would not be temporary. And it was “necessary to preventnthe growth of illiteracy and anarchy in the North, especiallynin Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York.” This wouldnspread mind-control nationally.nPresident Hayes wanted to enlighten the public about thenvirtues of the Blair Bill. He asked an old friend, AlbionnTourgee, to write and speak toward that goal. Tourgee, anformer carpetbagger Supreme Court justice in North Carolina,nhated the South. He had been called “Tourgee thenInfamous” and “Tourgee the Cain-Marked.”nTourgee spent the entire decade fanatically promotingnthe Blair Bill. “Make the spelling book the sceptor ofnnational power” became his theme. The Blair Bill wouldnachieve his dream; the destruction of the South’s moral andncultural traditions and the Democratic Party into thenindefinite future. Tourgee’s novel. Bricks Without Straw,nwas less fiction than a diatribe promoting federal schoolnfunding. It was a major best-seller.nOpposing Blair and Tourgee almost single-handedly wasnEdward Clark, the editorial writer for The New YorknEvening Post. Throughout the 1880’s Clark showed thenAmerican public the dangers. He alone saw how the censusndata had been twisted and misinterpreted by Dr. Mayo.n”Illiteracy,” he wrote, “is bad but it is not the worst thing.nThere is nothing more demoralizing to a state than thenassumption of its own duty by the authorities in Washingtonn. . . unless it is arrested there is . . . grave danger for ournfuture as a nation.”nClark’s editorials and Tourgee’s own zealotry killed Blair.nIt had passed the Senate in 1884, 1886, and 1888, and eachntime narrowly failed the House. But Tourgee could notnsupport it as it stood, since each state would distribute thenfederal funds. Tourgee saw the South as hopelesslynreactionary, and would not trust it to use the money in thencorrect way. Tourgee insisted on bypassing state authority.nSince this proved impossible, he withdrew his support, andnthe Blair Bill died.nThe Hatch ActnWhile the nation’s attention was focused on the strugglenover Blair, a smaller, apparently inoffensive education billnglided through Congress without difficulty. It passed becausenthe appropriations were miniscule compared to Blair,nand it did not concentrate on regional literacy. But in thenlong run the Hatch Act proved devastating.nThe 1887 Hatch Act, or “Agricultural ExperimentalnStation Act,” seemed to be a simple subsidy to land-grantnschools to improve farming techniques. Wrong. In thennever-never world of Congressional double-talk, “agricultural”nspecifically referred to public lands used for thenland-grant schools. It did not mean crop or livestocknexperimentation. Hatch meant school experimentation relatednto human behavior. Nationally. An amendment tonHatch (the Purnell Act) clearly expresses this. It “extendsnthe areas of investigation by the experimental stations toninclude . . . sociological investigations as have for theirnpurpose the development and improvement of the ruralnhome and rural life.” This is not about soybean production.nThis is about human behavior.nThese events of more than a century ago have greaternmeaning for today. Mssrs. Morrill, Blair, and Hatch wouldnbe pleased with the I980’s. It has taken a long time, butntheir ideals have come to pass. Like their hope for docilenConfederate children, our children respect national authority,nare passive, have little motivation to succeed, and onlynthe skills to get menial jobs.nSo it is as true today as in 1877, when a Baltimore schoolnboard president said: “There are those who hold thatnrepublics can be saved by the general diffusion of education.nBut the most effectively despotic government in Europe —nCermany — is the one in which education is most diffused.”nnThe Fourth Annual Erasmus LecturenBIBLICAL iriTERPRETATION IM CRISISnOn the Question of the Foundations and Approaches of Exegesis Todaynby Joseph Cardinal RatzingernPrefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.nPresident of the International Theological Commission and Pontifical Biblical Commission.nTo order your copy of BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION IN CRISIS send $2.50 (includes postage andnhandling) with the coupon below to: The Rockford Institute / 934 North Main Street / Rockford,nIllinois 61103.nn Please send my copy of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger’s “BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION IN CRISIS.nn Enclosed is my check or money order for $2.50nrtamenAddressnCity -State. -Zip.nI Mailto:TheRockordInstitute/934M. Main St./Rockford, IL 61103 TE890 In24/CHRONICLESnnn