The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1906-01-05

stood that / 40 not mean il Is the duty
or the hope OF the state to give every
boy and girl a technical education or
q course NJ college. That is practical
ly impossible. We have colleges and
universities which the State must main
tain, n maintain properly. but the
nrst, the paramount duty of The state,
is to provide means for giving instruc-
lions, at least in the rudimentary
branches. to those children whose pc
culiar environment and ~impecuniOas
condition render it impossible for them
to get IL any other a II the State
will place at the door of all of her chill
dren an opportunity to obtain even q
common school education, snch rs is
given in the best graded public schools,
she will have done wen. l wan to
impress this truth as l see 1t: That
IL is of much more Importance to start
the child on the road to an education
to lay the foundation in a well-directed
common schOol-than it is to finish 1t
in a ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS university
or college. IL the foundation be prop
erly laid, and theresis any merit in the
child, ii VIII complete the superstrue-
tpre without governmental aid. 1t
should be the policy of the State to do
for the citizen only that which the
citizen cannot do for himself. The best
type of man Is the ~self-developed man.
| am deeply interested in the beginning.
Like the acorn shaken from the twig
by the passing breeze it falls into the
dust below, III while IL contains with
in its little shell the germ of the great
oak, II remains an acorn still, until the
rain falls and moistens the earth, the
life-giving rays of the sun pierce its
mold, and, bursting open the door OF its
prison cell, the stimulating air fans its
folded leaves to life, 1t rears its infant
head to the light and sends forth fits
ramifying roots to gather material with
which to build the giant OF the forest.
A few ear of cultivation and direction
and 1t will care for itself. SO 1t Is
with the sturdy boys and girls of the
rural districts of Mississippi. They
need only the sunlight of an opportu-
nifty to awaken the sleeping genius,
one draught from the Pierian spring
Will create q thirst for knowledge that
Will remove mountains of obstacles to
crafty it. But without that oppor-
tunity, without the wnetted thirst for
knowledge, the glorious possibilities of
that mind would never be developed.
How many a rustic Milton has passed
by,
Sitting the speechless longings of his
heart
In unre,nl,ting drudEery and care!
How many a vulgar Cato has compelled
His energies, no longer tameless then,
To mold a pin or fabriCate a nail!
How many a Newton to whose passive
ken
Those ll4ghty spheres that gem inhnity
Were only spcClis Of tinsel fixed in
heaven
To light the midnight of his native
town"
all because of the want OF opportunity
the necessary climate to terminate
the seeds of genius which had fallen in
the sterile dust of adversely. res, my
fellow citizens, the first duty of the
state is to provide schools, improved
facilities for the instruction Of the
masses in the rudiments of an eduCa-
ton, especially those of her citizens
who live in the country districts. The
that can be done, until the children Iiy-
las away IRON me towns u cues IA
the backwoOds are given the same OPP
tun 70 acquire a common sclg9l
education that Is enjoyed by the chill
dren resident in the city. let US not os-
tablish any more Institutions for high
er education than those we already
have. Thus far what l ave aid on
the subject of education has been with
reference solely to the white children.
What shall we do with the negro? Ger
'tainly the education suited to the white
child does not suit the negro. This has
been demonstrated by forty years of
experience, and the expenditure in the
southern states of nearly three hundred
millions of dollars. 1t was natural and
quite reasonable, Immediately after the
civil war, especially by those who had
made but a superficial study of the ne
gro, to expect that freedom, equal cdu-
C]ational facilities and the example and
precept of the white men, would have
thc effect of improving his morals and
make a better man of him generally.
But 1t has not, | am sorry to say. AS
a race he is deteriorating morally every
day. Time has demonstrated that he Is
more criminal as a free man than as
a slave, that he is increasing In crimi-
nality with fearful rapidity, being one
third more criminal in 1890 than he
was in 1880. The startling facts re-
vealed by the census show that those
who can read and write are more Crimi-
nal than the illiterate, which is true Of
no other element of our population. |
am advised that the minimum of illito-
racy among the negroes is found in
New England, where it is 2l,7 per cent,
the maximum is found in the black
belt-LOuisiana, Mississippi and South
CarOlina-there 1t is G5.7 per cent, And
yet the negro in New England is four
and one-half times more criminal, hun
dred for hundred, than he is in the
black belt. In the South, Mississippi
particularly, | know he Is growing
worse every year. You can scarcely
pick up n newspaper whose pages are
not ~blackened with an account Of an
unmentiOnable crime committed by a
negro brute, and this crime | want to
imnreSs upon YOU, Is but the manifesto
tion of the negroS aspiration for social
ttIillIN, tIltOUIlptI IhGBtly bS inc
character of free education in vogue,
which the state is levying tribute unon
the white people to maintain. The
better class Of negroes are not respOn-
sible for this terrible condition, or for
the criminal tendency Of their race.
Nor do T wish to be understood as cen
surfing them for it. I am not censnrinr
ANYBODY, nor am I inspired by ill-will
for the negro, but ! am simply calling
attention to a most unfortunate and
uncomfortable condition of affairsJ
Taxation.
There is no question in which the
people are so universally interested as
the question of taxation. 1t is the one
thing which affects every class of the
people. Placing the burdens OF gov
eminent upon all men and forms Of
property alike in the proportion that
they are able to bea it, it is the great
desideratum In government. Money,
notes and similar forms Of property
should be taxed and made to bear It's
part of the expense of maintaining the
government. Railroads, the great
manufacturing enterprises, telephone
and telegraph lines and similar forms
of property, should be taxed upon their
real values and worth in the market,
Just as the farmers home Is taxed.
/ commend for your consideration the
enactment of laws bringing about that
result.
Public Health and Quarantine.
The invasion of the State by yellow
fever last summer and the probable re-
currenCc of the disease next summer
renders it necessary for tn protection
of the people from this dread maIady
that the Legislature should make some
changes in existing avs and ample
provision for the possible emergency.
L submit for your consideration the fol-
lowing suggestions:
First-Invest the State Board Of
JJnalth ar gnp1a similar p1pigatI tim