A plea for the education of the children of Georgia, December, 1903. Some reasons why the people should ratify the consitutional amendment recently passed by the governor permitting counties that want better schools to levy a light county tax for school purposes

A Plea foi: the EducatiOn
~hildren of.~Geor~ia .
DEC E M .B E R.

Tlae State ,..,_, Prooifl.e cc;,".morr. Sciaoou or Strlile wit/&

Commo11 Clad Co.tlylgrr.~l'ti.~U:e.

'

J.,enoiala.n. Dflmocrac1 l EducofiGn.

z. ~

~ ... ..

lllteUitlellce t/&e Bflt Z..pcy:

.:

RlgAt VillK of Bdu.catloll fa C:idture; Yt Commer

eud&lft demaads lt. .



l '

Does Educatlo11 Poy ?

Trained Mlllda Wlrr. In tlae Cfirr.tnt.

B.1derr.t of tlae 'Teaclaer' dKty lrr. triitti116 Jill Ute Pu~lla

of 1/&e District ln. School.





CoiUlderr.ey, '"Over t/&e Left.,
B.~ttracts fl'(llllll.fPcla 67 Gou. NortAerr..
Bln BdKt:t&tloa Not 11 Charity 6Kt o
Jtult. of CotUoUdotiorr. ofSclaoola.

Batlmt&ted Cot of Lorr.g 7'"'"' Districts.

Tl&e GNot Couaty Pro.lem.

Loc11l TGJtatlorr. .. The ComerSton.e of Flerlda's B.~tul lent Scl&ool System.

LoC4l Tt&-~tatlorr.. '

. "
ISSUED BY THit
EDUCATIONAL
CAMPAIGN COMMITTE

,-------- - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - -- - ----, - - - -- -- -- --- - ------ - - - - - -----,

A Plea for the

'I iI

Education of the

Children of Georgia

DECEMBER

1903

SOME REASONS WHY The people should ratify the Constitutional amendment recently passed by the General Assembly of Georgia and approved by the Governor permitting counties that want better
4
. . . . . schools to levy a light founty tax for school
purposes +
,I
ISSUED BY THE
STATE EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE THROUGH THE GENEROSITY OF THE SOUTHERN EDUCATION BOARD
I-
I
"

Educational Campaign Committee.
WALTER B. HILL, WARREN A. CANDLER, HOKE SMITH, W. B. U\1ERRITT,
W. J. NORTHEN,
U\1. L. DUGGAN.

TO THE PEOPLE OF GEORGIA.

c..At an Educational Conference Held in Atlanta, at Which Gov. joseph M. Terrell Presided, the Undersigned Committee was Appointed to Prepare and Publish the Following Address.

To TH.E PEOPLE OF GEORGIA: IT is self-evident that in a democracy tlTe intelligence of th.:J peo-

ple is a n eces sary condition of good governmen t . For this r eason t h e

State undertakes as a m eans of self-protection the work of public education. Our forefathers accepted and acteJ on these principles. Immediately followi~g th e Declaration of Independence and the institution of a Democratic government, they provided in the first Constitution of the State, that of 1777, for the establis hment of a public school sys tem,. In 1785, speaking through their legislature, t h ey de clared

that th e "prosperity a nd even the existence of the State" can be secured only by r eligion anJ education."

During the 127 ye ars that have .:Jlapsed since our first Constit ution, the r ecord of Georgia in behalf of public education, considered in the ligh t of conditions that have existed, has been honorable; but the

time has now com .:J when a forward movement is imperatively de-

manded by our interest and by our duty. It is not more certain that in past ages Force was dominant than
that in these later times Intelligenc e rul es. In the competition 21mong nations, the m ost int.:Jlligent will have t he mastery; in the competition between sections, the best educated will have pre-eminence; in the competition a mo ng individuals, the man most highly t rained will

be th.:J most s ure of success and the best equipped for usefulness. For these reasons the intelli-6ence and cons cience of the State will be satisfied w ith nothing Jess than a perfected system of public

schools where all the chilJ.ren of th e commonwealth, r egardless of condition in life or circums t ane.:J of fortun e , may have an opportunity for the develo]Yment and th e t raining of the capacities w ith which t h eir Creator has endow e d them:
In comparing the status of public education in Georgia with that of other States in the South, it is pleasant to escape the humiliation of being at the bottom of the list in the matter of illiteracy, a:nd in th-e inadequacy of r esources we have provideJ for what Thomas J e ff erson called the "crusade against ignorance; " but Wil are t oo n e ar the bottom of the list to s ati-S>fy a just and worthy State pride, and it is regrettable (to say nothing of negro illiteracy) to know that the white

illite rates in Ge orgia exce.:Jd the total aggregate white population of

Atlanta, Savannah, and AU6USta combined. In contrasting the status

in Georgia with th.:J expenditures for public education in t he North and

West, the partial self-congratulation of the first comparison disap-

pears in t he trem endous advantage which those States mainta.in.

Elaborate statistics are wearisome, but it is we ll for Georgian:s to ponder the fact s s uggested in a single condensed s tate m ~n,:~i _.;;,:- .,.,,: . - .

;.' \

J'' ~
_\--

Y'.;-t-~:~'.I~-;~:~:

:.~'

'~:e.'~f:'!I.'m_"~:-~:"J.::,,-~.',.t-?f~"-.~-v

. . In scl~ools in Georgia taught by teachers whose average salary 1s only $21.00 per month, we are teaching only 61 per cent. of th e en-

roll ed school population; giving the children in actual attendance lesa

t han six cents' worth of education per day for an average of onlY one

hundred and twelve days in the year. *In the State which gives unost largely to public education, the productive wealth for each inhabi-

tant is $260 per annum. In Georgia it is less than half of this' sum.

How are these conditions to be improved? We believe that the people of Georgia are both patriotic auJ intelligent enough to im-

prove them, if they are free to do so; but they are not fre e. The re-

source for the betterment of our inadequate educational system is in

local taxation supplementing the general State fund ; but the Consti-

tution of 1877 abridges and virtually denies to the people the right of

local taxation. So many restrictions are thrown around the procedure,

so oppressive are the requirements, so unequal are the terms of sub-

mission of the question to the people that their hands are tied. Under

the existing law the recommendations of two Grand Juries must be

obtained, and in the elections it is necessary to the success of the lo-

cal m easure to secure two-thirds . of the qualified voters of the county. The effect of this is to count aga{nst the measure all the absent voters,

all the voters providentially hindered fr om voting, auJ even t hose

who may have removed from the county but whose names appear on

the qualified list. The proposed amendment relieves the procedure of

these oppressive requirements, but it is important to note that the amendment is itself highly conservative in that it requires a two-

at thirds majority of the persons voting in the section. This amendment
will be submitt ed to the people the next genera.! election in October,

1904. We b'eli eve that the people can be trust ed ; most of a ll, they

can be trusted not to tax themselves too heavily. The amendment in

effect merely res t ores to the people the right of local option in taxa-

tion.

In view of ihese plain propositions and the momentous impor-

tance of the public interests involved, the educational conference held

at AUanta as above stated makes, through the committee, the follow-

ing declarations:



1. Wle appeal to the people to adopt the Constitutional amend-

m ent, reclaiming for themselves the right of suppl ementary local taxa-

tion to be exercised in those communiti'es that desire it in accordance

with the demo.cratic principle of home rule.

2. We declare ourselves in favor of advancement in our educa-

tional system,; better training and payment of teachers; expert school

supervision ; longer terms. the consolidation (where practicable) of

weak and scattered schools into strong and more efficient organiza-

tions; the improvement of school houses and grounds.

3. Realizing the strong devotion of the wom en of the State to the

welfare of the child1ren, we appeal to them to organize School Improvement Societies in every county and locality, and to aid by their

inRuence in the a <:complishm ent of t he objects outlined in this address. 4. We invoke the aid of the great agencies, the pulpit and the

l)ress; we r ecommend that th e frienJs of the schools hold educa-

tional rallies in all the counties of the State, a nd we invite tha coOP eration of all good citizens in this effort for the intellectual, indus-

trial, and moral elevation of the citizenf'hip of the future.

"\VATIIER B. HILL,

WARREN A . CANDLER,

HOKE SMITH,
w. B. lVIERHITT,

W. J. NORTHEN,

l\11. L. D UGGAN, Committee.

*NOT !t.-In rural schools the average length of t.he sch oo l term. for each child enrolle d is about 62 days; and for each child o f school age the average 1s about 42 days.

c.A Plea for the Education of the
Children of Georgia.
Without halting, without rest, Lifting better up to best; Planting seeds of knowledge pure, Through earth to ripen, through Heaven endure.-Emerson.
"God give us patience and strength that we may vvork to build up schools that shall be as light shining throughout the land.
Behind this movement for the education of the children of our land there stands the One who said, 'Let there be light.' "-Governor Charles B. Aycock, South Carolina.
"At the same time came the disciples unto J esus sayi ng, V/ho is the greatest in t he kingdom of Heavea? And J esus called a little child unto him and set him in the midst of them."-lVIatthew r8:r-2.
"Educational progress means religious good; it inculcates a love of truth that is not limited. The hope of the State is not in the cities or the big towns. The hope of the greatest future is
dawning in the rural districts."-Prof. J. B. Carlyle.
"Public edi.1cation, or rather general education, is indispensable to the preservation of liberty and the manifold blessings that liberty bestows upon its votaries. General education is synonymous with progress and with all the vi rtues which ennoble manhood and womanhood. It guides the hand of the husbandman and the artisan in the fruitful operation of the farm and workshop."
"It is no longer disputed that the wealth, the power, the greatness and the success of a nation, are proportioned upon the degree of education that it possesses. The sanze rule applies to communities."-The Outlook
"In our State where agriculture is and must continue to be the chief industry, the school house should be made the fulcrum of influence to promote its interests and develO'pm.ent towards perfection. It should labor for good roadways to make country life attractive as well as remunerative, and by these means
5

check the tendency of the young people to abandon the independ-

ent life of the fields for the dependent and often fruitless life in

the cities."

Gov. W. 'vV. H EARD .

"Human life is so short at the longest, so sorrowful at the best, that it pays to crowd as much real happiness into childlife as possible."

"The most productive thing in the world is not a dollar, not

two dollars, but a thing that is not material; a thing that rules

ships, commerce, an d men: it .is a boy, and above all, an Amer-

ican boy."

L YMAN H ALL.

"Everything in the South waits upon education. Our industrial development waits on more captains of industry, superintendents of factori es, and skilled workmen. 'vVe have the resources; we can get the capital in abundance. Otu need is the men who know how to plan, to organize and to work. Even our agrictilture waits upon the intelligent farm ers, horticulturists, dairymen, and stock breeders."
PRES. (HAS. v..,r. D ABNEY, U niversity of T enn.

INTELLIGENCE AND VIRTUE THE SUREST FOU NDATION .

"Taxation by the State is but an appropriation for the security of society, protection to property and the advancement of the people. Ignorance lead s riot and vice, hand in hand , to disturb society, destroy business and overturn th e government. The surest foundation for our system must be laid in the intelligence and virtue of the masses ."-Gov. \ N. J. Northen.

