BAYLOR UNIVERSITY. /' ^;__^7 ^^^ ADDRESS BY J. B. BAYLOR, C. E., B. S., LL. D, Newmarket Plantation^ Caroline County, Va. DELIVERED AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY, WACO, TEXAS, April 20, 1903. EDUCATION OF THE MASSES IN ITS RE- LATION TO PRODUCTION. RICHMOND, VA. : Whittet & Shepperbon, Publishers and Printers. BAYLOR UNIVERSITY. ADDRESS BY J. B. BAYLOR, C. E., B. S., LL. D, Newmarket Plantation, Caroline County, Va. DELIVERED AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY, WACO, TEXAS, April 20, 1903. EDUCATION OF THE MASSES IN ITS RE- LATION TO PRODUCTION. RICHMOND, VA. : Whittkt & SHEPPER80N, Publishers and Printers. kl Gift Author (Person) 9 Ap'06 .7 YLOR UNIVERSITY. ADDRESS BY J. B. BAYLOR isident. Ladies and Gentlemen: ive traveled several thousaiKl miles from a distant city ir, as far as I can do so by my presence, the generous blic-spirited gentlemen who have made possible these and handsome additions to the buildings of Baylor ity. ill I think of what this University has done and is doing State of Texas, when I think of its relationship to the Japtist Church of America, of its honored Board of s, President, and faculty, its fine body of alumni and s of students, I feel that I should indeed be ungrateful e not proud of the fact that such a University bears my Qame. he outset of my address I wish to call your attention to king fact that many of our American universities and bear the names of individuals who gave a comparatively sum to found these institutions, and that this has not id public-spirited citizens from giving millions to these ties and colleges named after individuals long since iway. The oldest of American universities, which has est number of students, with the exception of Columbia ity and the University of Chicago, and the largest total income of any American university, bears the name of arvard, and j-et public-spirited citizens, not only in igland, but from all parts of the world have showered 3n it. Amongst its benefactors are emperors and kings, idest names of New England, of the East, and of the [ 4 ] West. Yale, named ini honor of Eliliu Yale, has also received millions in benefactioms, and counts aniongst its largesit bene- factors the Vanderbilt family. Brown^ the Baptist university of Kew England, has received magnificent endowments from many private individuals. Others may follow the noble ex- ample of the Carrolls, and do for the great university of the Southwest, Baylor University, which bears the name of a pri- vate citizen, what has been done for Harvard, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, Ciornell, John Hopkins, and other colleges and uni- versities named for individuals. Another striking fact is that many of our American uni- versities which have done the greatest work and have been most influential educationally have been under denominational con- trol. To strengthen my position I need only mention Harvard, Yale, Brown, Princeton, and the University of Chicago. Though I cannot claim the honor of being a Baptist, I am glad that Baylor University is under the control of a denom- ination which has over four million five hundred thousand com- municants in the United States alone, and over nine million in English-speaking communities. The man for whom this Uni- versity was named, although by family tradition an Episcopalian, firmly believed that in no part of our population was the spirit of republican institutions so firmly planted as in the Baptist population of America. In their church government they have exemplified the loftiest Christian spirit and the highest ex- amples of republican government. In consequence of the large numbers of Baptists in America, this University will always command the loyal support 'of a people devoted to their church and its institutions and influential in the communities in which they live. Some may object to denominational colleges; but where can the control of the university be more safely placed than in the hands of the clergy and laity of a great religious body? Abuse of power over the minds of the young, through the agen- cies of denominational universities and colleges, is impossible in such a country as ours, where so many different denomina- tional colleges compete one against the other. ISTo great institution can be built up unless a well-estab- lished policy in regard to control and management is not only [ 5 ] adopted but maintained, and such stability in this country is almost impossible except through the agency of some religious body of devoted loyal workers. Stability in our State univer- sities is very difficult to obtain on account of our ever-changing political parties. The uncertainty as to control and as to the amount of annual State appropriations has had an unwholesome influence upon m,any State universities. It has prevented bene- factions from public-spirited men, because these universities are supposed to be supported adequately by the different States. It seems to me that the duty of the State is to educate the child when it is too young to educate itself by its own efforts. You do not then destroy that self-reliance which is so essential to success. The State should endeavor to elevate the mind, the heart, and the character of the child, and it should also train the band, the eye, and the body when in their formative period. To the university should be left the education of those who have proved themselves at school worthy of a university edu- cation, and those who are willing and able to pay for it, either in money or in work. If you will bear with me, I hope to be able to prove, by an array of carefully collected statistics, which cannot be brushed aside, that no investment has ever yielded such rich returns, and that, too, in every civilized State and country in the world, as money spent in primary and industrial education for the masses. These facts and figures are ,so striking, Mr. President, that it :s but just that I should say something in advance as to their credibility. No more careful, conscientious