The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-09-06

n,r:er. Threatening Our
40 schools"

n.;r....S,' ' one, grown up with on.
!.aa.sagI . gsI from lis character
:.o!s i,. 4 Isl system. Il is elastic
q '. Tx Of ilmo;; unlimited i'm
p ' ..j !, i /, not very hard to in
r.a:st .sI,sn !, butt would be yerI
..s.lP;a,o' s5y change in i which
y tllns lie To a.Ttc. Is Fundamental
j H'T +, !, quite rightthat 1t should
il:,,r t,ye sright toassume that an
q We . as,b his grown up with q
.,s.ii'la w !. ra,, slaP.cl to its needs
1 ,ts!,5 here are many features In
..5oisl III sly.a,lge0usly copy Eu-
-. We VIII IS5 a1i although we might on
al n. .,,ls1l, ever prefer some Faro
,.''s' s ", AZ A whole if tho question
% re !. .cs7s,ideret De fa"gro. yet !! |.
- p " ~, 1, likely that our Judgment
:-.f' t'.', IA; the popular impulse Is
''yss T5o;e reformers who wished,
'''. ..,., $40, to introduce the English
s-S man university system would,
Il 4 'rg5.'ibo0I, have made pretty mess
: .,Ssy could have had their way; We
~. ,,i,:d no, so very long q time, and
.iN ,,oiies; Institutions, Harvard and
~ T.tIeyeloping u realuniversity syst
a; ma stands chance orpcEma1ence,
-; ias its roots in the old order oil
H. n me considers the real excellence
. -. chools, and the degree IN which
..,ye Become postulate in American
70 5,itis hard to reilize adequately the
: nj. list menace the system from
o1D.site directions. The first
gay" ,bscbsracter Of the school system
4 Tsicb Is constantly tending TO be-
=. =, ,s5re snl more mechanical, and
ky5s an excessive routine and
''.-- ~ methods Of instructions.
{ =. .ssgsl i. more vital, aud is directed
',,,,t The very existence OF tho public
Il. f.t tendency Is natural and una
IA AID I, probably entirely within
y. .' .6.,rl The schools suffered at first
y y, .ss Of organization and graduation;
,,..r, more natural than that, in CorrcC.
In, defect, two much stress should
h NJ rpon organization, and that, as a
,.,f n5.. scholars should have come to
|, sn1p I, IS the first OF all objects to get
tn one Grade into another. In any
: IL gx4ct discipline is indispensable;
! .,hers arc few who can maintain
|E.5 discipline il q large school without
/ r.ecisiou Of a maFIuent; and that is
T, our school discipline tends to be-
h. Methods oi instruction were
4, died generation or 50 ago, and one
~ frs. features OF the new impulse
e!sca,iOa then received was new aud
: ,s.e,2.iiaS methods. OlcOurse, when
1. impulse had passed, things settled
|llEs !a,1 rOltine, and the new methods
kans 6rnll and antiquated, just as the
"a l,es had been. All iheseresults must
'lS. 8lloTcd so long US the majority Of
.s..4sa sc no! men Of inspiration and
/. lbs, BIT! honest, hari.wOrking persons,
I'D simply aim to do their work as well
i hes csn, just rs ii it were ditching, or
bnlleping, or reporting, 1t is r9rk,
steal.
Tbs wilt exp,aic the routine and CON-
! apiece that are the worst character
taSN our public schools. These defects
IT, igynvalel by tho excessive amount
Ea5E us. is imposed upon the teachers.
is.;deT:, as a class, have a much higher,
Es,, oiraiheF the ambition tor q much
f!;.g one, than they are able TO realize
u! SIC mechanical and commonplace
'Eli because circumstances will not al.
hE 70 be any thing more. The re-
Eis, aJTeTcr, Iaai iIiu'SiGg YfC0rie hi:
tsts6el wiki the work done 10 the
l1l.2Thools no: with the way in which
er works. done, but with the work it,
81 Thcy want . different training for
Gsi 5Jys and irOm tAemechauiCal high
Fss;:'e Of the public schools; and this
hsi ';2i, or At any rate seek, in private
E;0s.
NoT, these evils are rcmediable, OF least
2 degree; but only with the increased
a';4fe u the community itself. The
Ea1oDs are but : reelection Of the popular
A'e, which enjoys their big and snowy
Mechanism, believes in this excessive
i,allHi Of mathematics, and NIL these
la'y rules Of Crammer and details OF
seGnply, aud thinks the main object of
tAAls lie IS 10 get US fast us possible
Eoa one grade TO another. As soon as
I.'Aas realize that girl who has been
lnlsl Tue course, but can not walk O
nue. tnl never passes two days without
. lsaI,1cle, Is not precisely the highest
3&I0'e Product OF civilization, and that
y " curse lISeIl Sat once wofully narrow
" extremely intense, they will demand
. S'e' system, and then they will have
LAe other danger specified is fundamen.
\ !. 4al vital, touching not the character
. '1e schools, but their existence, 1t finds
: ots' expression, Of course, in the doc
t'asyi Tue Catholic Church, which makes
y CIuFca the necessary foundation oil
W human institution; but 1t exists no
= '.l 10 every form of Professionalism which
S s., 70 be recognized in public ed
Sn; The first ana most consistent
s,pt WI. Talch It took was opposition to the
y, Y. eAsIence OF a treeschOol system, but
III, Wy soon driven to more subtitle and
J .so0, forms Of autagouism. The tree
~, ~. Is 80 tirmly seated in the American
t 's,., y an essential part OF American in.
IS' ~ that % try 10 over throw il Is
~ So,,,R wasted; Catholic schools, Jewish
SOO;s s' eWedenboEgian schools, German
school which represents a
- ~. saiSloUs faith, or a single element
W. compound nauOnality-are but an
, ,r ,o, .s Protest against the systcm, and
- a W toach its vitality any more than
n, v'aeF private schools Foiled in the
, v., W overthrow the system. 1t next
~ y win equal i'll success, TO divide II,
,5 sSseaI The struggle, q much more
. mus one, IS to control. The contro-
y, y, over the use Of the Bible in schools
s Uai contest Tor the control of thC
, I,.a' PrOtestauusm, which
,,SsIis3 this control by tradition, and
i'I c,N sa, which demands it as olright
am not wonder that an attempt tc