of all people of the South for the past thirty-five years. He praised highly the sacrificing spirit with which that burden had been borne and said "the path of Stygian dark ness has, been lit with the splendor of your smiles"
 .srhe professions" earnestly declared Governor Montague, will never save a civilization. They never have and they never will. What Is needed is something to popularize our public schools and
 make them useful
 He said that the South had reached an age of machinery and it would have to