The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-11-28
A Timely Editorial
To Combat Ignorance
From the Kansas City Star.

from the kansas City Star.
 Governor Allen of Kansas-has started movement which is ex- pected to result in legislative pro- gram for the elimination of Hitter acy in the state. The chief danger, as Governor Allen sees 1t, is from the adult illiterate, who is seldom reached by any educational effort and whose members may increase as the states industrial centers grow. The situation is strikingly il- lustrated in the fact that of a total of 22,S21 illiterate persons in Kan sas above the age of 10, approxi- mately 21 900 are men and women of voting age, and these are found mainly in counties containing the largest cities of the state.
 The field in which operations against illiteracy must be under- taken, in Kansas and other states, is pretty definitely outlined. h general, the illiterate is to be found either in the large city or in the remote country district, especially in mountain district. With the exception of the mountaineer class, which Kansas does not possess. the illiterate usually is either the negro or the foreign born person. Of the Kansas illiterates 11,291, or prac- tically one-half, are foreign born, while APPS are negroes.
 In all respects Kansas has been fortunate in the matter of il'jteracy, With few exceptions the state has been without big industrial centers, and both it's foreign born and negro populations have been low. The percentage of illiteracy in the state, according to the last census, was. only 1.6, compared with 2.2 per cent in 1910 and with per cent for the entire country. Kansas thus is to be ranked along with Icwa, which has an illiteracy percentage of only 1.1, and is very far away indeed from Louisiana, with it's ex- treme percentage of 21.9.
 But some important considera- tions should not be overlooked. In the first place, genuine illireracy, in so far as it relates to an inability to perform the duties of citizenship, does not consist simply of ignorance in reading and writing. Meeting the usual qualifications of .iteracv merely by possessing ability to WI te ones narle or to read a newspaper represents shameful inadequacy in education. Furthermore, the census figures as to this form of illiteracy have been shown 10 be un- reliable. The figures are based upon mere answers to questions of census enumerators; and naturally, many individuals would be reluctant to adnnt that they could neither read or write. The fact that nearly 25 per cent of men drafted for nlili- tary service in/ the late war were found illiterate. upon actual tests. is an indication of how serious may be conditions in the United States as whole.
 It is highly significant, however, that a state which undoubtedly ranks low in illiteracy should un- dertake to remove the menace. It stands as a fine example to other states where the problem is far more serious. Remarkable progress has been made in reaching the il- literate with the helpful instruction he needs. The results, obtained in these efforts in the mountains of Kentucky and among both whites and blacks in the rural sections of the south are both an inspiration and encouragement to any state or section which would wage war to +bot f;,,;ch e oo;nS+ trporopr.