The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1919-01-25

| in charge of our educational work.
Now, gentlemen, I promised you in the
outset that I would deal with you IN
perfect candor. II you adopt my rec
concentrations as to eur educational
program it means the expenditure OF
more money for. the education Of the
youth Of our State than has been
I heretofore expended. We can not
hope to have the best talent in our
schools with the present scale, of sal
i:aries for school officers, and the pres
Tent standard Of pay~for teachers. The
question may be asked, can we afford
/ to make the necessary investment in
our educational institutions? I use
tine word investment" advisedly, be-
cause money properly expended in the
development Of an educational sys-
ITEM suited to our needs will prove a
splendid investment
The South Carolina Council of De-
fense recently issued a pamphlet
which should be read by every tax
payer in South Carolina. It's title is
E"Does it Pay?" From this pamphlet
II quote the following:
! You prosper just in proportion t.
sthe prosperity of the average man
with whom you are brought into bus
|; mess contact. If the masses of the
ipeople are poor and ignorant, every
every interest, every in
:dustry in the community will feel and
register the pulling down power of
their backwardness as inevitably as
t1,o ~ nfo ;c
ture of the air. The merchant will
have poorer trade, the doctor and
lawyer smaller fees, the railroad di-
n1inished traffic, the banks smaller
deposits, the preacher and teacher
smaller salaries, and so on. Every
man who through ignorance, lack of
training, or by reason of any other
ing only half as much as he ought, by
his inefhciency is making everybody
else in the community poorer
An educational system that is in
adequate is burdensome to the tax
payer, because he gets poor return
for the money expended, but an ad-
equate provision is the best invest
ment the State or individual can
make. In considering this part of our
work, I most earnestly urge upon you
provision for teaching agriculture,
home economics, vocational and in
dustrial training. etc., as a part Of
our school work. In other words. our
education should prepare our children
to do best the thing they must do. A
great deal has been said recently
about illiteracy in our State The
statement has been made, and we
can not deny it, that South Carolina
in the percentage Of illiteracy stands
near the bottom of the list Of all the
States. Surely no South Carolinian
with pride in the past history and
the traditions Of his State. and with
a proper appreciation Of the oppor-
tunitieS and promises Of the future
can be satisfied with this state Of af-
fairs. We have established an litter
acy commission and I urge upon YOU
a proper support of its work. Let us
resolve here and now that we will
make war on illiteracy and ignor-
ancc until their forces have been COM
pletely defeated. and the state OF !
South Carolina shall take her place IN
the front rank of the States OF the
Union. The governor of North Car
olina is reported to have said on one
occasion. II thank Cod for South
Carolina, because she keeps North
Carolina from being at the foot o1
all the States in illiteracy." Should .
the governor Of the Old North state /
refer to this matter again may he be :
able to say. Il thank God for South
Carolina, because in the support OF |
educational institutions, and in the !