New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-08-23
cnMpELSORY EDUCATLOM.

tween and 16) except III masSdChuSeC'S' ""Oio
compulsory education has been established ana
is in vigorous operation, and that tins attend
ance on all grades of private schools was not
one i'm sixty of this aee-in this State not
more than one in seventy-showng That
i'm the oldest and most advanced States halt OF
the youth either received no form OF educa-
ton. or one so deficient as to answer neither
the demands of business, the requirements OF
our civilization, nor the security OF our p0lltl-
cal institutions, and that the grand aggregate
of attendance for the whole country reduced
this ratio to notifying and alarming proper
tons 1t is estimated that there are loO,OoO
children thus uneducated in this City alone
Such educational neglect and deSttutloh
furnish the necessity and justification Tor
State Interference They offer a field large
enough to admit of very extensive public
school operations without infringing on any
other educational arrangements or interests,
and extensive enough to fill a thoughtful
mind that reasons from the facts OF the past
TO the probabilities of tho future, with pro-
found apprehension for the fate OF our polltl-
cal institutions and the security of our mate
rial interests
1t is now more than 60 years since thought
ful and benevolent men in this City have I'M
dertaken systematic and vigorous measures to
reach and remove the educational and moral
dcstitution of its youthful population. THIS
was the original purpose IN the formation OF
the Free School Society in 1905. 1t was IN
good hands, and did an excellent work; but 1t
confesscdly failed to meet the emergencies OF
the case. Youthful yagrancy did not dlmin-
ish 1t was not even arrested, but became
greater In 1918, philanthrOplC and religious
men and women took alarm ut the pcrtnacity
and accumulation of this evil, and undertook
TO invigorate the School Society by volunteer
and supplemental aid; but they could not even
hold their own. They felt the need of some
punitive power and provisions To reach the
more incorrigiblc, and appealed therefor to
the Legislature, which gave them in 1925 the
House of Refuge for Juvenile Dclinquents'
1t was nut into the hands OF seven OF the best
men that New-YOrk could furnish, and
was started on a career of constantly accumu-
latng power and bcne6cence, until 1t Is now
confcsscdly the model, as it Is historically the
pioneer, of all rcformatOry schools. De witt
! Clinton pronounced il 1.-THE best penltentiary
"insttution ever devised by the wit or estab-
lished by the bencEccnce of man" IL Inns
done inestimabe service for the cause OF good
morals and youthful reform in this City.
But it has not even checked the steady growth
of the evils it was hoped 1t might remove. The
numbers, as wCil as the restitution and dcprayity,
of the idle and vaHant children continued to
outstrip the rate of increase of the population
by frightful ratio of progression In 1923,
the Free School Society undertook to bring this
class in larger numbers into their schools by
family visitation, and appointed as special Wis
itOr 5. w. Seton-a remarkable man. with
special qualifications, and manifest
providental call for this specific work.
But he did little more than reveal the
magnitude and inveteracy of the evil. After a
faithful trial of three years ho acknowledged
that the means used were inadequate, and adj
vised an application for coerciye law. Youth
full yagrancy and viciOusness now became
so demOnstrative as to arrest public attention
and occasion alarm. The press, with one voice,
demanded of the School Society some further
measures of reform. In 1892, To- meet this de-
mand, a strong committee was sent to Boston
for some solution of this pulling problem.
Boston was working out the same solution, but
under more hopeful auspices and better Omcns,
and mildcr type Of the evils because it was
Boston and not New-YOrk. The charnc-
teristics of the two cities so different that
little light could be obtained on the perplexI
ties of our case, except that the necessity and
practlcabity of some legal cOnstraint became
more apparent, and hints were obtained that
resulted in the establishment of the Primary
School system. The hope was that the asso-
Citations of these schools would be more CON
genial TO this wild and vicious class Of chill |
dren, that their restraints would be less Onerous
and their exercises more attractive. Many
were so reached and rescued; but little i'm
preston was made on the unaccumulating mass
At about this date the Common Council at
tempted some cOercive measures The Com
missioners of the Aims House were, by an or
dinance, restrained from disbursing the public |
charities "tO persons who did not send their |
children to some public OF other day school"
Good results for time followed the enact
ment Of this law. But the execution of it soon |
fell into unfriendly hands, and it was repealed
before it had time to demonstrate its practica-
bility or benefcence.
Six years later, juvenile crime and dest.tu- |
ton had assumed such desperate type and
such threatening proportions as to arouse the |
public to some special measures of relief The |
experience of other States and cities was again |
sought, and the whole subject of public educa-
ton was reconsidered. This resulted in re-
newed application to the Common Council for
compulsory measures, and for an appeal to the
Legislature for law that should guard against
the contingencies of local legislation. But tho
Common Council could not be induced to con-
cur. The School Society, appalled, at the spread
of ignorance, idleness, want and vice among
- Il. 4