The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1876-01-07
How Education of Body and Brain PAYS.

How Education of Body and Brain Pays.
Education pays. Pennsylvania taxes
herself S9,000,0O0 a year for the educa-
tiOn of her children in the common
schools, and makes money by so doing.
New York pays upwards of S10,00O,0O
and At pays. The man who pays his
school taxes merely loans his money,
and, if well used, it will come back to
him, or to those who shall inherit his
property. True, even if education did
not pay in money, it would be worth all
it costs, for money can have no better
use than to lift men up to higher in
tellectual and moral level; but Just now
we want to emphasize the truth, that
every dollar judiciously spent for educa-
tional purposes brings back another dol
lar with usury.
In this connection, a few extracts
from an address recently delivered be-
fore the Wisconsin Horticulture Society,
by Hon. Samuel Fellows, Superintend-
ent of Public Instruction, are in point /:
81 have just been perusing with in
tense interest the report of the bureau
of education, on the relation of educa-
tion to labor. A series of questions was
addressed to a large number of intelli-
gent employers in all parts of the Union
as to the effect of education-mainly
common school-upon each person in
their employ. The answers were nearly
unanimous that his value to the COM
munity at large is positively increased,
and his power as a producer of adding
to the common stock of wealth is ma
terially enhanced by the education
given him as a child in the common
school. The increase of wages he will
receive on account of his knowledge is
put at various figures, averaging nearly
twenty-five per cent. That this increase
of value arises, 1st, from the fact of his
being more readily instructed in the du-
ties of his work; I'd, that he needs less
supervision; Sd, that he does his work
to better advantage; 4th, that he is less
liable to join in unreasonable strikes;
5th, is more industrious; 9Th, less dissi-
pated; and, lastly, is less liable to be-
come an expense to the commonwealth
through poverty and crime
Nov, remember, gentlemen, that
twenty-five per cent. is added to the
value of the laborer from the possession
OF the slender outfit given in the COM
mon school. What will be the per cent.
of value if, in addition to this, he re-
OClN05 q bidlLIuSf III pdIbf WulCu hp6-
cially fits him for the work The an
swers are given to such an inquiry in
the report alluded to. That a knOwl-
edge of the sciences that underlie the
occupation gives greatly increased value
TO their possessor; is agreed on all hands.
1t does this, 1st, by enabling him to
avoid dangers, ia mining, for instance,
to which ignorant men are exposed; I'd,
by enabling him to detect and remedy
difficulties which else would cause ex-
pense and delay; Sd, by enabling him to
discover shorter and simpler methods of
work, thereby increasing mis- powers of
production; 4th, by stimulating his
powers of coDtrivance, so that he ad-
justs and mOdifies the tools or machines
which he uses, and becomes eventually
an inventor o. simpler and better ma
chimes, thus increasing the wealth-prO-
ducing power of his fellow-laborers. In
this direction, it is estimated by these
men, competent to judge, that his value
is increased one hundred ercent., while
in certain exceptional cases, it is incal-
culably higher. Better even than all
this, il advances the w0ll-being of its
pOssessor. By virtue of his increased
education he commands higher wages
for his services, and also adds largely to
the common production"
What a convincing argument is given
in this report for our common school
system 1t pays in the lowest as well
as in the highest sense to educate the
people. According to the last census,
1854, 93l adult males were regarded as
illiterate. If, now, according to the
opinions before given, these parties
should earn each one dollar per day in
their illiterate state, by learning to read
and write, twenty-five per cent. would
be added yearly to the production of the
country, or SIG, ,6l2, ,425, nearly twice as
much as is paid annually for public in
struction in the United States. If, now,
We take four-ffths of the S,2S7, ,043 en-
gagged in various pursuits in the United
States in 1860, who received their edu-
cation in common schools, considering
each one as capable of earning one dol
lar per day without such education, and
81 25 with it, we have a yearly addition
TO the production of the country Of S523,-
740, ,l78, nearly nine times the amount
paid annually for public school instruc-
tiOn. Then consider what the Increased
production would be if specific instruc-
tiOns were given to these persons in the
different branches of industry repre-
sented by them, or if, in early life,
studies were pursued bearing directly
upon their vocation. The instruction
that these men need, in the main, is in
the facts and truths OF natural science,
for these lie at the foundation of the
life-work of the vast majority of the
producers of our country's wealth.
These sciences must be studied if ouI
nation would attain the exalted.destiny
which clearly awaits it.-EIchdnge.