Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1877-07-11

Nor nave we a perfect variety. There are
wise men who think that public education
should egin with the Kindergarten" The
ladder OF learning mast aIsO b8lengthened.
so TO place our children on plane with those
of many of the states. We need q hi gh school.
The system is necessarily growing. The
young giant is bursting its bonds The gram
mar school has begotten the advanced gram
gratifying success. This is attested by the
fact thatnearly all the successful competitors
ior me Normal school come from it The
is made for leave to step beyond the Gram
mar School The Advanced Grammar
nearly double its present size. 1t is the nu-
cleus OF what Is not only desired but what is
absolutely necessary; High school. why
Is this necessary? Because it sends forth
material for the Normal School, the excel
lent training academy for teachers. In this
age of electricity and steam and the i'm
mense multiplication of subjects of know
ledge, the most efficient maehin" y must be
employed. The mind is not merely cram med
with facts. but actuat5d by principles of
science. The teacher must keep pace with
the times. Learning the business Of a teacher
implies learning the science involved in il.
That the theory of education, whether taken
in general sense or considered only in re-
ference to any of the abstract sciences or
professions, has far outstripped its practice
is acknowledged by all observing and think
ing men. The Normal School trains the
teachers OF the future props of the Republic.
Then let the material be the best the bright
youths whose minds have been carefully lei
through 2ii the lower nails OF learning. No
royal road to Geometry has yet been found.
Each step must be picked, each obstacle
overcome. But good guides save time. Life
is no longer to be half wasted in seeking the
right paths. We must have regularly tau ght
teachers; fer a lack OF skillful trainers i'm
plies perplexity, encouragement, and bailisd
efforts.
PRACTICALNEsS OF PUBLIC SCHOOL
TRAINING.
The main and almost sole object of our
system of common school training is To fit
lie
successful? An eminent man In Massachu
sets, and one who ought To know. has lately
dispEted this. He says that the training O {
public schools is no longer practical, but
that fancy studies AMI ACCOMPLISHMENTS
have usurped the place of necessary solid
branches II may be that he uttered the
thought IN captiOus or petulant spirit. but
IL must he admitted that he represents the
opinions of a large class. Beyond doubt the
objection has the force OF truth in some
states. SO far as the District OF Columbia is
concerned refutation is needed. II may be
tTufhfully asserted that. in this District the
public schools furnish as much useful in
formation as could Well be compressed into
the time OF tuition. The modes are the most
approved, and the teachers, as class. uneX-
celled. To this central point are drawn all
The advantages that have been tested by the
experience OF other communities where the
system has been longer in full activity. The
only drawback is deficiency in money.
Private schools could do no more with the
same opportunities. The Instructors are GER
tainly not inferior TO self appointed and oft
times crudely- taught teachers of private
schools. There is good supervising system
for pupils and teachers. The training is
PRACTICAL. That only is taught which all
should know.
SCOPE OF INSTRUCTION.
This is necessarily general This full
course includes all elementary branches of
learning necessary as a groundwork for good
citizenship. 1t does not profess to go into
speci2lties. il opens gates, and points out
paths that must be pursued to reach fields of
advanced culture. Law, medicine, theology,
engineering, military or naval science,
painting, sculpture, or literature are beyond
the immediate purpose of the schools or the
people; but the broad principles upon which
all kinds OF learning are basel are taught on
most approved plans.
Daniel Webster exhibited his usual sound
judgment when he said that if he had any
number of children he would send them all
to public schools. Upon these places OF
Their system of training improves, expands,
and beauties crude natural faculties and
eHalts the general standard of education.
The opinions Of many prominent business
men have heretofore been collected as TO the
difference in skill, aptitude or amount OF
work arising from difference in education
and independent of natural abilities. With
one voice they agree that he who has adopted
means TO discipline his mind is preferred in
any mechanical work TO one VINO Is not
mentally disciplined. An educated man in
Nariably acquires a knowledge of mis- work
more quickly and executes it with less cost
of supervision than does one uneducated. !
The educated man is the most skillful and
faithful. As a rule the common-school
trained workman is wO.th to his employer
at least 20 per cent. above his ignorant com
petitor. We Know that even the simplest
kind of work can best be done by one of
trained mind. a mechanic does not work
by Instinct, but by intelligence improved by |
the experience of others. AS natural fruit |
trees are improved by grafLing, SO natural |
abilities are cultivated and developed by |!
education. Public school training furnishes |
the workman with tools. The aim OF our |
system in this District is to make intelli- |
geIce the beneficent handmade of labor. |
The son OF the mechanic learns how to make |
that he may raise himself into |
a higher position of safety TO himself and OF |
usefulness 10 society. The farmers child |
gets ideas OF botany, the nature OF soils, the !
means Of estimating crops and products. II
is intended that the studies OF both saxes
shall tend to inculcate the idea that labor is t
head.
-. 20 the comparative chances of the edu-
Gated and the uneducated something may |
here be said. In collection of the state |
rather pay TO an educated farm hand S24 per !
month than $40 TO one who could not read |
and write. Many others speak as forcibly |
10 the same effect. Mental culture is every |
thing TO the labOrer. 1t lifts him from a |
hOvel to castle, drives out inteml erance |
and vice, and furnishes neat home with |
books. refinements and happiness. The most |
of machinery in use by labOrer was invent |
ed by laboring men. The uneducated may |
succeed, but If SO 10 Is by miracle. An in |
stance is cited to illustrate the necessity of |
the rudiments of learning even in a switch !
tender. He had been furnished with proper |
time tables, yet he sent q swiftly running !
train Of cars into another going at gre at speed
in an opposite direction. More than twenty |
lives were lost thereby. Property To the |
amount of hundreds of thousands of dollars |
was destroyed. AT q trial in court ii was |
proved that he could not read. Probably |
hundreds OF analogous cases of the tax on |
Ignorance might be cited. No laborer, wJrk- !
man, or mechanic can hope for success with |
out some knowledge OF letters. Household
domesttcs are the more desirable when they
have some school education. An ilIiterate
foreman in factory would be an anomaly.
Two boys start in life together. Their ages,
physical strength, mental cp pacitv, and cir
cumstances are equal, except that one is ig-
nOrant and the other is educated. Let them
stand equal In rank as fellow mechanics.
One, in his Ignorance, unheedingly plOds on,
the other with his mind opened behOlds a
CONSTANT Expanding vista. He soon be-
comes a leader in his handicraft, perceiving
new adaptations OfOld forces and appliances
of mechanical powers. Capital seeks him.
He becomes the employer OF swarms of men
once his peers in position. Ignorance con-
tinues to pillow with a crooked stick, as IL
did thousands of years ago. Education calls
into activity beaut fulIy adapted implements
that seem to turn clods into gold. Labor Is
found to be curse only when allied with ig-
nOrance. In Great Britain the work OF
6OO.0O0,0O persons is done by less tina
80 600 600 through the aid OF labor saving