The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1873-01-03
SAN FRANCISCO. INDUSTRIAL
SCHOOL.

of San Francisco's most wealthy and in
fiuential citizens, and which was pro-
duetive of much good under the humane
and able management of Professor Pei
ton and his amiable wife, has, since
their removal from power and place
within It's precincts, become a wreak-
lng-plaee for the vengeance Of brutal
and Ignorant Overseers, whose cruelty
never more than found its equal in the
annals of Southern slave-drivers. The
details before the courts are perfectly
sickening. Some of the tortures TO
which the unfortunate children are sub
jected would discount the cruelties OF
the rack and thumb screw. That such
atrocities could have so long gone unde-
tected and unpunished by the authori-
ties has been a matter of astonishment.
But when we consider the isolated posi-
ton of the school the absence of wom-
en- within the walls; the punishment
that would accrue TO the telI-tale unfor-
tunate who would dare to give the in
formation; the fact that visitors only
meet the pupils in the presence of war
dens, and the apathy with which our
phlegmatic courts are wont to listen to
the complaints Of criminals, it is little
wonder, after all, that months of cruel
persecution should have passed over the
devoted heads Of the youths whose ref
uge under the law has been a most hor-
rible experience Of cruelty.
We were well pleased with the Indus
trial School under the management of
Professor Pelton when we visited the
Institution some two years ago. True,
the lack of the feminine element among
both teachers and pupils was sadly
prominent, for, with the exception of
the Professors wife, no woman was Wis
ible, and we know that z one-sexed in
stitution of any kind has n deleterious
effect upon the humanity with which IT
comes in contact; but the Professor was
kind, conscientious and almost mother
ly in his regard for the poor moral rep
robates under his care, and the fact that
these young outlaws respected and al
most idolized him was evidence that he
knew his duty and performed it. But
jealousies were even then arisingamon
the Board Of Managers, and Mr.. Pelton,
losing his position, was superseded by a
set of drunken, brutal ignoramuses,
whose abuse of power is overwhelming
ly appalling.
When will men learn TO practice their
iinely-spun theory that the care of chill
dren is woman's especial province?
They are not slow to avow their belief
in this theory when the service to be
rendered is menial or repulsive; but let
children require teachers, where author
ity can be exercised or emoluments Sc
cured, and these sagacious sticklers fol
"woman's sphere usurp her place al
once and contrive to keep it. We hold
that no human being is by nature fitted
to curb the lawless appetite of unruly
boys, or kindle and fan into flame the
higher emotions of the outcast, until
that person has felt the fullness ol
mother-life or mother-love, a knowledge
that can only come by personal expert
ence. That men have sometimes be.
come adopts in the art Of Juvenile refor-
nation but proves their own large share
of feminine intuition, and does not
prove that men, as a class, are in theil
sphere when acting rs reformatory tu-
tors.
We particularly object to the indus
trial school system because it is one
sexed and unnatural. Man cannot cas-
lily dispossess himself Of the idea that
his Creator made a mistake in the nat
ural commingling of the sexes. Conse-
quently he is continually seeking out
inventions whereby he may thwart the
Almighty fiat.
There are many girls in San Fran
cisco who need the benificent influence
of well conducted reformatory school;
and these girls, with a corresponding
array Of conscientious women teachers,
could be accommodated in the grounds
and buildings already occupied by the
present one-sexed school with very tri-
fling additional expense. The mutual
benefit to the sexes that would follow
this return to the observance Of natural
law would be speedily apparent; and
there would be no danger Of cold
blooded, villainous abuse of the chill
dren Of either sex by drunken teachers
II the school were what it ought to be
a home for both sexes, under the we'll
organized discipline of family govern
ment.
But when will the people learn wis
dom?