The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-08-26

illiteracy in fact, there are no Hitter ates above the school age. Education Is maihtaned at a high level in Norway and Sweden and practically all the inhabi- tants of school age and over can read and write" Whether we consider the question from a sociological or economic point of view, no country furnishes a more impressive illustration of the wholesome benefits of education than the German empire It has the lowest crim- ina1 record of any country in the world. A little more than 100 years ago, in the time of Frederick the Great and for two or three decades after his death, several states and petty principalties, which are now part of the German empire, were populated by ignorant, stupid and thrift less serfs. Not only in Silesia, but in other provinces of Prussia, the serfs were driven into the field like cattle and made to till the land at the point of the bay onet Today Germany Is not only one of the great powers of the world, but it is the greatest in many things. In growth of industries and expansion of commerce it leads the world. In advancement ot science and mechanics it Is second to no country, and In the solution of modern economic problems, municipal govern
 ment, sanitation and hygiene 1t is teach ing the world.
 It's people have come to this country and they have gone to the South Ameri- can countries, Africa and the Orient, and wherever they have gone they have been constructive; they have built well and they have accumulated rapidly; they have cultivated ideals and they have been important factors in governmental af- fairs in all parts of the world. These things have not come to the Germans from the natural wealth that God gave them for He showered no special bless ings upon them; nor has 1t come from conquest great as has ben the prowess of their military chieftains. Brain and muscle have made Germany but neither has remained in a crude states. The schoolhouse has been the Aladdins lamp for Germany In elementary and higher education Germany leads the world and her people are rapidly getting possession of the world Anybody who has trav- eled in the states where the Germans, Swedes and other educated Europeans have settled could not fail to notice the thrift and steady advancement to posi- tions of influence of these people. Any body who has closely studied conditions in the south during the last five years could not fail to notice the rapid de- cline of the poor, illiterate whites. And many of the poor, illiterate whites in the south today are children of men and women of high social position two genera tions ago One of the deplorable results of the distressing situation of which have been speaking Is the steady ad- vancement of the negro women in domes- tic positions sought by poor white wom- en who were trying to get away from the drudgery and hazardous environments of the corn patch and cotton field. In many southern homes negro women who have had industrial training at school, or have learned by suggestion and example in the homes of white people, are supplant- ing the white women who are untidy and have no training in cooking or sewing. It
 is not to be depored that the negro wom- en are advancing; it is better for them, DetIer- TOT SOClely dIlu government tiidt all men and women be educated and trained in some calling, but it is more than de- plorable, it is pitiable, that the poor white women should be pushed back because they have been denied the opportunity of education or training.
 Not long ago in one of the large hotels in the south I noticed that white women and negro women were employed. l made inquiry of the housekeeper and she said: we use the colored girls on the parlor floor and for the high-priced rooms. They are more tidy and have better taste; the white girls are kept upstairs" l made some inquiries about the accommodations for eating and sleeping, but I refrain re- beating what I heard.
 And who are the poor whites of the south? Whence came they and who were tEeir fathers? I shall tell you Their fathers were the gentry who settled the old Virginia colony, the Huguenots and Scotch Irish of the Carolinas, and the brave and adventurous French and Span ish who followed the Bienvlle brothers to Alabama and Louisiana. They drove the red man away, felle1 the native for ests and titled the virgin soil. They were with Campbell and Shelby at King S mountain and these Virgtnians, Carolinans and Georgians were with Morgan, Pick ems and Mccall at Cowpens, where they annihilated Tareton and his terrible men" and made possible the capture of Cornwallis at Yorktown. They were with Jackson at New Orleans and with him ha Cherokees, the most advanced and cour- ageous of American Indians. Their suc- cessful campaign against the Spaniards and Seminoes in Florida weakened the power of Spain and made possible the ac- quisition of Florida They carried the American colors to the City of Mexico and of their dauntless courage in Texas it was said: '"rhermopylae had her messen- ger of defeat, but the Alamo had none. Many of these people owned no slaves, but when their state called them they an swered as their fathers had answered and they fought as their fathers fought
 With these people the war ended al | Appomattox and they returned to their homes to live in peace and reclaim the land made desolate by war. They have labored and suffered these long years and they know that their thrift added to the patient labor of the pooi negro, has made possible the indus trial awakening of the south. Ant these people know how and by whom they have been plundered and robbed not only of the little they have beer able to earn by the sweat of theil brow, but also of the inalienablt