The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1904-02-24

One of the common assertions of
persons who are opposed to the edu-
ca ton of the negroes is that education
instead of helping the negro tends to
the promotion of crime. In an able ad-
dress at the Hampton Institute. meet
ing in New York, last Friday night.
Booker +. Washington showed. to
quote the words Of the New York Trib-
une, that the negro not only takes ad-
vantage of every opportunity for edu-
cation offered him, but that he him.
self contributes to the full measure of
his power to the education of
his fellows. and turns to good use
morally and industrially the learning
that he is able to secure" Mr.. Wash
ington showed that while but 1921 per
capita is spent on the negro child of
the south for education. $20.52 is
spent in New York. and $22.35 in Mas
sachusetts on white children. Yet the
illiteracy of the negroes has been de-
creased So per cent. since the civil war
and now a larger proportion of them
than of the people of Spain can read
and write. Mr.. Washington said:
Not a single graduate of the
Hampton institute or of the Tus-
kegee institute can be found today
in any Jail or state Denitentiary
After making careful inquiry, l
cannot find a half dozen cases of
a man or woman who has complet-
ed Il full course of. education in
any of our reputable institutions
like Hampton. Tuskegee. Fisk or
Atlanta who are in prisons. The
records Of the south show that 80
per cent. of the cOlOred people In
prison are without knowledge of
trades and 81 per cent: are litter
ate. This statement alone dis
proves the assertion that the negro
SIo"S III Gil lii- do tdutdlloll III
creases. If the negro at the north
is more criminal than his brother
at the south. it is because the
north withholds from him the OPP
portunity for employment which
the south gives. 1t is not the edu-
Gated negro who has been guilty
of or even charged with crime in
the south; it is. as a rule the one
who has mere smattering of edu-
cation or is in total ignorance.
Followers of Governor Vardaman. of
Mississippi. will find little comfort in
the replies Mr.. Washington received
from questions directed to 1876 repre-
sentative white men of the south
Some of the questions and a summary
Of their answers are as follows:
Has education made the negro a
more useful citizen?
.AnsWer-Yes. 121; no. 4: un-
answered. H.
Has it made him more econom-
zeal and more inclined to acquire
wealth?
Answer-Yes. So; no, IA: I'M
answered. -.
Does it make him more valu-.
able workman. especially where
skill and thought are required?
answered. ..
Has education improved the
morals of the black man?
Answer-Yes, 81; no. 20: I'M
answered, 10.
Has it made his religion less
emotional and more practical?
Answer-Yes, 161; no, IL, un-
/ answered. 49,
Is it, as Il rule, the ignorant or
the educated who commit crime?
commit crime?
Acknowledgements. 1l3: educat-
ed, 3; unanswered, H.
Does crime grow less as eCuca-
ton increases among the colored
people?
Answer-Yes. 102: no. 10: un-
answered. 10.
Is the moral growth of the negro
equal to his mental growth?
Answer-Yes. 3D. no, i6: UNI
J answered. 50.
After such Il showing as that it
would be thought that none, not even
in the south, would dare to argue that
education does not improve the negro.
Whistler Memorial Exhibition.