Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 10.djvu/402

 388 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

taxation for school purposes had been reached in their case. The reasons given by the South for this aid were: first, the unusual impoverishment of that section of the country by the war; and, second, that education, one phase of which is the fitting of men and women for citizenship, should not be a state matter alone, but also a national. This subject was agitate 1 in Congress from 1880 to 1890. It aroused public attention, but resulted in no definite aid.

III. THE PRESENT RURAL SCHOOL PROBLEM.

Since the period of reconstruction and at the present time one of the main questions in southern education is the condition and the improvement of the rural schools. It must be remem- bered that between eight-ninths and eight-tenths, or over eighty out of every hundred of the people of the South still live in the country. A comparatively small part of the population is found in villages of one thousand inhabitants. According to the state- ment of Mr. G. S. Dicketman, 8 the population of the South is divided into 14,090,000 in rural districts and 3,029,000 in places of one thousand and over.

But while the majority are in the country districts, there is nevertheless a great sparseness in population, and the cabins are located far apart, with much intervening undeveloped land. As a result of this, the roads are poor, and the school attendance is consequently small and irregular. This difficulty, felt throughout the South, becomes greatest in that region extending down over the Appalachians.

There exist here the same poverty the same isolation, the same igno- rance and narrowness of view, found in other sections of the country, only greatly intensified. Traveling for small children is difficult and often dangerous.*

Moreover, it is impossible to take the children to school until good roads have been built.

Other adverse conditions peculiar to the South confront the rural schools. The South has settled in its own way that in the education of the colored race separate schools be established.

Fourth Report of the Conference of the South, p. 16.

T Educational Conditions in the Southern Appalachians, p. n.