The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-08-19

his late tour of the Southern Ameri- can states and the West Indies, MT. Rrvan hastened to Washington, and, by previous appointment, appeared before the uouse committee of insular affairs. He went in behalf of the Porto Ricans to "voice his support of two bills, one or which provides an appropriation or sS'o,- GOO for the eradication of the hookworm
 in the islands, and the other to estao-
 fish a pan-American college there MT. Bryan then contributed a eulogy to the deyelopment of Porto Rico under Amer ican occupation. When we went .ne,e'
 he said. ''there were only 20,00O children
 in school. now there are 100000. l know of no place where there has been such an increase unless 1t is in the Philip nine islands And yet" added MT. bry- an "Only one-half the Porto Rican chill dren are in school. Both schoois ana roads are heavy burdens to Porto RICO, although we have built them 600 or ~o miles of roads. -
 If is a pity that MT. Bryan did not po before the committee on education and tell a little about the lack or edu- cational opportunities in the states where he has been getting his big ma1oritles.
 Not a state in the south that gave him a ma aiority of its electoral votes Tn the late election has made the progress Tn eau cational development that Porto Rico mas made. and in those sections Of the south where he has gotten his big ma1oritfes not half the children have been in school since their country was occupied by inc | "peerless leader and their fathers en- slaved by his lieutenants. Did anyoooy ever hear of MT Bryan pleading for good
 schools and good roads in the country that has been so loyal to him? NO people under Gods sun have served so ialthiuiIy and so long, and none has labored so
 faithfully and so long, and none has labored so diligently as the people or the south; and neither in gratitude or material support has any people receiveo as little in return During the 10 years last past, according to the official re- ports. federal and state. the per cent or school attendance in Alabama has de- creased 20 per cent, while during the
 same period it has, according to official statistics, verified by MT. Bryan, increased
 300 per cent in Porto Rico. Is there a man or woman .n Alabama who IS proud of this showing? A friend in Alabama whose opinions greatly respect because they are always conscientious and generally correct, has protested against the conclusions I ex- nressed in a former article. The ground of his objection is that the southern peo- nle have a long established prejudice against public schools, consequently, my conclusions being based on the statistics of the public schools, should not be treat ed as fair index oi the educational opportunities of the state l know that such prejudice did exist. Many years ago. when I undertook to establish | public school in one of the most cul- tured communities in the state I found | 1t a most difficult undertaking. mum. | her of influential citizens held public meeting and protested against the under taking. But the school was built and public schools are not unpopular In that community today.
 think the prejudice has passed away but if it still exists it is immaterial ir | this discussion, simply because there are very few private schools for the elemen- | tary branches in Alabama, or if there | be any they are not patronized. have | gone pretty carefully into this phase ol | the question and I find that my friend is in error The pupils in the private
 schools of Alabama is negligibly small 1 less than 6 per cent. In 1900 the number of pupils enrolled in the private schools
 of Alabama was 26722 and only 11.164 fir l 19oe. of which about one-half were ne rgroes. And, by comparison. 1t may be interesting to note that Minnesota hat | 20. ora and Nebraska 5000 in private schools
 in 19OS And in the secondary schools | of the common school system the percent | tage of school population in attendance
 is steadily increasing, while it is rapidi,
 decreasing in the private high schools | Financial Features
 The statistics on the financial fea.
 lures of the situation present the mos
 alarming and humiliating phase of ths
 question. as shown by the followins
 comparative tables. giving the tota amount expended for schools:
 Alabama: 1880. $500,00O; 1890. $8s0,
 900; 1900, s923,464: 1908, $2,620,S35.
 Minnesota: 1880. $1.32S,429; 1890, $4, 1S7,310; 1900. $5,630,013; 1908, $11,495,
 616.
 Nebraska: 1880, s1.1os,s1s; 1890, s3.