The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-08-19
SKAGGS PRESENTS
 FIGURES ID SHOW
 STATE BACKWARD Deplorable Educational Situa-
 tion as Compared With Other States STATE DEPARTMENT
 HAS PROVED FIASCO Believes That the People of His Native Alabama Should Know the Truth So That They Can Work on the Solution

". H. Skaggs, who was born and reared in Talladega, and now lives in Chicago.
 has written another interesting article to
 The Age-Herald on Alabamas school sys- tenn. MT. Skaggs believes the people of his native state should know the truth
 and should be brought face to face with conditions as compared with other Amer ican states and foreign countries.
 Every line of his article is of interest to the people of Alabama. He writes:
 To the Editor of The Age-Herald: When I was in Birmingham a few weeks ago my attention was called to discussion of educational affairs in Alabama. At that time I happened to have with me documents which I had previously prepared relating to educa- tional questions in the southern states and friend in Birmingham requested me to furnish for publication 8 sum- mary of the facts in my possession. The article published in The Age-Herald was written under the impulse of the mo- ment but 1t contained little more than a plain statement of actual facts about
 which the people of Alabama ought to
 be informed. Anybody who is interested
 and wishes to know the truth could go to
 the official records and verify the state
 ments have submitted. I am at a loss,
 therefore, to understand why my article
 should have stirred up such hornets
 nest It did not occur to me that
 would be called upon to pursue this mat
 ter further, but many letters have come to me from Alabama requesting further
 md Inc me to cooperate with The Age-Herald
 in it's fight for an improvement in edu- cational conditions in Alabama. l have decided to go a little deeper into the matter and present more compreneh- sve view of the question.
 In a discussion of public questions In Alabama reference to the life and work of Thomas Jefferson will hardly be con sidered out of place. In the early his
 tory of this country no publiclst or statesman took a more liberal and com
 prehensiye view of education and none
 worked more earnestly and effectlveiy In this cause than MT. Jefferson. AS the author of the Declaration of lndepend- ence and the Statute for Religious Free
 dom. he laid the foundation for republican institutions, but 1t was little less to the
 credit of his patriotism ana statesman
 shin that he was also the Father Of
 the University of Virginia" In his ar
 duous work for the cause of education, MT. Jefferson, with great foresight, sought
 to secure through the means Of educa- ton. the liberties of the people and the
 nerpetuation of those rights which demo- cratic institutions are supposed to guar antee.
 Among the cherished apothegms of MT. Jefferson we find the following: Know the truth and the truth shall make you freen And it Is said that the putative father of democracy caused this senti- ment to be posted where 1t could be seen by the students of the great uni versity which he founded. This senti-
 ment will be my guide in further dis-
 cussion of the question of education In Alabama.
 Compared With Foreign Countries
 Rv comparison with Russia, Roumania,
 Portugal Venezuela and other backward
 countries of Europe and America, Ala
 bama Is doing very well in the work or
 education; but by comparison with oS per
 cent of the states of this country 1t is
 doing very poorly. For the purpose of
 this paper, shall take for compari-
 son two states of the northwest, Minne-
 sota and Nebraska. neither of which Is
 as rich in natural resources as Alabama.
 These states were uninhabited by white
 people when Alabama was 30 years old
 as a state and far advanced in the po-
 litical and industrial history of this coun-
 try. The present population of Minnesota
 is about the same as Alabama, and Ne
 braska has total population less than
 one-half the total population of Alabama
 and 100000 less than the native white population of Alabama. Minnesota and
 Nebraska are not the most advanced
 states of the northwest, but they are average states. which may be used for A lo ho hn ing tables will illustrate the points of comparison:
 Population
 1880 1890 1900 1908
 Ala. .....1, ,2s2 505 1513,017 1,s2s,6T 2,0S0, ,936 Minn. .. 773 1,S01,s26 1,751,3 2,117,022 Neb. .... 452 404 1O5S, ,910 1,O6S.539 1.069, PA
 From the foregoing figures it will be seen that in 1880 the population of Min
 nesota was little less than two-thirds
 the population of Alabama. Minnesota has steadily gained on Alabama but, as
 shown by the latest available statistics the population of the two states. at this time, is practically the same. In 1880 the population of Nebraska was only little in excess of one-third the population Of Alabama. In the decade from 1880 to 1890 Nebraska gained rapidly but in the next period, 1890 to 1900, it remained almost y still today, having gained only 10000 in population during the IS years last. past. The present population of Nebraska is about one-half the total and less than the total white population of Alabama. What Nebraska has gained in wealth and what | 1t has done for the cause of education furnish interesting statistics for com parison with Alabama. The school enum- eration in these states is shown below: 1900 1908 Alabama .................... o4V,oU oSz 5o2 Minnesota .................. 545.S50 62 404 Nebraska ................... S2b,lU 32l 1853 EnroIIment
 1880. 1890. 1900. 1908 Ala. ....... 179.4 .490 301, ,615 376,4 42S 3S6 AIS Minn ..... 1S0,24S 2S0. 960 339.207 430,74S Neb .......... 92549 240, 300 28S,2 ,227 2S0, ,5S1 l There being no apparent increase in the population of Nebraska from 1900 to 1908. there could be no increase in school enum-
 eration or enrolment, consequently there
 was a small decrease. But these tables.
 reduced to percentage basis. better show
 the relative progress or decline of the 1 several states The comparative per-
 centage of total population enrolled is | as under:
 | 1880. 1S9O 1900 1908
 Alabama .......... .14.22 1893 205s IS .57
 Minnesota ......2 23. .09 21.5s 2279 20. 35
 Nebraska .. 20. 46 22.69 27.03 26. 2i Where there has been no increase or
 only small incDase in population there could be no increase in the percentage of
 enrolment based on total population un-
 less. during the period for which compari-
 son is made. there has been extraordinary 1 provision for the education of a school