Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1875-02-04


less than Ne eroent 81 thes; .s grad hates:
fail 10 teach their two years. Again, IS
should not be assumed that tile benefit Of
these seilibsi. aY'hnlted N he lumber
OF .heir Sraduaies. Not p,orr than one.
tlith d those VII, enter &c schools ssares
fable to remain and graduate. Bue the
four-fifths-w who thus retire without com.
lplcting the course, are no less faithful to
their obligations tha:, tho graduates them
selves. Many Of them IRE today among
tile best teachers Of the State. Not one
ofthen. but Is able to do far better work
with even a single terms instruction at
the normal school than would he possible
without it. The work THUS accomplished
by the 800 under.grsdu Of tl,is-i nsti-.
tuition is perhaps in the aggregate quite
rs valuable to.thc community MS that Of
the graduates themselves. ,a DIV s. h.
The third proposition assumed that
''The number OF normal teachers as COM
fpared with that Of the schools needing
teachers is in tho ratio OF perhaps one to
fifteen, certainly not greater than that, and
1t canno: be increased without multiply
ing the normal schools, a proposition new
er to be entertained" The three normal
schools by the close Of the present year,
/ will have sent out in the graduates and
under. graduates not less than 800 teach
ers This istheir. work during the first
ten years in. the case oGone, and of four
and five years in the case Of the other two
respectively This work, too, has been
accomplishment the face OF wind and
tide" and against IN opposition, not to
say a persecution, without parallel in
the history of education in this country.
The only wonder is that these schools
have not gone down amid the torrent of
|of prejudice and injustice which tor ten
years has assaulted them. These results,
moreover, lave been achieved with not
more than forty per cent. Of the influence
which they ARE capable, with proper sup
port, Of exerting.
But to return to the figures above Civ
en-, and making deduction Of one-third
from the total number instructed rs stat
Jed, we must have not less than 1000 teach
ers in the State who have received instruc.
ton directly from the normal schools
On the assumption that 5000 teachers arc
required to carry forward our common
schools for a year, we shall find the ratio
Of normal teachers" increased from one
in fifteen to one in five of the whole num-
Der employed. And when we reflect that
a large proportion, especially of the grad
yates, are teaching in the more import.
ant schools where they are aiding to
train other teachers for tile rural districts.
we shall be able to see results that more
than justify every dollar Of expenditure
to which the State has been subjected
thus far, while they offer every encour.
agcment to continual forward move
mcnt in this direction.
But you say that the proposition IT,
multiply the normal schools is never to
be entertained. 1fyou had added the
words "until those we have are fully de.
vcloped and are no longer capable of
meeting the public demand for teachers
worthy ot.their high vocation" you would
have struck the key note Of our wonder.
full educational progress. Is it possible
then, that for insanity, crime, Dauperism,
and the other avoidable "ills that the flesh
is heir to-" we are to roll up from year
to year our princely appropriations, while
the increase Of those for the "ouncc Of
prevention" is proposition never to be
entertained: Compare the cost Of our
Insane Hospital, our State Prison and
our Reform School with that of our SEM
inarics for making better teachers and
better schools for our two hundred thou
sand children. I make no war upon these
institutions. They arc sad necessity
growing out Of a state of society disorder
ed, diseased by ignorance of natural and
moral law. These three State institutions,
representing the "pound of cure" ask for
$154.5O0 for the salaries of officers and
current expenses during the present year,
while the three normal schools, working
in the interest of the "ounce Of proven.
tion," asks for less than onc-fifth of that
amount, or $4,000, for like purpose
Now, Mansficld's excellent and reliable ia
bles show that one-tl,ird of the criminals in
this country are illlterates, while four.
f1fths of th en- arc practically so. They
show that the proportion of criminals
from the illiterate portion of the commu
nifty is ten times as great as from the por
ton having some education. Sixty pc,
cent. Of the paupers Of the community
are totally illiteratc. English statistics
show that 24.87 per cent of the children
OF illiterate women die under the age OF
one year while only 14.65 per cent. Of the
offspring Of women having ''some educa
ton die at that carly age. A single illit
crate pauper girl in the State: of New York
has in seventy five years become the an
cestor of over two hundred criminals
pests to society, tax and a burden up
ON the people. Tie total number o
adult illitcratcs in Minnesota in 1870 wa:
: over 10000 Of whom 5000 were males ant
. 10000 were females. Let each Of thes,
illiteratc w'n:l become the pro-.
! genator of like number of criminals ant
. where shall we stand: Now, have sucl
). facts as these no bearing upon the qucs
ton we are considering? Is 1t consist
a ent either with craftsmanship or humani
! ty to ignore them? The cost Of tak,n,
care Of our palpers, juvenile delinuuent