Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1875-07-03

| pOpui2IlOl, LSHulhS 70 make Lue HnOi
great interior plane, called the Missis
sippi valley, q homogeneous, because 81
Independent, community. And thest
influences indefinitely operate to draw
the people into more close organic Tela
tiOns-pOlitical, social, commercial. The
natural resources Of this plane are suct
that it will dominate the nation within
the memory Of thepresent generation. /
now holds q population o. nineteen mil
lion. Il will not dominate in a hOs;il,
or dictatOrisl sense. The constant ia.
tercourse with the eastern and Yves. r.
slopes will prevent that. The vsay
growth we shall achieve viii make 4,
more catholic, more tolerant, -.ais
American. The social aud puEt cal
problema presented Us in this great val.
ley are, first, its rapidly increasing
wealth and population. This generation
h15 to construct the form upon which
we shall build harmonious and homo
geneous structure, out of the heterogene-
GUS materials now at hand. This will
be aided by necessity. When al sorts
Of people of all natiOnalities are thrown
together, they naturally learn to toler-
ate each other, and each takes on sCme-
thing of the hue and learns something
! useful from tbs rest, liberation natuT-
| ally results. So we are more tolerant
than any known people; because We
must be, in order to live at peace with
our neighh9rs. And here presents IT,
self the educational problem: How shall
the educator seize this heterogeneous
macs and mould and direct it into
| right channels? The animal def
cience in man combine With
his superior Intelligence to make
him greater than the brute. His
weakness makes him strong, Besides,
he cannot live as the brute ivss; ne,
peTfOrce rObs, the brute. the earth, the
worm, to feed and array his body. AS
! he advances in the skill of achieving
| this lac becomes educated in certain
lower sense. But, as we have limited,
| education has higher aim than this.
| Not for mere individual comfort, and to
| perpetuste individual existence do we OF
| this modern day educate. But the
| rather that the whole community may
| rise as one man to 8 higher, uobler
plane of moral, social and intellectual
| life. Out OF this higher idea, imper-
fectly conceived, has come the systems
| OF modern gOvernn ent, the laws Of trade
| and commerce, the interchange Of ideas,
| and products between the people of all
! quarters of the civilized world. The de-
sign of the school is to put the tools in
the hands of the young by which they
are to master the problem Of life AID
heW their way through the world. The
speaker considered the relation of the
State to education. All modern States
recognize the duty of government TO
control, to greater or less extent, the
education of its children. The freeT the
government the more liberal it is in this
direction. England has given more for
the queens horses and hounds than for
the education OF English children. It
Is only when the State rests on the
democratic idea that universal education
is possible. In q despotic country it
would overturn the sovereignty to en-
Tighten the people. Despotisms are wise
enough to know this, and will not, IN
less forced to it, put the people in pos
session of the knowledge that would
overthrow them. In school government
sal?-restraint must be made the Leading
ide9, not secondary to fear inspired by
brute force. In this day the teacher
who cannot govern his school but by
tyrannous thoughts and acts, is unfit for
his vocation. The child, to stsrt right,
must know his honor is respected, and
thereby he learns to respect himself, his
obligations to himself, his teacher and
his fellows, too thoroughly TO violate res.
sOnable rules of order and decoIum.
Squeers must give place-his given plsce
Ito the better methods developed in the
progress OF christian virtue, tolerance,
and the giving way of the british no.
ton that children can Olly be governed
by fear of The punishment that follows
violation Of law. The school as now
10 ff al
ion. Pruue it as you may OF sectarian-
ism, and still the very habit Of mind, the
constant subsection to moral rules, the
inevitable growth Of a well-bal-
anced character in true proper
tions-moral, mental and senti-
mental-promoted in the we'll
ordered school-roOm, mskes christians
as it makes scholars. The railroad and
telegraph have moved great part of
what was the country a few years ago
into the cities, thus rendering the COM
munity OF the Mississippi valley more
and mora inter-dependent upon each
other, as divided into urban and cOun-
try or rural populations. Think of the
skill, money and labor required to man.
age and operate railway; OF the great
interests Of insurance, telegraphy, print
ing, publishing, journalism. All these
great interests becoming ramified and
making their influence felt everywhere,
have made more varied and thorough
education of youth in schools necessary
than may have been needed even fifty
years ago 1t is obvious that in q So
ciety of mere rurslists, existing in the
rudest condition known to cur higher
civilization, there need be no such varied
system IS s society organized on the
converse basis of activity and welding
the wonderful agencies of steam anu
electricity land more than half the whole
population dependent for the means Of
subsistence on the rural producer, while
he in his turn obtains the modern Rp-
planes for skillful culture from ais ur-
ban neighbor. To meet this demand CT
the age for more universal as well %
more technical education of youth, we
must have trained teachers. The one
hundred and twenty normal schools now
give the Gsuse of popular education more
strength and enhance its value tenfOld
more than all other agencies combined.
The wealth of q community was derived
from proper direction of cultured brains.
No investment, as q mere matter OF
money, pays so well as good system OF
common schools; but this is the lower
view. II we tram our youth in their
spiritual, moral and intellectual duties,
they will find proper channels, and
whether they become rich or not, they
will be more useful to themselves and to
mankind than if we leave their training
to chance or natural bent.
DISCUSSION.
The paper read by DR.. Harris was ia
ken up for discussion, DIR. J. B. Linds-
ley, OF n Nashville, leading off. The pa
per is Just such paper as we should ex-
pect from such a man. DIR. Harris is
the founder and editor of the only Jour-
nal OF speculative philosophy now in
existence. He vas, beside, a practical
educator. being superintendent OF the |
schools of the great metropolis OF the
Mississippi valley. DR.. Lindsey took
as his text the interviewer character of !
our schools with SO many other institu- !
tiOns of government. Thus, losing |
sight of the individuals affected by If, |
we BEE only the hundreds, thousands !
and hundreds Of thousands to be bene- |
flied, and 1t so becomes az integral part |
and not a child OF government.
Mr.. Ament said when DIR. Lindsey |
was lad, child, was making speech |
es and writing articles favoring such a |
system of education as we now enjoy. |
He was hooted at for advocating the !
policy of taxing one man to educate the |
children Of another. He answered /
III L 4