Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1877-05-11
THE HIGH SCHOOL QUESTION.
An Original View of It.

ton of school officers of this county
held under the direction of our County
Superintendent of common schools, sew
eral laborcd articles on the subject of q
| County High School, and on various sub
jects connected Herewith; and believing
in the great fundamental principle OF
our American liberties, That every man
that is holding Office, or is a candidate for
office, or who wants Office, is just and
legitimate subject for the criticism and
animadversion of all other American cit.
izens," it has seemed to me that some of
the sayings and doings of these parties
was open to question, and that the ideas
that have been advanced and the acts that
have been done by some of them should
be laid before the wise and reading pub.
lie that they may know what our servants
and some of those who want to be our
servants, are trying to do. Now let us
look at what has been done.
| Last winter our County Superin tendent
called Convention of school officers of
the county to meet al the Court House for
the purpose of discussing school ques-
tons, and in his programme for the en-
tertainment he laid out speeches ON vari-
ious subjects to be made at different
times by different persons. Many of
those persons did not attend, and so the
public and assembled school officers lost,
by that neglect, large amount of wis
dom. But of those that did attend you
and the other paper in Independence pub
lished synopsis of the speeches and a
general statement of the proceedings;
and afterwards you published by request
speech that was made on the subject
of high schools that was intended to in
fuence the people of this county towards
voting money to build a County High
School. Then you published a speech by
our State Superintendent of Public In
struction on the subject of schools gen.
orally. Since that time one William Kel-
ley, answering some of the ideas promul-
| gated at the convention, asked why the
wages of teachers were not raised to cor
respond with their qualifications.
The County Superindcnt has also at
several and divers times, published the
mistakes made by some of those who
have presented themselves for eXamina-
ton as teachers, to show that there were
some who wanted to teach that he did
not think competent.
And / have also noticed an article in
your paper reviewing this statement of
the County Superintendent, and also a
letter from Mr.. Ely, former Co. Supt.
All these articles, with the exception of
that of Mr.. Kelley, have been on one side
of this question So far in fact only one
side OF this case has been presented to the
public through the papers; but is there not
another side to the story? Have not
these persons who think they are compe
tent to teach, some rights? If you will
read the history of the great men of this
country, you will find that some of the
finest minds have had very little advant-
age of schools. Take as an early ex-
ample, Benjamin Franklin. l believe
his autobiography says that he only at
tended school some nine months in all
his life. Yet, who has had greater in
fiuence over men, both of his day and
since. 1t is fact that is now cited by
some moral philosophers as well as by
those who wish to prove that honesty is
the best policy, that Benjamin Franklin
seldom failed to carry measure through
a public deliberative body when he I'M
dertook it, and that it was because lie was
honest and convinced every body that he
was SO successful.
Then his sayings or wise saws, that he
published in Poor Richards Almanacs,"
have had great influence on the Amcri-
can people, and you hear men quote
them now as being very wise. Then he
was of an investigating turn of mind.
He showed to the satisfaction of all the
world that the electric fluid of the Leyden
jar was the same as the lightning. Then
he tells us that at one time, when his
father was putting away his pork for the
winter, he suggested to his paternal pro-
genltor, that to save time he could now
ask the blessing on the whole barrel, and
not be bothered at each meal. For this
he received sound flogging, and that
served to stimulate his mind to further
inquiry.
Then, history also states that the
amount of schooling that Abraham Lin
coin had was very little. Yet what man
stands higher in the minds and hearts of
the American people than he? And who
displayed more wisdom, good sense and
integrity in our national affairs at a crit
ical time than he? l believe that W, II.
Seward was an educated man, and yet
our people put their faith in Abraham in
stead, and they were not disappointed.
So, l say we might go on indefinitely
multiplying instances of great men who
had little schooling
Among our moneyd men we might
name Stephen Girard, J. j. Aston, Cor
nelius Vanderbilt and many others on
the other side. would like to ask some
advocate of this higher education, what
has become of the thousands of men and
women that have been graduated at our
schools, both in this country and Europe,
during the past hundred years? l think
if you should pursue the lives OF these
persons through their various tluctua-
tons, you would find that very many Of
them had, by having graduated at such
schools, become too proud to work; too
lazy to study, and thus become depend
ent on some less proud, but shrewder rcla-
tive, who was willing to work. But
this class of persons are never written up
by any of the many persons who are
around hunting up eminent men and wo-
men to publish their lives in book form.
Such persons have no money to pay for
being written up by some peripatetic
hu inter- after dimes and fame, and so their
eminent examples are left unrecorded.
think it would be fair thing foI some
one who is believer in the beneficient
results of higher education, to write up
the history of those who graduated with the
highest honors at our institutions of learn
ing, and of whom the world has not since
heard. Such history would show how
many good, laboring men had been spoil
ed by some fond and doting, but ignor-
ant parent trying to have an institution OF
high learning, fit their child to live
poor doctor, lawyer or preacher, But it
hardly needs book to do that. Every
person who once looks over the persons
who have succeeded in the world, will
find that it is not the highly educated
that stand the highest.
1t used TO be the custom in New Eng
land 1.-THE seat of brains of this country
for the school committee to examine as
well as employ the teachers. This was
always satisfactory to the parents as the
committee men knew what branches were
most necessary to be taught in their
schools.
Mrs. II. B. Stowe says the principal as
sistance they got, from such teachers,
was an application of birch or the ferrule,
applied with vigor, when they failed to
do what the teacher could moi, and she adds,
"such schools graduated some eminent
oil fxyS (nr h.