The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-01-30
GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA IN GALAXY OF SPEAKERS AT
 EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE
the onward march of Anglo-Saxon civ ilixation."
 Endorses the Movement.


 Education Board. saying:
 Let us encourage this new movement Those who are behind 1t are our fellow countrymen. They come with no new tangled ideas. They come not as mission aries to a heather land. They come in- bued with the true American spirit. They simply ask the privilege of aiding us in solving the problem of education which is peculiar to our section. In this move ment is promised brighter day for Ala bama, and it gives me sincere pleasure to see uniting in its advancement 90 many of the States potential influences.
 Let us join hands with our friends, from whatever State or section. in com mon effort to improve the common coun- try. Let us teach the people that illit. eracy does not conduce to good citizens ship, that 1t does not lead to a Qualifica- ton for rulership, that it does not con. tribute to the prosperity of a people. Let us proclaim from stump and stage and pulpit and printing press the indisputable fact that ignorance and superstition and depravity and pauperism and crime and corruption and sin and ruin are insepar- able evils" N
 At the conclusion of Dr. Abercrombie's s address he was liberally applauded. He said that the audience would then have the pleasure of listening to kinsnan-a cousin--of the principal speaker of the evening. and introduced Dr. A. P. Mon tague., President of Howard College at East Lake. who was received with en- thusiasm.
 Dr. Montague Speaks.
 In opening his address. pr. Montague spoke of the present industrial activity of the Southern States, traced their ear- Her histories from before the war between the States, and the freedom from slavery. until now-"the virtue the manhood and the dignity of the South, guard its name, and the sons of men who dared for home and principle hold sacred the traditions of the fathers"
 And yet" continued Dr. Montague, "softened by the passage of the years. by friendly intercourse. and by the ties of trade and commerce, North and South have steadily been drawn more closely together; and memories of the dread struggle between the States are rather memories of valor and courage and knightly prowess than memories of hate and bitter animosity.
 'tThe great President who, shot down by foul assassin at Buffalo, said, Thy will not mine, o God. be done knew the South but as part of his common country, and thus, more than other men. he cov- cred with the balm of love and tender ness and a broad patriotism the scars of civil war. E.
 The AgeRof Hate. May no demagogue. sitting in McKin- iey's seat, ever open anew the old wounds, and in ruthless disregard of a reunited nations peace, bring back the age of hate.
 "So, one in aim. one in loyalty to the spirit of freedom, one in a grand indus trial and educational development. our country is advancing to meet that future, towards which the God of nations, its God, is leading 1t.
 Surely, no force can be more potent for the overthrow of sectionalism and for binding into an indestructible union of purpose, of patriotism, and of conf dence and love the sections of our coun- try than the act of the broad-gauge. big hearted Northern men. whose noble gifts to Southern education evoke our admira- ton and call forth the gratitude of every warm Southern heart.
 "In the days when American guns spoke the doom of Spanish tyranny, boys from the Camden hills. from the banks of the Mohawk River. from the rolling plains of Nebraska, blue-clad, walked shoulder to shoulder with other boys from "the old Kentucky home" from way down on the oeWdHe6 IklNcTs IFDtH tHe tdftu WH6re the Alabama glides on its way to the Gulf. and, marching side by side, told the world that North and South were one
 Gracious words and kindly deeds de- clare that Montgomery and Boston, Bir- mingham and New York are sister cities.
 Brothers of the North.
 "But more to the purpose and nobler still are the acts of our brothers of the North. who, with generous hand and free are giving their money, that desolate wastes of mind may bloom with the fiow- CTS of wisdom; that with far better facili- ties our town schools may train for a larger, brainier citizenship; that the school-house by the roadside in a rural district, the school-house. sign, and sym- bol of a nations new birth into the king dom of knowledge, with longer sessions, and better-p paid teachers, may widen for our blessed boys and girls the vista of opportunity, may say to them, Come, without money and without price: make your own the treasures of learning; with the enchanters wand O. education speak to the dead centuries and bid them live again; share the thoughts that shake mankind
 Dip into the future,
 Far as human eye may see,
 See the vision of the world.
 And all the wonders that shall be-"
 Plea for Village Schools.
 Ladies and gentlemen, gentlemen of the Legislature, plead tonight for the schools in the little villages of our State and for the rural school As narrow as their limitations are today, yet just as grand are the possibilities before them
 Trained in them are the rough stones that some day will be, if they are given the chance, precious gems and rare jewels; trained in them are our coun- try boys, with their Igor their health, their marvellous power to work, their innate force of mind and heart; trained in them are the ruddy checked country girls, who some day. if allowed the oppor- tunity, will give gracious welcome to | small measure, are to gladden. and hallow home and school room, and the church | of God"
 Dr. Montague made an eloquent appeal for support of the country school teacher and the common school system. Gospel of Education. Concluding Dr. Montague said: "Our sympathies and our money go out and rightly so. for the spread of | the gospel of the kingdom; we toll and | strive that the story of Bethlehem and l the sublime lesson of Calvary may be known the wild world over, and justly so. till all mem everywhere shall bow before the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and own themselves allegiant to His sovereignty.
 nd