Wheeling times and advertiser. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1839-1849, 1845-12-19
EDUCATION CONVENTION.
Friday, dec ~, 1915.
III ERNOON SESSION

49, EhNODN SISSclON.
The Convention reasscmbled at i o'clock,
IN the Lecture Room of the First. Baptist
Church.
The following Report of the. Minority of the
Committee on Common Schools being under
consideration:
Rcpor Of the Minority of the Copinftice on
Common Schools.
Mr. Samuel Nj Jenny, from the minority ar
the committee, presented the following report
"a substitute:
The undersigned being minority Of the
committee on common schools not itEsa1Ag
TO all the views reported b. the majorV
leave to submit the following views ansL}FN-
| luton.
The object to BE- kessin view, in devising
a system OF educa,ioai6S4s whole community
is to dilluse intelligcnteSnd encourage virtue,
as widely as possible among the people, with
out subecting them TO excessive taxation.
Should the system be too expensive TO gain
public iaNor II cannot be adopted, or if adop-
ted. will not b. maintained. And should the
means provided for popular instruction be too
limited, or confined 10 a portion only of the
people, II will not answer the end in view,
and must fall into disgepute.
On examining the system of popular educa-
ton now IN existence in thil State, il must
be acknowledged, that il has not dispensed
general knowledge among the people, nor does
IL possess, from superior economy, any title TO
public favor.
The simple fact announced by the census of
$50, that the number of white persons ina
Virginia above the age of 20 years who could
not read nor write amounted To- IS 7S7 being
about l-l2th OF the whole white populations
or 10th OF the adults, affords conclusive evil
drncc that our State has not done her dut i'm
providing for her children the means of obtai-
ming even the rudimcnts of knowledge Ii
might be supposed that a people so deficient
IN the means OF education, would at least ba.
exempt from its burdens, but this does not
prove 10 he the case; for il will b. shown by
the statistics we are about to bring forward,
that the money now expended from public
funds and private subscriptions, to support
the primary schools and academies Of Virgin
Ia, and aliording instruction to less than half
the children OF a suitable age to 90 TO school,
would, II judiciously applied TO a well arran-
gcd district system, afford 20 every child i'm the
State an opportunity to obtain a good English
education.
II has generally been supposed. that the po-
pulatlon OF Virginia is too sparse TO admit of
the introduction of such system and we ac-
acknowledge that ina few counties ths is pro-
badly the case; but in many OF the counties.
the white population ranges from to 10 per
'Ni'' fNi Ulllts anu TIE average lOT the
whole State is nearly IL. Now ilaypears that
when the State of Maine established her com
mon school system, which is one of the most
successful in the Union. her population only
numbered 2 per square mile, being not more
dense than many OF the counties in Virginia
Ii may readily be shown, that IA county with
ID inhabitants per square mile, has. within
COMPASS OF four mjles square, sufficient mum
Der oi children TO form school Of a convent
ellt size.
district of four miles square, contains an
area OF II square miles, and computing | ; per.
sons per sqnare mile, would contain 2lO in
habitants, Allowing the children from > To-
ID years of age, TO number one fourth of the
inhabitants, (Which is the usual proportion
there would be- 60 such children, and suppo-
sing two thirds OF them TO be constantly at
school, would be IS scholars, and the expense
OF tuition would b. about $500 per annum.
requiring an expenditure OF about S % for e.
very white inhabitunt.
But suppose the district 10 have only ten
white inhabitants per square mile. the area
would have To- be- increased 10 miles s1uarc
and a schOolhouse in the centre would subject
some OF the children TO the necessity Of going
about two and half miles TO school Such
district would contain - square miles and
100 inhabitants. and would afford a school a
bout the same size and involving the same OK
pcnse The area ol Virginia is about s. 900
square miles, and had in 1910. 1875 ,J67 chill
drrn between the ages OF and ] 3: and sup
posing The whole State 10 be divided into
school districts, containing each - square
miles. would require 2720 schools: TO which
add for the citfs aud boroughs the number Of
schools and academies they had in 1910. I2S
making IN all 2Si9, and allowing $500 per am
NUN 20 each teacher, the whole cost Tor the
State wrll b. S5ji 700. being 81 81 II for
each child between the ages Of and 10. Ac-