The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1875-11-12

. Att +t ga IL lis power 10 uVotIOE i8ilO
F, rance. The State guarantees freedom,
/ but Is not Ignorance the worst slavery
/. Does not the Republic commit a crime
/ against its children. if it fails to train
! them to perform the duties and enjoy the
| privileges of citizenship \ crime for
which it must pay the penalty: The Re
/ public is pledged TO promote the happ:-
ue-s of all. Bat is this iiliterate pauper
class happy. Has not everybody right
to demand that the State will help him
| out Of this degradation! And if it does
not help him may he not charge some of
/ his worthlessness and criniuality to its
neglect For its own prosperity ana
/ safety, aud for the welfare and happi-
ness OF its citizens, the State must com
| pei universal education. Ii need not
Jblige all to attend public schools, but
it should oblige all to attend school
somewhere.
Objection TO compulsory education is
raised on the ground that the child is the
parents, and if he does not choose to ed
ucate it the State cannot interfere. But
has the parent right to wrong his child,
or TO iuhjcU physical abusel No more
has he the right to staryl. or poison its
n,iud. And the State has as much right
to interfere ia one case as the other; as
much right to Say To the parent, You
shall not keep tbis-child ia ignorance, 3"
as to say. You shall not abuse his body
This notion OF absolute parental control
i Il very dangerous one. 1t holds that
lhe parent my DO what he pleases with
t,.s child; may educate or not, may train
him TO be good citizen or Il villain, and
It's uo.pue's business. But the child has
iis - ana the State has rights. The
State should insist that the parent recog-
liz tla shiId's ights. It does not in
terirre with any rishtfHl authority, but
iJ defends tie child from injustice and,
at the s,,m4 time, protects Itself from
harm.
Some tI.iuk tIe State should not inter
fere with instruction, but leave it all to
the people. Bat experience teaches us
that private Or Church schools never yet
educated ii nation. They reach "a Ger
tain class, but they do not reach the class
which HOS; need help. Tie intelligent
viii educate their children, but the il
noraut will let theirs grow up in ignO-
rance Even il the iIiiterate were willing
to cs'ab.i>h schools for their children
they are too poor 10 do it, In order to
nave "a universal system the State must
take tAe rich mans money to educate
tng poor mans children Oh the score of
puhiic ,rIi;'1e As for Church schools
tney have been weighed in the balance
and found wanting"
Without compulsory education we
cannot conquer i-norauct. because we
caunot reach it. We have tried it in
this city, aud seven thousand children
out OF school shows the result. And
ourezgrrieuct only repeats that + other
nations. France has - system Of tduea-
tipn O.. great merit. Il has been in force
forty years. But not being compulsory
!, s. largely failure. Prof. Breal says:
Three lour,!Is of orr children are de-
voted to ignorance" The whole history
of European education shows that com
puI,ion Is the only weapon which can
Dy-prsrtrrs IGNORANCE.
Nor is difficult 10 eII.crc.. tn Iieces-
sagy laws. At first some constraint must
b. resrrtei L., but after the first gene
rat!oa parents gov accustomed to the
regulation, seq it, advantage, and it
simply hecomea the business of the
chiIl's lie 10 % 20 school. Prussia,
SlXoay. aui iii- c;ti : of England, all
show how rca.lil. .Hpu!sory education
can be eitiagyy,.. And what can be done
ia tliose 5,a:es can be done in America.
When the State compeIs education,
the instruction which it gives should be
fitted to the wants Of he people. 1t
should SEX substance rather than show.
And &c snonli DE entirely free No tax
should be- laiI upon the children for
books aud stationery any more than for
teachers, apparatus or fuel. The eX
p-use rf text books Is Ouerous to the
poor. aai ofteu forces children to abaE-
d.u -c,:poi. This cxpeI-e, should b.
bafnH by the puai;e. II j. hardly fair
TO ohii-e parents TO send th' If children
20 >cl.ooi and tax them for books beyond
il-ei- meaus.
Finally, ii,e schools must be absolute
Is cuiar 40 form ofrelisio.:s doctrine
mus, br Taught III them, either directly
or Indirectly. The State di~oiaims all
interference in religion. but it cannot
maintain forms Of worship ia il. schools
without bycou'u. propaguud:st with
the ideas which those forms Of worship
represent And it is unjust for the State
which Is neutral il religion to give any
form OF it the powerful assistance of its
schools. EOr can tie State divide its
funds and support sectGriau schools.
T.at would wreck tie whole system and
wu.i, harm and ruin ia many directions.
The schools must be kept secular and
religion left to the churches. Bat this
does not make the schools goddess" A
school Is not goddess" which teaches
truth and fact about Gods universe.
Inculcatiug scientific errors and histori
cal lies Is educational ungodliness. True
science is not half sogoiless as false the
ology.
The lecturer closed IS follows:
Tie great want Of the times Is com
pulsory education. We need il in our
city to cleanse our streets of the 1000
boys and girls who are growing up in
ignorance, to rescue them from poverty
aud vice, and 10 transform them into
worthy men and women. We need it
in our State to coerCe that great army
OF y. OCO nliterate children within the
school house walls and to eompeI the
2jO, OCO otLerabsentees TO regular attend
ance. And above all we need compul
sOrv e1ucatfoB in our nation as the only
means Of eievatIng FIVE and half mil
lions Of orr eountrymen out OF degrad
ing initeracy into intelligent manhood,
as the only means of guarding the lib
critics and insuring the futare welfare of
the republic. If all ths States will es-