Knoxville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1875, 1870-12-07
rUEBEE III.

OF all the radical inventions which nave
fornented the rebel Democracy, there II
Ir-oahiy no one tina: has yexed their souls
more deeply than our late free school law.
They hated 10 on principle abhCTed its
theory and detestcd its operation And it
yexed them the more that the school svs-
tenn being for the benefit Of the common
people, and the common people having
votes, they have not dared TO come 0grBud
curse the common schools openly They
have been compelled 60 speak and written
% nCu-cOmmitt4l way about education in
general, and % cxPrud al their rich tgeas-
ures O. bottled wrath Ou various little de-
tails Of the school law, particularly those
most material 70 It's efficiency.
The leaders OF the DemOcraiv have
never loved the common school. Their
ideal OF q State j, one where 8 nice liUtl.
ring Of nabobs runs the political mRchiu..
and the mass OF the voters have lust int -
hgence enough n vote as they are t.
and not enough % decide intelIgCntlv r
themselves. The strongholds of iCnorau,s
and vice have ever been the fortress Vt
Democracy. Let the Republicans only
carry the EgyPt Of Southern Illinois and
the dangerous wards OF New York city.
and few other like places, ana there
would be q Sedan rout of the Democratic
party.
The members Of tnc clique which has
always controlled. IA still controls, the
Democracy in this State, had no use for
free schools themselves. They lived on
their broad plantations cultivated their
rich bottom lands, aud grew rich on the
labor and sale Of their slaves. They man
aged, under the old school law, to have
most Of the school fund expended in the
support Of the county academies, 70 which
Eheir children could 90, but which were
nearly useless to poor men, who lived on
their little farms among the hills. They
educated their q .lfreu in the county
academies, and " ere able to send tLeirsOus
and daughter to colleges and -eminaric-
in distant States, and hsd no care for the
needs Of the Larc-fuNted children whose
purgnt1 were unable 90 ekpeud hundreds
or thousands Hf dollars upon their edurf-
ton
The Republican party OF thi, state bee
neyCd that no political community could
safely permit a class 70 grow upin it, midst
IN ignorance or degradation: that il was
cheaper 10 support common schools than
70 maintain jail- and State prisons that
school masters cost less than shcriHs
and criminal courts. They recognized that
the state has an interest in the Intelligence
Of the children Of the State. and that II
was as much its right and its duty % pro-
vide for universal or thorough education,
for the poorest As well a. for The richest, as
1t was TO build court houses TOR those who
wish 10 go law, or tUrnpikes and railroads
for those who wish 10 travel.
With these principles our Republican
Legislature passed a general school Law.
Ii was law, which ii not absolutely per
feet, was as nearly so as that Of any other
state in the Union, whose defects were i'm
matters Of detail merely, which could with
ease be remedicd, and which worked well
in practice Under this Law, hundreds OF
schools were put in operation all through
the state, ana in spite Of the dihioUtie-
always attendant upon the putting ill oU-
Grafton Of a new system of machinery was
meeting with very great success. Hun
dreds OF schools were opened and thou
sands Of children, many oil them the chill
dren Of poor parents, were enjoying fora
BRIEF time the advantage DI q free rFgca-
Lion. The iH=i,uti0n wac succecdiu1, and
gaining IL lcGL'arf4yCr.
The DeUreraCy looked cl. ala -l..-.,I
their teeth. IL vas tad enough ~ sa. tle
means ~ ogEaa..-- brought a.u On .I.