Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1873-02-18
FREE SCHOOLS.

EdltOr spectator:
To LOVER OF TRUTH-Y ou
communication has been received and read with
care. You have failed to meet any of the state
ments made, or the issues raised by Justice
in reference to the Staunton Academy and tht
other schools of Staunton, but all of your thun
der has been directed at the latter part of ny
communication. Argument failing, you attenp
ridieule. AS the University student would say
! you curl, then you SWELL" | fear you have
lost the buttons off your clothes After reading
a few paragraphs of your communication L wa!
forced to exclaim: Rdrtuirunt monies noscetul
radiculus mas 1.-The mountains are 10 labor
a ridiculous mouse will be brought FORTH"
may, my friend, be a little bold and pre-
sumptuous in assailing your system of educa
tion. don't exactly know, yet [ think am g
free citizen of Virginia and to the manor born
As truth is sometimes elected by asking ques
tons, will you allow me to carry you back a lit
tie and inquire whether or no, you and those
with whom you act, after you have accomplish
ed the capture of the Staunton Academy, dc
not intend, if you can, to bring all of the schools
In Virginia, more or less, under your Common
or Free School System. Justice has been in
formed that this is your programme-if So
| the people ought to know tit is due to Jus
tice and Truth that they should.
will now, my friend, proceed calmly and
without fear, if can, to establish the PROPOSE
tions laid down in my last communication
that your system is unjust and oppressive
consequently tyrannical, and leads to Commu
nism." Government has no further right tc
Interfere with the privileges Of her citizens OF
to impose burthens in the shape of taxes, than
is absolutely necessary to preserve social order
and support the body polite When you GO
| beyond this, you strike at the foundations upon
| Uh L - fbo
| pays the expenses of Government that gives
protection to the personal rights of the non
| taxpayer. This is an inequality in favor of the
| non-taX-payer-ye it is an absolute necessity.
| But to go further than this and say that the
property-holder shall be taxed to educate the
children OF the non-tax-payer, is Just. l use
a stronger term it is robbery under the sane
ton of law. Again by your system you virtu-
ally compel citizen to send his children to a
place and to a teacher not Of his choice, and to
pursue q course Of study not of his selection
virtually taking the education of his children
out of his hands and putting it In the hands of
government official in violation of sacred
right. 1t is to the parent Of child that Sol
omon speaks with authority from God: ''Train
up child in the way he shall GO, &c. - and not
to the government official. All Of this, my
friend, call oppressive and tyrannical-w wheth-
er brought about by the one man power, or by
the influence OF the names you have brought
10 arrey.
The plea for all this is, necessity-the COM
mon good. If the common good requires that
an unjust and invldious tax shall be laid on the
property holder-that the education of man s
children shall be taken out Of his hands what,
pray, may you not do under this plea of COM
mon good? May not the common good soon
require the obliteration Of all lines dividing
property? Why not make clean swept
You have just the same right to divide the pro-
perty at once, as you have the right to it by
taxation. This, Justice calls Communism
One step further and we will be in the coudi-
tion of the Indians in the wilds, or the Afri
cans in Africa. We are now reaping the bitter
fruits of this thing of levying taxes for the
common good in what was called system of
internal Improvement Better have saved our
honor and been without the improvements );
better have let your school system alone, to the
last moment, and used the money you have
been forcing from the people, to pay the public
debt Be just before you are generous, is a
sound maxim of the law.
Now, my dear friend, to the array of names
you have put in support of your system, you
have mentioned one that shall never cease to
revere and respect-that of Gen. Lee | am
not certain whether or not he favored your
school system-you intimated that he did |
have only to say that have 10 doubt he was
honest, yet believe he was honestly mistaken.
lie was but a man, liable to err. He was q
military man, neither law-giver OF law-ma-
er. As to all, or nearly all, of the other names
you mention, they are perhaps Ike you and
me-polltlclans. They want to be leaders, want
office, want power, and if we do run into Com
munism, they will be the Grand Moguls they
will be the men to suggest what ought and
what must be done for the public good.
And now,my dear friend, for your prscedents
and why, D why have have you gone all
over the Southern States and to Prussia and
never once mentioned Massachusetts and all of
the States on this side of the water who have for
years had your system in full operation
Why did you not point us to the carpet baggers
who forced your system upon US, and are Off
springs OF III Why did you not point Us to
the Vice-P President of the United States and
to him now elected to that office, recently here
preaching your doctrines. and how beautifully
they speculated In the Credit Mobilier-indi-
rectly taking bribes for their votes in Congress
Why do you not point to that man Ames, who
when threatened with expulsion from Congress
slapped his hand on his memorandum book, as
much as to say have the records of all of you
attempt it if you dare. Why did you not tell
us Of the poor factory girls, who are taught to
read at your free-schools, to have placed In
their hands literature there published, calcula-
ted to corrupt and ruin them forever. My
friend, forbear; yet it is from these peoIle
you want to get your system of education and
civilization-to give up our old system, under
which, if we have not risen much in the scale,
we have, at least, maintained our character.
My dear Lover Of Truth, | take it you are q
| Virginian and to the manor-born. I am real
ly ashamed of you. Your old mother Virgin
| la is ashamed of you-that you should be will
| ing to gulp the thing with your eyes open anC
| without holding your nose, and thus to barter
away her Institutions.
| Without further notice Of the Prussian pre-
cedent, than to say, are we free Americans tt
go to the despotisms Of Europe for our sys
TENS Of education and laws? Verify, our race
is pretty nearly run The subject is full, bu
space is short.
Justice would be glad in one more communi
ton to show to the working-men, the non-tax
payers, (for whom he has as great regard a.
any of the free school champions have, that the
free-school system is not to their benefit or ad
vantage, but gotten up as hobby to carry pol
iticians into and support some that are in Of
| fee. Respectfully,
| JUSTICE.
Among the appropriations for rivers and har
bors made by the House on Saturday were $75,
900 for James river and $50 900 for the Apo