The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1921-07-19

are born equal. This being true, ed
ucation became prime consideration
Strange to say, however, the fedora
government did not see fit to super
wise the education of the people o1
1.-THE commonwealth. 1t delegated the
Estates to supervise this work and the
states in turn passed the work on tc
1.-THE shoulders of the counties consti
tuting the states. On these countie;
this duty has rested ever since. Khe
result in South Carolina naturally ha;
been that the state stands lowest II
| the union with regard to literacy.'
cit is possible" said Mr.. Rhett, "that
the presence of negroes in the South
has retarded this section in its educa,
tional progress to some extent. This
particularly may be the cause in
South Carolina. We have been
afraid to educate the negro and this,
the speaker. declared, "has been q
great mistake This statement was
accorded warm applause from the au-
dience.
Mr.. Rhett urged that the people
not allow education to halt because
of the presence of negroes in the
South. The prime concern now should
be, he said, the investigation of con-
ditions obtaining in the schools of the
state and the prompt application of
remedial measures. Mr.. Rhett then
introduced Dr.. Henry Nelson Snyder,
president of Wofferd college, who
paid eloquent tribute to the person
mel ,of the gathering at the confer
.ehce. ,>,t = 5;.-
Duty of Self-Respect
DR.. Snyder declared he was par
ticularly gratifed to note that there
were present men and women who are
not officially identified with educa-
itional work in this state. In the last
analysis. declared DIR. Snyder, it is
the people, the patrons of the schools,
who make the education of the state.
eve want to be self-respecting in
South Carolina" asserted the speak
er, "tand in order to be so we must
busy ourselves Immediately with our
educational system"
Governor Cooper was then intro
duced and accorded a warm welcome.
The governor expressed the belief
that what South Carolina needs now
is a systematic enlightenment. First,
the people must be furnished authen-
tic information concerning the faults
and the needs of the present system
of educating the boys and girls of
the present generation. After the
people grasp the significance of this
they must be told what
the system needs in order to bring
about the results so indispensable in
a state that wishes to take rank with
its sister htates. Gin this state, for
instance" the governor pointed out,
1--WE do not know what it costs to ed
ucate a child We have no official,
authentic figures upon which to base
our calculations. Ono the contrary,
California knows the per capita cost
of providing child in that state with
an education. When new school is
desired in community in California,
officials know just what it will cost TO
ope :ate the new school when they are
provided with the facts concerning
the number of children who will pa
tronize the proposed institution.
Worth the Candle
The governor declared that he does
not know how much it will cost to
bring the South Carolina educational
system upto the desired standard, but
he does know that it will be worth
the cost. "The one thing that will
pay enormous dividens in this state is
an educational system that will meet
the needs of the state as they arise.
Let's have adequate taxation, and
prosperity must surely follow"
Dr.. George F. Zook, specialist in
higher education, with the United
States bureau of education at Wash
ington, delivered an informative ad-
dress on the subject of educational
surveys. Each state, of course. must
decided whether it needs an educa-
tional survey and then bring the sur
vey about through it's own efforts, he
said Surveys of this kind are COM
paratively new in this country, DR..
Zook stated, having first come into
prominentce some ten or Is years
ago. The United States bureau of
education has felt that one of the best
ways in which education can be in