New-York tribune., 1879-02-24
EDUCATION IN NEW-ENGLAND

pISTISGriSH SENSE FROM sOpElb1R1'
"a ne Editor or The TrfbUnt.
Sly. At the dinner Of the NewERglaRd 6radu-
,,o association Of the Alpha Delta Phi Fratcr-
nity the other evening in tins city, froiessor
Tns,is. of Harvard, is reported to have made
the startling, and, it is u he hoped, some
what exaggerated assertion that "Our whole
system of modern education is rotten" Judging
from very brief and imperfect report of his speech
s,o Professors alleged "rottenness IS to be looked
for IN the failure to cultivate the ability 10 use
ones reasoning powers. the time which should be
gwen 70 this exercise being occupied by he incur
ca ION of the knowledge Of only certain nuhpel
of facts The report Of this speech has sugf'+ieo
nnew some facts bearing upon the relation OF edu-
-atIon in Massachusetts (and other New-Ehgiahu
States 10 the politics OF the state which nav" h"I
vet seen in print, but which seem 10 me To deserve
some attention from our sOciolosistS ana ponti-
clans
One need not believe implicitly that orr whole
,vsen OF education is rotten nor even feel assured
that our mnch-vaunted higher education Is only the
froth of rcb but deadly fermentation, III order 10
admit that if nearly One-haf the adult male porn-
atien of Massachusetts, can vote for the rcpresen-
tativc of bodge-podge OF financial and sociaI
theories which the slightest exerton OF ones
ing powers proves TO be rs unsubstantl1 as the
snow men which the boys are now building
in the vacant lots and back yards; surely
there is something wrong somewhere. EndeaVor 10
cover up the fact as our newspapers may the repu-
tation of MASSACHUSETTS nt-li 9ence received a dam
acing blow on last election day. There has been
apparently sudden and deplorable depreciation in
the quality of tho Judgment by which our people
were supposed to be guided and the questions come
forcibly home Are our people dcgenerating' Is
education in Massachusetts, in a dccline' How can
we account for the fact that plausible hut we'll
known demagogue. notwithstanding the injnry done
him by the Californian truckman's wild caTcatnr'S,
was able TO collect so large q following, and so
nearly win success9
The easiest answer, and the most satisfactory 20
humsn cOmplacency, is that the charatteT OF the
population of Massachusetts, has indeed changed
and deteriorated of late years, but solely in con-
sequence Of the influx of foreigners. Look, the
argument runs, at our mills and factories, once
filed with the intelligent youth of New-Eng-
land now thronged by ignorant lrshmcn.
The uaexampled growth of our manufacturing IN
dustries may have made necessary tins unwhoIe-
some importation, but the influence of these people
is felt of course at the polls as well aS at the mills
andin the Police Courts They are the natural
prey of the demag0guc, aud are the easy recipients
Of all false theories in society and politics. Their
gence for the whole state and accounts for the APP
parent deterioration in our natYc-bOIn citizens as
well as for the demagogue's success. This answer,
which has the great merit Of tTuthfuincsa to
certain extent, ls very comforting one TO
the believer in the innate nOblcnc-s Of the
New-England character and the everlasting fade
leSsness of the blue tmFe ia Puritan blood. But.
admitting that this answer may be true far as IT
goes does II go far enough to account for all the
facts Not all Irshuen belong TO the prolcariat,
nor are they all ignorant and stupid and the sec
Ond generation now at the polls, includes some oi
our very best citizens. Governor Talbot, around
whom all the orthodox reSpoCtabllty Of Massachu-
setts was recently gathered repdaton, is himself
the son of Irish immigrants, and was in early life
n worker III the mill. is il just, then, 10
attempt thus to shoulder UDOn the Irish the bur
den of the political depravty of modern Massachu-
setts 2 Are the scions of the native stock unver-
sally uphOlding " everything that Is lovely and OF
good report 'S Are they allntelIgent enough 10 be
Lard-monev men without any infection of the silver
craze or contamination Of The grecnback hercsy
Are they all ant-Butler 10 The backbouef There
are few facts which seem to Inc to answer these
questions for
4 Ncw-EnCand Legislature 20 far greater cX-
tent than that of any Middle or Western State, is
VI
descended from its original settlers OF forty
Senators IN the present Legislature Of Massachu-
sctts only two were born ont of Ncw-Engiand and
Of 24O members of the lower house, only five are of
foreign birth. Nearly all of these $50 legislators
are known of course. as Republicans or Democrats,
bat eleven members are utterly gwen over
TO the insanity of gIecnback imitation that they
refuse TO be called by either party name hav-
ing been elected di,unctivcly as Grecnbackers.
Now, these peculiar men are all natives OF New
England. born aud brought up for the most part III
the towns winch they now represent, educated III
the town schools, genuine productsOi NeW-Lngland
culture; and their names are historic names borne
by their ancestors in the early days OF The couns
settlement These men are characteristic rep
Icseutatives of New-England, IN a certain
sense, as truly as the rocks and sand
and cranberry swamps of their native
towns. As it happens, moreover. nearly
all of them come from Essex County, which is per
baps more definitely representative OF NeW-EnGland
than any other IN the State, with the exception OF
suffolk which contains Boston Essex Is the
county of Salem and its partan traditions, home
OF sturdy NeN-England 1iShcImcn and includes
some of the most wldc-awako manniictuI-
ing towns in our country And the fact
that these men Of noble lineage were thus elected
teStlhes to she StlIl more important lart lidt
large proportion of the voters of their towns are of
the same political following. Now 1t Is evident
that We have here a state of affairs which 10
ioIcig-blood' theory can account Tor. lheNc
men aud their associates are legitimate, even II
degenerate. sons of New England. How did they
e., INTO their present mental and political plight
ANY one who has visited the inland towns of New
England, especially those q little removed from the
IJiltuad Lury,. that they are lamputablV deficient
IN educational facilities Tho inhabitants, more
over. are not able to provide any better facilities
and, what is still worse they have, a rule itt!o
desire for anything better. The district schools
aIe lacking IN everything needful for teaching even
lLn Il--n.nLs ~ nL.l.tLlmr LeNnnd the Elmnlesl