Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1916-12-22
The Public
Safety Value
EllavilIe, Ca, Dec. goth, 1916.

about illiteracy In Georgia. / will
give facts and they are stubborn things
sometimes.
We have in Georgia 100000 children
between the ages of and IS years,
and of this number 100000 attend
school, In IS counties In Georgia IL
literacy increased in the last five
years. In 81 counties we have more
illiterate white children than negroes.
Georgia is at the foot of the ladder in
illiteracy and we must acknowledge
the fact What is the cause? Let us
see. In Ontario. Canada, they have
100000 children less than we have.
Eight years ago the illiteracy of On
tario was almost as great as 1t is in
Georgia. Today 1t is less than one
per cent. In fact the superintendent
Of schools of Toronto writing to me
said: "Illiteracy is no longer a factor
with us owing to free school books
made possible by the Government pro-
ducing them so cheap"
In Georgia, the cost for each child
up to the 9Th grade is $3.50, while in
Ontario the cost is 1921. Let this
sink into you. Mr. E. L. Bridges swore
before the School Book Investigating
Committee that there was not 8
school in Schley county properly sup
piled with school books owing to the
high cost Of the books.
If five hundred thousand children go
to the Sth grade In Georgia the cost Of
books will be four million four hundred
thousand dollars. The same number
of children will go through the
schools in Ontario for one million one
hundred and five thousand dollars.
This makes a difference of 1926, 900,
or enough to build good school house
in every county in Georgia. This is
not all, the most damnable feature of
it is, that our children are raised uu
in ignorance to keep some pampered
publishing houses In business.
Prof. M. L. Britain has just pub
lished song book for five cents to
take the place of the song book cost
Ing fifty cents furnished by the book
trust Do you know that the song
books used in Sunday Schools only
cost one half as much as school song
books. The plan adopted with such
good results in Ontario could be put
in practice here If we could whip the
book trust. The Minister of Educa-
tion there has the texts prepared by
experts and published by competitive
bids and sold at cost. You can not do
that in Georgia? You ask why? The
answer is the BOOK TRUST.
Think of a child in Americas purch-
asing primer for cents. First
reader 6 cents. Second reader &c
Third reader lac. Fourth reader 16c.
Arithmetic 1Oc. Grammar 1Oc. Copy
book &c. All books at cost of praduc-
ton. In Ontario, illiteracy is less than
one per cent. You will hear the book
i agents swear that the texts are worth
less. II the texts used reduce Hitter
acy, this proves the contrary.
If any one in Americas wishes to ex-
anime the text, binding, etc., Of the
books used in Ontario the Minister Of
Education will have them sent you.
Illiteracy in rs among white chill
dren and 35 per cent among negroes
in Georgia and yet you hear the State
Teachers convention "resoluting" that
they be allowed to buy books in "the
open market" and that look taught
child in the city is not suitable to
teach in the country. You just as we'll
talk of buying gasoline in the open
market and that the brand used to
run Ford is not suitable to run q
Buick.
1t is all important that the proper
texts be placed in our children's hands
especially as to the causes of the war
between the states and other questions