The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1903-04-28

the only hope OF complete success /,
Let me illustrate this in part hE INC
story 81 what has taken place In AoFth
~oIna. In their first constitution
hose sturdy men who hal thrown On
their foreign tyranny and won the HAND
willed that their children should De Tree
from the still greater bondage OF lgno-
rance. declaring that one or more uI
versitios should be established. Note
the p~rodigality OF their provision for what
IL row STYLED higher education with no
word OF mention or popular education
But they were wise. The latter would
surely follow. The Act OF Incorporation
IF he University reads: whereas IN
we'll regulated governments II IS the
indispensable duty Of every Legislature
to consult the happiness OF a rising gen
Grafton, and endeavor 20 TT them Tor an
honorable discharge OF the social duties
of life by paying the strictest attention
to their education: And whereas an UNI
yersitv supported by permanent funds,
and we'll endowed. would have tho~most
direct tendency to answer the above pur-
pose therefore, etc.
our University was established and
among its first students it inspired for
his work and sent out Archibald Murphy.
began the agitation for popular ciu-
tdLIOH diid tOStNitA NAN-A
cey. another son of the University, sue
ceeded in establishing the literary fund
which should aid and establish the com
mon schools. Then followed CALVIN
Wiley. another son who gave his life 70
the work, travelling with horse and bug
~ to all parts Of the State and estab-
fishing by his I~ntiring energy the best
public school system In the South. Then
came the war with its devastation and
ruin One-third of the able bodied men
were lost in those terrible four years,
and little beside the d~esolatc fields and
empty homes was left. With patient he
roism the work was taken up once more.
4 little money was set aside for schools,
but largely wasted. The doors of The
University were once more opened, for I
tell you, therein lay and lies the hope
Of the people. In the first five years
there came from its halls, among others
who have nobly played their part, Aycock
the School Governor, Joyner the State
Superintendent of Schools, and Mc1VCr
and Alderman of your Board.
For fifteen years the sons of the Uni
versity have visited all parts of the
State and preached the crusade of edu-
cation. They have held summer schools
and county Institutes, battled over cleo
tons fer school taxes, and established
graded schools. This is no new movement
with us, but an old warfare in which
We gladly welcome your aid and would
acknowledge without stint of praise the
help which has come from the colleges.
The University has trained and sent
out more thai 800 teachers and these
lave trained thousands Of others. 1t
established one of the first summer
schools for teachers in the South. begin
ming this work in 1877 and thus aiding
some 4, 600 teachers to fit themselves bet
ter for teaching in the common schools.
1t has manned the graded schools with
superintendent and principals, placing
fourteen of it's students in this work lest
| year. Forty per cent of its graduates
have begun their life work as teachers. [
I Will not weary you by further recount
ing these matters. The point is this, that
the University has thrown itself heart
and soul into the great and Immediate
work which lay before it, of educating
the whole people, answering this call
as it did that other battle-cry forty
years ago whom even its freshman class,
excepting one who was physically dis
abled, all entered the service and one in
three lay down his life for his beloved
South.
An heroic story, and doubtless similar
stories could be told OF other Southern
universities. l have simply told you Of
the one that / know best.
Some may ask why Is it that more has
not been accomplished if such energy and
purpose have been shown. ] answer that
the chief obstacle has been poverty.
Southern universities have been forced
to struggle on with most Inadequate sup
port. The one of which I nave been
speaking received its first direct appro-
1 nriotiOn from, tho Ctoto u,bo,, II ~ ~
years old and that an appropriation Of
5000 and there are others which even
now receive nothing from their States,
but depend largely upon the general gov
eminent. The State of North Carolina
has never appropriated money to place
a building at it's University. And yet the
return to the State has been beyond all
, price in the sons she has trained for the
States and the nations service.
Do not misunderstood ne. l do not
mention these things as a plea for help.
We are no beggars. We are doing our
work and doing it better and on a larger
scale with each passing year. We are
proud of the labor and the sacrifice, the
hard years of struggle, and of the thou
sands and tens Of thousands who have
been blessed in spite of poverty and be-
cause of toll.
AS for me it is the great happiness OF
my life that ] have been allowed to play
some little part in this heroic struggle.
DR.. S. c. Mitchell, of Richmon Col
lege, spoke on The Part of the Citizens
IN Aiding the cause of Public Education .
and the Hon. G.. r.. Glenn, Assistant
Agent of the Peabody Fund and former
Estate Superintendent of Education in
Georgia, and the Hon. /. w. Hill, State
superintendent of Education for Alabama,
discussed "Public Education and the Lo-
cal Tax" Other speakers at the after
noon session were Prof. Minis, Of Trim
ity College, North Carolina, and Prof.
u. Y. JOyner, State superintendent of
schools in North Carolina.
A feature of this evenings session Of
the conference was the fact that white
people crowded into the negro gallery. so
that for the first time in Richmond,
whites and blacks were seen intermingled
and sitting side by sid in q public hall.
The strange sight is strikinglv illustra-
tive OF the interest, the Richmond people
Of all classes have taken in the discus