The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1904-03-02

eAOAA '" ACAA oA1S AS@Se~ W ~ 81 ~'OS>tN
and Prospects, as teachers, i
has occurred to me to present i
in the form of an acrostic. I be
lieve that our prospects those
phases of education in South
Carolina which we are demand
ing, hoping. expecting to secure
at no distant day-are indeed oul
present needs, and on the Other
hand, I am glad to believe that
our needs-those phases of edu
cation in our State that are sc
apparently lacking just now
are our prospects, our future at
tainments. Hence it is use the
word "Prospects" as the key, sc
to speak, to our acrostic ar
rangement:
Public Sentiment Awakened,
remuneration OF Teachers Increased,
Occupation Elevated,
O Special Preparation for Teaching, a o F
U P-ermanency Of Employment, Z F
R Education Compulsory, Z r I
CONSOLIDATED Schools,
Thorough Training Throughout,
Success as Final Result.
Each idea here is in my opin
ion a present ideal, and there
fore a present need. Not one is
yet realized in the work of the
teaching profession in South
Carolina (for let US confne our
selves today to our own State).
And I believe the acrostic ar
rangement shows very nearly
the real order of our needs. That
is to say, final success in our ed.
ucational work depends very
largely on a more interested at
titude from the standpoint OF the
public and on g, more substan-
tial remuneration of teachers
than now prevails among them
and that each need here indi-
Gated has a strong bearing and
reaction on the succeeding one.
This may appear as we proceed.
Though each one is itself an is
sue worthy Of lengthy discus
sion, we can here only deal in a
general way with these aspects
of education rather than endeav-
or to point out minutely the
phases and facts due each con-
sideration.
South Carolina needs, first Of
all. real awakening along the
line of educational development.
She needs to realize more fully
than she does the great respon-
slbility resting on her present
efforts at educating the boys and
girls living within her bounda-
ries. It is true we as State are
handicapped, to a large extent,
by the negro majority in our
population, but this does not
free US from making more earn
est endeavors than are being
made, toward the betterment of
our educational facilities. South
Carolina has Long stood for col:
legiate education and in this re
spect doubtless will bear very
fair comparison with other
States, but she has been derelict
in attention to the education
given through the common
Schools. 'Tis true an encour-
aging increase is to be seen by a
comparison with the record of
ten and twenty years ago. Still
the truth remains that there is a
woeful deficiency in public SEN
timent in educational matters in
this State. This is typifed, to a
certain degree, by the views e1-
pressed in the General Assem-
bly, and the reception accorded
to various worthy bills Ielating
to educational questions. Dur
inc the recent session a bill
which called for only a few feat
ures of compulsory education
could not gain sufficient support
to be enacted as law. The Unit
ed States census of 1900 says
that in the South Atlantic divis-
ion composed of Delaware, Ma
ryland, District of Columbia, Vir-
ginia, West Virginia, North Car
olina, South Carolina, Georgia
and Florida, the largest amount
of illiteracy is in South Carolina,
Georgia and North Carolina and
in the order named. In South
Carolina in 1900 the native white
population ten years Of age and
over was 800. $40 and of this num-
Der 81, S75 or 1876 per cent. were
illiterate. The total white vot-
ing population of the State in
1900, native born and foreign
born, was 130, 365 Of which num-
Der 15,S were illiterate. A
quickening of desire to anchor
ate this condition is one OF our
necessities just now. A few
days ago in one of the daily pa
pers a trustee presented a letter
in which he showed that in his
district recently 6. school with all
necessary provisions was opened
for pupils but not one was pres
ent to receive its benefits. Even
when transportation to school
was furnished, the parents did
not sufficiently appreciate this to
send their children to the school.
This is one incident Of hundreds