Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen.—Without preface I proceed at once to state the proposition to which I ask your considerate attention. The friends of popular education believe that the time has fully come when national aid should be given wherever such aid is needed, and to the extent that it is needed, for the free education of all the citizens of the United States. The grave necessity for national aid for education is in the Southern States, and especially for the colored people. But the white people of the South also need it. The people of New Mexico and the other Territories need it. It is not improbable that by reason of immigration from countries where popular education is neglected, some of the new States and some of the large cities may need it. The Indians did need it, but happily the large appropriations recently made for their education—amounting to almost half a million of dollars for the next fiscal year, and the action of the government during the last few years in behalf of their education at Hampton, at Carlisle, in Oregon, at the Indian agencies, and at tribal schools, have at last fully committed the nation to the wise and beneficent policy of fitting the Indians, as far as practicable, and as fast as practicable, for the duties and privileges of American citizenship. The bills pending in Congress on the subject of national aid for education are of two classes. One class seeks to establish a permanent fund by devoting to the purpose the receipts of the sales of the public lands, or from the taxes on spirituous liquors, or from other specified sources. By the other class of measures the money required is appropriated directly from the public treasury. The measure which perhaps meets with most favor is the latter class. It requires that ten or fifteen millions of dollars a year shall be distributed among the States—each State to have that proportion of this sum which its illiteracy bears to the total illiteracy of the whole country. This appropriation, it is contemplated, will be continued long enough to test the value of the measure, or until the States themselves shall become able to provide for the free education of all citizens.