Daily American telegraph. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1851-1852, 1852-08-30
OUR PUBLIC scHoOLs.-No. y.
BY g. :. RANDALL.


II has been fully and repeatedly demonstrated,
by both practical and scientific men, that the ag-
gregate amount Of industry in any community
may be vastly increased by means OF general and
specific intellectual culture that, in any given
pursuit, trade, occupation, the individual or
most varied information and accurate knowledge
possesses decided advantages in the accumulation
OF wealth over all competitors less favored in this
regard and that the various avenues leading to
mercantile, manufacturing, agricultural sue
cess may be tnr more prohtably occupied by the
educated than by the ignorant OF the superficial
From whence do We derive the very existence
OF property? What gives it Its value? What
protects, preserves aud defends il against yio-
ences, subtlety, fraud, and craftf And what
enables its possessor to enjoy and to use il with
safety and profit Is it not the power and the
influence OF n patarnal government, securing the
prevalence Of good order throughout the commu-
nifty, establishing and maintaining just laws, af-
fording adequate remedies for their violation, and
watching over the welfare and safety of the hum
blest equally with the highest citizen Of the COM
monWealth? And has not the general diffusion
Of sound knowledge, the inculcation OF pure mo-
rality, the formation Of yirtuous habits, the pres
ence and operation Of q pervading sentiment OF
integrity, an undeniabe tendency 70 render the
possession and enjoyment oil property more &C.
cure, more valuable, more certain? DO they not
tHHdHct llS WOIth, cnSouiuBC isS
acquisition, and ensure its profits? lis 1t not,
moreover, within the personal experience Of most
business men that the pecuniary value OF real
estate especially is in very great degree NJ
facted favorably or adversely by the presence or
absence Of an enlightened, orderly, and law-abi-
ding neighborhood?
A few years since circular letter was ad-
dressed by the Hon. Horace Mann, then Secre-
tary Of the Massachusetts, Board OF Educntlon,
to the principal and most experienced educators
Of different sections of the country, requesting
their opinion to the proportion Of the rising
generation, who if placed between The ages Of
superintendent of teachers OF the highest attain
able grade of qualifications, could be so educated
| and trimmed rs to "become nsetai and exemplary
men--honest dealers, conscientious jurors, true
witnesses, incorruptble voters or magistrates,
good parents, good neighbors, good members OF
society; temperate, industrious frugal, conscien-
tious i'll all their dealings; prompt to pity and
instruct ignorance, instead OF ridiculing it and
and taking advantage Of it; public spirited, PM
lanthropic, and observers of all things sacred
| To this inquiry the unanimous response OF the
| several individuals addressed comprising the
most eminent and distinguished teachers OF the
operation with each other, was nnhesitatngy
" NINETY NINE ouT or EVERY HUNDRED, eUen ~
tie generation jiy2t Submitted 10 The eIperiment9'
The entire espondence-and most interesting
end instructive it is-may be found in the
eleventh annual report Of the Secretary OF the
Massachusetts, Board OF Education.