The State ~ust Provide Common Schools or Strive with Common and Costly- Ignorance
"The State must provide common schools or they can not be had at all. Let every opponent of our com.mon school system dismiss from hi s mind the delusion that he believes in popular enlig htenment though opposed to the common schools. The alternatives are not the comm,on school, or some other sort of school, but the common school or no school, the common school or popular ignorance.
"And let no man suppose the common schools cost him too
6

111(ttch; common ignorance will cost him far more. The value of lands and every other species of property must depreciate where schools are few and ignorance abundant. The stingy, figure fearfully about the cost of our common schools. \Vould they could calculate what ignorance has cost."
" I bring no railing accusation against our common school teachers. Among them are many of the most patriotic men and heroic women who ever toiled and suffered and died to bless J,ankind in any age or clim.e. All of them are as good as our short term schools and short-pay salaries will permit. A three or five months school in the nature of the case can not be a good school for even that short period. Many of the children, it is true, may not be able to attend the full term, but some o.f them will be able to do so, and if others can only attend three months it is all the more needful that they should meet good teachers when they do attend. And as I have before said, good teachers can not be had without long tem1 schools and long term salaries."-Bishop \iVanen A. Candler.
After an experience of sixteen years as school commissioner of Baldwin County, I am fully convinced that local taxation is the bc~t, and at present the only means, of properly furnishing adequate educational facilities for the rural sections of Georgia. At present, some of our sohool houses are but little better than barns, and some of our teachers are paid less than is pad for the labor of convicts. People must realize that educational advantages can not be obtained without expense. 'vVe need longer school terms , better school houses and more trained teachers, and in order to obtain these, local taxation for schools seems to be a necessity.
f do not know of any other way to develop our ~chool system _ RicH. N. LAMAR, Co. Supt. of Schools.
Every ignorant boy threatens the safety of society. If selfrespect and love for humanity are not sufficient as motives, mere self-preservation should inspire every patriotic Georgian to wage unceasing war against the illiteracy which shames the State in the eyes of the world.
M. L. BRITTAIN.
7

"Let us cherish our public schools as the looms, and our teachers as the weavers who weave the wonderous destiny for the nations."-JOHN FISKE.
"In schools in Georgia taught by teachers whose average salaries are only $27 per month, we are teaching only 6r per cent. of the enrolled population; giving the children in act,ual attendance less than six cents worth of education per day for an average of r r2 days in the year. In the State which gives most largely to public education, the productive wealth for each mhabitant is $260 per annum . In Georgia it is less than half that sum."- From an Address to the people of Georgia.

JEFFERSONIAN DEMOCRACY IN EDUCATION.

In the South the people, however otherwise divided, are all

Jeffersonian Democrats. It is a pleasure to know that the move-

ment for the adoption of the Constitutional Amendment known

as the McMichael Bill, is pure Jeffersonian Democracy.

Jefferson's hopes for civil liberty were predicated on popular

education. Hence he cried, with the fervor of an apostle, "Preach

a crusade against ignorance."

His definition of the purposes of primary education has never

been surpassed. It reads as follows:

" ( r) To give to every citizen the information he needs for the transaction of his own business ;

(2) To enable him to calculate for himself, and to expr~ss

and preserve his ideas, his contracts and accounts, in writing ;

(3) To improve by reading, his morals and faculties;

(4) To understand his duties to his neighbors and country,

and discharge with competence the functions confided to him by

either;

I
I

(5) To know his rights; to exercise with order and justice those he retains; to choose with discretion the fiduciary of those

I

be delegates and to notice their conduct with diligence, with candor and judgment.

,I

(6) And, in general, to observe with intelligence and faith-

fulness the social relations under which he shall be placed."

In securing popular education, Jefferson sought to apply his favorite theory of government, which was the distribution of power. He therefore preferred that local taxation for schools,

8

wherever practicable, should be by districts. Any student de-

siring to follow his views in detail may refer to Jefferson' s wri-

tings VI. 542, 566. VIII. 205, 357, 358; also his correspondence

53, 54, 103, r86, 443 Yes; local taxation for public schools with the privilege of ap-

plying it by districts or by counties, is Jeffersonian Democracy in

Education.

"WALTER B. HILL.

"I think by far the most important bill in our whole code is that for the diffu sion of knowledge among the people. No surer foundation can be devised for the preservation of freedom and happin ess."
THOMAS JEFFERSON in a letter to George Wythe.

Intelligence the Best Legacy-
The education of the children of any country is its most important public interest. The safety and prosperity of the State depends upon the intelligence of its people. Everything that makes a people great is the product of intelligence. Right knowing is a necessary prerequisite to right doing, while failure and degradation, both individual and national, will surely follow in the foot steps of ignorance.
The best legacy that we can leave to our children is a good education. Without it all other wealth will soon take wing. Educatio'n is creative, reproductive, and it can not be destroyed. Ignorance is destructive, wasteful and deg rading.
~Abundant experience has shown that it is the best economy to educate the children through th ~.; public schools. They are the schools for the people, and the people should support them liberally. In order that the burden may be evenly distributed taxation is the proper means for the support of the schools, and local taxation should furnish the bulk of the money. This is fairest to all concerned, and it is in harmony with the right of local self government.
All successful public schools in the United States are suppo-rted largely by local tax ation.
with a full knowledge of the educational conditions of our people, and appreciating fully the great value of education to the
9

individual and to the State, I sincerely believe that it is the utmost importance to the welfare of the whole people to establish and sustain good schools for the education of the children, that the school term should be much longer than it is now in order to r eap the benefits of a continued intellectual development, and that local taxation should be adopted by every county to supplement the State fund.
\i\Tisdom, economy, patriotism, and the experience of other older educational systems all urge this course.
Ons AsHMORE.
Supt., Schools, Savannah, Ga.
VALUE OF EDUCATION.
"I venture to say that the future of the State does not depend, primarily at least, upon the product of the soil, the abundance and variety of its mineral resources, th e vastness of its commerce and its industrial development, but upon the intellectual and moral strength of its people. The meaning of this statement is, if our government is made stable, our schools must be made efficient and all our children must receive from them the best possible instruction. This is the natural and logical conclusion from the universal acceptance of the fundament~tl principles just announceu. If the future of the State depends upon the intellectual and moral strength of its citizen, the future of the State must depend, in the last analysis, upon the character of our schools and the
efficiency of our teachers.-Gov. \i\T. J. Northen.

STATE PROSPERITY PRESUPPOSES AN EDUCATED STATE.

"Our people are beginning to reali ze the fact that we can not

have a prosperous State unless we have an educated State; they

I

are beginning to realize that the prosperity of the State does not depend upon the amount of education which some of our people

1

have, but that the prosperity of the State depends upon the edu-

cation possessed by all the people in the State."-Gov. D. C.

c. H EYWARD, S.

Highest Value of Education Is Culture; Yet Commercialism Demands It.
Depreciate as we may that spirit that would place the dollar mark upon every man's back, that causes the clock of progress to
10 I

tick only when nickels and climes and dollars are dropped into the slot, yet the time has con1;e when many, ignoring the higher values of an education--the moral, social and aesthetic have beg un to ask "Does education pay from: a commercial standpoint and give adequate r eturns in dollars and cents?"
Laying aside the question of culture and higher life, an(l still the school is justified even when placed upon the high plane of commercialism.
According to the United States census of I9oo, Georgia has a population of z,zs6,ooo, of which number 3I per cent. , or 699.360 can neither read nor write. The estimated number of male persons ZI years of age and over is 509,700. The estimated number of mal es of sehoul age is 377,260, giving a total male population above 6 years of age of 886,960. Of the -509,700 male adults IS8,I68 are illiterates, and according to our school ce:1sus of I898 we had 83,000 illiterates of school age. Inasmuch as o'ur percentage of males is so. I3, it is safe to say that at least 4z,ooo of the 83 ,000 are males. This number of illiterate males of school age added to the IS8,I68 illiterate adult males gives us at the lowest estimate, at least zoo.ooo males who can neither r ead or write. This is a conservative estimate, for if the same rate of illiteracy obtains among our nx tle population as does among our entire population, ( 3I per cent.) then we have instead of zoo,ooo male illiterates, 3 I per cent. of the total male populati0:1 (886,960) which is 274,957. But accepting the lower estimate (zoo,ooo) the question naturally arises "vVha t does Geo r~Sia lose in earning capacity on account of t his vast army of males vvho can neither read or write?"
Estimating that the average salary of the educated man is $zo per month more than that of the illiterate, or to be still more conservative, placing this excess in earning capacity at only $zoo a year, each illiterate then costs the State because of loss in earning capacity $zoo annually, or during a working life of forty years- from hi s zoth to 6oth year-th e loss on account of his illiteracy is $8ooo. The total number of male illiterates- zoo,ooo--clecreases th e earning capacity of our male population $4o,ooo,ooo--forty million dollars-annually, or during a working life of 40 years , the loss that is entailed is $I,6oo,ooo,ooo (one billion six hundred million dollars ) a sum sufficient to oper-
11

ate all the public schools of the United States and pay every expense for 7 years, or all the schools of Georgia for more than one thousand years. This estimate, as is shown is based entirely upon the male population and does not at all take into consideration the loss in earning capacity of the females of the State. And yet in face of these facts one county of Georgia expended $82,000 for courts c.ncl jails and zooo prisoners, and not a cent except that amount received from the State for her 7000 children.
Are these figures too high ? In order to be as conservative as possible let us take the estimate of Prof. Sanders of A rkansas, who has given much study to this subject. He is willing tn concede that the average salary of the illiterate is $300 a year, (albeit he shows this estimate is too high) and that the salary of the average educated male is $400 a year (an estimate too low). Even according to this estimate, which is certainly conservative, the annual loss to Georgia in earning capacity is $2o,ooo,ooo annually, or during a working life even this estimate means a loss of $8oo, ooo,ooo dollars-a sum large enough to buy, according to its assessed valuation, the real estate of forty of our average counties.

Dr. Thompkins tells us that our earning capacity is increased twelve and one-half times by a common school education; twentyfive times by a high school education and fifty times by university education. At first glance these figures may appear to be an exaggeration of fact, and yet when we consider that there are thousands of illiterates working for from $5 to $r 5 per month, and that on the other hand there are hundreds of professional men whose salaries nm to five figures even this estimate is, perhaps, not too high.

But reverting to the more conservative estimate, let us ascertain

what a clay in school is worth to the average male. If the edu-

I,

cated man earns $8ooo more than the illiterate one, during a

working life of 40 years, the question arises "\tVhat has produced

I.

the difference? Taking the average amount of schooling per in-

habitant in the South Atlantic States as given by the United States
I
Census of rgoo, we find that the average child attends school

3.20 years of zoo days each (or 6-40 years of roo days each) or

640 days . Lividing $8,ooo-the a::1ount the educated man receive~

in excess of the illiterate-by 640, we find that a clay in school

:I

is worth to the average boy $rz.50, in other words, 640 days in

I;!

