The census has already sounded the alarm in the appalling figures
which mark how dangerously high the tide of illiteracy has risen
among our voters and their children.
To the South this question is of supreme importance. But the
responsibility for the existence of slavery did not rest upon the
South alone. The nation itself is responsible for the extension of
the suffrage, and is under special obligations to aid in removing
the illiteracy which it has added to the voting population. For
the North and South alike there is but one remedy. All the
constitutional power of the nation and of the States and all the
volunteer forces of the people should be surrendered to meet this
danger by the savory influence of universal education.
It is the high privilege and sacred duty of those now living to
educate their successors and fit them, by intelligence and virtue,
for the inheritance which awaits them.
In this beneficent work sections and races should be forgotten and
partisanship should be unknown. Let our people find a new meaning
in the divine oracle which declares that "a little child shall
lead them," for our own little children will soon control the
destinies of the Republic.
My countrymen, we do not now differ in our judgment concerning the
controversies of past generations, and fifty years hence our
children will not be divided in their opinions concerning our
controversies.
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