Year: 1879

1


AS the object of these papers is to discus


the means of restoring the prosperity O


Mississippi, there must needs be reference


to education


The duty of the State to educate he


children is now almost universally admitted


The kind and degree only of education are


open for discussion, Undoubtedly wher


the people are poor and the public burden


heavy, the duty of the State is first to afford


IN the common schools, accessible to all,


the elementary education which puts it in


the power of the child to transact the ordi-


nary business of life, and to gain, by his


own exertions, knowledge of the institu-


tions of his country and of the current


history of the times in which he lives.


Whoever has been we'll instructed in read


ing and writing and in the rudiments of
English grammar and arithmetic, possess
the key which unlocks the storehouse of


knowledge. Whoever has failed to acquire


this knowledge must ever remain ignorant


OF all that may not be learned from inter-


course with his associates. 1t is an abso-


lutte duty of tho State to educate thus far.


The next step which State must take in
education is, to furnish the means of tech
nical education; that is, that special educa-
tion which fits the child for the business of
life which he is to follow.


This technical education is almost limit
less in the objects to which it may be ap-
Piled certainly as unbounded as the mani
fold and various occupations in which the
human race is engaged. It is not contend
ed that the State ought to furnish this tech
nical education to this unlimited extent, |
Her resources would be unequal to the task,
and the public good would not be advanced
by it. The State must look at her own
needs-to the occupations which her climate
and soil and other resources indicate as
those on which the public prosperity must
rest. If she has mines, then mineialogy
and metalurgy should be taught If one
Of her main interests is navigation, then
here should be naval schools If manu-
featuring be her chief industry, then the
of all that is necessary for suc-
,essful enterprise in that direction should
20 taught. The chief and almost epcEatsiUe
interest in Mississippi is agriculture. The
State has no seaport, no mines of coal, iron
II copper, and hence can never be great ,
or commercial State. Our
main interest now is and ever will be, ag-
iculture, embracing in the term all pur-
uits which grow something out of the ,
round, or produce something directly from
hat grows out of the earth-as stock rails
lg.


IL agriculture cannot be made prosper- :,
erous there can be no real prosperity in
le State. On it, all their industries, all
ther pursuits, are based, and flourish or !.
acay, as the farmer may prosper Or remain
le victim of adverse fortune.


The first duty of the State, therefore, in :,
technical education is to furnish
Ich as will impart thorough knowledge -,


all that is necessary for successful agri,
llture in its enlarged sense as hereinbe- =.
re defined. "
What should be taught for this purpose, A.
is not within the scope of these papers :
Indicate To determine this is the pro-
nee of those who shall be entrusted with %
Q management of those schools. have Vi
5charged my duty when shall have shown III
3 paramount necessity of this kind of WI
ucation, and pointed out how the children W Il.
the State may receive the benefit of it. Il
AS it Is impossible to teach this technical VI
ucation to any extent now, in the COM D0
IN schools, resort must necessarily be had ,-'
the Agricultural and Mechanical College oo
ely established. The failure of this In iA'
tuition has already been predicted. But -
will not fail. The farmers of the State Oh
} the controlling interest in it, and it is 'p
too much to say that they will see that


Institution organized to advance their tei
crest, and through that the public veal, an
IL not fail for want of the necessary sup ln'
It from the public treasury. The trus- Oh
s of that Institution have already made W
Inown that the Institution is to be opened tn'
al who can furnish the small sum of $50 ioi
ear for their clothing. sue
I is almost certain that, with these in uoi
large number will attend and in'
Give the benefits of the Institution. 1t :
be in the power of every young man in -
State, who desires it, to go to that In
ution and be educated


With the technical education necessary
successful farming, the young men will {
lrn TO their homes in every county in Gus
State, and become, in turn, the teachers De-
those who have not had these advan- to
es idle
/ has been urged against the support of wal
Ieges by taxation that the benefits de- stal
BILE from these Institutions are necessa> and
confined 10 the favored few who have par
means of attending them-that free rial
ion in them is and can be free for those Der
who are pupils in them-that the great not
8 of the people who are forced to con> teaC
ute the money 70 carry them on, are dus