Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1906-04-22

being done for the blacks with mil.
 hons from the phlIanthropist Of the
 north to aid them and millions from taxation ot the south for [, fr pabIic schools, But We are ho}plls, without money, without organized y. rt and enr cause is hopeless if iy upon tune and events to a4ius t,. .4se=e con. ditions. 1 spoke of this #oYk to Mrs. Authur NJ. Dodge of New York City, woman ofZ prominence and wealth. and asked her To help me lhe south must do lts work first. shr replied
 Your idea of the Daughters of the Contcdcraev becoming auXiliaries to Your association is great one There aGe within I hundrseti miles ot tie capitol of cur oWn e0Hntfy. white peo- pie who have never heard of the gospel of Christ and hage never seen q Bible. and are in | state of i2nor- ;.ncc and acstituton worse than that of the hcathen abroad, people who are not bad except through ignorance and the lack of the knowledge of civil. iaation aud Christianity.
 Mr. Carnegie, in his speech at Tuskegee, said; We visitors from the north arc here upon the quarter centenary of this remarkable educa- ticnal institution for the coOred peo- rle, not because We are more deeply interested in that race than our own white race in the south, but because We feel that the problem is one that vitally concerns our own race. When the southern problem Is taousht or spoken Of, it is not the eolored people alone nor is it chiefly that branch that arouses our solici. tnAe Those of our race interest and concern us. The poor whites of our own blood, equally with the poor Lacks, demand our attention.
 The past does not prove this to be the case of the people of the north. but we hope the future will draw the attention of such men as Carnegie te lend a hand to the unfortunate whites C the baclxWoods of the south, It is true MT. Carnegie has given the south seventy-one public libraries, distribut- ed among eleven states, which is goo9 and useful gift that the people appreciate very much indeed The seuth has produced in t1Sf and present some learned &i ltesman of stainless character withc:t' these li- hraries, but the time will c"lne when she will cease to furnish such states men if this cloud of iliteracy is al lowed to take it's course with no in terrurtion. Not for mo"rnt do think that the south will ever cease to have men of brains and character, but these men are elected by the people and if the people are ignorant tley will vote accordingly,
 At this advanced age of ".o"ress and revised industrial GeV foment we have a gentle remindc" hf thls condition in some of the so"thern states. Congressman 1Ci' HIS pL Kentucky had thrown in his face ln congress that the illiteracT in HIS district was over seventrrN per cent. Statistics show us t1H great wave of prosperity that Is sweeping the south and our duty is to Keep this wave&of prosperity from ''"ating alyor nf illitaTs' con- tained in the backwoods of the south ern states
 believe the time is here to divide the school tax If not, why not? The cry of scarcity of labor IS heard throughout the cotton section, farm lands uncultivated for want of labor. Why so? Where has the labor of the years past gone? Have they migrated to the cities to become vagrantS while their children attend school: This is the case to a great extent. Some few negroes who have been farmers are following public works, but very few. You read of the greater number of southern cities De- ing overrun with an idle class of ne- groes Of course we know that some preachers say segregation of the school tax would be unjust, but 1t oc' CUTS to me as conditions now exist the injustice is and has been done to their own race, who have grown up to illiterate manhood. Yes, sir. divide the school tax and give the whites of the backwoods and the rural dis t1icts equal rights with those of the cities. In the majority of the rural districts they have only three months schooling year. We want and need longer terms and better schools in all the rural districts, but of course the backwoods are in greater need. "Edu- cation is the development of that u,h;ch ;c., tho material is there