New Britain herald., 1917-07-06
NEGRO PROBLEM IS SECOND ONLY TO WAR
No Other Race Offers Such Large
 Field for Study
Especial to the Herald).

al unity and solidarity the problem
 of the hour. special interest attaches
 to the comprehensive report on ne
 gro education. just issued by the de-
 partment of the Interior through the
 bureau of education In this report the economic and educational prob ylems of the negroes in the United ! States are presented as a back
 ground for a detailed study of more
 than 700 colored schools, and the
 problem of education for the negroes
 is shown as affecting the entire coun-
 try, north and south.
 The report on negro education was
 prepared after four years of E"st hand
 study, made by Dr. Thomas Jesse
 Jones, and a corps of assistants in
 various fields of education, working> under the direction of Dr. P. P ClaX-
 ton, United States commissioner of
 education. The study was made pos
 sible through the cooperation of the Phelps-Stokes Fund of New York,
 with the. bureau of education
 The first volume of the report dis
 cusses features of general educational
 progress, with special reference to
 the negro, and includes such topics as. public facilities for negro educa- tion, industrial education, agricul- 'tural and rural education, secondary education for negroes college and professional education, buildings and grounds, finances and history of ne- gro education. Volume II comprises descriptions of the more than TOO schools visited by the bureaus agents, arranged by states and counties. It ic ha1i ba+ ba oi1- en in connection with each of these schools will be of genuine assistance to the large number of individuals and organizations that contribute money for negro schools, making it possible to discriminate between wor thy and unworthy schools.
 Biggest Problem in U. S.
 In his report pr. Jones says:
 "No racial group in the United States offers so many problems of economic and social adjustment as the 10.O0O,0OO negroes. Negroes form almost a third of the total popula- tion of the southern states. In Mis- sissippi and South Carolina. they con- stitute over half the population; and In the black belt counties, the pro- portion ranges from 50 to 90 per cent. The significance of such a concentra- tion is difficult to explain to those not familiar With communities com posed of people who differ widely not only in economic and educational status but also in ethnic type
 "In the 50 years since freedom was decreed, negro illiteracy has de- creased from over 90 per cent. to 30 per cent; nearly 100000 colored men are now farmers of varying de- grees of independence; a quarter of million own their own farms and the total acreage of land owned by negroes aggregates 20.000.OOO acres of fertile soil These facts are indis- putable evidence not only that the colored people are capable of prog ress but also that their white neigh mors have looked with favor upon their struggles and in many instances have actually given substantial aid to their endeavors.
 "As the Negroes are the primary element that give rise to the problem, sQ-are they becoming more and more an Important factor in it's solution Ther contribution includes both an inc,easing financial support and an ever larger proportion of the teach ing force. They contribute not only a goodly share of the taxes for their ! public schools, but also a considerable sum toward the private schools. Fur Zsthermore, the colored people give considerable sums to extend the terms of the public schools. It is probable that their total gifts aggregate $500,- 900 annually over and above their share of the public taxes Next to the, Negroes. the group most concerned in this problem are the 20,50O,0O0 white people of the South. No plan for the improvement of the colored group is well consid- cred that does not contemplate the co-operation of the white group. 1, Though the Northern States are not so immediately concerned in the education of the Negro race as the South the Negroes themselves, the northern point of view and northern philanthropy are just as essential to the proper solution of the veXed prob 1 lem as the other two elements. The . total annual contribution of the North | for the current expenses of the pri- vate schools aggregates S2,50O 900. Of this fully million and a half is given by the white churches for their
 denominational schools and another t$1, 900, 900 is contributed by individual
 donors and churches for the mainten-
 ance of the independent institutions.
 Property valuations in the private in ,stitutions by northern gifts now amount to s24.000.0 000."
 The conclusions drawn by the re-
 port are in brief as follows:
 CD That there is pressing need for
 Increased public school facilities for Negroes in the South.
 CD That the aid of philanthropy should be continued with the present
 liberality until the South has attained
 te a better economic condition.
 (3) That all education should stress
 first, the development of character,