Weekly Trinity journal., 1875-12-18
RACE AND CREED IN EDUCA.
TIONAL MATTERS.

two parties took, to some extent, the form
of question Of prejudice Of caste. The
Democratic ticket, as published in the
city papers was headed with the motto
" No Chinese or Negroes in the White
Schools" The Democratic candidate
for City Superintendent was gentleman
who had filed the position acceptably for
two years, and had no such question been
brought into the canvass there would
have been no doubt of his success on the
ground of superior fitness. But when
this declaration was promulgated by tfe
Democratic City Committee, it at once
turned the current Of public sentiment in
favor of the Republican nominees and
cess of their entire ticket, had not DR..
Haswell written letter the day before
the election, committing himself TO the
Democratic side of the question. That
was sufficient. When two men holding
precisely the same views upon princi
pie of government are candidates for the
same position, men are apt to throw par
ty aside and make qualifications the
standard Of their support. They also pre-
fer an honorable opponent TO halfway
friend, and these ideas, carried into the
School Election at Sacramento, elected
the Democratic candidate for Superin
tendent and a full board of Republican
Directors.
We do not propose, here, to discuss the
question of equal rights Of education.-
But the Republican City Committee, in
their re}y to the Democratic manifesto,
took the ground that division of the
school fund upon any pretext was dan
gerous innovation that if divided upon
one pretext it would form a precedent for
demands of another character ; that if
separate schools were now established by
reason of color, alone, they would next be
demanded in the name Of creed. The
logic Of this argument was admitted, and
had DR.. Haswell remained silent and let
his.party speak ; it is conceded that his
election would have been assured. But
in his anxiety to gain the Office he truck
led to Democratic prejudice and only
succeeded in accomplishing his own de-
feat.
Holding, as we all do, that the safety
of our liberties as a people lies in
the education of the masses, and believ-
ing, too, that our Public School system
is the perfection of law upon the subject
which it has in charge, it is not to be
wondered at that any innovation, or at
tempt at innovation which threatens to
impair its usefulness should be jealousy
watched and vigorously resisted. There
is growing feeling in the country in ia
vor Of making intelligence and education
the standard of citizenship, and ere many
years the idea will assume practical
shape. Such will be one result Of com
pulsory education, and we presume there
are few who will contend that any other
standard should prevail. Intelligent
suffrage is not to be dreaded whether ex-
ercised by white, or black men. The Re-
publican party has ever been alive to its
duty to coming generations, and to that
end has aimed to make our system of ed
ucation rs complete, rs free, and as uni
versal as possible. Its great mistake in
chisement of ignorance. 1t has endeav-
ored by its legislation to repair this error,
and with few years more of power will
succeed. To do this it has had to contend
not only with the opposition, but with the
prejudice of its own members as we'll
But as time has passed away the neces.
sity that education should he universal
has become more and more apparent, and
to-day there is far less opposition to the
mixed school" system than was evinced
when the idea was first mooted.
The elections held in Ohio and New
Jersey, and in every place where the
school question has entered into politics
shadowed forth the same feeling-a deter
minaton on the part of the American
people that our present system of educa-
ton s hall remain undisturbed. They are
united in the resolution to keep it in its
full measure of usefulness and to permit
no innovation which threatens to abridge
or destroy its field. And if the temper
of the people is such that it has preserved
the system in its usefulness against the
prejudices of caste and color, it gives full
assurance that it will also resist any at
tacks made upon it in the more danger
Gus interests of creed whether these at
tacks come from the "God in the Con-
stituton" fanatics, or of any other class.