Milford chronicle., 1925-10-16
MILFORD, FRIDAY, OCT. 16, 1925

be held OF men anu WOllSh " III A
the future welfare of Delaware at
heart. and the result of their dellD-
erations will be important in the
wears to come in our civil govern
ment.
REPRESENTATIVE of social, patriotic
and religious organizations Will
meet at the State Capitol, Dover, to-
day. to consider the best ways and
means of attacking the "Illiteracy
nroblem in Delaware. A call issued
bv the State Department of Public
Instruction this week is receiving
serious consideration by the organ
izations to whom it is addressed
and a body of earnest men and Wo-
men. ready and eager to throw the
united force of their various organ
izations into the work is confident
" anticipated at the meeting. The
American Legion, the State Feder-
alton of Womens Clubs, the League
Of Women Voters, and a number OF
Datriotic organizations, have already
included "Illiteracy" in their pro-
grams. The State Parent-Teacher
Association, with its 32l actlVe
branches in the open country has
pledged itself to "a Reduction IN
Illiteracy" as its main project tor
the wear. The budget adopted by
the last session of the General AS
sembly included an appropriation OF
$4,000 a year, to be used for AM
ericanization and education OF ma
tive born illiterates." AS result OF
this recognition of the States obll-
cation towards its native born Hit
crates. the State Department OF Ed
ucation Immediately appointed Miss
Marguerite H. Burnett, State Super
visor of Adult Education, and set to
work upon statewide program
Delaware, according to the U. ).
Census for 1920, has 1O,5OS citizens
over ten years of age unable to even
write their names. About third OF
the entire number is foreign born
and a third of the remainder, native
born white citizens. Work among
the foreign born has been progress
ing upon a well established basis
since 1918. Indeed the practical and
thorough nature of the course IN
delaware night schools is quoted
throughout the nation. The STATE
heretofore, however, has made no
ATTEMPT to carry opportunity to the
thousands of native born men ana
women. who because of various mis-
fortunes, failed to learn to read and
write in their younger days. A num-
her of the Southern states have
proved beyond a doubt that these
people are willing to take advantage
of an opportunity when one is pre-
scented to them. They can learn even
though they have for years been
mature men and women.
The Parent-Te ASSOCIATIONS
the state have been busy
during the summer months collect
ing the names and addresses OF IN
dividuals who fall within this class
of citizenship. These reports sho"
that the problem is one which calls
for the assistance Of individual cltl-
zens and volunteer organizations
The illiterates are not found IN
groups within a restricted area, ike
the foreign born in Wilmington.
They are scattered rather over
farms and in remote villages, often
times under conditions which make
The teaching of them in schools I'M
possible. The part that each element
in the states population will have to
contribute to the solution OF the
problem will be the subject OF to-
days conference.
A description Of the Worldwide
attack on illiteracy, what has been
done to relieve the situation in Della
ware, and a discussion of what re-
mains to be done, will be the themes
Of the speakers at the conference
Among the number will be DR.. H. V.
Holloway, Mr.. Everett C. Johnson
DR.. R. W. Cooper, Miss Marguerite
q. Burnett and Miss Eta ]. Will
son.
De@
THE NET RETURN of farmers
for the year 1924-25 is placed at
s2,712, 100000 by the Department OF
Agriculture, compared with 1,992'-
BOO 1000 for the previous year, net
cash increase of $72O,OOO,OOO. The
survey included all kinds Of classes
If farms.
Nearly $75O,OOO,OOO added to the
ncome Of a single class of Ameri-
ans means much in increased pur-
,hasing power and this reflects bet
er times in many other lines of
Industry and trade. When the far
ner has funds with which to pur-
.base. factories far removed from
he farming regions become busy,
nd wages go into the pockets of
ity workers who otherwise might