Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1862-05-28
Uncle Lem. on Rducation.

A correspondent Of the Boston Courier.
gives the following as a speech actually
made at a recent town meeting in Dorches-
ter, Massachusetts,, by "Uncle Lem" one
of the patriarchs of the town. and a rep
resentative of the "old school," in two sen
ees:-
"Mr. Cheerman, education is run into
the ground. Great big school-uses (schoOl
houses all over town, chock full O Tentil-
ators, and steam pipes, and all kind O. fix
ms inside, and pyazzers, sixteen-cOrner ga
bles, and windmill chimblies outside
master for every room, and a school marin
for every closet. The committee man in
his report saws, "cne Of EN- is a flagship.
and eight of the masters are a pulling on
one oar" That's pretty business for school
masters, and for us to pay forl
eWhen 1 was . boy. there was two school
deestricts in town, and each Of EN- had a
schoolus ten feet high. They didn't pay
sl,400 a year for eleanin' on 'em out and
maxim fires. Boys took turns at that, and
it did EN- good. Boys are dressed up too
much for that now. Our deestrick school
us was down to Meetin'- hus hill. DIR. Har-
ris, he was School Committee, and when
we did our sums right he gin Us a stick O.
candy and never charged nothin' for that,
nor for his services The gentleman says,
If out South they had such schooluses as
we have, there wouldn't be any war
Well, / guess there wouldn't. They'd soon
use up their cash at home.
"NoE, what's the good of so much eddi-
cation? The gentleman says, and he talks
pretty big, that money for eddication of the
poor is 'wrung out of wealth by democrat
ic Institutions That don't look to me
quite honest. Now, l believe that every
body should be dedicated. That is, he
should be taught to read, write and cipher,
and learn geography, &c. Gre him Mat
start, and If he as ft for Il, he'll get tie
rest himseJ-DazieL We6Ster did, If a
boy amt fit for it, he won't get It'll So
schdt's the use Of rannain' an wads that's
too big for the barreR If parents want
to do it, let 'em do it themselves. Gin the
boy q fair English dedication, and then If
he wants algebra, and astronomy, aud phi
losophy, and geometry, and Latin. Greek,
Hebrew, ChoctaW, and what not, let his
father pay for i'll You and 1 hadn't ought
to. We ought to feed and clothe the poor,
but we amt Obleeged to give en- roast tur-
key and champagne every day, and send
EN- to HuntingtOn's to get measured for
their coats, be We?
"Another thing. these boys get kind @
stuck up, and amt satisfied with home and
farmin' and mechanics business They
are apt to get sarcy and think they know
morn their fathers and mothers. They
most all want to 60 to college, or into bust
ness.
"Now, Lord knows, there is more minis
tiers, lawyers and doctors, than there is any
call for, and as for business, | guess about
nine out of ten business men bust up. 1t
is a grab game, any way, and there is SO
much grabbing at it there amt much apiece.
"What I've said about boys, l mean to
say about the gals. Their ma'ams wear
calicocs-they wear silks. Their ma'ams
sweep cut the house, make the puddin',
and make trowsers and gowns-they stay
home and read, and eat tie puddin' and
hire dress-makers.
"Now, somebody has to pay these extra
bills for the boys and gals, as the town ed
dicates EN- and puts 'em up to it Imove
the town makes an. appropriation to sup
port EN-, arter they've got an dedication,
they don't know what to do with it?n