12
I
'.'

!

school has enabled him to earn $r6ooo during his working life, whereas, without schooling he could have earned but half of this amount or $8ooo. It may be shown that the average high school pupil earns $6oo a year or $24,000 during a working life, and that the college man earns $rooo a year or $40,000. By a similar calculation the worth of a day in high school and college may be found.
Despite these momentous facts, all over Georgia to-day there are thousands of children out of school merely in order that they may earn so. cents a day. The result is that their salaries are ever meagre and that they die with all that is best in them: undeveloped and unrevealed.
Mr. H. G. Nacllin shows us that for a certain year the net result of productive industry in the U nited States was $II4.14 per capita, or on the basis of 306 working days, was 37 cents for every man, woman and child. In Massachusetts alone it was 66 cents per day, the excess being 29 cents in favor of Massachusetts.
At this rate the average annual excess in productive energy in Massachusetts over the rest of the United States is $88.74 per capita; for the entire population of the State it is $2oo,ooo,ooo or more than that of the same number of average persons out of the State. Massachusetts in this excess alone has money sufficient to operate her schools for thirty years. The value of her manufactured articles alone, per capita, is $8o.8o whilst in Georgia the value per capita is $21.85. This is attributable not only to the fact that Massachusetts expends more on her schools, but to the fact that the average number of clays schooling to each inhabitant is twice as great as it is in Georgia.
It is true that the educational problem of Georgia is not the educational problem of Massachusetts; it is true that forty years ago the flaming torch of war was carried throughout our land, that our homes were destroyed andour fields devastated, but siJch is my belief in the temper and spirit of this great people that we shall yet awake to the importance of this great questio~1 of our commercial life.
vVhen we realize the fact that the illiterate has only one chance in one hundred and fifty thousa nd, when we realize that in twelve
13

j,[
I
II'

counties of this great State more than 20 out of every 100 white

voters can neither read nor write, w hen we r ealize what local taxa-

tion means to our counties, our State and our children, I believe

thaf we shall open our eyes to the . importance of this sub-

ject, and ere another decade has turned upon the swift wheels of

time, Georgia will not present the shameful spectacle education-

ally that she does to-day, but rising fair and mighty amongst

her queenly sisters, with the sceptre of culture in her rig ht hand

and the crown of intelligence upon her brow, with all her sons

educated and all her daughters refined, she shall send forth every

morning a hymn of - praise to God for his mJercies and the eve-

ning sun shall set down amidst the uplifted hearts of a contented

and a happy people.

E. A. PoUND.

HoN. E. A. PouND, Supt. Public Schools, vVaycross, Ga.
D E.\ !: Sm: I have your letter of the 8th instant, and have re<Jd it with interest. I have no printed matter available for your u:: e, but I ha , e given the subject presenteJ some consideratiori, and think your estimated salary of the average educated man at $400 and that of the illiterate at $250 per year, is a ver y moderate statement of th e difference. I would estimate the average salary or income of the illiterate at $r so to $200. Of one having taken a partial elementary course at $300; the 8 years elementary course at $500; the high school graduate at $r ,ooo; the college graduate at $r,soo.
I think you will finJ these fi gures conservative.
Very truly yours,
vV. T. H ARRIS , Commissioner.

Does Education Pay?

Some years ag;o my father, a natural genius in some respects,

but uneducated, was a clay laborer in a factory located in a North-

ern State. Four sons were born and reared in the humble home

of that uneducated, untrained day laborer. They all learned

I.

their father's trade.

I was the oldest son, and I used every opportunity to get a little

education, attending the winter school, as did all my other broth-

14

ers. All of us grew to manhood and all learned our father's trade, as 1 have said above. I still continued my education largely by home reading. But for several years I worked at my trade only a few months m the year and with the money I ea rned attended school. .My two brothers next of age seemed not to care for an education, neglected the common school, and took the first opportunity to leave it forever.
I succeeded in encouraging my youngest brother to remain m the con'Jilnon school until he completed Its course ot study. ln addition to this common school training this brother secured a term or two of normal school training.
:VIy education soon enabled me to secure a foreman's pos1tiun in the factory, but my two brothers, naturally as gifted as myself, had to remain laborers because they had not enough education to take higher positions. From a foreman's place I rose to be manager of the factory. I now manage a number of factories and am a director in several large corporations. My youngest brother whom: I kept in school is one of my foremen and is earning a good salary. My other two brothers now work for me. They are still clay laborers. They can not get hig her because they have no education. During the past ten years I could have put both of them in positions paying from $1,500 to $2,500 per year, if they had had even a thorough elementary school education.
J. W. F.
Trained c.7\1inds Win in the Contest.
We give below a few statistics illustrating the practical value of education:
According to an estimate made from the latest census returns there are in the United States 40,782,007 persons over twentyone years old. These are divided educationally about as follows:
Class r. Without school training ............ ... -4,682,498. Class 2. With only common school training ...... 32,862,591 Class 3 \i\Tith common and high school training .. 2,165,357 Class 4 \Yith college or hig her education added .. r,o7I,20I "Who's Who in America" gives a list of 8,ooo persons now living in the United States who have become famous for some work of importance to the people of the country at large or of som;_,
15

considerable portion of it; and an effort has been made to deter-

mine how many of these 8,ooo distinguished citizens belong to

each of these classes.

The 4, 682,498 of class r furnish .. . .. . .................. 3 r

The 32,862,591 of class 2 furnish ..... . ................ 8o8

The 2, 165,357 of class 3 furnish ....... ........... .. 1,245

'The r,07I,20I of class 4 furnish .. .. .. ...... . ........ 5,768

It thus appears :

rst. That an uneducated child has one chance in 15o,ooo of at-

taining distinction as a factor in the progress of the age.

2nd. That a common school education will increase his chances

nearly 4 times.

3rcl. That a high school training will increase the chances of

the common school boy 23 times, giving him 87 times the chance

of the uneducated.

4th. That a college education increases the chances of the

high school boy nine times, giving him 219 times the chance of the

common school boy and more than 8oo times the chance of the

untrained.

Is it a surprising fact that of 7,852 "notables" thus gathered

together 4,8ro proved to be full graduates of colleges?

w. VvM.

SMITH.

And what can we say for Georgia? Listen: "Georgia has

270,789 native white voters, of whom 32,082 are illiterate, which

means that there are more than r r native white illiterate voter!'

in Georgia out of every roo. TJ1ere are 12 counties in which there

are more than 20 native white illiterate voters out of every roo

of the native white voting population."

.

M. B. DENNIS.

A WISE INVESTMENT.

"There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth ; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty."Proverbs r r : 24.

" Heretofore we have often heard that we are too poor to sup-

port a good system, of ed ucation. Hereafter we shall hear in

I,

ringing tones: \"Ale are too poor not to support such a system."

"It has been too co[11mon a political teaching that the best gov-

! I

16

II
I
I

ernment is that which levies the smallest taxes. The fu ture wi ll modify that doctrine and teach that a liberal taxation, fairly levied and properly applied, is the chief work of a civilized people. The savage pays no tax.-Chas . D. Mciver.

In 1900 there were in Vi rginia 8,847 more illiterate native white men twenty-one years old and over, than in 1870; in North Carolina 21,363 more; in S outh Carolina 3.375 more ; in Georg ia 10,559 more; in Tennessee 14,705 more; in Mississippi 2,936 more.

' 'If it is the duty of the State to see that its citizens know how to

read, it is certainly no less its duty to see that they are trained to

do the right kind of reading ; otherwise th e ability to read may

he harmful r ather than benefi cial both to the individual and to

the State."

SHER MAN vVrLLIA~IS.

Extent of Teacher's Duty- in Getting All the Pupils of the District in School.
Read by P rof. A. lVI. Duggan before the Hancock County Teachers' Association, Oct. 4, 1902.
The purposes for which the Government of the State of Georgia was organi zed are enumerated in the preambl e of the Constitution of the State as follows:
To perpetuate the principles of free government. To insure justice to all. To preserve peace. To promote the interests and happiness of th e c1tizen. To transmit to posterity the enjoyment of liberty. T he first articl e says: "All government, of rig ht, originates with the people, is founded upon their will only, and is instituted solely for the good of the whole." State education is not, primarily, for the benefit of those who attend the schools. Our government "is instituted solely for the good of the whole" State, and its taxing power must be exercised "solely for the good of the whole." The government has no right to tax the whole State for the benefit of the part, "but the right of self-preservation does belong to the State, and if popular ignorance threaten s its security, and even its very ex istence, then the State has the rig ht to provide, and even to require, popular education."
17

Another says: "Taxes for the education of children in common schools are founded prinlJarily, not on the idea of benefiting children or parents, but on the broader view that the State has a proprietary interest in all persons and property within its bounds.
The State has duties as well as rights, and one of these is securing a good common school education to children of all classes. It is the duty of the State to defend itself by a humanizing and civilizing education against what would otherwise be a degraded and dangerous class in society. Better than fleets and forts for security is universal education, which is the supreme guarantee of our liberties, the condition of our prosperity, and the safeguard of our institutions."
Listen to another: "It is one of the great rights of a free people to be educated and trained up from childhood to that ability to govern themselves, which is the largest element in a republican self-government, and without which all self-government must be a failure or a farce. It is indeed primarily a right of our children, and they are not able to enforce or vindicate it for themselves. But let us beware of subjecting ourselves to the ineffable reproach of robbing the children of their bread and casting it before the clogs, by wasting millions on corrupt O'r extravagant projects, and starving our common schools. Free governments must stand or fall with common schools. These, <.nd these alone, can supply the firm foundations."
Once again: "Popular education is necessary for the preservation of those conditions of freedom, political and social, which are indispensable to free individual development-And no instrumentality less universal in its power and authority than government can secure po'j)ular education. In brief, in order to secure popular education, the action of society as a whole is necessary, and popular education is indispensable to that equalization of the conditions of personal development which we have taken to be the proper society.
The object of the State in establishing the common schools is to secure a more intelligent class of citizens, to transfo>rm the child into a patriotic mem,ber ~f society, instead of allowing him to become des-raded, and dangerous to our institutions."
After five years of experience as State Superintendent, I have
18
11' 1

had the opportunity of observing the stimulating effect on school

sentiment of local taxation.

Those counties in Mississippi that have availed themselves of

the right to levy school taxes, without exception have long er

terms, better average attendance, more comfortable school houses,

than those counties not levying a school tax, or better in all these

respects by far than they were when receiving the support for

their school wholly from the State.

H . L. vVHITFIELD.

Superintendent of Education, JVfississippi.

Thomas Carlyle says: "This I call a tragedy that there should one man die ignorant who had capacity for knowledge."

Consistency, "Over the Left."
"Do you see those fellows there?" "Yes." 'Well, they are opposed to the nine months' public school system for our county." " Is that so? I am surprised. I thought they were progressive and public spirited." "So did I, until they made themselves known on this question." "By the way, do they not patronize your town school ?" "Yes. One of them, so he openly declares, moved from the country into town in order to get the advantage offered by the ten months' public school." "You say the Eatonton school is free ten months?'' "Yes." "How is it maintained?" "Under the law the County Board of E ducation appropriates to the Board of Trustees of this school a part of the general school fund received by the county-about enough, I suppose, to run the sd10C! five ll1onths. The balance 1;; raised by a special tax levied upon tile prnperty situated within the corporate limits of the town." "Have those gentlemen any property in town?" "None tl:at I am aware of." "They are then voluntary beneficiari es of the liberal advantages
19

offered by the Eatonton public school, m:acle possible o;1ly by spe-

cial local taxation?"

