The Tupelo journal., 1904-01-22
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GOV. JAMES X. VARDAMAN.

ey in the treasury, and keep it in cir
culation-performing the beneficent
function for which money was created.
n at the same time. add to the
States 1t is contemplated.
of course, that such laws shall be en-
acted as will render impossible the
loss of any of the States funds by pee
ulation, bad investments, or misfor-
tune on the part of the borrower; and
ais to provide against the possibility
. of the depository becoming a corrupt
ing influence in politics.; economy in
the expenditure of public funds. lest
the burdens of government should op-
press inc discourage labor: the en-
couragement of agriculture. the foun-
dation of all material wealth; "a well
disciplined militia properly main
tained-"our best reliance in peace
and for the first moments of war; to
curtail the appointive power of the
governor and enlarge the elective priv
ilege OF the people-the surest means
OF preserving democratic institutions
and promoting honest government. |
believe there is less danger in the pos
sible mistakes of the people than in
the assumed inerrancy or superior
wisdom of the chief executive; the
present primary election law perfected
by eliminating the electoral and plu-
rality features, prescribing the sever
est punishment for the improper use
of money and other fraudulent meth
DDS to control the elections; the main
tenance of a system of free public
schools, which will afford equal oppor-
tunities to all of the children of the
State tn rncaiyo pcfrI,otipp noooccoru
to equip them for the duties of life
and the performance of the functions
of citizenship. One of the most "a
tional and Profitable duties of a free
government, it SENS to me, is to edu-
cate it's children. Education means
only the development of the good there
is in man-the vitalizing of those dor
mant forces which build and complete
that potential moral entity called char
acter. 1t is a wise economy in this,
that if a man ora citizen be made bet
ter by education, the government will
share his Improvement, and the en-
lightened moral sentiment will write
the laws Of the \ land. But when |
speak of the government educating it's
children, | wish it understood that |
do not mean that il is the duty or the
hope of the State to give every boy
and girl a technical education or a
course at college. That is practically
impossible. We have colleges and uni
versities which the State must main
tain and maintain properly, but the
first, the paramount, dlty of the State
is to provide means for giving in
struction, at least, in the r~udimentary
branches, to those children whose Pc
culiar environment and i~mpecunious
condition render it impossible for
them to get any other way. If the
State will place at the floor of all her
children an opportunity to obtain ever
a common school education, such as is
given in the best kraded public
schools, she will have 5done we'll. 1
want to impress this truth as | see it,
that 1t is of much more Importance to
start the child on the road to an edu-
cation-to lay the foundation in a we'll
directed common school-than it is to
finish 1t in a governmend-supported
university or college. If the founda-
ton be properl.. laid, and there is any