The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-11-25
ILLITERATES OF NATION
IN 1900 THERE WE'RE e,1eO,00o IN
 UNITED STATES.
Louisiana and North Carolina the only states Which Fall Below Ala bama-An Analysis Of A
 the Fixtures.
RxR. H. watIkins

The Census Bureau has just published a bulletin discussing the statistics ol illiteracy. This bulletin was prepared by pr. Joseph A. Hill. Chief of the di- vision and results in that bureau.
 According to the census use or the term an illiterate Is a person under 10 years of age who is unable to write : either in English or in any other lam guage In most cases the illiterate Is unable to read. At the census of 1900 the number of illiterates in the United States, exclusive of Alaska. Hawaii and all other outlying territory was $780, 900. This was approximately one- tenth of the population at least ten years of age, the exact mathematical proportion being i06.6 illiterates to 1000 population.
 The fact that one-tenth of the popu- lation above g years have failed to ob- tain even the little education that is implied in the ability to read and write seems to indicate q rather surprising degree of ignorance, refiecting upon the boasted efficiency of the common school systems.
 Foreign Born and Negro.
 Ther sfore, the patriotic American will naturally inquire whether this is not mainly due to the presence in our pop ulation of the foreign born and the ne- gro. and will be somewhat reassured to find that when the comparison is re- stricted to the native white population, the proportion of iiliteracy is reduced to 46.4 ir the 1000. or less than one In twenty.
 For the foreign -born white the pro- portion is 125.5 per 1000 and for the negro 4447. Moreover, international comparisons, restricted so far as possi- ble to corresponding classes of the pop ulation are on the whole favorable to this country. indicating that in most European countries illiteracy is much more prevalent than it is here, although the United States is still far behind Germany. Sweden and Norway, Dem mark and Switzerland. There is also ground for satisfaction and encourage meht in the statistical evidence that illiteracy is steadily being reduced. Tn 1890 the number of illiterates per 1000 was 1884 for the total population, 62.3 for the native white population, 130.6 for the foreign born white and 567 6 for negroes, including Indians and Mongo- Hans.
 Younger Generation Less Illiterate.
 There is additional evidence of pro- gress in the fact that the older gener- ations, whose illiteracy registers the inadequacy of the school systems or the laxity of educational requirements in former days, are mort illiterate than the younger generations, who passed through the school period of life under the present public elementary instruc- tion.
 In fact it will be found that in the total population iiliteracy steadily in- creases as the ege period advances Be- ginning with 71 5 illiterates per 1000 in the population group 10 to IA years of age. the proportion reaches 19S.5 per 1000 .n the population group 65 years of age ani Dvsr. But this steady in- crease is not common to all classes of the population.
 The illiteracy of the native white population born of native parents Is lower in the age of groups Is to IT. IS, 20 and 21 to 24 than in the age group 10 to 10. In this fact there is. it is believed, evidence that a considerable number of per- sons who failed to learn to read and write in the period of childhood make up the edeficiehcy of later years. But after the age of 25, the number is not large enough to overcome the handicap to which the older generations are sub ject by reason of poorer educational opportunities.
 Effect of the Civil War.
 Attention is called to the fact that among native white males of native percentage the degree of i1literacy in the age group forty-five to fifty-four is exceptionally high-not only. as might be expected, higher than any younger age group, put nlRner also than In the next older age group, 55 to 64. Since those persons who were between g. and IA when the civil war began, it is evil dent that their illiteracy reflects the conditions that prevailed during that conflict, when the interests of popular education in the South were no doubt seriously neglected. Even in some parts of the North there are evidences of an increased illiteracy among the children of that period. Thus the rec ord of important historical events may be traced by the dry statistics of H. literacy.
 The bulletin shows by comparisons that women in this country are becom- ing less illiterate than men.
 IIliterates North and South.
 llliteracy Is in general greater in the South than in the, North for all classes of population. Perhaps the fairest basis of comparison between the two sections Is that for native white childrlR living in cities over 25,- 900 inhabitants. In the North Atlantic division the illiteracy for this class of children Is 2.1, and in the North Gen. tral, l.9; in the South Atlantic division 1t is S.3, and in the South Central, l37. In considering the significance of such comparisons it should be remembered that the South has a larger number of children in proportion to population than the Nortb and a smaller per capita wealth. The South Is, moreover, ham dicapped by the necessity of maintain