, 1872-01-27
THE AVIS
gtri5iiaaaird, gi, grrix
SATURDAY GRIN JANUARY 1s72.l

issue we shall today take the liberty to direct our
readers attention to some Of the other principal
factors as indispensably necessary in the progress
of 9 people, viz the family, the school, the press
and business. How is our little island placed in
these respects !? what is the state Of the machinery
at our command for enabling Us to occupy d place
among the progressive communities Of our time !?
for, if it is not in good working order, there may
DE. some fear that the cynic expectation of those
who pretend to know us best, will be realized.
They declare already that in spite of every effort
on the part of the m Government and their
Representative here to put us on the right track,
we shall hardly eyer be put on the track, or if We
are, on paper, that will be all, and in a very short
time we shall again have given proof of our imma-
turity and instability. Our aim to-dayis merely
to snatch a view at the above-mentioncd machine
cry. in our endeavour to draw forth free and
general discussion.
The first wheel, the family, will only be a sub
ject of remark here in as far as it may beNne-
cessary, in our estimation, to the understanding Of
the social whole, to cast a glance Ut the parts
which 60 to make it UP.
But with the second wheel, the schools,you Ger
tainly must agree with US, there is matter forsalIs
the skill of a clever mechanic. All Of uss when
speaking and writing of them, find abundant fault
and not without reason. Lawyer Heilbuth in9S his
pamphlet Mutual Relations etc.J denies the exist--$
ence Of any thing like a decent school in our towns,
and Lawyer Arnesen, writing 20 years later (Aar
bent Brev etc., assures us that tho public looked
upon the school that of Christiansted II or Freder-xE
listed or both, we do not know in his time as an
establishment for the benefit of a certain number
of pensioners. So much for schools of past.
times. What, then, for those now existing? The
general opinion seems to be that they are worse
than ever. Perhaps they are-We have not the
means of ascertaining the correctness of the COM
parison but let it be admitted, for the sake Of
argument, that they are, the question presents it,
self to those who are not mere fault finders, Where@
is the remedy2 Some reformers have q remedy
for this, and in fact all other public and private
evils. The Government must do something, the
Government must establish a school first class Of
course, and free and gratis foo y even for such
children who occasionally drop in, as it were to-
ascertain the fact, that the school exists, Others,
not so numerous a class however, would haye no
schools, at all unfortunately it is not q matter Of
choice,) and others again would share out the
public money to the different denoninatieaas
For these last the enominatioralist a..schoolis mo-
school unless sectariar. S#
When this has been whispered, in no. many
words in the galleries, the work is done, hapda are
washed, and a determination formed not IA beS
satisfied with anything whatever that may Be don4z
in this respect. Why should you be dear GrllfnS1S
blers ? Whenever any one ventures to complain
Of this being SO, he is always met with this spe6xz
ing question Can anything good come from s1c1
a body as that blessed Colonial Council of ours &
and this question we hear SO often, althoughsmoat8
grumblers are voters. Many of them have voted
too, and for'the best men they could find III thu
CommpnitY- Now. jf1that is SOB hu--sh 3 80
very soon too. We persist in expecting thafs484
Council will give us schools as good as our NOT
oyer-prosperous condition will allow.
That We mean something different - What4
left uss after the last CREST onslauGhfzR Y {4aS2s Ez
and that, at the same time, We ente9t4EEna ez* -
ated notions of lavishly aendowed AnsttsM f;
the kind, we shall endeayour to prove ~ the
~ Z tho asStt wheel n our machine WAS the ~