Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1914-11-14
Lieut.. Gov. Edward j. McDer.
mott Commends New
Campaign.
Points Out the Great Incentive
For woman's Forward
Movement.
APPEAL TO OUR SYMPATHY

IearneSt campaign against adult
lilliteracy, which has the full and
merited support of every class and
creed. The movement will be
launched in Louisville next Tuesday
evening in connection with which
Lieut.. Gov. McDermott has written
the following:
No one can doubt that an illiterate
man or woman Is at a great disad-
vantage in life and has not the full
possible value to the city or State.
To remove such a handicap by our
efforts is an act of charity and a
duty we owe to our neighbor and to
ourselves. The want of primary
education makes the earning of a
living harder, makes life less agree
able and satisfactory, and to some
extent unfits a man for the proper
performance of his public duties in
this day. The illiterate man, not be-
ing fully qualified as a voter or a
| Juror, is a handicap to his better
qualified neighbor and to the COM
munity. An ignorant man in one
county may nullify the vote of the
most intelligent man in his own
county or in some other county, and
by reason of his limitations may be
partly responsible for an unjust ver-
dict in court. Even in war an edu-
Gated man has more value than an
illiterate. Occasional exceptions do
not change the rule, and while we
| admit that some enthusiasts expect
too much of mere schooling, it is
nevertheless too clear for argument
that illiteracy is a disadvantage that
we must strive by all reasonable
means to remove.
The census of 1910 showed that
| in the United States there were five
and a half millions of people who
could not read or write. OF these
5S per cent. were whites, 28 per cent.
of them being native born and 80
per cent. being foreign born. About
40 per cent. of the total number
were negroes and per cent. were
Indians, Chinese, etc. OF those liv-
ing in villages, towns and cities, less
than per cent. were whites, and
more than 17h per cent. were
negroes. Four out of five of the
illiterates were over twenty years
old. OF the white voters S.4 per
cent. were illiterate; about half of
the number were native born. OF
the negro voters, 1877 per cent. were
illiterate. In Kentucky there were
87,516 illiterate men, of whom
60,147 were white natives: 1882
were foreign born whites and 25,958
negroes. In Louisville SO per cent.
of the voters were illiterate, Ia be-
ing native whites, less than 1 per
cent being foreign born, and 20.3
per cent. being negroes.
The generous efforts of the people
of Kentucky in late years have
greatly reduced the number of illit-
crate children, but there are still
many illiterate adults who had not
the advantage of education in child
hood or youth, and who can still be
taught the elementary branches.
That has been well proven by the
successful work of Mrs. Cora Wilson
Stewart in Rowan county, and by
teachers elsewhere. In fact, IL is as
tonishing to see how quickly men and
women in middle age, or even in old
age, have learned to read and write
and to learn simple arithmetic and
to acquire the rudiments in other
essential elements of knowledge. The
zeal with which many old men and
women have studied in the night
schools in the villages and in the
country, and the speed with which
they have advanced, must surprise
Everybody that has heard the story.
Such people make a strong appeal
to our sympathy. To enable them to
read and write and TO make their
own calculations in their business
affairs is to open their minds, to let
in new light, to furnish a new source
| of instruction and entertainment, to
make youth and middle age more
successful. and to make old age less
monotonous and more cheerful. IL
literacy makes men more exposed
than others to fraud, and hence
makes them more suspicious of 9TH
ers In their dealings. To be unable
to write to our loved ones, or to be
unable to read in private the letters
of business or the tender words OF
affection that come from kindred and
friends is no slight impedlment In
life. II We can, by any reasonable
effort. relieve our less fortunate
neighbors OF these privations and
discouragements, of these stumbling
blocks in their pathway. we should
do II with pleasure. The need of
education OF the right kind is greater
now than In former years. The
struggle for existence is harder. The
need OF innocent diversion. which
good books supply. is greater. be-
cause the temptations to designations
also are greater. So long as the
taxes on the thrifty are not made ex-
cessive. and SO long as public money
Is honestly and judiciously expended,
we can find unalIoyed satisfaction In
adding to the power. usefulness and
content OF those who need and want
the blessing Of knowledge and mental
development.