The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-09-17


The last annual report of the Board Of Con-
trollers OF the Public Schools states several
facts which prove that there is room for great
Improvement in several important particulars
in the existing school system Of Philadelphia.
The number Of pupils in the public schools
at the close of last year was SO, 0,410, and the
number attending private and parochial schools
at an earlier period of 1867 was "a, 662-in all
a little army of more than one hundred thou
sand pupils. There were at the same time
2O,9O2 children between the ages of six and
eighteen years engaged in regular employment,
but there remained more than 20, 900 children
from ak to eighteen years of age who were
neither attending public or private schools nor
engaged in regular employment. Nearly
one-seventh of the juvenile population Of
the city is therefore growing up in igno-
lance aud idleness, and in many cases 1t is
to be feared that they are indoctrlnated
in the mysteries of crime. AS a compulsory
educational policy is earnestly advocated by
many of the leading teachers of the country,
the statistics furnished by this city are fire.
quently referred to as a striking proof of the
necessity of adopting legal measures of some
kind to enforce the attendance of the children
of parents who are utterly indifferent to the
welfare of their offspring. In several Euro
pean countries education has thus been rend
cred universal, and the experiment is being
tried, on limited scale, in some porti ms of
the United States. Mr.. Shippen, President of
the Board of Controllers, whose devotion to
his important duties cannot be too highly
commended, in discussing this subject, says:-
"Whst the results of such culpable indiffsr-
ence may be, 1t is not difficult to foretell but
they may be illustrated, in too many ins tances,
within the walls of our almshouses, in the
prisons, and in the purlieus of our city. It is
indeed time to consider whether com pulsory
education may not become an absolute neces-
slty. Society has the right to pro-
tect itself against the growth of vice by the
adoption of wholesome laws, which will cure
evils, as we'll as those which punish orimes."
Under the present management the public
schools are fortunately progressive. Scarcely
a year passes without the adoption of some
important improvement. We read, for in
stance, with pleasure that, "What is ordina-
rily known as the cramming process, has been,
perhaps, effectually and practically abolished
by the prohibition of home study, and substi-
ting therefor study at school The teachers
have been positively forbidden to allow school
books to be taken home" And we cordially
endorse the sentiment of the report that, sIt
is hoped that no longer will bs uttered the
well-founded complaint, that the labor of the
public school permanently impairs the physi-
cal condition of the children" The numerous
beautiful and commodious new school-housss
which are being erected in various sections of
the city, also indicate that increased, as we'll
as improved, accommodations will be provided
for the ever-increasing number of pupils. But
serious obstacles to the perfection of the school
system still exist. The business of cleaning the
school-houses is entrusted to janitors, OF whom
Mr.. Shippen says many ''have rendered them
selves open to rebuke and censure for the
utter neglect of all their duties. Dirty schools
houses, with unwashed floors and windows,
and untidy yards, dirt being the rule rather than
the exception, are too frequent in our city,"
The determination of the Controllers to reform
this evil by the most stringent measures, will
be applauded by every good citizen. A more
serious difficulty arises from the antagonism
frequently evinced in Councils to i'm
provements suggested by the Board of
Control. The latter have endeavored
for several years to introduce the study of
vocal music to limited extent and also to
secure small appropriation for the purpose
of introducing ga thorough, simple, and
effective system of physical exercises" into the
schools; but these efforts have hitherto been
thwarted by the opposition of Councils. Some
times important studies have also been tempo
rarily suspended on account of unnecessary
delay in making appropriations for the requi-
site books. 1t would be the true policy OF the
city when it possesses, as at present, a Board
of Controllers who command the confidence of
the community, to give it the largest possible
latitude, 80 that all these useful suggestions
might be adopted.
IN, los