Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1880-06-26
AMERICA's GREAT PRoBLEM.
A Question that Must be Soon Met
and Disposed OF.

tScribner for July.
To those who look tntelligently and thought
fully upon the popular life OF the nation, a Ger.
tain great and notable want manifests itself,-a
want that Is comparatively new. and that de-
mands new adjustment OF our educating
forces At the time when the public school syS-
tenn OF our country was founded, nearly every
body was poor, and the girls of every family in
the absence of hired service, were necessarily
taught, not only to knit and sew, but to cook
and keep the house. Then WON IN could not only
weave but make up the garments which they
wore, and keep them In repair. At the same
time boys were taught to do the farm work Of
their fathers, and, in case they chose a mechan-
ical employment, they entered an apprentice
ship, under regulations well understood and ap-
by which every girl and boy could learn to take
care OF themselves and the families that after
ward came to them
Various changes have come over the country
since that day In the first place. great
change has been made In the course and
amount OF study in the schools themselves. SO
great has been the pressure of study upon the
schools OF some OF our cities, that physicians
have united TO protest against 1t as prolific
source OF insanity. Girls, for instance, cannot
fulfill the requirements OF their teachers and
nave any time al home to learn any of the
household arts which are so necessary to them
not only as wives and mothers but as maidenS
having only TO take care OF themselves. Boys
are absorbed by their studies in the same Way
and the apprenticeship system has been given
up; our foreign mechanics have, through their
TRACES uhODS, entered Into a thoroughly organ
il, conspiracy against 1t. A boy is not at
liberty now to decide what handicraft he will
learn, because the boss is shamefully in the
nafds OF his deSpetic workmen. and the work.
men decide That the fewer their number the
peIter wages they will get. Their declared
policy is to limit apprenticeships to the small
est possible number.
, The result OF these changes-for some Of which
the public school Is itself responsibilities the
great and notable want to which we have allud-
ed. VIZ, the lack of sufficient knowledge. or of
the right kind OF knowledge, on the part of boys
ano glris, 10 take care OF their own persons and
10 earn their own living. Girls grow up without
learning TO sew, and multitudeS Of them do not
Know now 10 mend their own garments. Boys
leaVe the pubic schools without fitness for any
gaming Whatever, except 1T may be some one
when calls into requsitton that which they
nave learned OF writing and arithmetic Some
sort OF clerkship is what they try for, and a
mechanical trade is the last thing that enters
their minds. So we import our mechanics. and
they legslate against the Yankee boy In all
their trades unions.
Now, there are two points which we Would
like to present:
l. The public school, as at present conducted,
not only does not fit boys and girls for the work
Oh OIL, taxing care OF themselves and their depend
ems, OUT absolutely hinders them from under
taking II, or engenders Ideas that ate impractt-
cable or misleading.
81, 2 That the public has to pay in some way for
all the ignorance OF practical life in which the
PUBIC school leaves its pupils
The pauperiSm that grows out OF this 1gno-
rance Is an almost intoerable burden upon the
Ia
notable that all Who are familiar with the sub
Ject know that very large percentage OF cul-
prlts ana convlcts never learned a trade. When
a man OF low moral sense and weak will finds
that he knows no trade by which he can make
a living, he becomes thief by process as
natural as breathing. Pauperism and crime
are, therefore, the inevitable result OF ignorance
IN the way OF taking care Of ones self and earn
ing ones living The question of expense Is
one which an Intelligent and enterprisfng pub.
TIC ought easily to settle. This ignorance is to
cost money. Shall this money be paid for the
purpose OF removing the ignorance and obvi-
aslng Inc necessity for pauperism and crime, or
shall 1t be paiu for the pauperfsm and crime?
we know, or appreciate, the practical Difficult
ties that stand In the way of a system of indus.
trial schools, supported by public tax, but sure
" II IL Is needed-imperatiVely needed-Ameri-
can ingenuity Will be sufficient to give It prac-
tlcal direction, and secure satisfactory result.
Our goOu neiShbOrS in Boston have been trying
10 90 something, more particularly for the girls
Iney nave introduced not only plain sewing
into their schools but the making of dresseS
and other garments. Only two hours of each
week are devoted to the matter and twenty
nine special teachers employed, but the results
are most encouraging.
The Boston report says: Every girl who
celves three years instruction In various kinds
or needle-Work, and Is capable of being an ex-
pert seamStreSs. 1t is said the benefits result
ing lrom tnls instruction are seen in the ap-
and are felt In thousands Of homes" Now. we
ask Other Boards OF Education If they have any
thing to show. In their reports of the last ten
Years, mat Is calculated to give practical man
OF woman the pleasure and satisfaction to be
FOUND In such an announcement as this Can
they not see that what these girls In Boston
nave learned In this way, with cOmparattyely
slnali SINAI, expenditure OF time and money, is of in
calculaDle value? What is little less of alge.
bra, or geography, or even OF arithmetic. by fhe
SIDE OF This SURPRISING gain?