Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-04-17
SCHOOLS IN GEORGIA
Proposed to Train Children to
Perform LIES Duties.
GOV. SMITHS AMBITION
Desires to Change Ratio Of 1lliteracy
in the South.
WOULD INSTRUCT IN FARMING
Agricultural Educational Train Re-
Gently Sent Among the People.
Good Results Expected.
GOV. SMITHS AMBITION
WOULD INSTRUCT IN FARMING
By WILLIAM e. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence Of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.

Chicago Record Herald.
ATLANTA, Ga. April IL, 1908.
Hoke Smith. formerly Secretary Of the
Interior in the cabinet of President Cleve-
land, is now governor of Georgia. having
been elected last fall by an overwhelnl'
ing majority, in which he carried i.
counties out of 145 In the state against
will understand, the elections are a
farce. Issues are decided and candidates
are chosen at the democratic primaries
which are final because there IS practi-
cally no republican vote. Mr. smith
campaign was made upon denn1te pat
form involving several important state
issues. and he is now endeavoring to car
~ out his pledges to the people When
asked him what he was most anxious
to accomplish during his administration
as governor he replied:
Il desire to signalize my administration
by the improvement Of the educational
facilities of Georgia and by changing the
ratio Of illiteracy in this state. We must
train the boys and girls of Georgia so
that they can meet the responsibilities OF
life; so that they can make the best pos
sible use of the resources God has given
us. so that they can surround themselves
with comforts and secure happiness and
for themselves and their
children. I would have the boys and
girls Of Georgia furnished with every
possible opportunity to make useful men
and women. l do not suppose you know
that nearly every white child of the ten
ant farmers and the factory hands and
the laborers of this state carries in his or
her veins the blood of a revolutionary
hero, and we must not permit those
germs to be smothered by a lack of OPP
portunity. We must do more as state
to make the coming generation happier
and more useful citizens.
Teaching Of Agriculture.
"As agriculture is the chief source of
our prosperity and wealth, We are build
ing up a central agricultural college and
local agricultural colleges in each Of the
eleven congressional districts, especially
for the education of teachers for the
rural schools. 1t is very important that
the children of Georgia should have a
practical knowledge of primary agricul-
ture. and therefore every teacher In the
rural schools should be competent to give
in that line. Agricultural de-
partments will be added to every normal
school in the state. The teachers will be
kept posted in regard to the progress of
agricultural science. and their interest In
that subject will be stimulated by the
distribution of leaflets and pamphlets
from the State College to aid and guide
them in their work. In this way, by be-
ginning with the children and giving them
an elementary knowledge of agriculture
ana an opportunity 10 ledIH HioTe dt Mio
agricultural colleges as they grow Older.
we can revolutfonize our present methods
and increase immensely the reward of Ia
Dor upon the farms of our state.
I'VE have recently sent an agricultural
train through the state for
the information of the farmers, and II has
been a great success. There were four
cars in the train; one was fitted up as an
another for an exposition of
agricultural products and implements.
and the others for the accommodation Of
the staff. which consisted Of President
Soule of our Agricultural College. T. G..
commissioner OF agriculture, and
their assistants. The tour commenced on
the Southern railway and occupied five
weeks, in which II visited ITO different
towns and made 375 stops. reaching about
300 900 people who inspected the exhibits
Of equipment for q model dairy, farm i'm.
Elements and machinery, a spraying out
At for orchards and gardens, samples of
the best field and garden seeds and the
best varieties. of corn adapted for growth
I'm the stale; photographs showing the
work of the State College of Agriculture:
simple, practical courses of study and
reading for farmers, grades and standards
of short and long staple cotton. cotton
seed and its by-products, and an interest
ing collection of other exhibits OF special
value which were explained to the visit
ors by Prof Soule and his assistants i'm a
IL.
ers can apply the knowledge to their
everyday work. We had our schedule
laid out in advance and the approach of
the train was announced in sufficient time
to give the people from the country an
to come in and see the ex-
hibits and hear the lectures. was with
it for five days, and was therefore able to
the educational usefulness of
the enterprise. a
Favors Manual Traini9fr
IT am very anxious, also to see man.
ual training introduced into the schools
of the cities and towns of Georgia SO as
to qualify. young people for trades and
for earning better wages in the factories
throughout the state. Education from
books is not always of the greatest value.
1t should be accompanied by practical
training, having in view the environ
ment and probable future of the child
"Will the enforcement of the prohibit
ton law cut down the revenues of the
schools ?"
II do not think SO. Our tax limit is )
mills. The assessment last year before
my election was 4.s mills and have in
cress ed it two-tenths of mill to the con-
stitutiona1 limit, which will produce
sufficient revenue to meet all the liabili-
ties of the state and increase the appro-
priations for common schools by at least
$250.OO0 The state now raises from di-
rect and indirect taxation. rental of the
state railroad and from the lease of con-
victs approximately four and half mil
lions a year OF this amount about one
million goes for pensions and various
for the old soldiers; four
hundred thousand dollars to charitable
four hundred thousand to in
terest on the public debt: three hundred
and sixty thousand to the counties for
the hire of convicts; three hundred and
forty thousand to the general expenses of
the state. and two millions to the schools.
Need Of the Negroes.
Our schools are doing very we'll Our
system. from the university
down. Is one OF the oldest and one of the
best in the United States. and the high
rate Of illiteracy is due to the uneducated
negroes, who had no schools until after
But we are trying to give
the negro children a practical training
and a sensible view Of life. Any plan for
education which fails to recognize the
difference between the white and black
races will fail. Few negroes have been
helped by learning from books. All have
been helped who have been taught or
made to work A large majority of ne
yroes are incapable of anything but man.
ial labor. and many who have been
taught from books are unwilling to do
manual labor and live in idleness beyond
The procurement of the barest necessities
Of life. The negro child should be taught
how to work and how to live The ne
gro teacher should be selected less from
4 knowledge of books and more by a
character examination. The negro schools
need less books and more practical knowl-
edge of agriculture and the trades. I ia
ror complete change i'm the examina-
ion of teachers for the negro schools. so
hat we shall be sure that they are capa-
Die of teaching their pupils how to earn a
living and how to be honest. industrious