New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-02-15
TIE VALUE OF NEGRO EDUCATION.

TIE VALUE OF NEGRO EDUCATION.
In bis able address at the Hampton Institute
meeting on Friday night Booker T. Washington,
without entering into any controversy, COM
pletely refuted Governor Vardaman's Hbels on
the colored race and bis statements that edu-
cation, instead Of helping the negro, tended to
the promotion Of crime Mr.. Washington clear
" showed that the negro not only takes advan-
tage Of every opportunity for education offered
him but that he himself contributes 10 the full
measure OF his power TO the education OF his
fellows, and turns TO good use, morally and In
dustrialy the learning that he is able to secure.
II IS hardly fair to draw any conclusion as TO
the value OF education TO the negro from the
teaching that the race as n whole has had IN the
last forty years. Real education OF the negro
on any large scale has never been tried. In
Massachusetts It is thought necessary TO spend
annually SD s. and in New-York $50 53 per
capita on the white heir OF all the ages 10 fit
him for bis duties while only s. u per capita
is spent On the negro Of the South, with his
background Of hereditary ignorance and barbar-
ism. As race, the negroes are uneducated,
though they have decreased their illiteracy over
% per cent since securing their freedom, md
now larger proportion OF them than Of the peo-
PIE Of Spain can read and write. Mr.. Washing
ton says:
Not a single graduate Of the Hampton In
stitute OF the Tuslegee Institute can be found
to-day IN any Jail or state penitenuary. After
making careful inquiry. 1 cannot find n half
dozen cases OF a man or woman who has com
Melted a full course OF education in any OF
rpprtable institutions Ike Hampton. Triske~ee,
Fisk or Atlanta who are in prisons The rec
ords OF the South show that 20 per cent 81 the
colored people in prison are without knowledge
Of trades and CT per cent are MteTate. THIS
statement alone disproves the assertion that
the negro grows in crime as education Increases
II the negro at the North is more criminal than
his brother at the South. Il "a because the North
withholds from him the Opportunity for employ
ment which the South giys5. Il IS not the edu-
Gated negro who has been guilty Of or even
charged with crime in the South, u IL, rs a rule
the one who has mere smatteriag OF e1uca-
ton or is IN total ignorance
Most impressive as an answer 70 Governor
Vardaman are the replies OF representative
white men OF the South 10 some questions put
to them by Mr.. Washington concerning the
necro's progress. which he quoted IN his nd
dress. He received 1875 replies 70 his letters,
and here arc few Of the results:
Has education made the negro more useful
citizen2
Answer-Yes. 121: no. 4; unanswered. II.
Has II made him more economical and more
inclined to acquire wealth"
Answer-Yes. IS: no. Il; unanswered. "a.
Does II make him more valuable workman.
especially where SIKH ana thought are reQulreQG
AusWer-Ees. 49,; no, >; unanswered ..
Has education improved the morals OF the
black race2
Answer-Yes. ~: no. 20: unanswered. 10
Has 81 made hts religion less emotional and
more practical?
Answer-Yes. 1O1; no. 10: unanswered. 10.
is IT, as a rule, the ignorant or the educated
who commit crime?
Answer-IguoTant. us; educated. 3; unan-
swered, l..
Docs crime grow less as education increases
among the colOred pcOpe2
Answer-Yes, lu2; no 10; unanswered Is.
Is the moral growth OF the negro equal TO his
mental growth
Answer-Yes. 55i no. 80; unanswered. 30.
This is the testimony Of Southern white men,
and their evidence IS Overwhelmingly in favor
OF education, even such rs It is. The effect Of
true education, learning that is not mere smat-
tering, but a thorough training for intelligent
work calculated 10 ct the negro for the actual
conditions which confront him, IS not yet seen.
Only few have had the Hampton or Tuskegee
or Taladega training. or have had the benefit
Of teaching by those so trained. The great bulk
OF the so called educated negroes have been IN
school only a few months. Yet the negroes rs
a whole have made wonderful progress Start
ing with nothing. they are large landowners
and large taxpayers. With every temptation TO
forsake work when freed from compulsory
labor, they have done the bulk OF the work Of
the South and must be relied upon 10 90 il
hereafter. The wonder is not that the negro
Is backward. but that ne has advanced so far:
not that he commits more crimes than the white
man, but that he commits so few comparatively
and strives SO earnestly according 10 the light
that IS given him, TO he an industrious and
worthy citizen.