"Yes."

" But at the same time are they opposed to levying a special

local tax on property outside of town in order to secure a longer

public term for the co-untry schools?"

"They are."

"Upon what ground do they oppose this measure?"

"They say they are opposed to being taxed to educate the chil-

dren of others ."

"Ha! Ha! Ha! What a serious predicament they are in. By

the way, I don't suppose there is any obj ection to their sending to

the Eatonton Academy?"

"None in the world that I am aware of. On the contrary the

trustees in their catalogue and through the columns of the local

papers have advertised for as much patronage from the country

people as can be accommodated. Th ey are perfectly welcome."

This conversation is related with no purpose in the world to

have them withdraw their children from school, but to shovv

them their inconsistency. All that is asked of them is a willing

ness to do fo r the children of their neighbors what they are

receiving at the hands of the Eato<nton people.

M. B. D.

" The State will do its duty when it makes it possible for every
child within its limits to attend, free of expense, a kindergarten, a common school and a high school, taught by capable teachers, administered by competent officials, and fostered and sustained
by the dignity and influence of the Commonwealth."
w . vv. STETsoN.

Extracts from a Speech by Gov. N orthen.
"Having gone thus far in generaliti es, I shall venture to say that i.he future of the State does not depend, prim,arily at least, upon the products of the soil, the abundance and variety of its mineral resources, the vastness of its commerce and its industrial developmc'lt, hut uw'n the intellectual and moral strength of its people. The meaning of this statement is, if our government is made stable our schools must be made efficient and all our children must receiv-: fr.:;m them the best possible ins cruction. This is the natural an d logical conclusi on from the universal acceptance of
20

the fundamC'ntal principles just announced. If the future of the State depends upon the intellectual and moral strength of its citizens , the future of the State must depend, in the last analysis, upon the character of our schools and the efficiency of our teachers.
"The highest anJ most responsible office held in Georgia is not found in the man who makes the law, the judge who tries the criminal, nor in the governor who simply aJministers the affairs of State, but in the man vvho controls the schools that make the citizen who deposits the ballot that makes or unmakes the commonwealth .
"A child can not be made to advance properly with five months' tuition and sev en months' idleness. The State shoul d furnish five months' tuition and require the locality to furnish the additional two months, or better, three by local taxation. If the State can compel a tax for five months, the State can compel a tax for seven months and should do it, if the common good so requires.
"\iVhatever may be the plan adopted, the term should be lengthened and attendance required or we will lapse into ignorance and JH1'slble ckgcneracy."
CONCENTRATE THE PEOPLE.
"It is gratifying to know that the consolidation of sC'hools ha s been quite satisfactorily accomplisheJ in some counties and that it will be tried in others, but the better thing to do, if vve can make il possible, is to concentrate the people.
"For twelve years past I have been trying to concentrate the people in the country districts by introducing the European system of fannin~S known as vi llage farms . vVhilst I have brought 13,000 people into the State in that time I have not been able to locate them so as to carry out ru,y plans as indicated .
. If we could ever induce ri1en of means to invest in a body of [<mel. say 2,000, 3 ,000 or 4,000 acres and so divide it as to furnish small farms tor twenty, thirty or forty farmers whose homes wnulcl be built in the center of the plat as a village, we would make an object lesson that would be repeated many times over the State, as it would carry with it the solution of all the problems that vex our conntry conditi ons and make profitable money invest ment for the stockholders."
21

Education-Not a Charity but a Business.
"Bnt to establi sh and maintain schools for the fullest and best education of all our children vvill cost money; we are poor and can 't afford it." It will cost money; we are poor, and for that very reason we must afford it. It is the only permanent cure for the di ~ease of poverty. Roads ancl brilges and waterworks and hctories cost mon ey.-The law is universal: we must sow if we would reap; and spare sowing never makes abundant reaping. Capital must be invested before dividends can be declared.
"Education is not a charity but a business, the most important busin~ss of the individual, of soci ety and of the State. Money expcnde..:l in right education is not to be regarded as a tax but as an investment. It is the best and safest form of investment for whatever capital one generation may have to bequeath to the next.
"The children of to-clay will be our men and women of tomorrow. Their opportunity for gaining knowledge is fast fle eting. Once it is gone, it will be gone forever. They can't wait. \i\That we do for them must be clone quickly."
M. L. DuGGAN.

Results of Consolidation of Schools

r. So child will have more than three or three and a half

miles to walk to reach school. The average distance will fall

considerably below two miles.

2. The size of the schools will be increased nearly one hun-

drecl per cent. in enrollment, thus giving greater enthusiasm ,

sharper competition and more definite and Jecided results.

3 T11e school houses to build and keep in repa1 r will be re-

duce ~! fifty per cent. and, of course, better ones can be erected.

4 The number of schools to supervise and provide fo.r will

be reduced fifty per cenL as a result better and closer super-

vision can be secured, and more liberal provision made.

S vVith the number of schools reduced oae half, better sala-

ries can be paid teachers, and, as a class, more efficient teachers

employed.

6. A judicious use of the school funJ under this reduction

in the number of schools will make possible a longer term.

7 In consequence of consolidation more than one teacher.

'i

22

.I
\ ,'
.I

perh aps, will be required in many of the school s, thus rend ering

the g raded system possible.

8. J\ s a result of a larger aggregation of pat rons and chil-

dren in a school district, following consolidation, the establish-

ment am! ma intenance of public libraries, and the support of

extra months of schooling by private subscription a re n1ade more

feasible, and school furniture more easily supplieJ .

9 The number of teachers can be increased at many of the

schools; and in the. same proportion in which they a re increased,

will the amount of daily work and its efficiency be increased.

U nde r the improved method the country youth can complete his

common-school course before he reaches the school li mit as to age .

IO. As t he efficiency of the schools is bettered, will the en-

roll ment and the average attendance improve. 'l'his, however ,

contrar y to theory, can be established by facts .

Th ese ten distiJJct benefits a re the direct result of a judicious

con solidati on of sch ool districts. The consolidation is by no

means extreme. U n Jer the co:1solidation contemplated . here,

tra nsportation of pupil s is unnecessary. The degree of consoli-

dation that necessitates transportation is not reach ed in this cal-

cul ation. No pupil need have more than th ree a nd a half miles

to walk; the average should be unJer two. The consolidatioll

su ggested h ere should only produ ce conditions that are normal;- -

just such conditions exactly that should obtain in ever y count v..

They are not conditions m ythical, or even ideal. Neither a re they

imaginary,-somethin g far rem oved from practical application, se t

on hig h to be admired,-but are real practical conditioJJs w ithi:1

easy reach of every county in th e S tate willing to pay the moderate

p rice n ecessa ry to secure them. The fruits of such a consolida--

ti on are bc"ing reaped to-clay by at least one county in the S tate.

' Vhat on e county has clone others can likewi se do. L et th e

spi rit of improvement press forvva rd in its march against igno-

r ance.

M . B. DE NN I S.

Estimated Cost of Long Term Schools in Several Districts.
Jt has been the corner-ston e of our governnrental system to grant local self-government as far as practicable, hence the State leaves every county to look after its own affairs. Thus the local government is kept up, the courts are paid , roads and bridges are
23

kept in repair, jails and court hous es are built and the other expenses of the county are n1iet. In these things we never think of going to the general State government for aiel. Vve corisider these to be local matters and every citizen equally interested, so every citizen must bear his part in supporting them. In a similar way must free education be furnished the children of the community. It is not a question for the State alone, nor of any particular sect or color, nor for rich or poor, but all the people of the community must share equally the expense of the schools, for all share equally in the benefits of an educated citizenry. It seems strange to me that any citizen would even for a moment advocate the general State government raising all the funds, clrstnbuting the same. regulating the schools, when this same citizen would rebel in a moment if the legislature should take from the county or town the control of its ro'ads, its public buildings and the management of its internal affairs. A successful educational system on this plan can not be found in the United States, -Europe or Asia. It has never been popular, for people like to see the fruit of their labor, and all communities, the progressive and non-progressive are held under the present plan to the same level. Thirty-seven States of the Union raise more money by local tax than from State tax and other sources, while only North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, New Mexico and Montana raise more by State taxes and rents. From the United States reports we find that the average amount raised per taxpayer in the United States is :
From State tax ... .. . .. . . . .. .......... . ... .. . . .... $ r.84
From local tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-43 From rents etc.

Total ... .. . $ 8.67

'While Georgia collects :

From State tax ......... . . . . .. .. .. ... ....... .. . .. $ 2.20

From local tax .. . . . ..... . .. .. .. ... . . . . . .......... . .87

From rents, etc .

.68

Total .... $ 37S Forty-two States raise a greater per cent. than Georgia by local tax, and seven raise more by State tax . The percentage fo.r the United States is:
24

..
t
' I
'
l
!
r\

From State tax .... . . ....... .. . ...... . . . . ... . ..... $ 19.4 From local tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67.9 From other .sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.7 while in Georgia the percentage is : From State tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54.6 From local tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.7 From other sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 .7 This shows that Georgia pays 78.3 of her schcvl funds frca; her State treasury and 21.7 is collected by local tax, which is confined to ninety-five towns and cities and four counties. Th e counties do not exercise home rule in education, therefore the system is undemocratic and keeps the local interest 111 education :1t a low ebb. It is right and proper and necessary that the State should aid liberally the thinly settled counties by a general appropriation of a million of dollars as now , but it is unwise, unnecessary, against public policy and opposed to the whole theory of our government for any county to depend entirely upon the State for its school funds . The present anomalous condition is the result of the peculiar conditions surrot<nd ing the establishment of public school svstems in the South after Reconstruction and has always been recognized by the leaders in education and State-craft as unsoun d and indeed a makeshift. The lVlcMicha-el am endment to the Constitution will enable us to put our school system in line with our other in stitutional affairs and in harmony with common school education around the world. The re is no county in Georgia so poor that it can not supplement by local taxatio:1 the funds received from the State. Below I give some figures that I have r ecently taken from the tax digests for 1903 showing what would be the actual cost of such a tax to th e several taxpayers in a militia district. Houston County, Upper Fifth District: Number of white taxpayers 227 On less than $300 property 96 taxpayers Extra tax not above -75 On $300 to $rooo, 85 taxp~y ers Extra tax between 75 and $2.50 On $rooo to $sooo 43 taxpayers Extra tax between $2.50 and $12.50
On over $sooo 3 taxpayers
Extra tax over $12.50

