Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1872-03-02

UT, He discusses the wants OF England
on the snbjrct Of education. No one
who reads that chapter can fail TO ad.
mlre the bomness and power with which
he points oat the chief obstacles 20 pop
ular education in England. lie exhibits
the significant fact that while during the
last half century there has been a gener-
al transformation in the civil organiza-
tion Of European Governments, Eng.
land, with all her liberty and progress.
is shacklcd with what h- calls ! civil or.
ganization, which is, from The top 10 tic
bottom Of it, not modern. lie says:
Transform she mast unless she means 10
come at last 10 the same sentence rs the church
ofSardis Thou hast u name that thou ltyesi.
and art dead"
However, on no part Of this imucnsc task
OF transformation have / now TO tOuch, except
on that part which relates tp education, but
this par, no doubt, is the most important Of
all, and ii is the part whose happy accomplish
ment may render that Of all the resi- instead
OF being troubled and diGcult, gradual and
easy
Obligatory Instruction is talked Of But
what is the capital difficulty in the way of
obligatory instruction, or indeed any national
SYSTEM OF instruction in this country Ii is
this, that the moment the working class Of
this country have this question Of instruction
really Brought home to them, their selfrespect
will make uhem demand like the working
classcs on the continent. public schools, and
not schools which the clergyman or The squire
or tue mill-oWner calls my school r. And
what Is the capital difficulty in the way of
giving them public schools II Is this, thai
t"e public school lOi the people must rest upon
the municipal Orgalizatiun OF the country.
In France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the
lir spg,, H.. l..
having, the commune and The municipal gov
ernmcnt Of the commune, rs its foundations
and it could not exist without them. But we
IN England have our municipal organization
still to get the country districts with us,
have at present only the teudal and rcolesias-
tical organization Of the middle ages, or Of
France before the Revolution"
The real preliminary to an effective system
of popular education is, in fact, 10 provide the
country with an effective municipal organiz.
tiOn and here, then, is at The outset an ins-
ustratinn ut what | said, that modern societies
need Il civil organization which is modern.
IN the carly part OF 1870 report was
made to the minister ofpublic instruction
by Mr. &. Hippeau, man Of great
learning, and who in the previous year
had been ordered by the French govern
ment 10 yIst the United States aud make
education. In summing up his conclu-
sions, at the end Of his report, he ex-
presses opinions which are remarkable
tor their boldncss, when we remember
the character Of the French government
at that time and his recommendation
have most significant application to
the principle under consideration. |
translate his concluding paragraphs
"Wha. impresscs me most strongly as the
result Of this study OF public instruction in
the United States is the admirable power of
private enterprise in a country where the citi-
Zcns, carly adopted the habit of iOrcsecing
their own wants for themselves of meeting
together and acting in concert of CON bining
their means of action of determining the
amount OF pecuniary contribution which they
will impose upon Themselves, and of regulate
ing lis use and finally of choosing admins
traitors who shall render them an account of
the resources placed at their disposal and of
the use which they may make of their au-
ti!nrily.
The marvellous progress made in the United
States during the last twenty years would
have been impossible, if the national life in
stead of being manifested on all points of the
surface, had been concentrated in II caplal,
und the pressure of IL strongly organized at.
mnistratiOn, which, holding the people under
constant tutelagc, wholly relieved them from
the cara of thinking and acting by themselves
and for themselves Will France enter upon
that path of decentralization which will in
ialibly result in giving scope, now unknown
to all her vital forces, and 10 the admirable re-
sources which she possesses In what
especially concerns public Instructions, shall
we see her multiplying, rs in America, those
free associations, those generous donations
which will enable us 10 place public iustruc-
tion on the br0adcst foundation. and to revive
in our provinces The old universities that will
become more fourishng rs the citizens shall
interest themselves directly in their progress
To accomplish this it will also be necessary
that governments, apprlclating the wants Of
their epoch, shall with good grace relinqush
part of the duties now imposed upon them
and aid the people in supporting the rigid
regime of liberty, by charging the powers of
the municipal councils and of the councils of
the departments, by favoring associations and
public meetings, by opening tue freest field to
the examination and discussion of national in
terests /; in short, by deserving the eulogy ad-
dressed by man OF genus To great minister
of France: Monseigneur, you have la6ored
ten years 10 make yourself useless.
| have made these citations TO show
bow strongly the public thought of Eu-
rope is moving toward our system of
public education as better and treer than
theirs. do not now discuss the broader
political question Of State and municipal
government as contrasted with centraliz-
ed government. am considering what
is the best system of organizing the edu-
cational work of nation, not from the
political standpoint alone, but from the
standpoint of the schoOl-house itself !
This work Of public education partakes
in a peculiar way of the spirit of the hu-
man mind in its efforts for culture. The
mind must be as free from cxtraneous |
control as possible must work under
the inspiration of its own desires for
knowledge and while instructors and
books are necessary helps, the full st
and highest success must spring from
the power of seli-help. ta- -
So the best system of education is
that which draws its chief support from
the voluntary effort OF the community,
from the individual efforts OF citizens,
aud from those burdens of taxation
which they voluntarily impose upon
themselves. The assistance proposed in
this bill is to be given through The chan
nels of this, our American system. The
amount proposed is large enough to
tin,,,Iata - ,,raa,a ar aff,rt an1 RI oap. |