The public schools are free and open to all, but in some towns in the Southern States special schools are provided for the colored people.

Having such facilities for gaining knowledge, it naturally follows that the Americans, as a whole, are an educated people.

By this I mean the native American, not the recent immigrants and negroes, but even as regards the latter a reservation should be made, for some of the negroes, such as Booker T.
Washington and others, have become eminent through their learning and educational work.
The distinguishing feature of the school system is that it is cheap and comprehensive.

In the primary and high schools the boys and girls, whether they come from the wealthy or aristocratic families, or from more straitened homes, are all studying together in the same class-room, and it is known that a President sent his son to study in a public school.

There is, therefore, no excuse for even the poorest man in America being an illiterate.