8o per cent. would pay, not exceeding $2.50 ex tra tax to increase the school term by a tax of 2.5 mills to eight months and increase the pay of teachers.
Harris County, Hamilton District: N umber of white taxpayers 235 O n less than $300 property 90 taxpayers Extra tax not above 75 On $3oo to $rooo 56 taxpayers Extra tax return 75 and $2.50. On $I,ooo to $5,000 ...... ... .. . ..... . . .. .. ... 8o T axpayers
Extra tax between $2.50 and $I2.50. On Over $5,000 .. . ....... ... ..... . ... ... . .... .8 Taxpayers
Extra tax over $I2.50. 6.r per cent. would pay not exceeding $2.50 to increase the school term to eight months. A three mills tax would run the schools easily nine months.
RA N DOLPH COUNTY, CUTHBERT DISTRICT.
N umber of White Taxpayers .......... .. . . ........... . 372. On $300 or less ................... . .... ... ... 94 Taxpayers
Extra tax not over 75 cents. On $300 to $I,ooo . ... . ... ... ... ... . ..... .... I54 Taxpaye rs
Extra tax between 75 cts. and $2.50. On $I,ooo to $5,000 .... .. . .................. roo Taxpayers
Extra tax between $2.50 and $I2.50. On over $5,000 . .. . . . . . ...................... 24 Taxpayers
Extra tax over $I2.50. 66 per cent. would pay less than $2.50 to run free schools eight months, while a tax of th ree mill~ would give a regular mne months school system.
OGLETHORPE COUNTY, LEXI NGTO N DISTRICT
N umber of \iVhite Taxpayers . ........... ... .... . ...... I73 On less than $300 .. ..... ...... . .. . . .......... 4I Taxpayers
Extra tax not above 75 cents. O n $300 to $I ,ooo . . .. ..... . . . ...... .. ........ 51 Taxpayers
Extra tax between 75 cts. and $2.50. On $r,ooo to $5,000 ....... . . . ..... ... ...... . . .42 Taxpayers
Extra tax between $2.50 and $r2.5o.
On over $5,ooo .......... ..... . ............... .7 Taxpayers
Extra tax over $r2.5o, none over $5o.oo.
2f\

30 children in school are now paying over $30.00 a year, 25 are paying over $I2.50, and 30 are paying over $6.50 in addition to State funds. 64 per cent. would pay less than $2.50 at 25 mills, while three mills would run the school nine months free for all.
DODGE COUNTY, CHAUNCEY DISTRICT.
Number of white taxpayers ............. . ... .. .... . .... 240 On $300 or less ....... .. ......... . .. . ...... . I2I Taxpayers
Extra tax not above 75 cents. On $300 to $I,ooo ......................... . . .82 Taxpayers
Extra tax between 75 cts. and $2.50. On $I,ooo to $5,ooo ........................... 40 Taxpayers
Extra tax between 2.50 and $Io.oo. On over $5,000 ................................ 2 Taxpayers
Extra tax over $ro.oo. 8o per cent. would pay less than $2.50 extra tax to run schools seven months with proper consolidation.
EFFINGHAM COUNTY, ELEVENTH (COUNTY) DISTRICT.
Number of white taxpayers ............................ 324 On $300 or less ....................... . ... . . I I3 Taxpayers
Extra tax not above 75 cents. On $300 to $I,ooo .......................... I66 Taxpayers
Extra t<ex between 75cts. and $2.50. On $I ,ooo to $5,000 .......................... 4I Taxpayers
Extra tax between $2.50 and $ro.oo. On over $5,000 ............................... 4 Taxpayers
Extra tax between $ro.oo and $2o.oo, one over $20.00. 87 per cent. would pay not exceeding $2.50 additional tax, yet schools could be run seven or eight months by proper consolidation. The statistics above represent prosperous districts in the several counties, and the figures for the larger amounts would be decreased rather than increased for the whole county. . I have given no statistics for the negro taxpayers, but we can safely affirm that their part of the State fund and the additional tax from ,the county that they will pay, can run their schools, if proper consolidation and judgment is used without becoming a serious draft upon the funds mentioned above.
27

I find in all parts of the State that the counties are building splendid court houses, temples of justice worthy of a great democratic people. These temples will be but "star chambers" or fall into ruin unless Justice be fo unded upon Wisdom and a wise judiciary and wise men administer the law in jury box and before the bar. Hence these counties must make it possible for them to increase their educational facilities and give the boy in the country an equal chance with the boy in the towns .
J. S. STEWART, of State University.

He is the best benefactor of the human race that teaches the

race to help itself. If the :::itate, in the fostering car:: ;t has ex-

tended toward the schools, has fail ed to arouse in the people a

disposition to help themselves it has failed largely in its mission.

A system of schools that calls forth the best resources, and ex-

cites the energies, of State, County, and individual will bring best

r esults to our schools. In proof of this, we have only to look

around us.

Let us respond heartily, in this matter, to that famous com-

mand of Lord Wellington: " Let the whole line advance!" and

make a general rally to place our children upon a hig her plane,

where their brows vvill be bathed in the eternal light of intelli-

pence.

B. S. FITZPATRICK.

The Great County Problem.
Extracts from address delivered before commissioners meeting, Macon, Ga., by Judge Thon1:as, G. L awson, Eatonb:;.n, Ga.
I shall discuss the propriety of local taxation for the support of comnion schools in the outlying country di stricts, exclusive 0f the towns and cities, and the reasonableness of an assessment of a school tax supplementary to, and independent of the provision made by the State i;1dependent of the action of other counties. The occasion of such discussion arises from the fact that the country districts do not enjoy educational advantages equal to those town~ and cities wherein public schools are fo;;terecl by municipal taxation.
So far as I know there has been no general effort apart from the State's contribution, to 1mprove the educational faciliti es for
28

the country, and we hail it as a propitious event that ma ny people in Georgia and eleswhere are beginning to favor the betterment of the country schools, and to consider plans to enlarge their influ ence, and to carry them into regions hitherto deprived of thei r vitalizing force. The mlultiplication of academies where they are needed and the extension of the school term lie at the very foundation of all improvement of the common schools. Along with these, other valuable improvements will come along apace; but without them no substantial progress can be made. T he money now appropriated by the State is wholly inadequate for these purp oses .
Is th ere sound reason why the people of the different cou;tti es if they so desire, should not be authorized to impose a tax upon themselves in order to supplement the State's appropriation for schools? 1Is there any r eason why the boys and gi rls of the country should not enj oy equal educational advantages with the boys and gi rls of the towns and cities? They are of the same blood, the offspring of the same masterful race, they are thrilled with the same inspirations and charged with the same duties and responsibilities and subj ect to the same burdens as citizens of one common country. According to ability, and without respect to opportunity, one is expected to contribute as tDuch to the wel fare of society and government as the other.
what rational excuse can there be for a difference in the treatment of the two classes? Is it wise, is it safe, is it kind, especially in a democratic government like ours, to bestow on one class advantages and opportunities as a qualification for civic duti es and the enjoym en t of a completer individual li fe superior to those conferred upon another class of equal worth and respectalility?
If it be replied that the towns and cities possess a larger stock of wealth, culture, and refinement than the country, and are therefore nwre able to supply the requisites of a liberal education, the reply reinforces the argument in favor of educating the country hoy. In ~1o other way can an equal chance in the race be guaranteed him .
*****:.;'**
Let it be remembered that the country boys and girls in Georgia ~re more num erous than those who elwell in towns arr!
29

c1t1es. To confine the advantages of good schools to the towns and cities is to exclude from their benefits quite a large majority of those who should be their beneficiaries.
Let it be remem,bered, also, that in Georgia the greater bulk of the prop~rty lies outside o f the towns and cities. Many of its proprietors reside in the towns, but the property itself lies in the country, where it may become subject to that servitude which it owes to every institution that tends to improve the country. On the first impression it may appear unjust to require individual proprietors who do not reside in the country districts to aid in the suppo-rt of two sets of schools, one for the country and the other for the towns. But that which co'ntributes most to the value and security of property is an en lightened citizenry. Every dollar expended in the support of good schools is an investment in property as well as in brains, and if education is sufficiently diffused to raise a community to a higher intellectual and moral level its effect will conspicuously appear in the enhancement of values. Besides its contribution to the inherent qualities of a m:an, and its power to evolve all that is good and great in him, education induces a craving for better things- for improved conditions, for the possession and enjoyment of comforts and luxunes.
Such a community is an anchorage to every one reared within it and an invitatio-n to every home-seeker to cast his lot there. What follows? Lands appreciate in value, population becomes more dense, more stable and more contented, and the facilities of intercommunication are multiplied. Good schools, therefore, promote material prosperity and non-resident proprietors have no cause to anticipate the depreciation of their property by the imposition of a school tax. On the contrary, the event to be feared is that the tax may not be generous enough to prove efficient, and to produce such a complete transformation in social conditions as to assure the advantages that ought to accrue from it. Half-hearted and cowardly measures will not answer the purpose. T11e tax should be high enough to secure a teacher of first-class qualifications for each grade, and to furnish annually to every child of school age full nine months of honest and earnest schooling.
I do not forget that under existing laws nothing can be taught
30

in these schools except the elementary branches of an English education. Owing to the disparity of wealth and population in the different counties, the State ought not to undertake the support of schools of higher grade. It would be unjust to the wealthier counties to compel them to pay a large tax for the support of high schools in the poorer counties. But if each county is allowed to determine what its tax shall be, there is no good reason why it should not also determine the grade of its schools. But contracted as the curriculun~ may seem, it embraces a wider knowledge of the sciences than Aristotle and Pl,ato ever acquired, and is far better than thousands of the children of the State ever receive. The report of the school census, as I learn from a letter of the State School Commissioner published in the Cordele Sentinel, shows that there were 83,616 illiterate children in Georgia in 1898; that about 70 per cent. of the children of school age
so were enrolled; that the average attendance was only about
per cent., and that while the school term is usually about 5 months, the average length of attendance of the whole number enrolled was a little over two and one-half months. I admit that these facts are not a flattering presentation of the successful operation of the present system, and that they constitute a most powerful argument in favor of local taxation and other aids. Except in securing a more regular attendance of pupils it is not probable that the schools can be improved until more money is furnished. If the money can not be had to build school-houses when the people are unable to build and to hire competent teachers when the children are few in number, the work in these regions will have been abandoned. Illiteracy must hold its ground.
Another defect of the present system, is the shortness of the school term. After the term is ended, the child is relegated to idleness, or employed, perhaps, in sotne species of labor; his attention is wholly given to other objects for a period of seven months, and when he returns to school the next year his previous instruction has almost faded from his memory. Either the previous work is gone over again or he is advanced to new studies which he is unable to master, having forgotten what precedes them. He may in some manner sturruble over the new studies, or he may memorize them, but if he does not understand them, if he fails to compass the principles bound up in the things he is taught, his lessons are of small value to him. The chief value of
31

