The sea coast echo., 1903-01-10

cohsiuerlhg mat nothing in this worl,
comes up to that degree of perfection
that we like to see.
We never attain our ideals in tb;,
World. The nearer we are to approacl
them the farther, they recedo from us
II you and ], my fellow-te teachers, coulc
remain In our present positions for tn,
next twenty years and could have all tb,
success and make all the progress tha
the human heart could desire, we coulG
Etill see room for improvement. Gu,
desire to attain the ideal has blinded u.
TO the real good results that have beer
accomplished. None of us, if we arc
progressing in our work, have the same
ideas upon this subject that we had even
few years ago. AS the schools increase
In efficiency and usefulness, we require
a higher standard Of excellence. This
to my mind is one proof that the schools
are accomplishing much good.
! The public school system is, as YOU
know, OF New England origin, but |
haven't time here to trace the system
through the various stages of its evolu-
ton. prefer, therefor, to pass over the
early history of the public school sys-
tenn and come down to the beginning OF
the system in our own State, a time
when the idea of uniform system OF
public education, supported by general
taxation, had become well established
principle in our republican form of gov
ernment.
The educational clause in Mississippi's
first constitution read as follows "Re-
ligion, morality and knowledge being
necessary to good government and the
happiness to mankind, schools and edu-
cation shall forever be encouraged" i"
Nearly twenty years later Governor A.
G. Brown, in his message to the legis-
lature said: "For universal education
we must look to common scnoos ana not
to those great seminaries where the more
elevated studies OF polite literature are
taught"
believe that these are sufficient to
show the theory, both social and political,
upon which the entire system rests. AT
least the idea that the more intelligent
people are the better citizens they make,
seems to have come down to us from the
very beginning Of the system. And
right here wish to note significant
fact. While the theory that, the more in
telligent a self-governing people the
better their government, seems to be the
fundamental principle upon which the
public school system is founded, the
public school system in the United States
is older than the government itself.
However, we are not 70 suppose that the
public schools were intended to give any
body finished education. They we're
intended to lay the foundation for a col
lege education (for those who have the
means and inclination to acquire such)
and to give all the people that degree of
intelligence necessary to good citizen
ship.
Having thus tried to determine the
purpose for which the public schools
were established, let us now consider
whether or not that purpose has been
accomplished.
The following figures, l think, will
give you an idea of the progress made in
the public schools OF Mississippi during
the last twenty years. In 1880 the pop
ulation of the State was 113t597, the
public school enrolment 237065. In 1890
the population was 1289600, the public
school enrolment 634i68. Gain in pop
lation 1896 per cent, in school enroll
ment 1926 per cent. In 1900 the popu-
lation was 1551270, the school enrolment
3S748S. Gain in population 20.3 per
cent in school enrolment, t5.9 per cent.
The slight gain in population over school
enrolment during the last ten years was
not caused by a falling off in the school
enrolment, but by a very rapid increase
in population. In 1880 1923 per cent Of
Mississippi's white population was re-
ported as illiterate. In 1890 the returns
showed II 1.88 per cent as illiterate, while
only 5 per cent was reported as illiterate
in 1900.
| think that these figures show beyond
any doubt that illiteracy is decreasing
very rapidly in Mississippi.
In the report of the United States
Commissioners nf Fd,s~~ = - f',f 1000 ara
and 1899, find an article written by
Richard GrantWhite as far back as 1880,
in which he asserts that the whole pub
lie school system Of America is a fall.
ure, both as mere imparter Of useful
knowledge and as a means of securing
good government; and he cites quite an
array Of statistics to prove his assertions.
But in the same volume | find replies
from number of prominent educators
which completely refute all his argu-
ments. i also find in the same volume
an article written by Mrs. Rebecea
Harding Davis in 1889, in which she as
serts and undertakes to prove that the
schools are breeding houses of crime. In
commenting upon these United States
Commissioner of Education w. T. Har-
ris gives some very interesting figures
from the census returns for 1870. The
returns from the prisons and iails OF
seventeen States showed that rs per
cent Of the prisoners we're able to read
and write, while only % per cent we're
totally illiterate. To stop here it would
seem that Mrs. Davis charge was true,
but DIR. Harris points out the fact that
only per cent Of the population OF these
States was illiterate, and this per cent
etshespopu pulatiop. furnished %. per CENT
OF the criminals. e m other words TIE IL
litenaf& furnished more tnan six times
tlieif Quota; and 1000 illiterates furnish