The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1881-03-03
miscellaneous.
LEGISLATION FOR THE IMPROVE.
MENT OF SCHOOLS.
A Consideration Of The only Arguments Is Yet Used
Against this Proposed Measure,


The Dial bills are entering wedges
Make these bills law, and few years
hence the ungraded schools will cease
to exist. They will all be graded, sys-
tented. 4 The strongest objec-
tons to our present school laws grow
out of the fact that it is system of rigid
ity want of fiexibility, want of adaptation
to Individual capacity Ohio State
Journal.
The uugraded schools to-day are do
ing better, more effective, more prac-
teal and more benehcent work for the
children who attend them, than all the
absurd and costly machinery of the city
schools. \ Under her present
system Ohio leads the Union in the
grandeur Of her influence, &c. \
Above all things let not mistaken theor-
lists, who know nothing of the matter
practically, lay their hands upon the
only true peoples colleges-the ungrad>
ed schools.-LColumbus Sunday Her
aid.
1t is a good thing to learn at length
what are the strongest objections to our
public schools, and to have these objec-
tons put in so clear light. The way
out of the the difficulty is now easy. We
had blundered into the belief that it was
next to impossible to find people who
lad been educated in the old, ungraded,
unsystematic schools, so we'll instructed
as to be able to understand what SySN
tenn is what it is for, and how it is to be
used. We had rather mourned over the
fact that so many people, educated with
out system, were falling into fundamen-
tai errors regarding the meaning of
words, and hence regarding the things
indicated by these words. For example:
they would make us believe that grad>
ing a school "has some necessary con-
nection with loading it down with abb
surd and costly machinery" If they
had two hundred pupils of all grades to
teach they would object to putting them
into four schools, each made up of pupils
of nearly the same advancement. They
would make four schools each contain,
ing fifty pupils Of all ages and all grades
of scholarship, from the alphabet to
geometry. We are glad to be assured
that this would give them more time for
distinctive effort with individual pupils
though we can not see exactly how.
This innocent term system, which Mr..
Worcester, who was educated in a sys
tematic course of collegiate Instruction
pardon him-de6nes as regular method
course, order or process; the whole of
science, art or doctrine; a collection of
principles" these people, educated in
better, the ungraded, unsystemized
schools, define as Implying rightly,
want ofRext6tlfty, 7Vant Of aGa6tatt0H TO
the mdiVIaaaI CAPACITY" Thus with
them hand, because it is a system of
bones, muscles, &C., put together accor-
ding to method, plan, &C., is necessa'
rily rigid thing, wanting in Aexibility
and adaptation. 1t would play piano
and perform surgical operation far bet
ter if it were a tumble of bones, sinews,
nerves, &c.
If the Creator, who probably meant
well, as Judge Dial and other friends Of
these bills do, had waited before he
made the human system until he could
get more adequate advice, he never
would have a human SyStSm, since "a
system has no adaptation to special
uses.
We had supposed, too, that we had
yet to educate teachers up to know what
system, regular method, &C., are, and
how to use them; as few people, and
only few, have learned to use the hand
for all its purposes and adaptations. We
have lived to learn, however, that the
thing to do is to abolish hands, because
some hands clumsily used are rigid and
inAexible, and to abolish system in
schools for the same reason.
1t turns out that our friend, Secretary
Chamberlain, of the Ohio Agricultural
Society, and DR.. Townsend, and others,
of the Agricultural Colleges, are to be
pitied in their innocent endeavors to in
troduce system-"a collection OF princi.
pies, the whole of science, art or doc
trine"-into our farming, There were
many farmers who once saw only ruin
in the introduction of mowers and reap
ess. The same class now see no place
for system in their business. We had
seen the Chamberlain farms and thous
ands Of farms conducted without system,
and had sided with the Chamberlains,
being led thereto by the fact that they
produce far better and more abundant
products. But we now learn that what
is necessary to make farming more sue
cessful, is to warn farmers against adop'
ting system. Mr., Chamberlain is hold
ing institutes as an entering wedge" to
system. Call him home, he will bring
ruin to the country. Proclaim this new
doctrine also to manufacturers, to COM
mercial and railroad men. Let us save
the country by going solid for Mulhooly,
Brick Blossom and the abolition Of fsys-
tenn in our schools and other business
interests. ....
Ola piece with this logic, is the state
ment of this Sunday paper that these
Improvements are sought by such gen
tlemen as President /. w. Angrews, Pro-
fossors Tappen, Williams, &c, by the
Peaslees, Hartzlers, Levels, Douds and
Parkers, the Wickerhams and the J, H.
Smarts, the Harveys, Burnses, and
scores whose names were given few
days since, and who have come up
through the country schools and graded
schools, and who in different States have
had experience in different systems, and
yet are entirely ignorant" according
IN theee man who hecoYne oTnniecient