Daily American telegraph., 1852-08-27
AMERICAN TELEGRAPH.
OUR PUBLIC sCHooLs.-No. Nv.
By s. $. RANDALL.


very powerful illustration Of the intimate
which subsists between Education and
the well-being both of individuals and communi-
ties - between ignorance, wretchedness, and
be found in the written as well as
unwritten annals of the prisons, penitentiaries,
and almshouses of our own country and OF Eu-
rope.
The whole number Of convictions for crime in
the State of New York for period OF nine years,
from l840 to 1S48, both inclusive, as returned
by the sherffs of the several counties to the of1ce
of the Secretary of State, in accordance with
law, was II, ,949. OF the persons so convicted,
1872 are returned as having received " COM
mon education;'' 4l4 only rs "tolernbly well
educated;" and l28 only, or one IN erery 2l9, as
"TeU educated" Of the remaining 20, go about
half could barely read and write; the residue
appear to have been wholly destitute of even the
elementary principles oflearning. These are the
results even Of the present imperfect and, in
many respects, seriously defective system Of ed
ucaton which has hitherto prevailed in that
State.
During period of eleven years, from 1896 to
l847, the annual average of accusations for crime
in all the counties Of England and Wales from
which returns were received was 25, Az; of
which log only were preferred against per-
sons educated in any degree beyond the mere
ability to read and write. The proportion of nc
cusations to the entire male population was one
in $40, while the proportion Of such accusations
against those educated beyond reading and rriting
was only one 1921 The proportion of accu-
satons to the entire female population was one
in 1850; while the proportion against those ell
ucated beyond reading and writing was but one
in upward of hco millions! In l845, twenty-five
counties, comprising an aggregate population of
ll,l83,718, furnished but forty five convicts edu
Gated beyond the mere ability to read and write;
and thirty other counties comprising an aggre-
gate population of 4, ,728 8O39, furnished not sin
gle one! The returns of 1886 gives similar re-
suits In fifteen English counties no person ed
ucated beyond reading and writing was convicted
in either year. In the county Of Middlesex, in
Guiding the city of London, but three educated
persons were convicted of crime in l845, and one
only in 1916! The whole number of charges
against boys under fifteen years Of age was
g. l89; Of whom not single one had been edu-
Gated beyond mere reading and writing.
These statistics have been carefully compiled
from the Journal of the London Statistical Socie-
ty and their accuracy is vouched for by the
most reliable English authority.
An examination of the statistics Of mendicity
and pauperism win likewise show that Of the
vast number of hapless individuals, supported Mt
an enormous cost from the public funds, the num-
Der who have received even the most ordinary
education is very small. And yet the aggregate
annual cost OF supporting this class Of persons
in the State Of New York alone exceeds $500, 900,
or the whole amount raised by tax for the main
tenance of eleven thousand public schools.
If we deduct from the whole number Of con-
victs and of paupers annually immured in our
prisons, penitentiarics, and almshouses, the i'm
mense aggregate of ignorant and uneducated
persons and with it the cost attendant upon their
arrest, conviction, and support, we shall be ena
bled to form some conception Of the tremendou:
burden which has hitherto pressed like terrible
incubus upon the energies Of society Strike Al
the root Of the monster evil: take every child
while his nature is yet pure and unperVerted
store his mind with knowledge, and train his af-
fection and his heart, his whole moral nature to
virtue; develop and direct his developing facul-
ties with judgment, with discretion, and with
love; cultivate thoroughly and wisely his entire
being, and the uncounted millions which are now
annually expended in the detection and punish
ment of crime, and in the support of the crimi-
nal, the mendicant, and the pauper may be di-
verted to other and far more productive and fer
tilzing channels. The wildernesses and solitary
places Of human guilt and misery may be made
to blossom like the rose; and the energies and
faculties Of thousands Of immortal minds be di-
verted from career Of ignominy and vice to one
of honor, usefulness, and happiness.