statistician, so acknowledged by political friend and foe alike, has ever graced the halls of our Congress than the late William L. Wilson, a devoted Baptist and a kinsman of Judge Baylor's. Mr. Wilson told me that for accuracy of statement the English statistician, Michael G. Mul- hall, was the most trustworthy of all writers, and to Mr. Mulhall I give full credit for the facts I wish to bring before you to-day. Mr. Mulhall, by a laborious and exliaustive system of computa- tions, has compiled the average yearly earnings per inhabitant in dollars and cents for every civilized country in the world, and also for the different sections of these United States. You may tell me that countries differ so largely in density of [ 6 ] population, in age, in opportunity, in fertility of natural re- sources, and in race that it is not fair to so compare people, but it is a striking fact that density of population and fertility ot natural resources have no necessary effect on the prosperity of a country, or even on the rate of wages. Scotland and Ireland are almost equal in number of inhabitants per square mile, and yet the wealth of the former country exceeds that of the latter 60 per cent. England has three times as dense a population as Prance, and wages are nevertheless nearly equal in the two countries. Spain is thinly and Italy thickly populated, and both countries are desperately poor, while Belgium has the maximum and Sweden the minimum population per square mile, and both are remarkably prosperous. New England has no rich ore or coal beds, it does not raise a pound of cotton, it is poor in natural resources, and the average yearly earnings per inhabi- tant is $349, while our dear Southland is rich beyond the dreams of avarice in coal, in iron, in petroleum, in cotton, and in other natural resources, yet the average inhabitant only earns $110 per year. Mr. President, from Mr. Mulhall I have collected in a table the average yearly earnings per inhabitant for almost every civilized country in the world, and even a casual student will find in this list the most striking differences in the earning capacity of the various nations. Density of population, age, race, fertility of natural resource, cannot' explain these remarkable differences. To what, then, can they be due? Portunately Mr. Mulhall has solved this question by collecting for us also the percentage of adults in every civilized country who are so ignor- ant that they cannot even write their names, and the amount of money spent per inhabitant in every civilized country in edu- cating the masses. [ 7 ] We find : Countries. Money per in- habitant spent in schools. Percentage of adults who can write. Average yearly earnfngs per inhabitant. England $1 64 2 68 1 40 1 72 1 00 1 08 22 34 72 32 10 1 60 84 84 2 40 1 00 1 00 68 44 2 60 2 64 96 97 85 94 95 99 22 69 56 42 30 90 99 83 99 98 98 24 30 83 90 $190 00 Scotland 225 00 Ireland 100 00 180 00 France 156 00 Germany 123 50 Russfa 47 50 Austria-Hungary 83 50 Italy » 70 00 Spain 77 50 Portugal 68 00 Holland 129 00 Scandanavia 120 00 Belgium 141 50 Switzerland 116 50 Norway and Sweden 103 00 Denmark 136 50 Danublan States 64 50 Greece 62 50 United States 220 00 Australia 256 00 Different sections of the United States. New England States Middle States Western States .... Southern States . . . $349 00 311 50 230 00 110 00 Bear with me while we examine this table. Portugal and Greece are two of the poorest countries in all Europe. We find that Portugal only spends 10 cents and Greece 44 cents per [ 8 ] inhabitant in educating their people. Only 30 per cent, of the people of either Portugal or Greece can write their names. Is it surprising that the average earnings per inhabitant is only $68 and $62.50 a year in Portugal and Greece? The Eussian Empire is marvelously rich in natural re- sources and in fertility of soil; it has vast stores of petroleum and coal, and every known mineral in its Ural Mountains; yet it is emphatically a poor country, with $305 per inhabitant, against $780 in Germany and $1,360 in France. The average earnings of the people of Russia are only $47.50 per inhabitant annually, against $220 in the United States. The waste of labor in Russia is prodigious; men and women toil out their lives for a minimum wage, and their existence in such drudgery increases the sullen discontent of the pQople. No man but a Russian could live on such fare as a Russian farmer has. It consists of rye bread and mushroom soup, worth 4 cents a day. He lives in a hut 5 feet square, and his wife helps him at the plow. Five per cent, of the wives of Russia die in child-birth— double the average of the rest of Europe. Note in connection with these significant facts that only 22 per cent, of Russian adults can write their names, and that Russia spends 22 cents annually per inhabitant on her schools. In Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Spain only 69, 56, and 42 per cent, of the adults can write their names. These countries spend 34 cents, 72 cents, and 32 cents per inhabitant on their schools, and the average earnings of their people are $83.50, $70, and $77.50 per year. Scotland, on the other hand, spends $2.68 per inhabitant on her schools, and 97 per cent, of her inhabitants can write. Is it surprising that the average earnings of her people are yearly $225 per inhabitant, making her one of the most pro- ductive countries in the whole world? Ireland spends $1.40 per inhabitant on her schools, and only 85 per cent, of her adult inhabitants can write their names. The average yearly earnings per inhabitant are $100, against $225 for Scotland. In the face of such facts it is impossible to avoid the con- clusion that the earnings of a people are directly proportional to the educational advantages. [ 9 ] The effect of liberal expenditures for public education is strikingly exemplified in England, Australia, France, Germany.. Norway and Sweden, Holland, Denmark, Belgium, and Switzer- land. The people of Australia earn annually per inhabitant more