The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-01-09

of Almighty God, and we are entrusted
with power not for our good alone, but
for the negro as we'll. We hold our title
to power by the tenure Of service to God.
and if we fail to administer equal and
exact Justice to the negro whom we de-
prive of suffrage, we shall in the full
ness of time lose power ourselves, for
we must know that the God who Is love
trusts no people with authority for the
purpose of enabling them to do injustice
to the weak" The reception which this
statement met at the hands of that great
convention will ever be to me pleasant
memory. This declaration with me was
not mere sentiment. 1t was the express
sion of deep conviction. In my Inaugural
address I substantially reiterated this
statement. l said to the last General As
sembly, you will not have aught to fear
when you make ample provision for the
education of the whole people. Rich and
poor alike are bound by promise and
necessity to approve your utmost efforts
in this direction. The platforms of all
the parties declare in favor of a liberal
policy towards the education of the mass
es.' The platform on which I ran for
office contained this provision: eve
heartily commend the action Of the Gen
eral Assembly of 1899 for appropriating
one hundred thousand dollars for the ben
eft of the public schools of the State.
and pledge ourselves to increase the
school fund so as to make at least a four
months term in each year in every school
district in the State. There is in that
Platform declaration no suggestion of
any purpose to take from the negro any
part of the school fund which he was
then enjoying. Almost from the time
of my entering upon the office of Gov
ernor to the present I have gone through
the State making speeches advocating I'M
iversal education. When the Democra tic
convention assembled in Greensboro they
endorsed this educational policy in the
following language: eve renew cur
pledges for the extension and improve
ment of the public school system of the
State, so that it may keep pace with the
needs and conditions of our people. We
point with pride to the great impetus
and progress in this great work during
the last two years, and call attention to
the fact that this year for the first time
in the history of the State, every school
district has been able to maintain a
public free school for four months, as
required by the Constitution When the
Republican convention met in the same
city they used this language "Intelli-
gence being the corner stone of the State,
and the education of the masses being
dependent solely upon our public schools,
we favor the support by public taxation of
at least a four months school in every
school district in the State" 1t appears,
therefore. that both parties represented
in your Honorable Body are pledged to at
least four months school in every
school district in the State and this, of
course. includes the negro districts.
am not unmindful of the fact that the
education of the negro has been some
what disappointing, and there are many
of our people who really believe that ed
ueation is injurious to the negro. They
insist that it tends to make him worth
less and leads to the commission of
crime. Unfortunately we have not gath
cred sufficient statistics to put this con-
tention fully at rest, but the States
prison does keep a record and from it
it is found that within the last two
years Of the negroes who have gone to
the penitentiary two hundred and forty
one cannot read and write. while one
hundred and seventy have been admitted
who can read and write AIS of our
negro population are illiterate and 52.4
per cent can read and write. So that for
the higher crimes punishable in the
penitentiary it clearly appears that illit-
eracy among the negroes is an injury to
the State in that it produces over forty
per cent more of crime. But, however,
this may be our duty is plain to try to
find way in which his education can
be made more valuable to himself and to
the State. Certainly this cannot be ac-
complished by leaving him to the pitiful
income arising from his own taxes. The
negroes of North Carolina pay for school
taxes $120, 90. There are 221,959 negro
children of school age in the State. This
would give to each child little less than
fifty seven cents and would furnish
schools for them for a little more than
one month out of the, twelve 1t must be
manifest that such a provision as this
is an injustice to the negro and injurious
to us. No reason can be given for divtd-
ing the school fund according to the pro-
portion paid by each race which would
not equally apply to division of the
taxes paid by each race on every other
function. The right to collect taxes for
that purpose is based on the duty Of
the State to educate it's citizens. The
care of the insane is no more the duty
of the State than education, and if we
divide the school fund according to the
races we should also divide the fund for
the maintenance of the hospitals for the
insane in the same fashion. We are prob
ably not much wiser now, if any, than
the men who framed our Constitution in
1873 There were many able men in that
body The Constitution of 1855 on the
subject of education was as follows:
1.-The General Assembly, at lis first SEES
sion under this Constitution, shall pro-
vide by taxation and otherwise for a
general and uniform system of public
schools wherein tuition shall be free of
charge to all the children Of the State
between the ages of six and twentyone
years" The convention of 1876 added to
that provision the following clause: and
the children Of the white race and the
children of the colored race shall be
taught in separate public schools; but
there shall be no discrimination in favor
OF, Or to the prejudice of either race"
Why should they have provided against
discrimination? They probably thought
Go; IN OBJ