, 1875-03-02

4dE 1115 A9A1 VE QA0Va1 EUUEAIIuY
Tho interest In tho theory Of compu sor,
education is SO great that 1t Is almost i,apos
aiblo to tako mp my prominent periodical Q,
paper without finding some reference to Il.
subject. The March atlantic takes the fell
with an interesting historical summary Of IL.
progress Of tho itlea.
After Germany had boen crushed by Tia
Napolconio WARS, hor foremost thinkcrs toos
hold Of tho work Of restoration, and Lid liz
broad and necessary foundation by making
education compulsory. The famous rnle Il
1919 obliged every child between md l,
to 60 to school regularly. More recently,
tile school ago has been fixed between G and
II years. There WINS some difficulty q. fin,
in enforcing tho rn1e, but F1ouTE snid: "TE,
first generation will be tho only ono upoa
whom it will he necessary to use constsaint:
for those who will have received the proposed
educntion will voluntarily send their cidna
to school" Time has shown this to lye 10
trs1o TINT, in 1868, only seven pcrsoE In Al
Prussin were punished Tor failing 10 co1nr'1
with tho Inv. Saxony did not enforce clu
cation until 1885, and had some t,oub's It
first to do 80, hut haa mono now. A',uot
every German has some oducntion. .Iri1s
s1MoH, late Minister of Public instruction Ia
Franco, wrote: "pruss;a, with obligatory in.
strucion, hns conquered ignorance, victo,y
from which VIC arc separated, aftr tl.iry
years of efforts, by 100000 children, ignoraas
and neglected" France hns spent .aucl, .,
education, bnt she Inns not compelled bss
children to be educated, mud ler oGcrts haze
therefore been in win. 4 striking coalra.:ssl
can be drawn betweon saxony and ;}el .,inrl
Both pay much attention to education. D=.
GUM spends more upon it, propor::o:sa!elr,
than Saxony does. Saxony enforce Gtleul.
ance upon schools, and Belgium docs MI.
All Saxons arc educated. Half tho Ea!;;isu,,
according to tue Inst ol1lcial ccns,:, CAMEO:
read aui write. Tile Bo!ginu plan Il tie ozs
pursued in most Of our Stntes. Schools ari
teachers ara provided, but children uni tke:s
parents are left to decide for t:.c,usclTa
whether they shall learn anything er not. In
New York City, before tho Compu:sory-Ed
cation law took effect, there were oI0,Ns
registered scholars and less than 1o1. ono rsg,
lar attendants. Thcao figures, too, take no
account Of tho mnss Of poor cl,il lren uta
wero not evon registered at amy school ssl
never entered one.
The trial Of the system iu England is IS
pecially interesting to us. There l:as been,
long fight for national education there. H.
oAuLAY was one Of the co1nbatants. It VI
ut this timo that lie uttered his famous ss-.
ing: "The right to hung inyolve1 the rigid
to enforce instruction" In 1870, tIlsro Se'
1000, 600 unschoolcd children in E,:slnnd aaa
Wales The law drawn BY A1r. ". E. FOES
TER, ind passed in TINT ycar, o1utalnels
provision permitting local Boards Of Edue+
ton to mako instruction compulsory, il s!st1
wished. It was test Of the popular fccin:.
Fow persons thought tho per'niss..on would
evor DO utilized. To overybody's susr:is',
nearly oil tho great cities enforced adacstioa
forthwith. The plan has worked admiE"'}
even in London. II TINT ovorgrowa 'ps':' :
oils cnn ba managed Under such law, It il
applicable everywhere.
Wo trust that the historian Of ccmptse:1
education who writes In 1880 can clroa!s'
dvo years successful prnotice Of the idea u
tho great State Of Illinois.