Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1856-02-27
TuEFARMERS, HIGH SCHOOL

The following extract from the 'sMemorial
of the Committee of the Board of Trustees"
will give the reader a clear understanding of
the objects. &C., of the Farmers High School
of Pennsylvania -
The objects of the Farmers High School of
Pennsylvania are so important, and seem to
commend themselves so directly to public ia
yor, that the trustees come to the Legislature
with perfect confidence that the peoples rep
resentatives will afford the aid required TO
place The institution in actual operation. 9th
er and younger States have made appropris-
tons to similar objects. Why should Penn
sylvania, with her vast agricultural resources,
developed and undeveloped, remain inactive
This institution proposes by uniting the ac
quistion of knowledge with daily toll, to inn
part interest to the one, and add dignity to the
other. 1t proposes TO remedy an evil which
exists at every literary institution in the COM
monwealth. That evil is the low repute in
which manual labor is held by the student.
We have had, it is true, farms connected with
some of our colleges, upon which those of the
students who chose might lessen the expenses
of acquiring their education by manual labor.
lnOse WHO. wrought upon the iaiih "eic, ny
those who did not labor, esteemed poor; and
like the poor mans children, educated at pub
lie expense under the act of April 4, 1909,
they became distinct class, cut off from the
society of those who, by the very distinction
thus created, were led to believe their parents
rich 1t is thus that manual labor is degra-
ding in the eyes of the youth of our colleges
- ob hot ;,p ~ ;p< NJ of
ten, they are graduated with an utter distaste
and adherence for the pursuits and occupa-
tions of their fathers, whether in the field or
the shop. The association of manual labor
with slavery, which is but an extension Of this
same prejudice, rests like an incubus upon the
sunny lands and fertile fields OF the South
There thousands of families endure poverty
and want rather thsn degrade themselves by
manual labor. Our present common school
laws placing the children of the poor and the
rich upon one common platform, it is esteem
ed honorable in all TO acquire knowledge at
the public expense.
The Farmers High School proposes to re-
quire such amount Of manual labor as shall be
found beneficial and proper, of every student,
as one of the conditions of his admission to,
and of his continuance in the institution. The
ambition of students, thus placed upon per-
feet equality, with no standard but. advance
ment in learning and skill in labor, to elevate
or degrade them, will soon bring into active
exercise energies of mind and of body, which,
but for this incentive to industry, might have
lain dormant.
The profits arising from the labor of the stu
dents are to go into the treasury of the insti-
tuition, to lessen the expenses of their educa-
ton. 1t has been estimated that after the in
stitution shall have been put in operation, with
suitable buildings, four hundred acres of such
land as that which has been secured and free
from debt, the necessary expenses of the stu
dent, including boarding, washing and tuition,
will not exceed seventy-five dollars per annum.
1t is not proposed to teach the dead langua-
ges. If deemed by any essential to a good ed
ucation, they should be acquired prior to the
age at which pupils can be admitted into the
institution.
With this exception ii is proposed to afford
the student, in four years course, COM
plete and thorough an educati on as can be ac-
quired at our best literary institutons-an ed
ucation which, though not less scientific, shall
be rendered more practical by the daily oper-
ations and illustrations in the field and the
shop.
One great and leading object of the institu
ton is to lessen, by manual labor, the expenses
so as to bring the acquisition of scientific ed