Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1917-01-07

brick. curing meats. doing the house
work, washing, ironing. cleaning, dye
ing, making. mending, milking. churn-
ing. canning, icllVing, preserving,
picking and all the rest ever come 10
he called education, then the slaves OF
the old south were educated, but they
were not educated in the accepted
meaning OF that term as understood
by the past and by most people OF
the present
These, then. were the fouc classes
or oastcs OF society in the old south
before the civil war, and the same
Cla ssos are to hc found there at tn,
present time. There have been few
changes, 10 be sure, but not of sur.
ficient Importance 20 make a notable
departure from old customs. After
the war man of the great families
were Impoverished, their estates were
ruined their slaves were set free,
their social system DESTROYED, and as
"A result a more democratic system Of
education has been created. until it
may he said with truth that the old
sol IN IS today making greater edu-
cational improvements than anv other
part of the union. The people have
reached the conclusion that an igno-
rant man is a socia' handicap, n com
murity dag, financial deficit,
while on the othcr hand. tho edu-
Gated men, whether ut the bar, in the
pulpit or on The farm, IS "a social and
financial asset
While this cduca tional awakening
has come and is coming to the south,
the new south. the fact remains that
we have inherited from the old south
a condition, a problem, q menace
which can lie realized when II is
known that In some states there are
i40 or 2110 or 26S or 304 white voters
ont Of every 1000 white voters in
those states who arc illiterates. Think
Of 140 white votes in the old north
state who have to ask help before en-
terinC the voting booth to cast a man
hood ballet That is traeical, bat what
the 30t out of every 1000?
What are the conditions in Okla
homa? Tho writer recently addressed
some club women OF this subject
They had heard OF the illiteracy in the
states of the southeast, they knew of
the 20S,0S4 In Kentucky and of the
greater numbers in other of those
comm onwealths. hut in the language
Of one # them, "But, Doctor Wood,
all of the illiterates are in Kentucky
and the other states back there, are
they not?" I hal to tell her that
there were in oklahoma in 1910
67,5G7 illitorate persons above 10
years of age. "Oh. but Doctor Wood.
thcH are all negroes, of course" She
was told that there were 2S,707 voters
tmore the illiterates, grouped as fol-
lCws: Whites OF voting age 1902;
roProos OF voting age 1896; Indians
of voting age 4,299. OF the whites,
1i,S2A We're natiVe-born people and
2.1SS were foroign-born people, which
means. according to the census, per
sons who were born in a foreign
country or whose parents were so
born The 81 567 persons 10 years
and over who are illiterates make 5.6
per cent of the l,197,a76 persons over
10 wears in Oklahoma, while the ma
tive whites show 33 per cent OF IL
litcrates. the foreign horn 9S per
cent. while the negroes show III per
cent. Among the voters ga are IL
literate. divided into per cent native
whites, 90 foreign whites, and 20.l
rer cent negroes
Tho writer has faith to believe that
the people who make up the worlds
eading public will unite In agitation
for better chances for the illiterates
of eastern oklahoma when they learn
that some OF our counties have the
following number: Tulsa, 1902.
Creek, s4s: Haskell, 1883. Le Flore,
2,2e6, Muskoeee, 2.675; Pittsburg,
3.l76' Sequoyah. ass; Wagner,
1916; Cherokee. l,775; Hughes.
1872: Okfuskee. 1.4ss; Okmulgee,
1902 and Seminole, 1856. About 40
out Of each 100 of the above number
arc voters or were in 1910. II Is ox
pected that a great increase in the
above numbers has, taken place s'n"s
the discovery and development OF the