education does not consist in fillin g the mind with facts for which a good memory will suffice, but it consists in drawing out, training and di sciplining all the fac ulties, and that is affected by thorough instruction in the rudimentary principles of things throug h processes that cause them to be understood, mastered and remembered, and that requir e intense and continual exercise of the faculties. That is what we unde rstand by thoroughness, and if one course of study is forgotten befo re the nex t course is undertaken there can be no thoroughness. The infirmity, then , is not altogether in the low grade of curriculum. One who has thoroughly mas tered the elementary branches of an English education is prepared to follow the common business of life intelligently, is prepared for the ordinary duties of the citizen, is prepared to become the head of a famil y, and to meet all of his social duties successfull y and honorably. The purpose of those who favor local taxation is not to supplant the present system of common schools, but to improve on it, to build on it, and to enlarge its opportunities and usefulness.
I am awa re that the poverty of the country has been urg ed as an argument against local taxation for the support of schools; but the country is recove ring f rom its poverty, and more than a quarter of a century has pass ed since it was wasted by war and r econstruction. The same spirit th at enthused the people during the manliest contest that ever shed its lu stre upon human annals has in a large measure retri eved their lost fortunes. They stand ag-ain on solid ground. They are ready to contend for :1 .forward movement, for completer lives, for !1igher ideals, and for a grander destiny. The croaker vvho would alarm the crusader s against illiteracy by cries of poverty should first divest hims elf of ignoran ce and selfishness. Hi s horizon is too narrow. He dwells in the shadows of the valley, not upon th e sunlit hills, He must be educated up to the fact that money expended in the education of his children is the most profitable investment that he oan make, and that an educated mind and an upright character are worth more than all the gold and silver o'n the earth. He does not know that the making of a man is a God-like work. H e does not know that education means wealth, that it means dignity, that it means power, and that it arouses and vitalizes all the activities of intelligence, volition and emotion in the soul of man. H e staggers at the cost when the product of one acre of his fertile
32

land diligently cultivated would annually pay more than the tax would call for. V.fe can not weigh an educated and well-balanced mind in the scales as we would a quantity of lead. What can we place in the opposite scale as an equivalent? Vve may compute the value of gold and silver, because they are earthly and perishable, but by what system of mathematics can we compute the value of that electric spark of intellect that is destined to live and glow and radiate when the heavens and the earth shall have passed away? The question of the Man of Galilee is as pertinent now as when he spoke it nineteen centuries ago-"For what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul, or what shall a man g_ive in exchange for his soul?"
Local Taxation-The Corner-Stone of Florida's Excellent School System.
TI1e State of Florida is so commJitted to the system of local taxation for schools that it seems impossible to us for the public schools to meet the demand for public education without such tax. The State Constitution of 1885 made it mandatory upon each county to levy not less than three mills, nor more than five mills for the support of public education in the county. Forty counties now levy maximum limit, five mills, and such are the demands for increased school facilities that the Legislature of 1903 almost unanimously adopted a resolution providing for a Constitutional Amendment allowing the counties to levy 7 mills.
This resolution is to be voted on in 1904, and chere is scarcely any doubt but that it will be overwhelmingly adopted.
In addition to this county tax there is a State school tax of one mill and a provision in the Constitution whic11 allows any school district to vote a Special Tax of three mills, besides the State tax and county tax. This district tax to be exclusively for the support of education in the district where levied. Over four hundred school districts have voted t~i s Special Tax and with its aid are conducting their schools for eight month s. Beside the State, County, and District Tax, a one dollar poll tax is applied to educational purposes. Such being the provisions for support of public education in this State, it is impossible for us to understand how public schools can receive proper support without county taxation.
33

It has been demonstrate.:l that a District tax is paid more cheerfully than a County Tax, that a County Tax is paid more cheerfully than a State T ax, as the voters seem to realize that the smaller the taxing territory the more direct are the benefits derived and the greater the interest manifested in the cause of education.
I certainly think it wou ld be wise for the State to require each county to make a direct levy for the support of public schools within its bounds and do not see how the public schools can be successful without it.
w. N. SHEATS.
State Superintendent Public Instruction.
"Because I find that 69 per cent. of all the money raised for public schools in the United States is rai se~ by local taxation, that a large per cent. of the public school fund in every State that has a system of public schools well equipp ed and adequate to the work of educating all its people is raisr:d by local taxation, that in some of these States as much as 95 per cent. of the public school fund is raised by local taxation, that in my own State of North Carolina the only communities, with the fewest exceptions, that have succeeded in providing a system of public schools running fo r eight or ten months in the year supplied with good houses, good equipment and good teachers are the cities, the larger towns and the rural districts that have supplemented their State and county tax by local taxation, I am forced to the conclusion that the only hope of providing the money necessary for making our rural schools equal to the demands of the age and adequate to the education of the rural population which constitutes about 82 per cent. of the enti re population of th e South is to be found in reasonable local taxation. "
J. Y . JoYNER, Supt. Pub. In st. , North Carolina .
Local Taxation.
There are a few words we use to conj ure with. The word tiona! Association, Atlanta, Dec. 30, 1903.
There are few words we use to conjure with. The word "free" is very attractive. The very word " liberty" is very sweet to
34

us, and hearing the word " tyrann y" makes ~s bristle with resentment. It is not unnatural, therefore, that public leaders should make frequent use of these terms to excite passioa and active interest. Nor is it wonderful that gooJ should sometimes be denounced as tyramw, and bad policies should frequently be defended in the name of liberty. A certain definite interest, favorable or nnf<,vorable, attaches to the class of ' 'vords to which I cfer, anJ makes th em natural promoters of prejudice. As an illustration of this, the word " tax" is an unwelcome \Nord even where it is not a hated word. The aversion to taxation is due to one of the following three causes :
( r). Ignorance of the fact that taxation is simply an exchange of a little money for something better- civilized government. The savage alone is exempt from taxation. It is stran5e that the man who pays cheerfully his annual insurance premium for protection agains't fire and Jeath should regard it as tyranny when called upon to pay his tax, which is an annual premium to protect against arson and murder.
( 2). There is, of course, another class of people who oppose all taxation because of pure selfishness. They know that organized government is a necessity, but this class of people will never pay for anything if they t hink they can make other people pay for it. They r egard any system that calls upon them to give up any thing for any purpose, how ever good, as a thing to be avoided. This is "the penny-wise and pound-foolish" class, and overreaches itself by hindering all progress. Selfishness has in it the !"eecls of death.
~3). Then there is a certai;J inherited hatrecl of taxation, clue in very large part to the old custom of collecting taxes from one class of society to be expended for the benefit of the pleasure of another class. The people objected to paying t axes for the extravagant rioting of royalty. This was the personal application, in its most offensive form, of "taxation without representation." Moreover the most intelligent and patriotic citizens object to taxation even for good and necessary purposes, if levied without the consent of the taxed. It is no wonder then that our ancestors decreed that for one class of society to levy taxes for their own selfish pleasure without even consulting those who were to pav the taxes was unendurable tyranny. Nor is it unnatural that some of their J escendants should have fallen into the unfortunate
35

- - -~------~

- - - - - - - ~--~---

and hurtful habit of indiscriminate hostility to all taxation. This feeling is often like that expressed in the old couplet:
"I do not like you, Dr. Fell, The reason why, I can not tell.'' "Dr. Fell" must be closely related to "Dr. rl~ax".
SELF-IMPOSED TAXATION.
It adds to the burden that educational workers m:ust carry, while fighting their battles, that in this country general education is possible only by self-imposed taxation.
No normal American community after establishing a public school system and maintaining it for five years has ever decided that it was wise to discontinue the tax necessary to maintain the system.
TASK OF STATESMANSHIP AND PHILANTHROPY.
What th-.1 is the real work of eJucational statesmanship and philanthropy? It is simple in statement, but difficult of accomplishment. It is our task to persuade people to vote a special tax for eJucatwn in communities where there have never been efficient schools as object lessons; where 1there is an inherited and cultivated hatred of taxation; and where a very large proportion of the voters are either illiterate or but crudely trained. Under these conditions it is no easy task to stimulate intelligence and convert the judgment and conscience of men.
(3). The majority of the people in this audience live in communities where special local taxes have been Vioted for the purpose of training the children of those communities. It is not necessary that any argument should be made in favor of local taxation to any representative of such community. It would be a waste of time to argue with a typical citizen of Atlanta as to the wisdom and justice of school taxes or school appropriations from the general taxes. The most selfish citizen, if there be such in this community, knows that Atlanta makes no better investment than the money she collects in taxes for the maintenance of a good school system, while other citizens, looking beyond mere in.rvestment, recognize their debt to preceding generations for establishing civilization for us, a::1d are glad to discharge the obli5ation to the past, so far as possible, by generous provision for the training of present and future generations.
36

DUTY OF LOCAL TAX COMMUNITIES TO OTHER CO:\DIUNITIES.
If I were addressing a comnnmity which hac! not levied a special educational tax, I should undertake to show that such tax i3 just, wise, economical ami necessary. I prefer, hmvever, to ask you to consider the clnty and the opportunity of your own communities, that have alrrady levied this tax and established their schools, to the communttles that have not clone so. "-\tlanta knows that she gets more than value rrceive(l for the money she invests in her educational system. Is it not true, ami can not :\tlanta help to teach some other communities in Georgia the truth, that it \\'ottld be wise ancl profitable for them to follow her example ?-Is it sufficient even for the centers of commerce themselves, that they should have good educational facilities for their own children and that their neighbors should not han such advantages? Have thev no concern, selfish concern, if you please, for education in other communities allied to thrm by political, social and commercial ties? Can you make Grorgia a greater stronger and freer State without making Atlanta g-reater, stronger ancl freer? Is it not the duty of Atlanta ancl of every other city ancl community in tlte Southern States which has found it wise and profitable to le\'Y a tax, to educate its children, to usc rvery possible legitimate means to persuade every other community in the South, lar~e and small, to clo the same thing?
FEW RUHAL COMMUNITIES HAVE VOTED SPECIAL TAX.
I \\ould not miss the mark very far if I were to say that in the States here represented nine-tenths of the urban communities have voted a special local tax for the improvement of t1wir schools within the pasl Lliitly years, at1cl that, on the other hand, nine-tenths of the rural conununities have not yet voted such a tax. Xone of the communities that have voted the tax h<"ve been convrrted to it by any miraclr. It has been by the slow process of persuading men that it is right and \\ise and profitable to vote the tax. It is not difficult to persuade an intelligent man tha1 this is true, and ::me such convert will convert many others in his community.
IN DISCUSSING EDUCATIOK IN" THE SOGTH THE FOLLOWING FACTS AKD CONDITJO=--:S :\IL'ST DE KEPT IN MIND.
r. .\Ric.\. The area of the Southern States 1s about eight hundred thousanJ square miles, about sixteen times the area of ;\ew York State.
37

='"'-r

2. l!RJJ.\N AND RnnL PoPUL\TlOX. In all this territory there are only twenty-four cities with a population above thirt.\' thousand, and only a hundred and fifty other cities whose population is over five thousand. Three States, l\orth Carolina, Florida, and Mississippi, have no city in the former class, and four or five othe-s have only one such city. Of the one million eight hnndrecl thousand people in North Carolina, o:1e million six hundred thousand live in the country or in villages of les.> than two thousanJ population, leaving only two hunderd thousand people living in the cities or towns of more than two thousand inhabitants. The> proportion of urban population is a little lower in Korth Carolina than in the entire South; but :\lississippi is even more rural than i\orth Carolina.
3 LocAL TAx IS PR.\CTIC\LLY ALL URnc\;-{ AND I\0 RuRc\L CoMMUNITIES. In practically every community with more than two thousand inhabitants a local school tax has been voted by the people to supplement the school hmd provided by State levy and otherwise, and the result is that public schools in these ,communities compare favorably with those in communities of simiiG(r size and elsevvhere. But not five per cent. of the rural communities in the South have voted a special school tax. I have bec>n unable to get complete official reports, but leaving out Tennessee and Louisiana, whose Superintenden'ts failed to answer my inquiry, and leaving ont Missouri, whose Superintendent reports a local tax in all its IO,ooo school districts, I feel safe in saying that not twenty-five counties in the entire South have> voted a special tax on all their property. At least six States have no county that has levied such a tax on all its property.
\\Then it is remem lwrecl that wherever satisfactory public schools exist in this country, 1\orth or South, whether in urban or rural communities, from one-half lo nine-tenths of the school revenue is raised by local taxation, the above conditions appear in their true light.
4 'l'HF. CouNT> SuPERfi'\TEKDEi\T- \Vhat 1s needed 1s slronger men to lead the people in tlw rural sections to clo what their neighbors in the cities and towns have already done. enfortunately, ever since the Revolution, which was fought on a tax issue, the loudest talking political leader has taught the people to hate the worJ "'tax,"-not any particular tax, but just tax. To
38

-- .-. --..~.--._.--.-tr...-. ,..,, '-" .;;;.J s;::c r:t.

