Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1865-1869, 1866-01-25
RICHMOND WING.
THURSDAY MoRNlNG.....JAN. p. IsG
"Bavonets and School Houses"

houses, The Nation uCNOlcS dh editorial drti-
Gle to the South Ii lays down a lcgiSlativ,
programme for Congress in its Southern policy,
which smacks Of the birch and smells Of gun
powder. We are not only to be governed D.,
seventy thousand soldiers, under Mr.. VII
sons bill, but we are to be subject to tn,
wholesome discipline Of an army of school
teachers, under bill now before the joint
Committee on Reconstruction. We are all
boys and girls, and have to 20 to school,
1--we demur, compulSion is to be brought to bear
upon us. Ifthe1birchen rod should not prove
eficient,we will be forced to hear the lessons
of New England pcdagogues under the prick
OF the bayOnet. SchoOl-mastering with ven
geancc, truly, What if the South produced
WASHINGTON, JEFFERSON, MADISON, Mon
ROE, the LEES, HENRY, MARSHALL, Ran
UoLPH, CLAY, the PINCENEYS, and numbcrIrNN
other .names that were not born TO die -
They were accidents, and prove nothing. We
are but barbarians, whose ignorance is an Of
Tense to Northern culture and civilization -
Their righteous hearts yearn toward Us. They
want 10 force us under that glorious light
which iIlumines the minds OF CHARLES Sun
SgR. THAbpErs STEVENS and Wendell Pull
LIPS. Says The Nation, with great simplicity,
ssMany will object to such compulsion as an M
fringemcnt Of private right and individual free
DOM" We object to nothing. We lay claim
to no private rights, il Radical couusels are Z"
prevail. As for "indiyidual freedom" We
leave that entirely to the negroes as a monop-
oily. That horrid jest Of The Nation about
..rights" and o.freedom," in connection with the
Southern whites, is a cruel mockery. Might Is
right The Radicals have the one and will not
permit the other TO be questioned. To rs OF
the South, it is fast becoming a matter OF iudii-
ference how, and to what extent, they are
about to exercise this might. II there Is one
request, however, that we may be permitted to
make-not as u matter OF right, but Of grace
il is that when sent TO school they will not re-
quire us to wear round-abouts, and to spell
theatre theater, and centre center.
The Nation expects much difficulty to be en-
cour,cred by reason of "tle innate hostility Of
Il. s,4H to the light Of letters" In specializing
upon this subject it grows bold, saying that the
President made mistake in not requiring
..tpc foundation of a common school system
as one oil the prerequisites OF reconciliation
aud forgiveness" This, il says, would have
4" invoIyed the enforcement of the couli>catiou
act, in order so to distribute population as To
bring the school districts within practicable
limits" .. But il So says Tie Nation, ''Was
it not best that this act should bc enforced
Imagine the President and Congress saying To-
the bronzcd vete ,auS, who for lour years with
stood the utmost power Of the North, by land
and by sea, and to the matrunS who cucoUr-
aged and sustained them You have been
naughty boys and girls, and unless YOU 90 To
school to Massachusetts pedayogucS and school
marms, and purchase and study 'hAErER'>
school books YOU shall not come back into
the Union" Southern teachers are not to be
tolerated Southern school books are To be
tabeocd-ior every cent paid to the one, and
for the other, is 50 much taken FROM the good
and loval Northern pcdlgoyu,S aud publishers
Besides, it is declared that southern teachers
and Southern books are full oftrca>ou. Again,
in the new Union there must be q homogcuc-
Gus literature. Everything, IN fact, will Dee rc-
quired to conform TO the Northern standard.
Every town clock must not only come from the
North, but must bc set and regulatedb 10y North
ern chronometerS Private watches must be-
purchased in Boston, and must run according
TO Boston time. WEBSTER'S and WoRCESrEE'S
dictionaries are to be legalized by Congress
perhaps by amendment to the Constitution
and no Southern man will be permitted TO use
any other We will be required, under heavy
penalties, to pronounce COW, ks-o,r, and kind,
kee-ind. All of Us, old and young, will be re-
ouired to wash our faces and hands, comb our
hail, put on clean aprons, every morning, and go
TO school. Venerable urchinS otthree score and
ten, will be seen hurrying through their break
fasts TO get to the school house in time to save
a switching. We picture them now, to our
selves, rs they skip along with their shining
faces tin bucket, containing lunch, m one
hand. and a set of Harper'S school books in the
other. The school marms and the male pcd0-
goEues will have hard time with these old
barbarianS before they can get them licked
into shape. Their first lesson will be 10 I'M
learn all that they ever knew-eSpecially To
forget all that happened during the war, that
reflects credit upon Southern arms. When
their estimable and dlsintereS;ed teachers shall
succeed in efiacing all old impressions from
their minds, their next lesson will be to learn
to love CHARLES SUMNER, THADDEUS STEVENS,
Yankee-Doodle, dough-nuts and goldfish
Their first lesson in writing will be Great is
DINAH of the Africans The geography
placed in their hands will teach them that the
sun rises and sets in New England that all the
religion, patriotism, learning, refinement and
scholarship on this continent are to be found
in Boston. Their first lesson in political
economy will be to sell everything they make
10. and purchase everything they want from, the
North. Their first political lesson will be that
Radicalism aud negro suffrage are the S'n"''''
5oauln Of political philosophy.
Don't imagine, innocent reader, that we are
trying our hand at perSihage. We are not
The Nation declares that We must educate
tie entire population Of the Sottt.' Again
speaking of the government, it says THIS
ii cannot do, unless, besides opening wide the
door OF its school houses, it reS0htsiy conpsN
the attendance OF those who are kept away by
unwhoIsome restraint" Itproposes that in the
restoration OF the Southern States. and the adj
mission Of new States, free schools shall be
taAcu and held as an essential part Of what
The Constitution means by .s republican form
Oi government"
The atlantic HoHthiH torFebruary is scarcely
behind the Nation in the pictures it present, O.,
the ignorance Of the Southern people. in -,
contribution to its columns entitled, Tbrc.
Months Among the Observation-Disclosures O.
twenty miles from Charleston, SAYS the writcs
..and YOU are in the land OF the Barbariau, -
M North Carolina, he says that. outside ct Ia
LEIGH. ..the common people" are Eat lea,
e,rtv wears behind the same class OF people
Vermont" OF Georgia, "a dozen miles ol
from Macon, "are large ueighborhoodS not y,
half civilized" Again, "tiIl civilization h
been carried down into the homes and hearts