The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1867-08-08
FOR THE FREEMAN.
THE TEACHERS; ADVOCATE,
"CoMPULsoRY ATTENDANCE"
ARTICLE NUMBER THREE,

| In She Teachers .4acocate for July find
reply to my article published in the Free
man of the 4th. I regret to find that my
structures seem to have hurt the feelings of
/ my friends of the ddcocdte. Let me assure
| them that | have no desire to say word
/ that might be calculated TO humble their
| pride, or bring them into contempt with the
/ cltlzens OF our county. They have been nm
| fortunate in advocating the adoption of an
/ odlous law, and rather than practice the vir-
| tue of humility by acknowledging their er-
| rors, they endeavor to sustain their argu-
| ments by a system Of reasoning and evasion
! that, to say the least, is not very crcditable
to County Superintendent and a prominent
! teacher in our Common Schools. Their ideas
of logic and the meaning of the words rele-
rant and irreIcDdnt, seem to be much CON
| fused. Ofthis, however, let the reader Judge.
put five questions to the editors of the
! AdUocdte in my first article, which had sup
! posed, if answered. might have some bear
! ing on the issue. These | was told in their
! reply were entirely irrelevant, and therefore
| passed unnoticed. In my second article l
had the temerity to repeat these questions
and insist on answers. In their last article
| they have condescended to answer my ques-
| tions, not, however, that they deem any of
them relavant, but that the reader might
see how ignorant am of the Common School
| system. | thank them. however, for the
answers, and beg to say that think it pos
Sible | might be able to convince few read
ers that there is some relevancy to the issue
| in these questions, or, rather, in the answers,
| now that we have got them. ] asked these
! questions for information from gentlemen
whom | supposed were in positions to en-
! Tighten me on the subject, and although they
now give merely THEN assertions, will ac-
! cept them for the argument. Now as to
the relevancy.
The article in the AdrocGEe for May, l
! presume the editors will not deny, was on
! ''IrrcguIdr attendance" and the remedy for
that evil. They say ia that article. 1--WE
can see no remedy short of a juGicious com
! pulsory attt ndance law that will have any
considerable beneficial effect upon this evil"
And, again, I'VE repeat then that 1Ce see no
remedy by 1cltich this eUil can be arrested but
| by q lGIO compelling attendance at school"
| What evil The evil of irregular attend
ance. Now, it will be seen, the editors of
the Aduocate, in answer to my questions, ad-
nit that it is the duty of the teacher to as
certain the cause of the pupils absence
Very well. Then how comes it that the
teacher cannot give US the cause2 Why is
he required by the school law TO make q
monthly report 30 the directors regarding
the number of scholars in attendance and
the number of days each attended If not
for the purpose of ascertaining the cause cf
irregular attendance, of what practical ben
eff is this report2 Unless you understand
! the cause how can you know the remedy
Will physician prescribe for his patient
before he learns his disease? VIII lawyer
institute an action for his client before he
| understands the character Of the injury or
wrong complained off Ridiculousl And
yet the editors of the Teachers AdUocate
unite with Jesse Newlin, ESQ, In advocat-
ing compulsory attendance law, when it
is clear they are ignorant of the causes of ir-
regular attendance. 1t is acknowledged
that truancy is one cause, although denied
by them that it is the principal cause. They
acknowledge, in answer to my fifth question,
that teachers have the right to punish for
truancy. l respectfully submit then to the
readers of the Freeman the relecancy Of my
questions. The reader will perceive that
my questions were so put as to have relation
one to another, so that no matter how the
editors of the 1A3COcdte answered, if answer
at all, had them caught. SO far tTuan-
cy, then, is cause. it must be Acknowledged
there is legislation required. What,
then, are the other causes2 They tell us in
their first article on this subject that one oi
the principal causes of bad attendance in
country districts is that the schools are kept
open in winter. This is unquestionably cor
rect. 1t is acknowledged, however, that the
directors, who are the representatives Of the
people, have control of this, aud it is to be
presumed they are the best Judges as to what
! is for their interest. l find, however, that
in mary of the country districts. reported in
the May number of the Aduoc0te, the at
tendance has been over 70 and in some as
high as so per cent. Now, for district:
where schools are kept open only In winter
, I think this remarkably good, and l doubt
if any compulsory attendance lac, if cons!itu
tional and otherwise unobjectionable, woult
do anything to increase the attendance il
: these schools. Do the editors of the AdcO
cate desire that their law should apply tC
children who are kept home through the In
clemencY of the weather? 1 think not
| ! Now, then, we have truancy as one and th
inclemency of the weather as another caus,
, for irregular attendance. The first unjusti
able, the other justifable. l might add con
siderably to the number of justifable ant
excusable causes, but how many can be add
ed to the number of unjustifable causes
, An unjustifable cause must be attribute,
5 either to the parent or child, or perhap
I sometimes to both. Ifattributed to the faul
o Of the child, that has been disposed of.
TO the fault of the parents. we want proc
, of it. Is it not as easy to get that proc
now, as the law stands, as it would be unde
Q the provisions of the compulsory attendanc
G Iaw2 Let US then see how the parent
. might be at fault. Should they send thei
a child to school, and afterwards permit it t
' 60 and stay where it pleased, and protes
; against its being punished by the teachel
= then it would be their fault. But, let Il
0 remember, if the teacher and directors hav
l. not sufficient power to apply the remedy
: q case of this kind, additional legislatio
u could be had for that case without vioatiu
the constitution or the natural rights of p
s rents.
Now do not, as the editors of the Adr
3 -. lon;r.o nnrt