The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1876-04-08

gen. buS oB6 VINO u5SN1tI0T puIpoS VI NJ
own bears quitea different relation 70 the
snbiect. Violent men may be as "honora-
HE - as Brutus and as brave as the six
hundred . who charged at Balaklaya, Dut
desperate deeds are not always the want OF
the hour. There 10 time TO manage
mob with grape and canister, and II ever the
moneyless millions in this land should tram.
ole on the rights of property the duty Oh
property would be to take bayonets, and 10
surrender liberty II necessary In order 70
save civilization. Or. Dabney confidently
expects this dire emergency, and, l iear,
prays for II. But ] have bad enough OF
Buffers and Sheridans, and prefer to control
the elements OF evil rather than succumb to
them: TO try the effect Of brains, and lioe.
rality. and Christian kindness, rather than to
nreach the gospel of discord and attemptto
force society back into med'aval darkness.
AS fer universal suffrage, l never favored
it even for white people, much less for any
inferior race; and / cannot now see how to
avert some evils which are likely to flow from
this gigantic crime OF the Federal Govern
mept.. But Dr.. Dabney must admit that
there are some things which even as great
men az he and must leave to Providence.
We don't like to do this, but sometimes we
can't help It.,
I have great faith in Virglnian political So.
gacity and In the power of education-and
Of Christianity, too, would add, IL IaEere
sure DR.. Dabney would not dissent. :, But
the worst might be appreheuded If society
should accept-the leadership of men whose
ink first turns to gall and then,to blood /;
who would glory in the logic of st. Barthol.
omew's day, neither thinking nor caring
whether ere long the same logic might not
bring the sack of Versailles. @
AS to raising question between the public
debt and public schools, what could be more
upwise! How could men who 'baVe any
knowledge of human nature, or who have
observed the fearful struggle Of good men
in their, effort to maintain, the credit of the
State, fling the sword of the Brennus into
the wavering scale! reject the issue! /
DENY the existence of any such antagonism.
We can educate, and we can pay Each
will help the other and the more resolutely
we do both, the more surely we ;wll thrive.
Does DR.. Dabney expect honor and thrift to
prosper among thieves and yagabonds such
as he describes7 Will the body polite be
preserved whilst the gangrene is eating
deeper and deeper? ~ .@s5s@
The trouble 1otc is not q want OF ability,
but a uant Of uirtue, among the. untaught
multitude, and want of self-denal among
those who know their duty. Both classes
need to be taught wherein consists public
as we'll as private honor. And whose busi-
ness is it to teach tbcm7 Anybody can de-
spise and insult the poor, but whose business
is 1t to pity them and to teach them the way
they should go? Why is it to-day that edit
ors and politicians, To order to save the State
from disgrace, have to become. teachers OF
the simplest principles Of practical morality
The Governor, the. Auditor, and the State
Treasurer all tell US that tax of thirty cents
a gallon on whiskey would maintain the
public honor and it Is perfectly true. Hhy
can't zoe get It.? Because there are too many
men like Dr.. Dabney, who 6gbt one million
for education and have nothing to say abou.
twelve millions for whiskey7 And that,
too. on the score, Of morality! ~
There are many ways Of relieving the
State without increasing the rate of tax on
property. For example: A proper assess.
ment Of property, dog.taX, q .two-dolar
capitaion tax, and the release of property
from the State school-tax, SC. What is
wanted chiefly is moral work from moral
teachers. 1t may require effort to bring the
people to tax their Whiskey and dogs, but
the task is nothing In comparison with the
attempt to overthrow the school system; and
everybody knows this except the men who
:" learn nothing aud forget nothing"
If the position these men take in reference
to public education be sound, it is as much
our duty to shut UP colleges, theological SEM
inaries, private schools-yes, and mission
schools-as it is to close the public schools
for the cost OF all forns Of education, at
home and abroad, comes out Of the people.
This point was argued with great force BY =
writer in the Enquirer Of March 30th. But
the gentlemen who are trying to force an
issue between the public schools and the
public debt wish to, destroy the public
schools in order that private schools may be
left in sole possession of the field. And what
would be the result OF that! 4 reduction OF
perhaps four fiftbs in the plumber Of children
attending school, and at the sane time such
an increase in the cost per capita that the
total amount expended for education would
not fall very far short of the present expend.
iture. A reference to the relative cost OF
public and private education will show that
unless we propose to abolish education
wholly we must employ the public system,
because we are too poor to do Without It..
Undoubtedly. it is to the interest Of the
creditors Of the State that education should
be continued, for the payment OF the public
debt is not thing to be finished by. this
generation or the next. The productive
capacity asweli-as the moral tone Of the
people must be kept up, and, If possible, In.
creased, from generation to generation. II
the present generation would pay full inter.
est, the Sinking Fund would accumulate SO
that our children would need to haven trou-
bio with the debE But If the State Govern
ment should come under the control Of such
illiterate masses, whether white or black, or
mixed, as now control some of the southern
States, not emily would the present debt re-
main unpaid, but probably large additions
would be made to it; aud SO far as taxes are
concerned the little finger OF the new gov.
eminent would be thicker than the loins OF
the present government. We owe our pc.
li,cal salvation to the wisdom Of the Con.
sentative party in maintaining the school
system. s...-.,,.
With our present fifty per cent. OF illite.
rate adults, if there were no general ;provi.
sion for education Virginia would be avoided
like lepeF; Immigrants would avoid u.s.
capital would run away, lands weud still
60 lower and ind no purchasers, minerals
would lie in their beds, manufactures would
die, our products produced with rude labor
and almost without machinery could no.
compete with those produced by machinery
and intelligent labor, pauperism and crime
would constantly increase, and then, 6sally
the sun of ,Virginia's glory and honor voulG
go down, even in the presence Of old mer
who had seen the State in the DAYS of hel
pride aud renoWn. W. q. RUPFNzR.
----------- - = - a;
- ."S:a go" DEATHS.
Died. at the residence other uncle, John Il. Grif
ths, on Friday, Aprll 7th OF erssnie disease or tn