The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-06-11

iand ana IN EUROPE pupnshed ny ceepratea
England and Wales, with population OF 1905.
eZi there are eight millions who can neither READ
nor WRITE"
"Of all the children in England and Wales, between
the ages of five and fourteen the majority are not
in attendance nj aIy school There are not in Eng
land one-half many school buildings ere reGui-
site for the instruction Of the rising generation.
Many of the village school masters neither read
write correctly, and ignorant of the contents
of the sacred volume. Numbers Of parishes and dis
tiicts throughout England and Wales have no place
Of Instruction." Still, 1t Is well known that vast
sums of money, perhaps as much as in any country,
are expended for education in England but it does
not reach multitudes of the lower classes, because
i is left to individual effort; no system Of schools
Tor the education OF all is provided by the State.
The Common School Journal edited by Horace
Mann, vol 10, PIP. 800 gives the following state
ment, showing the educational condition of the peo
pie in France in 1S44:-
Unable to read write. ......... .16, 1855 900
Able TO read, but not write. ......... 7097, 900
Able TO read and write mperfectly. 696S,000
Able to read and write correctly. 2,420000
Possessing the elements of classical
education. Observation-Disclosures. 7J0,O00
Having complete classical education. 3l5 900
I0tal. ................ "a, OUO,O0O"
According to the census returns in Spain in 1903,
the number of children receiving education in that
kingdom, exclusive of those brought up in converts
and monasteries, was only one in every three hun
dred and fortysX of the population; and NJ tonnes,
as quoted by Mayhem, estimates that not more than
one child in thirty-ive in Spain ever goes to school,
Nothing inyidious is intended by this comparison
of school statistics with those Of other countes
much less is it introduced by way of Boosting OF our
success The undersigned is too painfully sensible
of the wretched condition of many of our schools
kept they too often are, in cherries and unfurs
nshed grass huts, without floors, and many Of them
without even bench to sit upon; without a suffi-
cient number of books and apparatus; with bad
government, and but poorly qualified teachers, to
indulge such thought for moment
The object ia aimDy to show what DrOyisiOn has
| been made by other governments, and some Of the
most enlightened and Christian, for the instruction
of the whole people; what it has cost; what degree
Of popular education has been attained, and what
has been the result where the State has made little
or no provision for the education of all the people,
with view to afford encouragement and hope, and
| to show that poor as our schools are, our success
has been great considering the time and the efforts
made: to drive away dependency, and to lead to
greater and more wisely directed effort in the
on the islands 1t is less than sixteen years since
the Kings government, as such, made any attempt
at supporting system OF free schools, and this de-
partment has not been organized eight years; yet
the proportion of our islanders who can read their
own language is already, as we have seen, greater
than in some old and enlightened States. In the
Sandwich Islands only about one adult in four
not read his Bible his newspaper the constitution
and laws under which ne lives and the ballot he
throws into the box, while in North Carolina one
ont of every three is unable to do This result is
worthy of notice since here the State has done
almost the entire work Of educating the masses,
while there the State has done little or nothing.
But you are told that the knowledge acquired in
native schools is of practical value; that the
pupils learn merely by rote, and do not comprehend
what they are taught, or make any use of it. Such
assertions not founded in reason. or supported
by facts. True, our islanders who read their own
language may exercise less the power Of indepen.
dent thought and possess really less practical know
ledge and good judgment, than those people of
North Carolina, who cannot read at all; and this is
not strange All knowledge is not to be derived
from books. people surrounded by intelligence
and active enterprise, keeping all minds and all
hands in motion; and, what is perhaps more than
ALL disciplined from infancy by the use of Ian
guage rich in the accumulated thought of ages, will
necessarily acquire much mental strength, habits of
industry, and, perhaps elevation of general charac-
ter, which people situated these islanders are
cannot 80 readily obtain, even with considerable
knowledge of books. But this does not prove that
such knowledge is valueess 1t only shows the vast
ness and difficulty Of the work it has to do.
knowledge IL power here rs well as sewhere,
and if combined with virtue it is power for good
and good only, to its possessor and to the comml-
nifty. This is as wen established as the laws of
cause and effect; but time is required for general
education to work out its legitimate results here or
anywhere else.
Several OF the honorable members of the House Of
Represe natives being school inspectors, have had
practical knowledge Of tie working of our free
school system for years, and need no argument to
convince them that the common school has beea
Of the most potent instruments in preparing the
people for constitutional government, for exercis-
ing the elective franchise, for introducing trial by
jury, placing natives in offices of high trust and
power securing public tranquility; in short, for
sustaining the whole machinery of a regular gov
eminent made to supersedc despotism of the worst
form, without revolution or shedding one drop Of
| blood.
Without free schools diffusing intelligence among
the entire people, it would be next to impossible for
the king to govern his people by constitution and
laws. But being brought into the common school
at four or five years Of age, and kept there until
they fourteen sixteen, they not only acquire
valuable elementary knowledge, but early trained
to habits Of subordnation, learn subsection to law
and when arrived at years of maturity they east
" governed. Who ever heard of a native, whether
of high rank or low, rising up against the lawg
Such thing is unknown. Why? Because they
have been accustomed from youth to bow to the
majesty Of law.
In short, the tendency Of diffusion of knowledge
among the entire people here is the as in other
countries that is to dispate the evils Of ignorance
increase industry and the productiveness Of labor
diminish pauperism and crime, support good gov
eminent, and difuse general happiness In proper
ton to the value Of these then, let efforts be made
constantly and increasingly to sustain and perfect
our free schools.
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