Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1880-11-20
An Open Letter 10 Superintendent
though the mills Of God grind SLOWLY.
het they grind exceeding small.

Your attention is most respectfully called
uepioranle intellectual culture and moral
Washington are afflicted. More tsan Tires
Years ago, you Informed the writer that within
snort period OF time the public schools OF the
District would equal any OF the noted universi.
tles OF the and" The years have flown. hun
ndeoS OF thousands or dollars have been ex-
pended on the so-called public schools ana
what are the results9 We have a coming Sen.
GRAFTON or intellectual pigmies turned OUT like
so many patented articles OF the same kind
slightly permeated with a smattering OF almost
everything which Smacks OF scholarly caIjure
with no thorough understanding OF a single
branch which pertains 10 practical life with
only now and then a solitary youth able 10 read
paragraph aloud with the idea TO make its
meanitg plain. out of this dead level OF poll
parrot glibneSs or Superiiciaity, scarce a pupil
can he found who can write and spell correctly
dozen consecutive lines It was Abraham
Lincoln who said that round pins could never
be mace 10 nj square holes:' and no system"
individual mind.
The awful machinery known as the present
system as applied TO the public schools OF
Washington engulphs all the children In the
same process runs them through the sans
mental complication OF pulleys files and teeth
the toughest survive whilst the masses are
weakened In intellectual nber. II not reduced 20
semi ldiocy as the fearful result. Not content
with the present sacrifice OF the innocentS YOU
now propose TO keep the abominable system re.
volylBg by bringing upon the theater OF action
tTslbed pIlestesSes, graduates OF normal
schools" 10 keep the lurid lights burning unJn
the lconoclast work is done. In the Immortal
words of Patrick Henry, what way have ,yeot
judging the future except by the past" Has
lot experience taught US that all great phySi-
clans, lawyers, architects ana artists are not
made by their fellow men, but by Almighty
God: ara do we not know the teachers vocation
eCllpSeS them allc Why:
The teachers are not set 10 work 10 study an
inSidious disease: or TO defeat the ends OF lus-
tee; to plaster canvas with paint, or dig out che
stone; but they are employed 10 mould, Chi,el
ana develop the most subtle OF God : Crca i've
forCes-the intangible indescTibable, indes;TCc-
tible human mind The brief time the children
OF poverty are permitted 10 remain IN school
(and for these alone the public school system
was devised should he spent In perfecting them
In reading, spelling, writing,the ruder elemenbs
OF mathematics elocutiOn, morality, aud last
but not least, decent manners When tho
children emerge from this ordeal thoroughly
trained they are fitted for citizenship Dut II ali
this is thoroughly acquired ana time Is left let
us have one more grdfe which Includes physi-
ology, that the child may learn to treat its
stomach with respect. geography To broaden
and deepen its mind. history TO give T. cnarac-
tiers 10 emulate. and with thes, b.anehr, thor
oughly inculcated public school y-s.sation
should be done. These latter studies should be
given In lessons that can be asslmlla'ed not a
solitary idea more. What can normal school
girl without experience know about child's
mindc What would be said or thought OF a
parent who would make his children consume
precisely the same quantity Of food whether
the appetite craved IL or otherwise? Into the
brain or the bright youth is poured the shower
OF the present system" as taught at the capital
In the public schools the stupid child receives
the same Overwhelming hood refinement or
cruelty which proves The superiority or CivlliZa-
ton 10 barbartSm. The savage can only torture
the body. lt takes the modern public scnool
system 10 put thumb screws on the mind.
All violence, cruelty and sorrow is the conse-
qnence or broken law, either physical or spiT-
ftual Injure childS brain, and a tirst-class
animal is the result. That the coming genera
tion is retrograding the following evidence Will
prove. A poor old white vayabond with his
pack of protruding rags on his back. passed
down the Sidewalk IN the vicinity OF one of our
Dr0miOpnt mimic GphOoiC nd
disease had bent his form, prlvatlon and hun
ger followed his cheek, he moved slowly as
though suffering with pain. He made one OF
those touching pictures Which only the most
hardened can contemplate OF otherwise than with
compassion. All at once he was seen 10 stagger;
pausing he laid his bundle on the curbstone
and sat down beside Il 10 rest. The tableauE
assumed an expression still more piUiful and
made one silently ask lis GOD every wheref"
school building. The painful object on the
| curbstone was dscerned. Like q band OF saw
ages or pack OF wolves the young humans
discovered prey They kicked the old man ia
| the same way as though he had been pros
4, tTate dog; they jeered him as though he had
been another prophet Elijah; they called him
names never heard In Christian house.
holds. All at oIce the Old mans shak-
ing HANDS were upllfted as we See those
pictured In the story book OF martyrs when
| lied TO the stake. The whole scene was hOrr-
bic. The tenderness OF heart which we aSsoci-
ate with infancy had been replaced with q
wierd diabollsn. II was the greeting OF youth
=, %
The heap OF miserable rags on the sidewalk,
aid the embryo criminals banding over It. made
picture OF the civilization as developed by the
public schools at the capital OF the most promt-
nent free government on the face or the globe
IL the present system bears 80 heavy
Oh the white people what can be said In defence
for APPLYING the machiheTy 10 the young
wards OF the nation. these SorrowTul csildren
OF late down-tTodden race, whom We should
seek TO elevate rather than destroy. The smat-
ter1ng OF learning which they obtain fills their
heads with folly and pride. and because OF
having acquired II the scholars feel degraded
by oTkinC with their hands. WAC Is To blame
for the results or such an expenditure of tine
and money? Real estate 1epreciatPs IA Vaiue
as IL nearS the public schools. Tim;i womea
who have 10 protectors, dare not live ia The
neighborhood where these s0-called educati 0nal
plague spots abound. Neither fruit nor flowers
are allowed to grow within certain radius, IN
less guarded with sleepless vigilt nce for siege
begins which never ends With the system"
or apprenticeship virtually abolished, and a
system" OF public schools, devised for the ben
eft OF the rich alone, what IS To become OF the
children of labor these young shoots OF a fu-
ture commune; these embryo J2ckals. who viii
public? II they are criminals and pauper5 are
they Dot what society has MADE The n? Ia the
name OF these helpless innocents or the Dis
tT1ct, superintendent wilson you are called
upon TO pause and think. Most respectfully,
OLIVIA.
Maple square, Capitol Hi, Washington. NOV.
Il, 1850.
FLOODING TIKI NIHES-The superintendent