than any other people in the world — $256 against $320 in the United States — and there is no country more liberal in educating her people than is Australia — not even the United States. Never in the history of the world has the fact that knowl- edge is power been more preeminently true than it is to-day. Labor-saving machines, requiring a trained mind, hand, and e3^e, are used in every department of human endeavor, and doom the ignorant man to hopeless poverty. One laborer in thv? agricultural field in .America produces as much as four do in Europe, and he does not toil his life blood away as does the peasant of Russia, because education enables the American farmer to use labor-saving appliances. With the aid of steam, one man can do as much as a hun- dred and twenty could do in the last century. Steam makes for five dollars an article that would cost eight hundred dollars if made by hand. Tliie ignorant man cannot utilize these great labor-saving agencies, and consequently the ignorant man is a poor producer. Many of the states of Central and South America and India are desperately poor compared with the Qnited States, Canada, and many of the countries of Europe, and in all of the states where this is true we find that the people of these countries are kept in ignorance, and that education for the masses is at a discount. The most prosperous countries in South America are Argen- tina and Chili. This can be easily explained when we find that Argentina and Chili spend annually on their schools 84 cents and 80 cents per inhabitant where Brazil spends 4 cents. It would be very interesting, did time permit, for us to trace out, through Mr. Mulhall, the effect of the education of the masses upon the transportation, post-office, telegraph, and telephone facilities of a people; upon the circulation of news- papers, books, and periodicals, and last, but not least, upon the [ 10 ] criminal docket of a nation. The facts in this connection are as significant as anything I have presented to yon to-day. It is a well-recognized fact amongst all political economists that the social, moral, economic condition of a people is largely- determined by the yearly earnings per inhabitant, and this we have seen depends directly upon the education of the masses. Let us examine the effects of education upon different sec- tions of our own dear country, and I am done. The president of the University of Tennessee tells us that the average annual productive capacity per inhabitant in 1899 was $360 in Massachusetts against $116 in Tennessee. Massa- chusetts spent $12,261,525 more upon her public schools in 1898-'99 than did Tennessee. The people of Massachusetts earned in 1899 $403,869,824 more than the same number of people did in Tennessee. We may reasonably conclude, there- fore, that twelve millions invested in superior education yields $400,000,000 a year. As I have already shown, the average yearly earnings per inhabitant in N'ew England is $349, against $110 in the Southern States. This means that if the average yearly earn- ings per inhabitant was the same in the South as in New Engiland, the annual income of the Southern people would be increased several thousands of millions of dollars' — a sum very many times in excess of the annual value of our cotton crop. It is but right that I should call your attention to the fact that one-third of the population of the South consists of illit- erate negroes. This fact also has a marked effect upon the average yearly earnings per inhabitant in South Africa, which is only fifty-five dollars. There 55 per cent, of the population consists of illiterate negroes. Mr. President, the hope of the whole South centers in this State of Texas. Only New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois, and Ohio surpass it to-day in population. It is merely a ques- tion of time when your State will no longer stand even as low as fifth in the family of States. How about education in this States of Texas? It is a very gratifying fact to me to find that in Texas amongst the native-born whites of native parents in the total number of males of voting age, numbering 458,863, only 5.3 [ 11 ] per cent, are illiterate, while amongst the foreign-born male whites of voting age, numbering 85,773, 25.4 per cent, are illiterate. In the whole United States amongst the native- born male whites of native parents and of voting age 5.8 per cent, are still illiterate. So in Texas we find that the native-born white of native parents is alread}^ above the average for the whole United States in education. This, of itself, clearly proves that the State of Texas is fully alive to the necessity of superior edu- cational advantages. The effect of education upon the people is shown in your annual production of cotton — far greater than any other state in the world. It is shown in your wheat crop, in your vast herds of live stock, in your output of lumber and oiJ, and in the enormous increase in manufactories of latt years. It is shown in your transportation fa(nlities, with 9,886 miles of railwa}' — greater than those of any other State, save only Illinois and Pennsylvania. It is shown in the prosperity and happiness of your people. One of the most artistic, beautiful, and costly memorials ever erected by the hand of man, the Taj Mahal, stands at Agra, in northwestern India, a marvel of Indian architecture. Twenty thousand men were engaged for twenty years in erect- ing it, and it is so beautiful that Lord Eoberts has said that it was worth a trip to India to see it alone. Mr. President, if Shah Jahan had devoted the vast sums of money which he expended in erecting this mausoleum and other monuments in India to the education of the people, India would not to-day be a country of wretched poverty, with starv- ing, plague-stricken inhabitants. So in thinking of all that education means to a people we say from our hearts all honor to the Carrolls for their generous benefactions to Baylor University. I thank vou for vour kind attention. -'R S W6 ^■ a 029 921 189 7