The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1903-09-29
ROBESON'S HLITERACY
AND THE STATES DUTY

J Changes were needed but care and wis
dom We're necessary to DO the right
thing 1t the proper places. Instead OF
making personal examinations the
school authorities We're governed by the
testimony OF interested parties in the
formation Of districts and in the loca-
ton Of school houses. Consequently dis
tricts Of great irregularity in size and
Shape We're laid off, and parents who
neglected TO look out for themselves
too often suddenly realized they We're
miles from any school. AS the zeal for
combination became more tense, it be-
came hard 10 obtain a new district IN
der any plea, and when the mistakes
were pointed out the county board OF
education was slow TO correct them.
Widely as the story of our iI.iteracy
has been published the feeble cry ought
to go back that We are not responsible
for il. one of the saddest features Of
consolidation was that the weak and
isolated districts, generally occupied by
the poorer whites. We're often among the
first to be ~annuIled. not because they
were not large in area. but, was said,
the number OF children was too few.
As Il private individual l have observ-
ed case1 which would excite feeling in
d heart of stone. l have seen a respec-
table widow living in a Clearly home,
make her mark TO a petition which ask
ed for a school to be placed within reach
of a son and daughter who are nearly
grown without even the rudiments of an
education. Shall 1 close this incident
by saying that the school was not
granted. a community in the western
part of the county had its district dis
solved, SO they informed the writer. on
tha colo -1e+;ro0-- ~,-x- 49,
single child. The school was restored
after three years, out the children had
lost that length of time in preparing to
become voters in 1908. Near the center
of the county is an area, embracing per-
haps sixty square miles, in which there
is not one school house for white chill
dren- On the edge of this district five
years ago a lone school house for whites
was transferred to the Croatans. Since
that time no public school has been con-
Quoted for whites within the area named
though the negroes and Croatans have
more than one school each and in some
parts of the section the whites are
more numerous than either. Much Of
the land Is valued at SO or S12 per acre
on the tax books. and would sell for
much above those figures. One man IN
this area for the past two years has
eli I1S CI4IlOIeI L TIE nearest DuDl1c
school for whites, a distance Of nearly
five miles. AS the terms were continu-
ed by subscription school was opened
for thirteen months in two years. In
this length of time, the children have
ridden 1900 miles, a distance which
would a them nearly to a Francis
co, If moving in a straight curse. In
almost any part of the county one may
hear men who own excellent farms IN
d fine state of cultivation talking OF
leaving home and placing their families
near good schools. How much the state
is losing by such operations Il is hard to
calculate.
l have endeavored to give a faithful
account OF the educational condition of
the largest county in the state. My OBJ
Ject has not been to attack individuals.
but 10 expose a system.
Before closing it may be we'll to make
an application to the state. 1 believe
that the conditions prevailing in Robe
son are to be found. to a greater or less
degree, IN the state of which it forms
a part This ~suppOSitiOn is strengthen
cd by the consciousness that the whole
state is under the same educational
management, directed by the same stat
utes. Via is the comparative duca-
tiOnal status of North Carolina? Ac-
cOrding to the United States census of
1900 the per cent. of iIliteracy among
u white population was one of the
highest in the nation; on the other hand
the record of our school enrolment is
low; while in the percentage OF atten-
dance given by the commissioner of ed
ucation for 1901, out of the thirty-four
states and territories reporting for hat
year North Carolina stands mex lowest,
| nnIr Indian Tarr;tnr,- f,lI;rr ha-oo+h
If the number of children who attend
school is comparatively few and if, as
the record shows, they do not make an
average of three-fifths of the time.
there IS little encouragement in the
| scheme Of consolidation for reducing
the number of illiterates in North Car
DINA.
1t is often said we pay too little. We
reply It is true, our record being among
the lowest. Yet out of the small
amount paid, some communities are en-
joying good opportunities; but such is
the management of our public school
system that many others get nothing.
The stern requirement of siXty-five pu-
pills to a district in a country settled
by two races makes it impossible for
many children to go to school at all.
If any people under the sun have rea-
son TO complain of getting little for
! What they pay it is the farmers of east
ern North Carolina. Their lands are
heavily taxed for the negro schools in
their midst, and a surplus must be left
for the Door whites in the mountains.
If the state OF West Virginia. with a
scant negro population scattered over
it, can give their race a separate school
wherever ten colored children can be
gathered, We think it reasonable that
| the state of North Carolina should be
willing TO do as Well for twenty-five
whites. whose fathers pay tax on $50