The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1874-07-03

Inclose the postage stamps to send II back
But first pay all the postage on 1t too.
For editors look black on six cents due
Aud murmur as they run the effusion Ger
- A shabby fellow aud a wretched bore.
Y ct ere it goes, take off a copy clean
Poets should own copying machine
Little they know the time that's spent and care
In hunting verses vanshed-who knows where
Bear this IN mind. observe It to the end,
And YOU shall make the editor your TREND
Orr Common sChOOfs.
EDITOR TRUE NoRrHERSER
II NAV strike the casual observer that TINS
school question" has by this time received
about it's share OF attention Tor the present.
and If the theme is not exhausted and become
thread bare at least 1t were better to deslst for
awhile and take respite. But, Mr.. Editor ana
dear Public, pardon my presumption, but reel
il incumbent on me to also enter the arena, ana
in nv humble way to develop briefly as possiDle
a phase OF the question not hitherto touched
upon, and which It seems to me should meet
the approval of both parties IN the contest.
TO illustrate my position Supposea traveller
weary and foot SORE ID standing at the foot OF
precipitous mountain blazing sun Is over
head he il dying of thirst and hunger ana i
impatient to arrive at his destination Just be-
vond the mountain, TO which the only route OF
which ne knows Is a long, toilsome, circuitous
path Deer the same. lie feels ready to sink
under the gloomy prospect before him. and
scarcely restralns a muttered curse on his hard
lot suddenly stranger appears and informs
HIM that close at hand il a tunnel lately con-
structed through the mountain, by which his oes-
tination may be reached by a delightfully."- cool
and easy walk occupying as many minutes as tne
other way would require hours. Now. though
there may be mo royal road to knowledge"
fearlessly assert that the way to elementary
learning. aye the pathway OF the finished
scholar can be UNNECESSARILY improved.
Again 1t is charged, and perhaps truly, for
on every hand the cry goes up loud and vehe-
ment, that our educational system is costing
us too much That there are thousands OF dol
lars annually expended where as many hundred
would secure Just as high standard OF pro-
ficlency verify believe But the waste lies not
altogether in the direction as argued BY some
OF nv predecessors in the controversy.
Time VIII not permit me to expand this sub
ject as could wish. only mean q. present to
throw out some hints that MAJ be food for
thought. hoping at some future time may be
allowed more fully to demonstrate my position
and prove the statement that our educational
expenditures can and should be cut down in
the proportion as above int mated.
And further, thousand and one petty an
novances, with some not so triaing, that now
beset the pathway OF youth, the teacher az
we'll as follow the adult all through life, might
reasonably be reckoned among the relics OF the
past, bearing company with innumerable other
fragments Of barberisms discarded by the
spirit Of progress, were the pdblic to arouse 10
just sense Of the situation.
would also make another point, viz: II will
not be gainsayed that a lamentably large per-
centage OF the youth OF our land. despite all
the efforts or State and laws compulsory are
growing up in ignorance, or one OF the class
termed uneducated. Though some may barely
possess the ability to read and write their case
is scarcely remove from abject mental dark
ness. AL must admit that there exists a very
large class OF persons. young and old, where
thirst for knowledge is anything but intense
who lack intellectual force and abhor mental
effort these, perceiving at the outset the in
Vulnerable senseless obstacles thrust in the
way OF advancement by the sages (?) OF old
become discouraged, and are forever debareC
from ayailing themselves Of the boosted edu
cational privileges said to be open to all
And finally among the professedly educated
from the timid miss presiding over the motle,
assemblage in the rural school-dstrict to tn,
encounter the evidences OF ignorance of certain
rudimentary principles, or that which custom
has authorized as the type Of propriety. Any
one glancing over the historic incidents Of tn
past decade must be impressed with the fac
that this is period OF reform, innovation ant
giving away TO liberal. advanced ideas /; ancien
dogmas and narrow minded tenets are yleldin,
20 the Light OF free thought the barriers o
prejudice are fast crdmbing, and the evolu
tons of time are surely developing higher
truer, and more practical plane OF philosophy
Aye. the watchword q the age is Excelsior
upward onward
Then let Us hope that the work OF the icono
clast will not cease until one other crying evi
is reached, and the world be freed from
bondage scarcely less grievous than the thral
dom OF African slavery.
However liberal or comprehensive may be tn
provisions Of the State and General Govern
ment, augmented by the disinterested effort
of the host OF friends to the cause yet on
educational system fails to adequately reac
the masses and lead simultaneously to tn
ideal higher plane of culture. That this de
sired end is susceptible Of attainment withou
undue straning or discord, under the rsgim
that would propose, is what I claim No
: would the good work stop here. Not onl
would the door to enlightepment be unbarre