Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1854-02-24
THE SCHOOL SYSTEM or OHIO.
BY II. II. BARNEY. STATE COMMON SCHOOL
COMMISSIONER.
Connection between Ignorance and
Crime; District School Libraries, sc.

In the petition, we lind the following state.
ment: 1T is an old and simple fact, that no
mans hon sty, fair dealing &c, can be meas
ured by the amount of learning he may have.
The whole history Jurisprudence does not
show it, facts in this matter are better than
theory" AS We understand him, the doc
tline Of the witer Of the petition. is. " the
more ignorance, the more honesty, the more
fair dealing the more peace" 1t may do tU
preach such doctrine in arb trary governments,
where the masses have been ST. long down
trodden beneath the iron heel Of heartless
despoIism, that every noble impulse and SEN
tImrnts ot freedom had died out of them.
Under such governments, it is conceded
that education, enabling the people to com
prehend the gross injustice Of the power BY
which they are crushed. wou d strongly in
eli e the masses to sever the chains by which
they are bound in serve vassalage To the De-
hesi Of worthless tyrauts Aud. no doubt
the history Of jurispr prudence in such govern.
menis, wculd furnish fair share Of educated
convicts for political offences. But. so e. ms
rel ties 10 our own country, we unhes,"tingl,
take issue with the petitioner, and appeal al
unce to the history Of our own jurisprudence
to show the connection between ignorance
and crime in free country like ours.
Out Of nearly $4,000 persons convicted o.
crime in the several courts Of the State o
New York. during period Of ten years, bu
llS had enjoyed the benefits of good com
mon school education; Ala only had what thu
returning officer characterized as n tolerasle'
share Of learning. and of the residue. abou
one hdLf only could read or Write at aH Sim
liar statistics. with similar results. gathered
from other States, are at hand, to enforce anC
corroborate she statement so "ften made By
our ahlesl statesmen, viz: "That ignoranc,
should no more be counenanced than vic,
and crime; that the one leans inevitably t,
the other" Education prevents and dimiu
ishrs crime, gives security to property. an,
lessons the expense Of poorh houses. hospitals
prisons and police estab!ishm nts
at is much cheaper to educate than 10 pm
ish. A well educated and enlightened peo
pie will have but little occasion for crimina
courts jiils, AMI penitentiaries." ltis rrope
To state here. that in relation TO the New
York criminal statistics. that if the educated
and unrducaled criminals had borne the sam,
proportion 10 each other that the educated
and uneducattd population OF the State did a
the same time said statistics were gathered
then, only serenity out Of the 2S.000 criminal
would have been found unable 10 read o
wrte. What an instructive lesson does thi
fret furnish? And with such facts befor
him, how car any patriot reluctantly yield hi
m::c to sustain noble system of free schools
The truth is, we have heretofore depended
too much uLon European statistics, and tn
statements Of men VIII 'se strong prejudice ha
caused them to advocate the blessing Of ignof
ance. Let u. people, wake up, and brra
away from those semi. barbaruus notions Tn
aye demands it; the honor of the State De
mands it; the wrlfar If The thousands, 500
to fill our place demands it.
A AIain. the petition states: awe woul
suggest the very doubtful propriety Of tn
great State Of Ohio. through her authorities
enga ing in the book trade: besides. we hav
BOOK stores and newspapers plenty an
cheap"
Is this intended as an argument against th
library feature of the new School Law?
so. wouli il no. be well Tor the petitioners
| "HiC tHc1 dit 81 " Fpr'uiui w tHc 'dH idiii
Of the great State of Ohi." o manifest som
soli itude for the happiness. the intelligence
or he future u.efu!ness Of the 100000 chill
rem of the State, whom the law proposes I
furnish with few vauatls bmks ~ rea
during their hours of leisure, and cheerful
contribute the one-tenth of one mill on I'll
dollar, or one dollar on the thousand. to il
crease the intellectual capital Of the State %
WoulL il not he well for them To c"nside
before they send up their petition to the GeI
eral Assembly, how much qualification the
can reasonably expect 10 derive, as ,hev d,
scend the vale Of years. from the r.Arclio
that their petition was instrumental in depri'
ing thousands of families of almost the onl
means Of b-guiling their lonely hours an
cheering their humble lot! Aud h"w man
Of the future children Of this Republic vi
rise up and call them blessed?
Temperance.