The interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1872-1881, 1872-08-09
BY +. rARRASr.

The present aspectof Common Schools
in Kentucky is discouraging, bui Ear from
being hopeless. Many obstacles present
themselves in the way Of a successful OPP
Grafton of the Common School system.
One Of the most prominent of these is n
want Of unity among the people. Even
among the true friends of education,
many diverse opinions exist. We all
seem more cr less to be surrounded by a
fog. cropping for some path TO lead US to
light.
A want Of system in conducting Com
mon Schools in the rural districts is a
Ysy serious impediment to their advance
Visit the schools, and but few
pund conducted by the same
\lft is lamentable fact. that
IIhod is entirely wanting.
. many localities in our
lof Kentucky there ap-
II a general lethargy among the
the people. Many seem to be
- v-,na...- was, L'se-l many
Washington Irving imagi-
where in the Catskill Noun
difficult to awaken them to
pt the spirit Of the times de
pvements. In educational
have slumbered ever since
he dosed his teachers whisky
emetic. They are opposed to
sfrst class school houses, because
Lifiest recollections are associated
n rude buildings and puncheon
enches, and by doing so, it would sever
'she link that connects the morning TO
the noon and evenings of their lives.
Some, ON being clothed with brief author
ity, by being made trustees, have been
known To exercise that authority by ar
bitrarily requiring teachers TO keep
ioud Schools because it was the fashion
of some favorite "schoolmaster" when
they were boys. Among this class will
be found those who object to giving teach
ers remuneratiye salaries, because the
laborer in the field has to be contented
with small wages. Wehave even known
some very few to object to their children
being too highly educated for fear it
would make them more knowing than
their parents
But notwithstanding this depressed
condition of Common Schools in many
localities, the courage Of the friends of
the system should not be abated. A con-
siderable advance has been made since
their commencement They are COM
paratively in their infancy. But little
over twenty years have elapsed since
their general introduction in the State.
Time and labor are required before they
can be brought TO anything near perfec-
ton. The most durable and valuable
structures are not the speediest construc-
ted. According to that learned German
historian, Charles Won Rotteck, "The
objects of nature, moral rs well as phys
ical, are attained in slow approximation,
which admits indeed some interruption
or acceleration, but no sudden transition
from one extreme TO another; and the
nobler the creations are the later they
arrive to perfection" We have some
where read of a magnificent ice palace
having been built in few days. and in
an equally short time it melted and van
ishod away. The sweat of genera
tions was spent upon the Pyramids
of Egypt, and they still stand as
wonder to the curious traveller, though
thousands of years have elapsed since
their erection.
Though Common Schools have many
insidious foes in the State, their utility,
when successfully conducted, but few can
question. We have no objection to our
high schools, colleges and universities; in
fact they cannot be dispensed with. They
are absolutely necessary for the success
of the Common Schools, but they cannot
be reached by the masses. Law-break-
ing, insubordination and most evils which
infest society, generally find their vota-
ries among the untaught and ignorant.
No one will dispute but that it is the in
terest-taking nothing but selfish motives
in eonsideration--of every individual in
a community 10 have all of its members