The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1874-01-29
The Public school system.
EDITOR llOME Journal;

nOtlOl llllj Society 'ONHOl pl"Nl'l Nl''T,
the affairs Of life are watched over ana
protected at nearly every lUrh ny, lhc
State and the Church; the state teaching
mon what they are to do, and the Church
teaching them what they arc to believe,
- Ruckic'S his, IF Cit, il EoJiapd' VoL' .
pagcl |,
1t appears from the Report Of the
Secretary Of the Treasury, dated jan
ualy list, 1873, that the State Govern
meat did not have money enough 70
delray its current expenses, and Was
compelled to suspend interest pay
mcnts on the bonded debt Of the State
for lack Of funds.
IGappcars, also, from the Report OF
the Assistant Superintendent of Pablo
instruction, that the outlay ny the
State Of Tennessee for educational
purposes in 1868 was $j73,7Sj "a
And we suppose the outlay for 'hc
same purpose in 1874 will be largely
over half a million dollars,
The State being burdencd with al
"immcnsc debt" taxes heavy, and
money scarce and hard to get, the cir
cumstanccs ought to be extraordinary
in iced that would justify the State
Government in placing an additional
burden Of halt n mjllioa dollars per
annum on the shoulders of the people
Now what are the circumstances re
lied upon to justify the State Govern
mcnt in doing this thing for the pur'
pose of establishing public %schoolsf
The two principal circumstances up
ON which the Assistant superintendent
of Public instruction seems to rely IN
! his defence OF the system, are the vast
amount Of crime and pauperism ID the
State. and the consequent insecurity 81
life and property. lie tells us that
:. the amount paid for the prosecution
and conviction Of criminals out OF the
State Treasury for the year ending
October |, 1871, as shown by the
ComptroIIer's Report, was Sll ,o42''o'
In this is not included county cX
pcnscs," which, says cx- Attorney Gen
cral Hyde, amount to a larger sum
Aud the Assistant Superintendent in
sists that the establishment Of pubic
schools will arrest this "llood oil
Crii,c," because, says he, education
and crime are antagonistic." But we
cannot agree with The Superintendent
on this point. The p~hilosophic hlsto'
rian, whom we have before quoted.
lrarncdly remarks that
THE main object Of legislation being
TO protect the innocent against the guilty
it naturally followed that European GOV.
crnmcntS. so soon &- i."y became aware o
the importance Of statistics, should begil
to collect evidence respecting the crime
they were expected TO punish. This cyl
dcnce has zone on accumulating. until il
now forms OF itsciia large hodi Of Iitera'
turc, containing, with the concentrate
=, connected with l., an immcnec array o
facts. 50 carefully compiled. and so wei
and clearly digestcd, that more may b'
learned from ii respecting the moral ma
tIlrc Of man than can be gathered from al
the accumulated experience OF preceding
AGES. NJ. Quctclrt, the frs
SlaliStician in Europe, states as the rcsuI
! OF his labOrlous researches. tLnt in every
thing which concerns crime, the SAM
numbers rc-occur with a COustancy Whicl
cannot be mistaken. We know from cN
p%rricnrc that every year there not oull
take place nearly the same number O
murders, but that even the instruments by
which they are committed are employed
in the same prUportiOn.' The corrcctncs'
Of this statement has been confirmed by
every subsequent investigation, and force
~ to the conclusion that the offences o
men are the result not 50 much ofthc vice
-, OF Tie individual offender as Of the stat,
of society into which that individual
! thrown. \ We have no reason Il
think that any permanent change la
been effected in the proportion whicI
/, those who naturally possess good lntcn
= lions bear to those in whom bad ones seen
to be inherent. So far rs we are awar
there Is no progress III what may b
called the innate and original morals U
mankind
Admitting these propositions to b
true admitting that the offences o
men are the result not SO much Of til
vices Of the individual offender as {
the state Of society into which that in
q diyldual is thrown" it becomes a
important matter for us to considt
the condition of society in the State
Tennessee.
Throughout the length and brcadt
q Of the State, in every town and cit
ID we find men engaged N selling intox
, eating liquors IN tipping houses. Ar
these tipping houses, the great pre-
~ motcrs OF crime and panperism, are
n, censcd by the State! Licensed by u
I'd State to destroy the morals of Il
#. community to send husbands III
-, fathers to the grave and to redut
- wives and children to poverty an
shame! Instead Of protecting socict,
as all Governments are designed to dc
the State of Tennessee places Il gre;
temptation to vice before all her cit
| zens, and thus becomes porh;cepS erin
q mis- to nearly all the crimes which ar
committed within her borders. Tina
this is true is amply proven by tn
u records of our criminal courts.
:, Having created 4 vast amount O
crime and paupcr;sm, by licensing tn
sale Of intoxicating liquors, and thu
taking a step which it had no right e
take, the State Government, in order t,
mitigate the evil of its own creation
r has established n system Of publ,
schools, and thus has taken anothe
step which it ought not to have taken
1t has been truly said that
Every Government which has hithcr
to existed has 0yerStepped its prone
functions, and at each step has done in
calculable harm. 10 maintain order, t,
prevent the strong from expressing tn,
Mnak and In IlnIi n~nrIniu LrInnLII -.