The Lincoln County herald., 1870-05-05
tFrom the New York Journal Of Com eroe I
National School Keeping.
A DIRECT TAX OF FIFTY MILLIONS Pho
POSED.

Persons WHO cherisb q rosy bops tina,
the taxes arc TO be reduced, should pon
der the proposition in Representative
hoar's bill ITO establish = system Of "a
ti8nal education" which has been favor
ably reported by the Committee on Edu.
cation and Labor. Ia his fifteenth
amendment message the other day Presi-
dent Grant dropped significant hint for
Congress to take all ths means within
their constitutional power to promote and
encouagc pol ular education throughout
the country" On tho same day that his
message reached the Capitol, the extrsor.
dinary bill that we now proceed to notice
came back from tho committee to the
House, a coincidence bet explained on
the supposi;ion that the President and
committee had conferred, and that Con-
eress had been sounded on the subject
and is expected to pass the measure. A
more cleverly contrised scheme to make
thousands. of new oficcholders maintain,
national taxeso find work for revenue
assessors and collectors, and Strengthen"
the central government, has never come
under our eyes. AS prop for the radi-
calls it is the best thing yet though, of,
for it will plant their peculiar poltscal
doctrines in tho breasts Of the rising gen.
GRAFTON along with tho first seeds Of read
ing, writing and arithmetic That shrewd
gentleman, whose name is the occasion Of
considerable proRtess dispute among an
tiquaries, who wanted to write the songs
of nation in preference to making its
laws, did not originate half SO smart an
idea of moalding national character as
Mr.. Hoax has hit upon. A monopoly
Of ballad making and mougering could
do much to shape the prcjudices of
people, but nothing like what an army
of political pedagoguss vith switch in
one hand and the radical articles Of faith
in another, aud the whole power Of gov.
ernment at their backs, could do in chat
line. The inventor Of this patent for
confirming and extending radicalism in
definitely is the master crsftsman of his
party.
After long, high sounding preamble,
opropos Of the fifteenth amendment Mr..
Hoar comes straight to business, and pro
poses the appointment for each State in
the Union Of "Superintendent Of Ma.
tional Schools" at . yearly salary OF 49,.
900. Multiplying 5000 by 81 (the nun
Der of States when they are Oh in), we
have )Sll1,000 Of annual ex xpenditure to
begin with. These superintendents will
"boss the job" under the immediate di.
rection of the Commissioner OF Education,
who, in turn, reports for general iustruc.
ton to the Secretary Of the Interior. who
finally takes his cue from the President,
making the whole affair complete ad
machine as much o. the army
or the revenue crowd. For each Con
gressional District the Secretary Of the
Interior is to appoint q division In
spcctor Of National Schools" on q salary
Of $4,000. $4,000 multiplied by 242
equals s4S4,00O. Each Of the divisions
shall be divided by the State Superin
tendent into school districts Of convent,
ent size, to be managed by "local super
inteudent Of national Schools" at three
dollars day for the timc that he is actu.
ally employed. This means millions
upon millions Of dollars in the ggregate,
but for want Of more precise data than
We have, we cannot estimate the sum even
What with the salaries Of
all these myrmidons of the strong gov.
ernment, the hiring Of an indefinite mum
Dor of schoolmastefs and mistresses. the
erecting and repairing Of school houses,
the furnishing school books for children
unable to buy them. and other ineidental
expenses. Mr.. Hoar is probably within
ahe mark by providing for dlsect tax to
be appoitloned among the several States,
Of fifty million dollars-just to start the
70. that is oil that even so
large an amount as that will really do.
The moro we turn this sohme over the
more we arc lost in enforced admiration
of the audacous genius that planned it
Besides the incalculable political power
that it confers on the administration-
through its thousands Of we'll and willing
and the indootsination in
the tender mind of childhood Of the
stra,ghtest Radfca! principles think Of
the pickings and stealingsl The New
York county court house fades into moth
lngncss compared to the profits to be
made from supplying school books, put
ting up school houses, etc ! Patronage,
power money all things that politica!
ambition prizes and struggles for--wibl
dow 10 boundless measures from Hoar's
bill. .a.H -- ...... g..s ......
This stupcndous political and money
spending engine will 60 into effect in the
Southern States Immediately after the
passage Of the bill-for 10 those States
there Is now no system Of popular educa.
tion such as the bill provides for, and
the States are, aud will be for long time,
to poor to pay for one Of their own. 1t
rests with the option Of the President
whetAer it will not be introduced into oil
the other States Of tho Union. The last
secsion declares that any State muy make
provision for the education Of all the
children, within its borders between the
ages Of six and eighteen years but the