-

persuade the people that the levying of any tax is a profitable investment demands more power than is possessed by the averas-e County Superintendent. The average salary of the County Superintendent in several Southern States is less than $300. Men are now needed in these positions who can teach the truth that an industrious community may become rich by levying certain taxes for its own improving, that taxation is one of the chief characteristics of civilization, that the savage pays no tax. The local school tax is a fundamental necessity of the South, anJ men must be secured who can persuade the people to vote this tax upon thernselves. A persistent, tactful campaign alone can do this.
HOW TO PERSUADE AND \YHEK TO BEGIN.
How shall we persuade these communities to do what we have already Jone, and when shall we begin? There are two lines of special work to be done, the first by the teacher, the second l<l!rgely by other citizens. Educational leaders must make themselves familiar with all the details of taxation and school revenues. They ought to be able to show any man in their respective communities, who occasionally will complain of his school tax, how little he pays and how great are the returns from that small tax. He ought to be able to show the many citizens who think that they can not afford the school tax that their tobacco tax and whiskey tax, which they pay voluntarily, amount to more than their school tax. He ought not only to' be able to go to the tax books and know how to get the information, but he ought to go and get it, and tell the conlmtmity exactly how much it will cost to make the !'chools what they ought to be and exactly how many citizen,; there are in a community to whom the cost would De as much as a dollar a year. He ought to be able to address an audience, whether it consists of one person, a group of people, or a congre-sation, and give them a business statement in regard to the pubFc schools of the community.
In my State it will be possible to double the public school fund and make a fairly efficient school system, if our people can be persuaded to vote Ppon themselves a special tax of thirty cents on a hundred dollars worth of property, and ninety cents on each poll; and if this should be voted the additional annual property tax of four-sevenths of the rural population in a dozen of the leading counties of the State, whose tax books I have examined, would be less than ninety cents.
P9

If we teachers can not do this piece of public service, which has never been clone properly, and present this question to the public through the press and otherwise in a business fashion, I say that the public should dismiss ts from its service, and employ some people who take a rational interest in their own business.
COMMUNITY PHILANTHROPY.
The other work to which I refer is the work of the citizens of all classes in our leading communities. Recently this g-real and enterprising city of Atlanta decided that it desired to do something for education and for itself. Great meetings were called and it raised a quarter of a million dollars by individual subscriptions to secure the location of a g-reat institution of learning in the city. This was a fine piece of enterpdse, considered selfishly o1 otherwise, and I hope that Atlanta will secure the prize. Part of this money was subscdbed for philanthropic reasons. Would it not be possible to raise in the city of Atlanta a fund going well up into the thousands to be used for encouraging the people of the nual districts of Georgia to vote upon themselves a special school tax sufficient to properly equip their builJings and maintain such schools as are necessary for the children of a free democracy? J\'[any of the urban centers that are now so far ahead of the rural communities in education were aided in their early struggle to establish their school systems by assistance from the Peabody Fund or from other philanthropic sources.
Is there not such a thing as community philanthropy? Is it not possible for us to persuade the people where we live to raise a fund, small or large, to be used to aiel the people of another particular community that is now willing to vote a special tax, a~, our own community voted it, by the help and encouragement of others, ten, twenty, or thirty years ago?
EXAMPLE OF GREF.NSBORO AND CHARLOTTE.
The enterprising cities of Greensboro and Charlotte in North Carolina, a little more than a year ago raised $IO,ooo for this purpose knowing that not one cent of it could be used within their borders. The money was duplicated by an equal amount from the General Education Board, but the work had been inaugurated and half the amount raised by Greensboro for the rural schools of Guilford County was subscribed, before the General Edncatio:1 Board hac! been organized. "'When the General Education BoarJ
40

saw that they could strengthen the work ofthe commtmityphilanthropy, they gladly made a proposition which enabled the friends of the mov.ement to raise much larger local subscriptions than could have been secured without its co-operation. The $2o,ooo has been or will be distributed to aiel the rural schools of Mecklenburg, Henderson and Guilford counties. The fun,! is given to aiel these townships and districts that vote a local tax sufficient to conduot a good school. In the three counties, thirty-six districts have levied a special tax, and not only secured part o the money contributed by the citizens of Greensboro and Charlotte and by the General Education Board, but have raised by private subscriptions in their local communities larger amounts than they have received. The best result of course, is the increase of $~,000 or $w,ooo in the permanent annual school fund of these rural districts. This is one of the results. of what I call Con;nnunity Philanthropy. Many towns and cities will raise money for such philanthropic purpose, when the usefulness of such a fund is properly presented to' them.
Jt ought not to be difficult to find a hundred citizens of Atlanta who would contribute to such a fund $IOo.oo a year for three years.
This $w,ooo a year could be so used as to increase the investment in the training of Georgia chiL!ren more than $I,ooo,ooo, in ten years. If the teaching profession will lead this government wi1th intelligence and energy, and if it can have the co-operation of the public spirited citizens of Atlanta ancl other progressive cities of the State, the Greater Georgia of Destiny is now in sight, and what is true of Atlanta and Geor~ia is true of every other city ancl . State in the South.
Georgia has ttnlimited resources and the best Anglo-Saxon blood in the world; and yet her resources are largely undeveloped and her children but poorly eclucated. If we are to educate Oblr children and develop our resources we must build up our schools ; and if we are to build up our schools, we must have local t:~xation for schools.

.:---;-:'

Illiteracy Statistics from United States Census R.,eport.

GEORGIA.

Native White Voters, !9JO. Native Negw l'lhles, (21 Yr3.) 1900.

Literate Illiterate Total

Literate Illiterate Total

Appling .......... 1,545 278 1,823

575

Baker ............ 397

73

470

435

403

978

662

1,097

Baldwin .......... 1,741 219 1.960

Banks .. .......... 1,435 345 1,780

Bartow .......... 2,596

639

3.235

75,!

1,726

2,480

203

232

435

544

743

1,287

Berrien ........... 2,609 438 3,047

882

Bibb . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,487 298 5,785 3,410

800 2,724

1,682 6,140

Brooks ........... 1,693

92 1,785 1,082

1,135

2,217

Bryan ............ 629

54

683.

312

427

739

Bulloch .......... 2,462 251 2,713

911

1,338

2,249

Bmke ............ 1,331

96 1,427 2,109

Butts............. 1,312

84 1,396

542

Calhoun .....

541

31

572

401

Camden ....

509

84

593

672

CampbelL ........ 1,286 174 1,460

254

3,174
758 992 576 388

5,283 1,300 1,393 1,248
642

Carroll ....

4,087 887 4,674

458

Catoosa .......... 1,076 176 1,252

60

582

1,040

52

112

Charlton .......... 484

90

574

127

Chatham......... 7,169 109 7,278 7,086

110 4,315

237 11,401

Chattahoochee.... 425

22

447

238

510

748

Chattooga ....... 1,946 406 2,352

247

235

482

Cherokee ........ 2,521 440 2,9ol

140

126

266

Clarke........... 1,762 149 1,911 1,006

871

1,877

Clay ............. 607

41

648

427

Clayton .......... 1,178

83 1.261

330

Clinch ........... 977 174 1,151

779

625

1,052

512

8,12

619

1,398

Cobb ............ 3,476 436 3,912

718

Coffee ............ 1,814 332 2,146 1,041

782

1,500

768

1,809

Colquitt ......... 1,903 430 2,333

618

579

1,197

Columbia ......... 638

71

709

482

Coweta ........... 2,302 274 2,576 1,209

1,102 1,689

1,584 2,898

Crawford ......... 888 146 1,034

383

689

1,072

Dade ..........

828 117

945

107

105

222

Dawson .......... 810 227 1,037

13

23

36

Decatur.......... 2,632 450 3,082 1,439

DeKalb .......... 3 031 301 3,332

778

Dodge ....

1,384 337 1,721

541

Dooly .....

2,409 335 2,744 1,078

1,865
852 719 2,263

3,304 1,630 1,260
3,341

Dougherty ........ 677

18

695

946

1,713

2.659

Douglas .......... 1,219 :?35 1,454 Early............. 1,097 HJO 1,287

227

251

478

757

1,201

1,958

Echols ............ 434

82

516

Effiingham ....... 1,005

63 1,068

Elbert ............ 1,963

291

2,254

112

213

325

353

5~2

885

843

1,206

2,049

Emanuel ... ...... 2,404 351 2,751)

846

1,160

2,006

Fannin........... 1,725 533 2,258

38

30

68

Fayette ........... 1,238 205 1,443

267

Floyd ............ 4,338 663 5.001 1,258

Forsyth ......... 1,738 348 2,086

100

405 1,211
114

672 2,469-
214

Franklin .......... 2.315 Fulton ............ 17 ,57 4

540 2,855 738 18,312

405 6,135

434 4,195

839 10,330

Gilmer ........... 1,6o7 442 2,099

13

Glascock .......... 516 149

665

106

Glynn ............ 1,277

31 1,308 1,479

4
176 1,031

17 282
2.510

Gordon ........... 2,397 366 2.763

161

156

311

Greene ........... 1,218

57 1,275

643

1,515

2,158

42

Native White Vder@, 1900. Native Negro :Males, (21 Yrs.) 1900

Literate Illiterate 'l'otal

Literate Illiterate

J otal

Gwinnett . . . . . . . . 3,719

918

4,637

. 371

506

877

Habersham ...... 2,1ilO 402 2,532

202

182

384

Hall .............. 3,247 588 3,835

382

298

680

Hancock.

1,024 100 1,124.::

931

1,474

2,4(15-

Haralson...

1,781 390 2171

199

145

344

. Harris ............ 1,377

62 1,439

904

1,427

2,331

Hart. ............. 1,707 417 2,124

380

Heard ............ 1,264 268 1,532

326

Henry......

1,883 211' 2,094

839

Houston . .

