ce."[64] Thomas Nelson Page states that "the Negro may
individually attain a fair and in uncommon instances a considerable
degree of mental development."[65] Another states that "We must
educate him because ignorant men are dangerous, especially to a
democracy pledged to educate all men."[66] Some believe that we must
also educate him for self-protection from vice and disease. The
Southern Educational Association in 1907 passed the following
resolution: "We endorse the accepted policy of the States of the South
in providing educational facilities for the youth of the Negro race,
believing that whatever the ultimate solution of this grievous problem
may be, education must be an important factor in that solution."[67]

Illiteracy which in 1863 equaled about 95 per cent of the Negro
population has been decreasing rapidly since the Civil War. The
illiteracy of the Negro during the last three decades has been as
follows: in 1890, 57.1 per cent; in 1900, 44.5 per cent; and in 1910,
30.4 per cent. In the North in 1910 the illiteracy was 18.2 per cent
in the South 48.0 per cent, and in the West 13.1 per cent.[68] The
urban Negro in 1910 showed 17.6 per cent illiteracy and the rural 36.5
per cent. Louisiana showed 48 per cent, whereas Minnesota and Oregon
showed only 3.4 per cent.[69] In 1900 when the Negro illiteracy was
44.5 per cent, the children between ten and twenty-five years of age
showed only 30 per cent and those between 10 and 14 years in
Mississippi showed only 22 per cent.[70] The illiteracy for all Negro
children was 25 per cent, whereas the illiteracy for all white
children was only 10.5 per cent.[71] The illiteracy of our Negroes
does not seem so great when a comparison is made with some foreign
countries:[72]

Race Illiteracy

Negroes 30.4
Bulgaria 65.5
Greece 57.2
Hungary 40.9
Italy 48.2
Poland 59.3
Portugal 73.4
Russia 70.0
Servia 78.9
Spain 58.7
Chile 49.9
Cuba 56.8
Mexico 75.3
Porto Rico 79.6
India 92.5
Philippines 55.5
Cape of Good Hope 65.8
Egypt 92.7

The percentage of Negro illiteracy in America is less than any one of
these foreign races.

The criminality of the Negro seemingly has decreased as the illiteracy