The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-04-03
DABNEY DEALS OUT
FACTS FOR SOUTH
ITS EDUCATIONAL NEEDS
ARE SET FORTH IN AN ADDRESS
HE DELIVERED.

Educator Recited Ante-BeIIum Com
ditiOns and the MetamOrphGsis the
WRr Caused-POinted Out he IL
literncy of the Southern states,
Making Comparisons with other
SECTIONS Thinks That There
should BE "a Plan of National Aid.
Indianapolis, Ind, April 2.-Dr
Charles w. Dabney. president of the
University Of Tennessee and President
elect of the University of Cincinnati,
in an address before the Southern In
diana Teachers Association, in session
here, under the subject, Educational
Needs of the South" outlined the work
which has been taken up by those in
terested in the move of which he is
regarded the head and leader.
Much Importance is attached to his
utterances on this subject. = is ex
pected great results to Southern edu-
Gators will follow from the address,
and that such hostility as was shown
formerly against the Blair bill will not
be used against the proposed methods.
Dr. Dabney. by way of introduction,
said that the present educational needs
of the Southern people arise from CIR
cumstances in the past. In the Old
South there was a caste system OF four
general classes. The aristocracy oI
the wealthy planter and slave owners,
the small farmers living chiefly in the
hills, the poor whites of the low coun-
try and the African slaves.
THE war not only freed the black
man, 1t freed the white man as WE'LL,
said he. 1T made way for the small
farmers, liberated the poor white man
from the bonds of a semt-feudal system
and established both for the first time
in full citizenship. 1t also freed the
minds and spirits of the aristocratic
class, and by throwing them upon their
own resources, made them stronger
and better people.
The old South. whose ruling class
was an aristocracy Of land and slaves
has given place to political and IN
dustrial Democracy, with no ruling
class. But herein lies our danger, and
out of this fact grows the special ne
| cessity for a system of popular educa-
tion, which shall train all of our citi-
zens to think clearly and act fear
| lessly, each for himself.
Retarded school Development.
"The actual development of such a
| system of free public schools was long
| retarded by the conservatism of the
| aristocratic class which refused to
| recognize the new individual, and held
as long as possible to old institutions
| and ideals. 1t has been delayed fur
ther by the poverty of the people, by
the sparseness and consequent isola-
! ton of the population and by the abb
| sence of roads. But this new concep-
tion of manhood has now caught the
mind of the plain man and VIII give
| rise to a great new system of edu-
| cation, supported by all the people for
all the people.
I'm 1900 out of the S,500,O0O whites,
10 years OF age and over In the eleven
South Atlantic and Gulf states, in
Guiding Tennessee and Arkansas, 1,OO0-
600 were illiterate one third of the
illfterates of the United States are
found in these states, which have only,
however, one-ffth of the population.
OF the 100000 blacks in the same
states 10 years and over, 2,500000 We're
illiterates. In the same states, of A.
100000 males, 81 years of age, 1,1OO,-
900 were illiterate. More than one-half
of all the illterate males of voting age
in the United States live in the Souths
Disfranchisement can be only tempo
rary good, a partial remedy for this
awful condition.
"Of the 100000 white and the 2,50O,-
coo black children in these states last
year. only As per cent. were in school
eighty or ninety days.
No New BImir Bill Wanted.
1T is not a new Blair bill that we
want; we rejected that long ago. l
hope for my part, that that particu-
lar measure may never again be
brought forward, but that some plan
may be adopted which shall make the
wealth of the whole nation contribute
to the education and general social in-
provement of all peoples who by rea-
1f
recent condition of servitude, or from
any other cause, have not been able
to take their place in the grand army
of American citizenship, or to catch
step with the march of modern pro-
gress.
believes that the right kind of edu-
cation makes the negro a more thrifty,
a more useful, a more moral and
more law-abiding citizen, as it does
every other man. Every Southern
state is now committed by its constitu-
tlon and laws to the principle of negro
education, and in their Legislatures
and courts they have so far success
fully resisted all proposals to divide
the school funds. In fact, the dis
franchisement acts are all working to
compel his education. The Southern
people will be fair to the negro IN
these matters. Any other course Of
conduct win not only dishonor, RsAe
will injure their own race.
should Have National Aid.
ANY plan of national aid should pro-
vide, not largess for the South, but
a consistent, rational plan for up
lifting the retarded and depressed
populations in all portions of the coun-
try. The people in some counties in
Maine and in New York are as illit-
crate as those in the counties in the
South Appalachians. This is truly a
national problem, not one for the South
alone.
Methods can also be found to aid
needy communities without paralyzing
their powers, either OF initiative or
support While we are helping the
Porto Ricans and the Philippines to
establish their schools, we should aid
our own neglected people whenever