The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-13
STRIPLIN TALKS
 ABOUT HIS WORK
CONDUCTING WHIRLWlND CAM PAlGN FOR EDUCATION IN THE sTATE-WoULD ADVANCE ALA BAMA TO FRONT RANK.

Montgomery, August 12-(Special.)-w E. Striplin, who is conducting a whirl- wind campaign for Alabama's children, is urging interest on the part of the peo- pie in the movement. He has given out the following interview in promotion of the movement:
 T believe that Alabama, the state at the head, alphabetically, and the one that leads all the rest in natural resources and the one that has furnished men and women of whom we are all proud, should determine to advance Intellectually until she at least stands near the front.
 ''We have made rapid strides educa- tionally, but there are a few important school programmes that remain unsolved. The chief one, and with this one solved, the others will be easy, is to secure to the community the right of local taxation for school purposes.
 Do you not agree that a free people, justly proud people, ought to have the right to say by their votes whether a tax shall be placed on their own property to secure for their children schools equal to the best?
 "Do you not consider it unfair and un- just to our own children for the consti- tuition to say to a community that wants to levy district tax for school purposes: "You cannot"-and especially since ours is the only state that thus restricts community rights and effort?
 Do we show our appreciation of our rich heritage of the past by standing in our tracks and allowing other states to outrank us in intelligence?
 Tn proportion to schooling comes the increase in earning capacity, and no peo- pie will become rich until the schools for all the people are run long enough each year to enable the children of the rich and poor alike to get that amount of ed- ucation that will place them on high plane as wealth producers.
 'The states where the people have the largest earning capacity are the ones where local taxation for school purposes is allowed and used. The people in Mas sachusetts have long enjoyed this priv ilege of local control in school taxation, and today the average daily wage is higher than in any other state-about 90 cents. Compare with ours, which cannot at the highest go above 40 cents.
 ."If by spending few millions more each year we can raise the earning ca- pacity of every person in our state 50 cents a day, can you not see that with such happy results accomplished we would soon stand at the head in every way7
 ''I want to say in emphatic terms that we are too poor not to educate our chil- dren. We must shake off the shackles of selfishness and greed that have caused us to be slow in allowing local taxation for school purposes and not allow an- other legislatul to pass without having an amendment submitted that will unite the hands of progress and cause us to move forward with gigantic strides until all the children, both country and city, have educational opportunity that will place us In the front rank of intelligence and wealth producing ability.
 Does 1t not seem fair to let a commun- ity that wants to have better schools do so? Is 1t right to deprive an energetic, progressive people, of one of the most im- portant rights, to bind their enthusiasm toward better things by saying, You cannot improve your plants for educa- tional betterment?' Would it not be bet ter to remove this obstacle and thus en- courage community aggressiveness?
 '.It would force no one, but only allow those that wanted to to take an advanced step that would strengthen them and help the whole state.
 'sTo this end the Alabama educational committee is waging an educational cam paign. Speaking will go on over the state from August 22 to September 4. All peo- pie are urged to take deep interest in this movement and help it along in every way possible.
 Let the following notices of the whirl- wind campaign for Alabama's children be taken up and made the battle cry until we secure for every child in our grand old state the advantages of long term school every year, until he is pre- pared for the duties of intelligent citizen- ship:
 "l. Education makes wealth.
 .'2 No freedom without education.
 "8. Give the boys and girls of Ala bama a better chance.
 A Make Alabama's schools the best and she will lead in everything.
 "5 District taxation for school pur- poses is allowed by every state except our own.
 ''6 No free people should be deprived of the privilege to vote tax on their own property to make their schools bet ter.
 .7. The right of local self-government Is an inalienable right. School districts are deprived of it."