The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1870-03-15 00:00:00

POOLE.

PUBLIC MEETING ON NATIONAL EDUCATION.
On Friday evening i public meeting was oonvenri
in the Townball. to Eaten to an address on the
Notional &hoel system of America, from the Rey.
John Murray, of Boston, TT S., who is temporally
supplying the pulpit of the Unitarian Church in this
town. The meeting was well attended, the h.ll eon•
mining a large and attentive audience numbering repro-
tentative' of almost every clam end sect in the neigh-
bourhood, and as will be seen by our report the discussion
that ensasti sifter the lecture me,ged into the grand
edocational qnwition of he day, and led to arrangements
for the establishment of • branch of the Birmingham
League, and the holding of another public meeting
this (Tuesday) evening, to discuss more folly the
Goverameat mesonre. . . .

The Mayor (Mr. F. T. }Loomis) occupied the chair
and introduced the businese of the evening. but was
compelled to leave through Hitless while the lecturer
was delivering his eddrees. On the magisterial bench
supporting the lecturer there were also the Reid. J.
Paull, of Sturtninster Marshall, J. Daniel.. of Kinson,
and J Preettin of Parketone, clergymen; the Reeds.
J. H. Osborne, and T. err. Dissenting ministers;
Aldermen H. Styria( an Mr. Bblition.
The Mien' having read letters cd apnisagy for non-
attendance from Mr. Bastard of Bleodfori, ind Mr. W.
Pike of Wareham, both of whom expneced theitt-
selves in strong terms favourable to the establishment
of free unsectorian and compulsory education.
The Rev. .1. Monatir opened his address by remark-
ing on the importance of education, the establishment
of which into a national system in England had been
found to be beset with so many difficulties. As •
ritism of the great country which was the eldest
daughter of England, ho proposed on the present
oozmion to give them • faithful 'teazel of the American
system, not as its eulogist but as to faithful deffrreator,
and it might be that from the description they might
find something worthy of imitation and some things
perhaps meet for warning. The duty of the State to
provide adequate Instruction for the children of it,
citizens was now being very generally &tweeted. but in
Americus this duty warn deemed • primary one lying at
very foundation of their Repeblicso institutions. New,
the important practical question is how has the
American theory been realised' What machinery
exists for applying the forte of public opinion How
sloes that machinery work? The general Government,
though warmly favouring universal education indirectly,
does not directly provide fort. The common school is
• State, and not • national, institution. Keels State
mares and enforces such school laws as seem good to it.
Each State is divided into counties, and each county le
divided into townships. A township, or "town." ss it
is generally celled, is • piece of territory about six
miles square. In regard to local matters, • town is •
little commonwealth, The State Government requires
each town to furnish school accommodation for all the
children belonging to it, but leaves it discretionary
with the town what the quantity and quality of
the education provided shall be ; since the °Soars
to menage the schools and the money to sustain
them are subject to vote of the people. The
usual plan is to divide each 'town' into school districts,
each one having Its own school, so that all the
children may be within convenient dietaries of •
schoolhouse. A 00M.12.11 nbmber of districts is twelve,
which gives • school to every three square miles. FAA
distriet has what is called a Prudential Committee,
eierited by the people of the district, whose duty is to
keep the echoolhouee in repair, provide fuel, hire and
pay the teachers. A Superinteudins Committee has
the ovensicht of all the schools in the town. It one.
al•ta of three men, electel at the annual town meeting,
,aeh one for three years. The theory is to have three
of the most intellieent and respectable men of the town.
Very generally one or two clergymen are menibers of
it. The duties of the Soperintending Committee are to
eifit the schools regularly ; to examine the candidetes
who present themselves for the °floe of teachers ' • to
advise with the teachers in all matters affecting the
schools ; to re that the teaching is good, the govern•
meet effiedent, the discipline wholesome ' • to settle any
diffieulty that may tome between the teachers and the
parent, whose children they instruct. In the country
schools not much can be done in the way of olaseifying
the pupile aosording to age and acquirement.. In
populous village., and thickly settled districts.
the children am graded, very much, of mores, to their
advantage. There we have primary, grammar, and
high rattails. As to teachers, thero are good. Indif.
tweet, and pour teachers. In the city schools the
Waif/ are eery good. but in the majority of those in the
rural dietricts the rem lion Is not high, the latter
being mainly taught by women. In same parts of the
country she Federal Government has granted oertainhio.
appr priatoi land, to • State for the establishment and
maintenanee of schools. TbeStete would sell them lands,
and with the pries form • school.fund, to be distributed
