Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-01-08

their own benefit.
As CONGRESS is supreme, it is not
surprising that dictatiOn should come
freely from lis individual members at
Washington, and not much more so
that such members should suppose
wisdom viii die with them, and 80
take some care o State matters which
the Stgces have hitherto disposed Ofin
their own way. W have received, in
accordance with this view, a printed
petition from our misrepresentation,
S. N. ArnelI, NJ. c., which we are re-
quested to sign and hand round. We
beg TO be excused. The petition
is as follows:
/ To the Honorable the House Of Rspreseu-
tatives of the United States of America
in Congress assembled:
We, the citizens OF the State Of ',
respectfully solicit she attention Of
your honorable body 20 the absence of
any adequate provision for the training
of the children of our State in the sim
plesu rudimsnts OF knowledge.
Deeply Impressed with the importance
Of providing for a common school eduCa-
ton for tie children Of al citizens Of the
STATE, we ind ourselves impoverished by
the war, with no adequate previous sys-
tenn OF common schools on which to build,
and without the prevalence Of sufficient
EuO-e.dEs 70 create public sentiment 10
sustain such a system, and with two gen
6raJiOus of children Of school age coming
uD between 1860 and 1870 almost wholly
uutaught. Unless Immediate and EN-
arHaH HHHHan 81 rEN=nn 20 =nRnn#= HhHA a-H|
the result in tins dense Ignorance Of 10
population must be appalling. To avert
this evil TO the State and to the nation.
we are led to ask your honorable body
TO devise some plan by which the aid Of
the United States may be temporarily
afforded 20 secure for the children Of our
State the iuestimable privileges of a com
mon school education.
Now that the carpet-baggers have
stolen the ample State school fund, we
are rather in a strait as to common
schools in Tennessee. But we are not
in such great necessity as to warrant
our going to the carpet-bag headquar-
tiers for assistance Of the same sort
hereafter, involving the appointment
Of a new horde Of government retain
ers, and an expense Of public taxa
t0n-likely to be consequent upon it
far ia excess ola system which may
be insugurated and more economical
ly carried out by the State. Give US
an economically and honestly admin
istered national government, and let
the Washington masters cOnfne hem
selves to their legitimate duties, and
we shall be able to take care Of our
selves far better than the Washington
government is likely to take care Of
Us. 1t might with as much reason IN
deTtske the care Of our churches as of
our schools, take charge Of the State
government, and run all our benevO-
lent Institutions, farms, stores, work
shops railroads and street cars.
Messrs. Arnell & Co. seem DESTROYS Of
availing themselves Of as many pre-
texts as possible for extending their
sphere Of Operations. Is it negro schools
which is the cat in b emeal tub? Does /
this set Of piOus and d~isinterested
spOilsmen intend to get such control
Of educational matters as to amalga-
mate the schools, blsck and white,
and bring on for the Southern States
the cOlored millennium which AlcOrn
wisely vetoed for Mississippi2 If
there is any other design, except the
general purpose Of trenching on the
independence, government, rights
and control Of the States, we are Ger
tain it is no better, and viii be no
more beneficial to Us. Let Congress
give US back what its sub carpet-bag
agents have squandered and
stOlen-dO justice first and
charity afuerward, if it will
But we think we shall be better able
TO tale care Of our own children the
less we have to do with them. We
think this new scheme means mis-
chief. When it is in~augurated, we
fear we shall not even baveas respect
able cOlOred individuals as Revels OF
Shaw as directOrs-in-chiqf We shall
do worse with "mean whites" We
shall have Eaton, general superin-
tsndent, to negotiate the sale Of two
million or more dollars Of books, In
the interest OF the black Republic
can Harpers; BroWnlow to teach
handsaw satire and bilEAgsgate
invective; Maynard 10 teach the
Pequod Indian language Butler
to teach initiative chirographyj Jeru-
Smith 10 teach little speculation
and the art Of puginsm, with lectures
on surgery Of the ear; Mullins to In
structin back-WOOds elOcutiOn; Arneu
professor Of the art Of tanning Con-
federate hides by the new process;
Stokes to carry on Duncan letter cor
respondenc9; Rutter to teach banking
and act as school fund treasurer gen
eral, aud Barbour Lewis to use the
birch. The "dense ignorance" which
now prevails viii then be dissipated
with something Of q vengeance, and
we shall learn how great men cur
masters be. We shall no longer be
s. without the prevalence Of sufficient
knowledge to create a public senti-
ment" to understand such q system
a. viii so signally illustrate the gov
ernmental, speculative, sa%tirical, lin
guisticaI, chir0graphicaI, surgical,
pugflistic, OratOrical, epistOlatory,
financial, hide-tanning and birch-ap-
plying systems OF instruction. When
the result is fully accomplished We
shall be a wise people, and as likely
TO oppose further infections Of the
same sort as any burnt czild that
breads the FIRE.