The Portland daily press., 1872-01-09
THE PRESS.
TUESDAY MORNING, JAN. 8, 1872.
Evening Schools i'm the Cities.

In every city of any considerable size there
is large class of children and adults who are
prevented from enjoying the benefit of school
privileges during the day. Society owes this
class as well as those more fortunate the adj
vantages of education. Nor is it safe to
leave this debt unpaid. 1t will be cheaper in
the end to educate them than to wait for the
worst of the neglected class to make costly
reprisals. 1t is better to be taxed for the sup
port of education than for the suppression OF
crime. Schoolhouses pay better than jails.
No better way of dealing with the dangerous
classes has been discovered than to give them
a sound intellectual, moral, and practical
training Experience shows that there is an
intimate connection between education and
good morals, so that those communities
which excel in the former with few exceptions
stand high in the latter. In view of these facts
we believe it is the duty Of the State to
have free evening schools established In all
our cities under public authority, so that
those whose time must be taken up with
manual labor during the day need not lose all
opportunity for schooling.
lllS QefecJ III our COulluOll SCuCOl SySlclu
has not escaped observation, and private en-
terprise has in this city at any rate done some
thing toward providing a remedy. The Port
land Fraternity and Young Mems Christian
Association both have evening schools in OPP
Grafton which are doing good work in their
respective spheres. Yet the experience in
these cases proves that it is impossible for vol
untary associations to accomplish all that is
needed in this direction. Most of the teach
ers serve without compensation and find that
regular attendance upon the schools more
than one or two evenings week, in addition
to their ordinary daily occupation, is too
much of a tax on their energies. An even
ing school, to accomplish the desired end,
should have sessions four or five evenings a
week. They should be in charge of persons
who make teaching profession and who are
sufficiently paid to secure their regular at
tendance and efficient service. Teachers
who serve without pay are not likely to feel
under obligation to be present at every session
when there are allurements in other direc-
tions, and as many of them are not persons
who make teaching business they cannot be
expected to possess the highest qualifications
for such work. These voluntary associations
moreover have no means of compelling the
regular attendance of pupils. This is one of
the most serious defects in the system, as
without regular attendance ON the part of pu-
pills it is impossible to reduce the course OF
instruction to any system. In our evening
schools now in operation there is large
floating element which is constantly inter.
fering with the working of any system that
may be adopted. 1t may be added that it is
quite too heavy a tax upon private benevo.
lence to provide suitable accommodations for
the large number of pupils who need the
privileges of evening schools in our cities
and that consequently the accommodations
provided are generally inadequate to the pur
pose.
1t is the State therefore that must do the
work If it is to be thoroughly done. As expe-
rience shows defects in our common school
system it is the business of the legislature to
provide remedies. Every year population
gravitates more and more to the cities and
hence the necessity of having our school sys-
tenn carried to its highest perfection in order
to fit these constantly growing accumula
tions of humanity for the duties of citizenship
Amid the variety of matters claiming the
attention of the legislature we hope this will
not be forgotten --"