The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1871-11-10
Published by request.l
Morals in our Schools.
From the Oregonian. !

From the Oregonian.l
The law requires every teacher of our
public schools to have certificate of
'1gOod moral character" It's purpose is
that they shall teach good morals by
example and precept. They have thus
no right to be deaf, blind or dumb res
pecting the morals of their pupils. No
doubt parents ought chiefly to train up
their children to be truthful, honest,
industrious, virtuOus in thought and
deed, generous and honorable i'm all their
conduct. No doubt Sabbath-schOOls and
churches should do the same thing with
all the youth under their care or influ-
ence. Yet ii belongs to our schools
also to make moral teaching n speciality.
Our public schools, supported by the
people, and for the people, should be
examples of excellence i'm this respect.
A fear exists that teaching good morals
will lead to teaching religion, and then
to sectarianism, and hence the subject is
often avoided. Earnest and excellent
teachers forbear to impart or impress the
principles of moral obligation, lest the
suspicion should attach to them of in
terfering with the religious belief Of
theirpatrOns. Less faithful teachers are
glad thus to excuse themselves from the
trouble. The result is that merely in
tellectual requirements and discipline
occupy the chief attention. The child
grows up with the idea that knowledge
and talents are of more importance than
character. Under this impression the
youth emerges into the world of respon-
sible action. The desire of favor i'm
social life, of success in business, or of
honor in public service, is early and
constantly stimulated. Talent, skill,
and even more shrewdness or sharpness
in trade, win a kind of applause, -irre-
spective of morality, and our youth of
both sexes come to regard strict truth,
honesty and virtue of secondary import
ance. Success is counted the chief thing
in life. The maxim is at must be
won, right or wrong.n AS selfishness
rises, obligation sinks, and at length Il
persons interest, not his duty, dictates
all his conduct. The sway Of such a
spirit finally dissOlves all the bonds of
society, and when the restraints of law
or of tyrant hand are removed, as
lately i'm Paris, the cry is heard from all
quarters, "Down with the richr' "Burn
the palaces ~ "Away with the no.
bility ~ The shock of fire, like that of
Chicago, is terrible. The selfishness
that locked its gates, barred its doors,
closed its shutters, and would not listen
TO the entreaties of the starving, or look
with pity upon the dying is more terri
BILE. Tue thieves, incendiaries, robbers
and murderers, prowling among the
ruins and preying upon the helpless
fugitives, IS the most terrible fact of
that terrible conflagration Words
cannot express the horror of such deeds,
They show what man can be when the
restraints of law are removed, if he has
no law of right within himself They
show that in every community men
live who would do like things if unre-
strained; and that their numbers will
increase and their power will become
dominant unless in every place the
children and youth are taught and made
to feel their need of moral principles,
even more than of learning.
The objection may arise that motives
of self-respect, of pride or of mere eXpe-
diency fail to secure permanent integ-
rity of character; that all such low mo-
tives are Overborne by the strong temp
tations to the passions, or appetites, or
desires of gain, and that the soul must
be invested with mightier force i'm
order to be a law of good unto itself
Grant this need, and let the teacher
feel not only at liberty, but sacredly
bound to present the strongest possible
motive to perfect the morals of his
pupils. Timidity in the path of duty is
folly. Fear of the displeasure of patrons
is the betrayal of trust. Neglect is ruin.
His position of duty is exalted. Better
fail i'm any and i'm every study than fail
to correct the first and every sign of
wrong in his pupil. Law aims at the
conscience and the will, through the
intellect. Let its force be felt. The
gentle but firm hand of kindness mOulds
the affections. 1t is easy to impress
children, so that they will fear, even if
they do not always abhor to do wrong
Their conscience must be nurtured i'm
little things. Honor must be put upon
truth and virtue and kindness, more
than upon mere talent or knowledge.
In cities no larger than Portland, and
even in small villages, dozens of boys, at
first idle and vagrant, are becoming
adopts in gambling, drinking, debauch-
ing, theft and robbery. Young girls,
led on by the attractions of dress, shows,
theaters and the attentions of those
whose trade it is to make false promises,
swiftly tread the path 10 ruin and soon
become the polluted companions of the
vile. An mdeT-stratum of society is
thus formed and increased, that must
live and will live by their vices and
their crimes. Law restrains, arrests
ana Furnishes few victims here and
there, but the seething mass below
chafes, ferments and spreads like the
leprosy, injecting wider neighbOrhoods,
until the morals of the whole community
suffer "A partial paralysis, and virtuOus
people aid and abet the vicious in the
way of business, trade and rents; excus-
ing their consciences with the plea, that
vices and crimes are necessary evils, and
that they NAV aS well share tlp urOfitS
as let others have them. But a crisis
always comes sooner or later. Vice is
ruin. Its victims quickly perish with
out hope, while its seeds extend the
harvest of death. The public burdens
become heavier, which the earnings of
the industrious and the wealth of the
more fortunate must not only support
regularly, but which increase indefi-
nitely. Besides this, the communist
idea ''to level down." spreads and or
ganizes bands of incendiaries, thieves
and robbers. The end is martial law or
n vigilance committee. The time comes
i'm which these means utterly fail. The
sure and partially tried remedy for a
people like ours, is to be
law of righteousness unto themselves TO 4
have it early impressed upon their own 1
hearts individually.
The public school affords one OF the /
best opportunities TO do it. Incipient /
tendencies appear among children, even