The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1866-12-20
DEC. 20, 1866.
Free National Normal Schools for Young
Women.

Free National Normal Schools for Young
Women.
The following Memorial was first
brought before Congress in lS53-54. II
was very favorably received, and would
have been acted on had not other bills,
asking appropriations Of public lands
been defeated or vetoed. Those lands
were then considered pledged for the
pulic credit The passage of the Home.
stead BHF' having virtually opened the
public domains to private settlers, there
seems now no hindrance to plans that
aim to raise the condition and charac ter
Of those Industrious pioneers, in the now
unoccupied regions where the American
flag is to protect the citizens of the Unit
ed States. Moreover, as the bill for en-
dowing agricultural Colleges" has pro
vided aids for the pursuits of men, will
not Congress furnish, also, facilities for
the benefit Of women? We trust in the
wisdom AMI patriotism of American
statesmen to decide this important ques
ton and submit the following in the
name of the women of the United
States Il Lady's Book.
MEMORIAL:
To tire Honorable Senate and House OF
Representatives. in Congress assembled.
There are now more than two millions
of children in our country destitute of
the opportunity of education, demand
ing SIXTY thousand teachers to supply them
at the same ratio as is common in our
best educated sections, we respectfully
beg to call yo.r attention to these con
siderations:
l. That, while the great West, Califor-
MIA, and the wide ocean invite young men
to wealth and adventure, and while the
labors of the school room offer so little
recompense or honor, the sixty thousand
teachers needed cannot be obtained from
their ranks; and, therefore, the young
women of our country must become
teachers OF the common schools, or these
must be given up.
2. That the reports of common school
education prove women are the best
teachers. and that in those States where
education is most prosperous the aver
age of these teachers 10 that OF the other
sex is as fue to one.
8. That while, as q general rule, wo-
men are not expected to support fami-
lies, nor to pay from their earnings 70
support the State, they can afford to
teach for smaller compensation than
men; and, therefore, funds bestowed to
educate YOUNG WOMEN gratuitously will
in the end prove a measure of wise
economy, and at the same time will tend
a. Cd,
more elevated by securing the best class
of teachers at moderate expense.
4. That those most willing to teach are
which as yet has received few favors
from National or State Legislatures.
8. That providing such gratuitOus ad :
vantages for women to act as educators
will secure a vast number of we'll educa
ted teachers, not by instituting class of
celibates, but by employing the unoccu
pied energies of thousands of young
women from their school days to the
period of marriage, while. at the same
time, they will thus be qualifying them
selves for the most arduous duties of
their future domestic relations
In view of these considerations, your
mcmorialists petion that TEN MILLIONS OF
he set apart to endow at least one Free
National Normal School in every State for
the gratuitous education of YOUNG wo-
MEN.
These institutions could he modelled
and managed in each State to suit the
wishes of inhabitants; and yo ing ladies of
every section would be trained as in
structors for children in their own vicin-
ity this would be found of immense ad-
vantage in the States where schools have
hitherto been neglected.
While such vast portions Of the ma
tional domain are devoted to national
aggrandizements or physical advantages,
we humbly petition that moderate share
may be conferred to benefit the daugh
ters of our Republic, and thus at the
same time to provide educators for two
millions of its most neglected children.
NoTE.-We give this Memorial in
sertion here to show what progress has
alrcady been made in public opinion On
the subject of donating lands for educa-
tional purposes. Those members of
Congress who are taking an interest in
this grand design are sure of success if
they persevere. An appeal so worthy,
so just, so necessary for the best inter
ests OF humanity and for the highest
civilization Of our Republic must become
popular. The plan may be delayed it
cannot fail
Texas is one of the greatest cattle re-
gions of the country; for in that State
the plains, which become more and more
barren the nearer thev approach the