Southport telegraph. [volume] (Southport, W.T. [i.e. Kenosha, Wis.]) 1840-1850, 1849-08-31

|
There are more than one hundred and fifty
towns in Observation-Disclosures is, about hall
the whole number in the Slaie.-m each OF
which, the annual appropriation for all lis
! schools is less than one thousand dollars.
A burglar or highway robher will seldom
peril his life without the prospect Of a prize
wi ich would educate five hundred or a
thousand children for year. An incendi.
airy exhibits fire works at an expense
which would educate all the children of
many school district in the State. from
the aye of four 10 that ofsixtcen; while the
only reward he expects is that of stealing
a few garments or lrinkets during the con
nagraion. In a single city, in the State.
consisting of sixteen or seventeen thousand
inhabitants, 1t was estimated by most re-
specialize and intelligent committee. that the
cost of alcoholic drinks during the asst year
! far exceeded the combined cost of all the
schools and all the churches in it, although
for both religion and cducaiion, it is high
ly liberal city. The police expenses alone
OF the City OF New y ork are about half n
million year. But all these are but part
of the sideways through wi ich The hard
earned wealth of the people is wasted.
| What shalt be said of those stock swndI>
lngs and bank-faiIures whose capitals of
hundreds Of thousands of dollars are en-
bczzed in fair business transactions"
whose vaults, sworn to be full of specie or
bullion. remind one, on Inspection, not
merely Of pecuniary, but of Il philosoph-
zeal vacuum;-what of those epidemic
SpecuIalions in lard,-(oftcn Fairy Land,
though void of both beauty and poetry. J.
where fortunes change hands as rapidly as
if dependent upon tie throw of gamblers
dice; and what of those enormous prcula-
lions by government delaultcrs, where
more money is cngulP hed, by one supcn-
dnus fraud Than massachusetts eXpenIs for
the education Of all her children in Il year.
All this devastation and loss, the public
bears with marvellous, with most criminal
cOmposurc. The people at a large stand
by the Wrcck~covered shore, where so ma.
ny millions arc dashed in pieces and sunk,
and seem not Ia recognize the destruction;
and ,-what is infinitely worse, there are
those who rejoice in the howl Of the ten
pest and the Shricks ol the sufferers. be-
cause they can grow rich by laundering
here AMI there i fragment Of property from
the deal or the defence less. BY charity,
by direct taxes, by paying twenty or thirty
per cent. more for every article or necessary
OF life Than it is equilably worth, by bad
debts, by the occasional and involuntary
contribution of a pocket book, watch, a
horse, carriage, ship, or a cargo, 10
which the rohber and the barrator help
themselves, by paying premiums for insur-
ance, and in hundred other ways, The
honest and industrious part of the people
not only support themselves, but supply
The mighty current of wealth that goes to
destruction through these flood gates of in
iquly. The people do not yet seem To
see that all the cost of lcgislating against
criminals; Of Judges and prosecuting oft
GERS, of Jurors and witnesses, to convict
them; of building houses Of correction, aud
jaIlS and penlcnliarlcs, for restraining and
Furnishing them, Is not hundredih part of
the grand total OF expenditure incurred by
prlva'e and social immoralllc> and crimes,
The people do not yet seem to see, that the
intelligence and morality Whlf h education
can Impart, is that benticent kind Of Insur- /
ance which, by preventing losses, obvlatcs
tie necessity of indemnllying for thcm;-
thus saving both premium and risk. What /
is enguIgphed in the vortex al crime, N each 4
generation, wonld build a palace o! more
than Oriental splendor i'll every school dis
iricl in the land; would cndow il with a
library beyond tive ability Of life time to
read; would supply ii with apparatus and
laboratories for the illustration of every SIT
dy and the cXempllfication OF every art, anl
rcquite the services OF tcachr
worthy To preside in such IA sanctuary of
intelligence and virtue"