Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1871-03-02

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We give below. from the Cs.sresssoaal
Glide, an extract from the powerful and
exhaustive argument Of Judge Thurman
on the Puritan proposition to establish a
national Burcau Of Educasion -
/ have never yet heard any one poin.
out one line or one worl in the Constitu-
ton Of the United States that authorizes
Congress to take the subject Of education
in the States under its control or into its
charge. II there is such provision in
tho Constitution il never has been pointed
out as far rs | know l find no such power,
nor do believe that any such power ought
10 exist. lido not beliese it consistent
with the welfare Of the country I do not
believe It to be consistent With the liber..
ties Of the country that the subject Of cd,
ncation should be taken charge Of by the
Congress Of the United States. Il prop
eriy belongs to the States and to the people
Of the States; and it would be. in my
Judgment. the worst possible policy. the
most dangerous policy. for Congress to as
sumo jsrisdiction over that suhjccf. The
only - granted to Congress in the
ConstseQ0Ish tpon tho subject Of science
is this:
The Congress shall hare power to promote
the progress of science and useful arts
How?
BY securing for limited times to authors and in
ventors the exclusive right to their respective
writings aud discoverics
There is all the power you have over
the subject. 1t is not power in general
terms to promote the progress Of science
and useful arts (; but it is power to pro-
mote it in one particular way and
one particular way alone. So that
there is not only the absence of any ex-
press power to take the subject Of educa-
ton under your control. but there is that
nesative-pregpant, as lawyers call it, aris-
ing from the fact that you are specially
authorized to do one thing. which implies
that you arc not authorized to do any other.
- = l know very vel! that the law cstab-
fishing this Bureau Of Education is mere
entering wedge. We have propositions
to have departments upon almost every
subject. a department on this subject and
that subject, and the other subject. null
tiplyiEg departments and multiplying Off
cia!s almost without limit. Some of those
might be very well. perhaps; but when
you come to department Of education,
which assumes that Congress is to take
the education of the people in its charge.
then desire to enter my protest at the
very outset. that you have no power to do
any such thing and therefore / want to
say that. so far ms my feeble efforts can
avail for the purpose. I shall oppose ex.
tending the provisions of this Law now and
hereafter one single iota That the Law
may stand simply to enable us to collect
statistics but. so far as undertaking the
education Of the American people is con-
cerned, l deny the power of Congress over
the subject. and shall oppose it whenever
it is proposed. 1t is not my purpose to
say anything in detail about the report of
the commissioners. which has been drawn
into this discussion. have an impress
sion, from looking at it, that there is not
one valuable thing in it that is not already
in print. A report which simply copies
by the page the reports fsupcrintendents
of the common schools or the commission
ers of common schools in the States, that
simply picks them out aud puts them here
in the form of a report. and makes book
in that way. with scissors and paste, is not
a very creditablc production for the chief
educational officer Of the United States of
America. do not think this book is one
that learned and intelligent American
in Europe would hand to any European as
a specimen of the education. the learning
and the literature Of America.