The Cadiz Democratic sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 1854-1864, 1854-06-14
( From the Bryan Gwiliiams Goa Ilem'
Who is to Blame.

Who is to Blame.
Our Washington correspondent, Bligham
makes SO hedious a scraNl that no compos-
itor in Tue Office would take his manuscript
in hand, and We had no time to transcrioe
it.-M Gsedd Messenger
This viii do very well for text, The
Printer, perhaps, has the best opportunities
of knowing what Aiserable writers the A
merican people are. And how much oi
this "transcribing" is done in our news Of
fees. no one but the editor knows. Per-
hans this "Bhgham" is what the world
calls an accomplished Scholar graduate
msybe. who is fiourishing in the "hrst cir
cless'' at the great Capital; andyet, his man
uscript SO hideous" that even a printer,
who IS supposed to decyphering such 'scrawls'
wonld not "take it in hand." And, this
is the case with large majority Of the ''great
men, of this nation; they cannot read their
own writing after the ink becomes dry.
But, bad writing is not the only thing
that printers are troubled with, our people
are equally as deficient in photography, and
punctuation they know not about. Outside oil
the printing Office and the EDITORS sanctum,
with very few exceptions, knowledge OF
correct composition is entirely waiting. Ev-
cry prac ical printer knows this, and every
editors drawer exhibits the fact. we now
have on hand communications which we
would not dare to publish as they are Tor
fear Of having a charge of slander preferred
against u.s. Nor is it because these elements
OF education are unattainable by the child
or the man. Ii is true, our system OF Or
biography is very imperfect, and even ri
dicu Gus, but still it is not impossible to
master it. ~
The question arises: Whose fault is it,
that we. as nation, are SO imperfect i'll spell
ling, reading, and writing? In the first
place, the parents are to blame. The idea
has become very generally that we are
E'fa.t nation," and live in ga progressive
age" Even the cold folks" have caught
the spirit, and each child, therefore, must be
prodigy. We see the kind mother learn
ing the "smart boy" the alphabet, and the
next step the First Reader is introduced
The patient mother points to each word, and
Jonny spells it as he proceeds, and what he
cannot spell his mother does for him. a
lesson or two are crippled in this way, and
Jonny is sent to school with the third Rea-
der. The spelling book is stale, and out
of date, and the "dear boy must not be pes
tered with it at home or at school.-And
thus we find many children in our schools
with the third reaaer in their bands, who
really do not know all the letters Of the al
phabet. This will account for the many
GOOD az readers in our country
y ! II
Secondly, the school teacher is to blame,
He is also "progresslve man." Jonny Is
soon told to lay aside his Reader and is
taught to 1rite his own name sufficiently
plain for himself and teacher to read, when
he is invited to 'eome up higher" and is
soon lost in amazes of a "genteel education"
Jonny, while in the Reader, never heard OF
punctuation; and if irterrogated on the sub
ject, as you hear him drawing out and muir
dering sentences, he tells, you that his
teacher does not kno " anything about pune
tuation, as he never taught it to his scholars
and as for himself, he never knew what
'them little dots meant" But, we cannot
wonder that our teachers do not instruct
their pupils in these branches, for most OF
them knew nothing about them, anI there
loTe 40 Hot dPPieoiat0 'u0tt 'ii
volume might be written on the present tool-
ish manner of educating our youth, and the
woeful neglected. duty by our teachers IN re-
gard to these essential parts oil an educa-
tion.
'Tis not strange, then, if we find nine
tenths ofour population who cannot compose
sentence correctly, if it were to save their
heads. It's said that ignorance is bliss,
and we think that this kind of bliss is pretty
fully enjoyed; there is no dividing line here:
the rich and the poor, the high and the low,
are ON common level. and the graduate
and the loafer cannot reproach each other in
this respect. But, Notwithstanding their ear
/: :ly education, most persons might become
good, or at least better composers; with IL
little study and practice on the snbJect.