The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1877-06-17
rnG SCHOOL QUESTION.


nrietOr OF THE HERALD, aud Othel
nromlnent gentlemen Of your beautl
hIl and prosperous city ! present iOl
your perusal and Thought few Wordi
concerning the practical workings ri
the tree school system Of Ohio, In con
neelion with the important question
submitted by the authorities for youl
decision next Tuesday, whether "a
tax of one fourth OF one per cont. shall
be levied on your taxable property fOl
the maintenance OF public schools, u
Their kind request, IN well as the
weghty importance OF free education
itself, should go farto eXonerate me, a
stranger from n sister state, from the
apparent indelicaoy Of trespassing
upon your attention, or participating
IN your municipal affairs.
Ohio, in population, wealth and i'm.
portanCe, and the third state In the
republic, has a most admirable and
successful free school system, Hon.
HARVEY RICE, n distinguished demo.
erat and educator Of Cleveland, was
liz author. So simple, yet perfect
were its proportions, and 30 exactly
adapted was II to the wants
of the people, that no legislature, sub.
seQuently elected by either Of the
great political parties, has ever at.
tempted its modification or repeal. II
was first put into successful operation
by Prof Ii. III, BARNEY, an eminent
scholar and thorough democrat, Of
CirCleville, who was elected under its
provisions, the first commissioner Of
common schools in the state,
This system, by direct taxes levied
on all the taxable property OF the
people, in conjunction with the
annual interest of permanent
fund in each county, arising from the
sale of lands set apart and sold for
school purposes, provides what are
known as common schools, y ut least
during six months Of each year, for
the free education OF every male and
female child in the state, between the
ages of six and twenty.one years,
Attendance at these schools, at least
three months in the year. is cOmpW-
SOyW subject, Of course, TO certain eX-
Gepti0ns, such as sickness, necessity,
etc. Each township is divided into
districts OF suitable size, population
considered, and each district elects
three local directors, whose duty it il
to employ first class teachers, and give
the school general and thorough aus
pervision. The township boards, COM
posed of the president of each board Of
local directors, are charged with the
duty of building n suitable and COM
modiOus sch oil house in each district,
local rules, books, etc. No
person can draw dollar from the
treasury for teaching except on presen-
tation of u certificate, given by the
county examiners, after the most rigor-
Ous examination, for competent schol-
arship and moral character. The state
exercises general SUI
perintendency of all the schools in the
state.
These, in brief, are the general fea.
lures of the Ohio system, the details
being necessarily omitted. Now for
results: Almost every native-born
child in Ohio, since the adoption of
his system, can read, write and cipher,
while large percentage of them are
amiliar with geography, grammar,
algebra, philosophy and natural phil
,sOphy. Crime is scare, and the mos I
If our criminals are foreigners. 1t il
IN exception to the general rule, to find
II our jails or penitentiary, native
Iorn citizens who have been regularly
in our common schools.
lin 1868 the citizens Of BGcyrous;
)hio, the town l reside in, by a two
birds majority, authorized the board
If education to levy n sufficient
mount of taxes on their real and per
onal property, to build u school house
or free education. There 1t stands to-
lay, 2l2 feet in length, l2O feet
II width, three stories in height,
With a large basement below and |
commanding done above-larger
md more spacious than either of the
college buildings OF Yale or Dartmouth.
each room Is large, well lighted and
yentillated, the halls are wide, and
he entrances and exits so arranged
hat, in case of fire or other casulty,
welve hundred children could easily
md safely escape In two minutes OF
inc. Parcelled out through several
ears, the tax for the payment of this
splendid building was not Onerous or
ieavy at anytime. Indeed, it was
carcely felt. Our people, whether
ich or poor, high or low, educated or |
pnoraut. almost unanimously voted |
or the tax. Every Catholic, and
almost every foreigner in the commu-
y voted for it. The few citizens who
;oted against it gwere gen orally poor
)eople who did not own foot o. land
n pay cent of tax into. the treasury. |
We now have in that building,
AIMED throughout the coun-
ny, the most competent
md thorough educators, from superin-
endent to primary teachers, that
can procure, and the result Is,
We have, not the university of the aris-
ocrat, but PEOPLES COLLEGE, where |
he child of the drayman and the child |
If the millionaire sit side by side, the
,nly distinction between them being |
awarded only for superior intellectual
md moral excellence. Having been |
and the secretary of our board OF edu'
,ation, / speak by the record when
saying, that there is 10 tax which our
,itizens consider so cheap, which they
20 ungrudingly, and which results IN
such substantial public, IA well as prlN
gate benefit, as the tax for free schools.
Aside from this, property rose rapidly
in value after these schools were put
in operation. Men of wealth and
worth removed from the country
TO town to educate their sons and
and every business has re-
neived substantial pecuniary benefit.
have thus, my friends, for spe-
Diiic purpose, given a plain, unvarn-
ished statement of the school system
of Ohio, and its practical workings.
came from my home to the sunny
5 south" more than thousand miles
away, to seek for health and to report
10 our people concerning the soil, ell
mate, productions, inhabitants, prog