among the schools of the commonwealth. Hut taking
the country .t lairs, the school-funds formed are •
mere drop in • bucket. The money by will& our
schools are euetainsd is the fruit of direct taxation.
At the annual town meeting an estimate of the public
town expenses for the ensuing year is presented. So
mach for roads, so mush for the Wartss of town
offieera. no much for *shoots. A popular vote decides
how much shall be raised for education. The varionn
appropriations voted for the different town objects are
met by levying tales, as fairly as • committee Owen
for the purpose by vote aim do it, upon all the inhabit-
ants of the town. To begin with, every voter. that is
—every man over twenty-one years of age who is •
&Mien, pays a poll-tax. eenerally about two dollars.
Then, each is taxed in proportion to the amount of pro-
perty he pooseses. Out of the sum thus raised for
Mediation the teachers ere paid, and the school-houses
are warmed and kept in repair. No parent pays any.
thing directly to the teacher for the schooling of his
children ; school-fees are unknown. This we consider
one of the best characteristics of our syetem. It le I
tree that • poor man may have several children in
itched and pay very little, while • rich man may have
not one and pay very liberally. This we do not look I
upon as a hardship, nor consider unjust. Oar theory
is that the State owes an elementary education to every
child, and therfore is justly chargeable with it. so
the poor man does not feel that in the education of his
children he is living on the charity of the rich. He
pays his fair proportion of the amount, and holds up
his bead as an independeet man. We claim for our
noire the unspeakably great merit of completely
saving the poor man', independents.. instead of sapning
it, as I am surprised to find many in this countty con-
tending that it would, were it adopted here. ft seems
to me that if in your proposed system you make those
who are able to par school fees, and let those who are
not ire free, you will simply weaken the feeling of it'd*.
pea,l'enes in the poor by doling out the schooling of
their children se charity. and you will widen the gulf
between them and the rich. • thousand times too wide
already. Let all cross the threshold of the school-
beam on eqnal terms. Let the children of the rich
and poor meet together on the same level, if brand-by
they meet be widely separated by social dietinstions.
A national eyelet° of education means this if it means
anything. Respecting compulsor sessgeres. On per-
eons who emnloy children in factories and in other
kinds of labour they are more or lase binding ; but on
parent., respecting their own children, I believe they
are nearly powerless. We have truant laws, bat thee
are seldom enforeed. My observations has been mainly
mainly in the eonatry diatriets, where the force of
public opinion is such, and the importance of edoos.
lion is no generally realised, that oompulaion is not
much called fen There may be communities in which
compulsion is demanded, bet I think it should be
looked upon as • transient rather than as a permanent
measure. Let me now my • few words on the religious
aspect of the subject. Our schools, being provided for
the children of parents whose religious views IMP so
widely different, and in a country where all creeds
have an equal chance, no met having any epeeist
favour from Goveanroseit, are essentially secular
What the State aims to do is to provide for every child
such an elementary education as will be • fair pre-
paration for the discharge of the duties of citizenship.
But our schools are not godless, as • fanatical outcry,
common hereabout*, would fain make you believe. No
—unless everything not formally religions is with-
out God. In our schools • short passage of the
Bible is commonly reed by the teacher, without
not, or comment, the first thing in the morning.
Perhaps we are as well and as fairly entitled to the name
of • Christian commttni4, as any that can be found.
Yet we are, with few and slight exceptions, satisfied
with the religious or non-religious aspect of our
scho4l ; that is, with having them secular—every
catechism is rigidly excluded—not a single dogma 6
tolerated. Tile Roman Catholics have eomplained, and
do loudly complain, because their children have to b
the reeding of the Bible in a version they do not
approve. But what they went is to have our school-
money divided, they having their share of it with which
to establish their own 'shoots, and educate their children
according to their notions. To deprive the Catholic§
of these objections many of the most enlightened and truly religious Protestants are is favour of giving up
the reading of the Bible in our sehools. They think
that our system of education is imperilled by that
readiag. I think they are right in this willingness to
give up the use of the Bible. can think of no eslaseity
that could befall our country equal to the breaking up
of our common, into sectarian—that is, Leto denom-
ination, schools, for in this connection deuonina
tional means secterien.and nothing else. Not only would
the secular °devotion be far inferior probably, but even
In • religions point of view I think the loss would be
unspeedgabig great. !sabers no great moral, zany I not