1,346

75 1,421 1,095

457 452 1,035 2,346

837 778 2 874 3,441

Irwin ............. 1,954 236 2,190

64!3

605

1,2ij;$

Jackson ........... 3,103 545 3,649 Jasper ............ 1,187 112 1,299

658

875

1 ,533

624

1,230

1,854

Jefferson....

1,329 HS 1,477

Johnson .......... 1,256 228 1,484

867

1,332

2.199

369

515

884

Jones............. 784 103

887

750

Laurens........... 2, 770 448 3,218 1,014

933 1,375

1,683 2. 389

Lee.............. 395 Liberty.... . . . . . . . 923

22

417/

590

97 1,020 1,034

1,387 779

1,977 1 ,81:}.

Lincoln . . . . . . . . . . 667

30

Lowndes.......... 2,014 211

Lumpkin ......... 1,123 410

McDnffie.......... 746 104

Mcintosh......... 361

12

Macon. . . . . . . . . . . 918 112

Madisc n .......... 1,675 392

Marion........... 859 ~ 144

Meriwether ....... 1,904 243

Miller. . . . . . . . . . . . 627 171

Milton ....... , .. , 1,070 252

Mitchell .......... 1,301 202

Monroe .......... 1,537

67

Montgomery...... 1,975 234

Morgan . . . . . . . . . . 1,18tl

74

Murray........... ] ,375 353

Muscogee........ : 3,309 19\J

Newton .......... 1,697 262

Oconee. . . . . . . . . . . 868 135

Oglethorpe ....... 1 ,:!93 103

Paulding.......... 1,934 5:\6

Pickens . . . . . . . . . . 1, 348 394

Pierce. . . . . . . . . . . 997 218

Pike .............. 1,916 173

Polk...... . . . . . 2,368 498

Pulaski. ......... 1.420 2-81

Putnam . . . . . . . . . 810

39

Q.!,titman.......... 273

28

Rabun.......... . 966 264

Randolph ......... 1,192 125

Richmond ........ 6,456 425

Rockdale. . . ... . . . . 943

67

Schley. . . . . . . . . . . 423

37

Screven.......... 1,626 257

Spalding........ 1,910 101

Stewart.... . . . . . . 910

57

Sumter .......... 1,830

83

Talbott . . . . . . . . . . 862

38

Taliaferro... . . . . . . 532

33

Tattnall .......... 2,590 320

697 2,225 1,533
850 373 1,030 2,067 1,003 2,147 798 1,322 1,503 1,604 2,209 1,260 1,728 3,508 1.950 1 .003 1,396 2 490 2,742 1 ,215 2,0&0 2,866 1,701 84& 301 1,230 1,317 6,881 1 ,010 460 1,883 2,011 786 1,913 900 565 2,910

160 1,233
46 365 531 529 254 370 775 231 69 63! 745 787 701 33 1,466 685 286
820 138 44 303 804 640 822 554 237 16 789 3,522 246 320 941 1,028 782 1,537 467 3G8 907

608 1,251
64 883 709 1,370 527 715 1,912 435
96 1,048 1,756
883 1,530
53 ], 760
909 612
1 ,586 166 35 345
1,081 489
] ,510 1,325
409 18
1,353 2,71:'7
407 . 353 1,360
872 1,365 2,354 1,070
702 959

768 2,484
110 ] ,248 1 240 1,899
781 1 ,085
2,~"87
666 105 1,682 2,501 1,670 2,231
86 3,226 1.59!
898
2 '406 304 79 648
1,885 1,129 2, 332 1 ,879
646. 34 2, 142' 6,309 651! 673 2,301 1 ,~lOO.
2,147 3,891 1,537 1,0701,86(}

'

43

Native "White Voters, 1900. Literate Illiterate Total

Taylor ........... 992

124

1,116

Telfair........... 1.225

122

1,347

Terrell ........... 2;291

85 1,376

Thomas .......... 2,715

314

3,029

Towns ........... 770

186

956

Troup ........... 1,983 110 2,0{13

Twiggs ...... . . . . 555 143

608

Union ............ 1 269 393 1,662

Upson ............ 1,307 159 1,466

Walker ...... , .... 2,656

473

3,129

Walton ........... 2,378

406

2,784

'vVare ............. 1,793

23u

2,028

Warren .......... 830 127

957

Washington ...... 2,197

291

2,488

wayne ............ 1,334

128

1,462

Webste1.......... '178

68

546

White ............ 888 194 1,082

Whitfield ........ 2,412

488

2,900

Wilcox ........... 1,336 215 1,551

Wilkes ........... 1,443

70 ] ,513

Wilkinson ........ 1,131 174 1,305 Worth ............ 2,013 312 2,325

Native Negro Males, (21 Yrs \ 1900

Literate Illiterate

Total

356 454 1,090 1,672
4
1,044 3\!7 14 422
409 614
879 494 1,231
331 257 92
208
548 848
408 928

'579 454
1,641
1,832
10 l,HJ6
748 10 1,044
350 1,109
590
966 2,117
266 524 34
173 562 2,C48
787 1,340

935 908
2,731 3,504
14 2,940
1,145 24
1,426 759
1,720 1,463 1,460 3,349
597 781 126 381 1,110 2,896 1,195 2,268

Total ............ 238,707 32,082 '270,789 97,261 125,678 222,9.34

Georgia, m 1900 had 2i0,789 native white voters, of whom 32,082 wen~ illiterate, or 11.8 per cent.

.-. '.

:c

Extracts from <:Address Delivered Before the General <:Assembly by Dr.]. L. M. Curry.
The chief wealth of civilization is man, his freedom in individual conduct and belief, his right to the possession and enjoyment of all his facuJties, capacities and activities, in such full measure as is consistent with the enjoyment of like rights of other people. Does the sun shine less bright, the flowers have less fragrance, does sleep come less sweetly, to the children of the poor th;;m to the children of the rich?
A man capable of development has the right t01 be educated, and the State or the family which deprives the boy or girl of that inalienable right for the fullest development of his moral, intellectual and spiritual nature, is doing a grievous wrong to that child, aond conm1itting treason against the State in which he lives. ( Applause.) Democracy demands a larger and larger number iJo enjoy mental improvement. I know some people who say it is not safe to educate the masses. I am not afraid of the educated masses. I would rather trust the masses than kings, priests, aristocracy or established churches. (Cheers.) There is not an instance in the history of mankind where a church establishment has ever relaxed voluntarily its hold on the people. This separation of state and church comes from the uprising of the masses. Reforms have never come from the church or rulers, from above downward. Every social, pollitical, religious revolution has come from the deep-settled convictions of the masses, determined to proclaim aond assert their rights and their privileges, and that is the essence of democracy, and is the essence of the New Testament. Despotic governments make men thin-blooded and luw-browed; all back head and no forehead. No nation can realize its full possibilities, unless it builds upon the education of the whole people. A wicked, stupid government, a penny-wise and pound-foolish legislator, can brutalize a race, and reaching forward can fetter generations unborn.
You can predestinate the conditions of children by adverse and illiberal school legislation. The largest wastes are tlwough ignoI nee, which paralyzes or misdirects the best forces. Knowledge saves. Wealth is not in iron ore, or water-power, or marble, nor in the soil; but in the brain that organizes. We ought to broaden . our ideas on education, consider it in a more rational light, for it is character transJated into action. "Common sense, sound judg-
,15

ment, wisdom acquired by observation and tempered by experi-

ence, with genius and power to help one's self to plan and execute,

entitles a man to a diploma from the world at large, even if he

never gets it at a university."

Men who are to increase the wealth of the country by any in-

dustrial pursuit will be successful in proportion to industry, in-

telligence and integrity. Wages are regulated 'by mental capacity,

and not by muscular strength. The free public school is the high-

est evidence of statesmanship, the most ecol]ol!11ica1 measure that

can be adopted. Those public schools have come to siJay. Those

who oppose them may g-o, but the schools for the education 'Oif the

children, i we would perpetuate institutions, and if we value the

Magna Charta of human liberties, the New Testament, are to con-

tinue and to be preserved.

A crying need is industrial education, so as to give skilled labor,

and take away our dependence on the one-crop system. I can

name over one hundred towns and cities in the United States

vvhich have incorporated 1T41.nual training along with their public-

school system and elementary education. It ought to be done

more and1111ore. It i'SI not to teach men to be blacksmiths and car-

penters, or shoemakers, but the principles that underlie trade and

industries ought to be made a part of the instruction in our schools, so as to give something tl~at has some bearing on every-day life-

an educati<on that will enable the children to do something that

1:''

man wants done.

I have before me a report made by a committee of Irishmen ap-

pointed to ascertain what was needed for the restoration of Ire-

land's pros.perity. These gentlemen visited France, Germany,

Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, a!nd other ,countries, and they

went through the whole question of how far education was neces-

sary for the prosperity and comfort and advancement of the na-

tion. Their report showed that wherever they had gone in those

',1

countries, they found that prosperity and education went hand in

)':.1

hand with industry and that absence a education meant lapse of prosperity. And that is more and more the case with every coun-

I',,!,. 1'

try in the world; and it is as necessary to agriculture as to manu-

'1:

factures. It is even m,IQre necessary, if possible, for agriculture

than any other industry. Taking the case of Switzerland, the re-

port said: "It would be impossible to enumerate the institutions

in Switzerland devoted eit.her directly or indirectly to technical

'lo

.!.

..

. .. .. . - : : --~.' . . , ... '

:

instruction. The Canton of Zurich spends one-third of its budget on schools, and the other cantons more or less in the same ratio; for it is an axiom with these people, that in order to secure the permanent prosperity of the State, it is indispensable to educate the masses, and thus enable the artisan to excel in his work." It was the same of Denmark, which did not ask for protection but for education. Denm;ark was one of the countries which by intelligence hac! made agriculture prosperous with free trade; and to such extent that last year it sent 9,ooo,ooo pounds sterling, or 4 pounds per head of its population, including womlen and children. of products to England alone after supplying themselves: In vVurtemburg there was not a pauper to be found; and that was a country that was miserably poverty-stricken half a century ago. He conic\ g-o through all the nations visited and show that education went hand in hand with industry. and that without education industry did not flourish.
Take care of the teachers. Pay them well. Train them fm their work. The great need in the pulpit, in the Sunday-schools, in public schools, and universities, everywhere, is better teaching. Honor the profession, train for the work, dignifying it by your conduct and your appreciation of their services. Recognize teachePs as among the chief factors of your civilization, and do what you can to make the schools equal to any in the whole country.
I spoke a while ago of the dignity of the office of the statesman and the legislator. It is the chief duty of the statesman to watch over the outward interest of the people, and of the educator to quicken their souls. The statesman must study and manage the passio11s and prejudices of the community; the teachers must study the essentials, the deepest principles, of human nature. The statesman works with coarse instlouments; the teacher works on that delicate ethereal essence, the immortal soul.
The golden age is in the future, and we must grasp it by diligent effort and by wise conduct. The children and patriots on whom v\'e are to depend for future glory are committed to you. Arouse yourselves, for the broadest statesmanship. Jefferson said, "If we educate the children aright, our descendants will be wiser than we, and many things impossible for us to do will be easy for them."
I am here to-day to plead for the children, not for the grownup men, not for the banks 111or railroads, nor even for agriculture;
47