The national Republican. [volume] (Washington City [D.C.]) 1866-1870, 1869-09-18

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tioual institutions than tho German language,
to the extent that we desire TO give our youth
liberal cducaflon. Yet, In oar schools
no language 10 now subordinate. whereas II
| ought 70 have promineucs ovdf n other
modern Languages, and none can - more
useful u Ordinary life and IN busines.o
Thus poke fsrmcr president Of The Be ,rd
permit could give more than doaen In.
stances from other prominent Americans,
who have better opinion about the German
language than the young physician recently
from Germany. A citizen can also find In tho
North German Correspondent that there are
now In Berlin sixty American students at
tending lectures at the universities Of that
city alone, and that those OF Heidelberg,
Bonn, Jena, Lepsc and the Mining School,
at Frciburg, have quite as many more ma
| triculnnts; that every year the number OF
| American students increase In Germany, for
the reason that the advantages offered by
the German universities are nowhere equalled
by any In this country. Yet there Ia no
country on the face Of the globe whose pco.
pie are SO vaultlngly vain OF its educational
facilities as our own. There was never an
emptler boast, nor one more disastrous In
Its results; for If we set aside our common
| school system, land even that Is q system
only by name,) our colleges and universities,
with less than half dozen exceptions, are
incapable Of fitting a student for matricula-
ton even in one OF the higher schools.
diploma from German university Is q
guarantee Of scholarship, but II 1t be issued
by one of our colleges 1t means nothing more
than tina. the recipient was q collegian. II
Is quite possible for him 10 be that In nine
out Of ten colleges, and yet be an ignoramus.
Students have long since learned that the
diploma Is given not at all for devotion to
their studies, but simply and purely because
/ liz. ha WALL tha
sary fees for certain number OF years, iu-
GLIDING so many lectures.
In the German schools all this Is changed.
If the object Of the student is really to learn,
he has purchased the chance to do 30, but Ii
rests with himself; and II, after regular
course, he finds that he Is Ignorant OF what
he has had an opportunity to acquire, he
also finds himself without diploma. Hav-
ing paid for the privilege OF attending the
lectures, he can do IL or not; but when the
day Of determination arrives and the professors
discover that he has not been q student In
the real true sense, he Is mcrcilcssly turned
away without recognition. If, on the con-
trary, he has awaited himself Of the noble
scholastic chances afforded him by German
university, the degree is bestowed, and the
student who has won II knows that II car
ries weight with it, and II is worth In the
eyes of Thoughtful men more than the bit Of
parchment on which II Is written. II means
that the winner Of 1t Is scholar; and until
, our own colleges and universities become
Q more anxious about the qualifications OF
. their graduates than their numbers, these
Institutions will remain unsought by those
who sincerely wish to be educated.
: The question In regard to the German
: language In our public schools Is at present
lively agitated In New York; but the leading
Germans lay particular stress on the cir
cumstance that the introduction Of the Ger.
man language, rs a regular branch Of In
struction, Is desired only for limited mum
{ Der of schools and not for all Of them.
Last year the German Teachers Society
Of New York and envlrons, by their reporter,
;, DR.. Adolf Dousi, laid before Mr.. Henry Bar.
:, nard, commissioner of the department OF
education, q statement respecting the Ger
n man schools In existence In the Union. The
i first OF the reasons and causes that have led
A to the foundation Of these schools Is that our
=. German-born populat on ind their children
. rapidly unlearn the German tongue, English
Il being not only the common idiom Of all ma
1t tionallties in this country, but also Ian
,s guagc easier than almost any other TO ac-
quirc, to read, to pronounce. This fact
10 sadly dlsturbs the family relations, the
l. efforts Of parents toward the education Of
l. their children, and the respect due to The
a parents from the latter; for when their chill
= dren speak among themselves, even al
&c home, nothing but English, they form, as II
d were, q foreign element within the family
= The great mass Of the imT grated Germans
A learn, during the first generation, hardly
English enough to understand all their chill.
e drcn talk among themselves, and thus they
% are unable to discover their secrets, to warn,
lie to guide, to correct them. The children
A deeming English, the common language Of
l. the country, better one than any other
" begin 10 slight their parents, who have not {
l. perfect command Of the same, TO enjoy thu
Id fun Of having their own secrets, inaccessible
v, to their parents, and end In refusing obc
"a company, when hati' grown, with their near
10 est relatives not perfectly Angllciscd. Tha
p these facts arc productive of great man!
m evils, aud even cngGnder Juvenile crime AM
~ pronigacy, can be easily understood.
'e But this, sad as 1t must be called by ever
ne unparalleled observer, Is not ALI the bette
of class of Germans land the emigration o
~. nowadays increases from year to year II
the degree Of education and respectable,
81 represented,) regret that their children ant
)" childrcn's children should lose the privilege
no of commanding the two master languages
Of the world-Engllsh and German at thu
u same time. But third reason and cause
8, leading to the foundation of German schools
In this country has, in the eyes of some,
Ie even been paramount TO those before men
IT toned, important as they are. Germany Ii
n the cradle of the reformation of schools
u
/, from the latter part OF the eighteenth century
z down to the middle Of the present, be justly
|. considered as by far the best In the world
4, II Ia, then, hut natural that immigrated
le Germans, coming from great many excel
re lent schools In their old county, and being
le conscious Of and thankful for the great ad
n yantagcs derived from them, should deslr,
D. that their children may grow up under thu
&c same benefits, and that the United States
ID this dear country OF their choice, may prof
in to some degree from the existence Of school
70 Instituted after the German model, ever
h. though the latter be modified according 4
=" the peculiar circumstances and requirements
70 Of the American nationality and idea. o
ID the three causes Just mentioned, each, &C
cordlng as II was prevailing over the othe
" two In the minds of the founders OF German
d schools, gave rise TO n different kind o
in school. Where the Idea OF preserving tn
ID family relations, and together With then
n the parental religious denomination, pre-
d vailed, their UNCONVENTIONAL German school
r were founded, Of which there are In thl
Is country nearly as many as there are German
Il church buildings and societies. Where
Is however, the second reason obtained prefer
,e, ence to the other two, private schools wer,
hi undertaken and patronized. Where, lastly
~ the third reason was paramount TO the tw
Others, without necessarily excluding them
In society schools on shares sprang into OK
his istcnce.
nil In New York, Mr.. NJ. OtterJurg, as chail
Ter man Of a special committee on memorial I
In the board Of education, submitted draft
mt one, the principal point Of which consist
prs asking; "That the German language
he taught at least one hour daily as regula
in branch Of instruction in q number Of war
he schools-not less than one third of I'll
lid whole-commenclng from the second grad
lc- Of the primary department and to continu
AT through the higher grades. After length
NV discussion, DR.. Landsbery laid partlcua
as stress on the circumstance that the Intro
,m duction Of the German language as a regr
81 lar branch OF instruction Is desired only fC
limited number Of schools and not for a
of Of them" The adversares OF this move
Int ment are generally laboring under the mi,
ne take of supposing that the Germans wish
NO carry this reform into all the ward school
as Diversity Of language is an obstacle 10 IL
en- tercourse between different nations an
l.. II. l..