Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1879-05-03
COMMUNICATED.

ment In your contest against the abuses
of Free Schools. 10 day friend point
ed out to me an editorial in this weeks
"Free Press commenting, not Oh my
arguments but on the material of which
my head Is composed and calling me
"blockhead," red capped communist"
chatter of books" &c. will retaliate
by calling the writer gentleman and
scholar, and if any one says that we
both lie l will swallow MY share of the
insult. There is nothing in my letter
to call for such gross attack on me
as the writer, much less on you as the
publisher. ! have an undoubted right
10 comment on the abuse of any public
institution, and it may be that you are
bound to give every man a hearing even
though he writes nonsense. My letter
merely calls attention TO abuses that are
TALKED or IN WHISPERS, just because
gres. many of our intelligent people
have aspirations to public office and
they dread 10 run counter to popular
prejudice. If the 'Free Press" writer
doubts that l have sympathizers in this
matter he is greatly mistaken, for, with
in the last half-year, have heard, on at
least three occasions, the same ideas
ventilated by very influential and able
men within the very shadow of the
"Free Fress" office The Baltimore pa
pers were full of this subject few
months ago, aud in the most prominent
g I IL for
what has excited to so fierce Indignation
the patriot Of the "Frce Press" lie has
quoted one paragraph of my letter with
out giving the connection in which it
was used. He forgot to insert the part
in which | said that there was some
thing grand and imposing in the idea
of tree school and that | was great
( friend TO the institution until such abu-
ses had crept into it as called loudly Tor
amendment Leaving out the hard
names ] was called | find nothing to
notice except that he invites nest of
hornets 10 attack my ears, forgetting
that my head being of wood it is not
likely that / will be very sensitive to
their stin2s. The present school Off
GERS will iud nothing to complain oil, as
/ | spoke in the future tense and in the
! language of prophecy, about what is to
, take place with their successors next
! Fan. When l wrote that sentence |
knew exactly what | was about, for it il
notorious that at many points in this
county the pegs are already set for the
preparation OF the injustice mentioned.
/ As to the THEORY of tree scs:ools, | beg
leave 10 inform my assailant that have
/ done more fer il than lie has, and that
! if some system like that which we had
/ before the war were substituted for the
present absurd ono / would Je found in
the front rank of its deierders. AS
things are now, everybody gets LITTLE
education, which is very good thing
tor those who would get none without
free schools, but the advantage of this
is more than ncutralized by iae fact that
80 one gets a THOROUGH training, I'm
less lie is sent off to some college ut
ruinous expense This is not always
the fault of The teachers, for We have
many very good ones, but that OF The
law, which | believe restricts the school
cUriiculum To c.r,aiu branches. People
ia general can not afford to pay our
heavy school tax and send their chill
( drcn abroad for a polished education,
I aud the better class OF teachers are very
, often excluded from the free schools al
! togclhcr by the tavoriliSm spoke OF
and can not get enough Of patronage TO
! enable them TO live by private teaching.
The only part Of my letter that could
furnish 4 prrtex, for the attack on me
was where spoke Of educating 1.-The
tag ray and bobtsil," &c. The idea
might have been expressed in happier
way, will confess, but can explain
the term in q satisfactory manner, aud
| am the more willing TO do 30 as l will
kill two birds with the one stone by IL
/ Illustrating, at the same time, two OF the
points Oh which laid stress. Not long
ago, and not very far from this place,
ilee school was taught which was pa
tronized by many very respectable peo-
pie. There was, however, in the neigh
borhood, family of the very worst re,
pute, maEy Of whom practiced prot's-
sion the name of which would shock
ears polite. and would no doubt be cs-
pecialIy narrowing TO the modest sensi-
bilties o! the Free Press critic. The
lady Ct the "modest mansion referred
to sent two or three daughters TO this
school, rs she had i perfect right to do
under the law Those girls were between
twelve and seventeen years of age--old
enough TO have learned great deal of
( good aud evil-and the children OF
! good home influences were obliged TO
/ sit near them for six hours every day,
and the teacher dared not make any
separation or do anything TO indicate
fear Of any secret corrup,ing influence.
/ Had he done so he was sure OF losing
his position, and perhaps justly so in
view of the law. If common runor be
true the careers Of these girls have since
been such Is to justify the very worst
fears. claim then that taxing the
public TO educate such people is gross
injustice and folly or, at least, that to
force association with them Is so, or
even crime. This is the class | call
"raLble." The fact that they came to
school at all showed they had some vague
hope Of risiug-avery laudaIle one II the
circumstances OF the case permitted
such a hope.
Let some system be established that
will afford the elements Of education