The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1881-03-10

"HO ScNAO DCSI StithC1 uTOuilI nm
and entertain the cultured people o1
his neighborhood. In national affairs
ali things find their level. Those
states in the lead, those cities most
earnest in the work of educating the
people, would take the front seat in
the nation. In Massachusetts, more
money had been spent for schools than
in any country in the world. The
property in Massachusetts, if divided
up among the men, women, children
and babies, would give each one over
$500. If there was any state which
to-day had the lead in American poll
tics it was Ohio. And it was due to
the great efforts made to educate its
people California and Iowa owed
their success and prosperity to their
perfect system of education. They
were dotted all over with school
houses. When the tide of Irish and
Canadian immigration set into Massa-
chusetts and threatened to overrun
the native population, she forced ev-
cry little Irishman and every little
foreigner into school. Education had
made these little ignorant children OF
forty years ago the most valuable and
prosperous part of her population. So
New England had done in forty years
what old England had failed to do in
hundreds of years. Take cities and
compare them. Boston had spent
more money on her schools than any
city in the world. Every voter was
educated, and the consequence was
that there had never been ''ring" of
any kind found in that city. The
New York system of schools was vir-
tually only about twenty-five years
old. and in New York there was a
standing army of twenty thousand ig-
norant voters always ready to sell out
to the highest bidder. So in Phila-
delphia, Brooklyn, Baltimore. Rings
and corruption, made possible by ig
norance, had robbed them of more
money than would have sufficed to
have given every one of their ragged
children a college education. If city
let the voices of few alarmists induce
it to go on cutting down the salaries o1
her teachers, and so driving of-alI the
most competent teachers to other
places, that city would lose her rank,
and the city that pursued the opposite
course would take the front rank.
The American system of education
was largely moral system-a school
of character. In the great halls al
Howard school over three hundred
| children preserved perfect order in a
hall without. the presence of teacher
because they were being trained fol
intelligent citizenship.
The vital working points of the
public school question were about as
follOws-as far as he had been able tc
decide from conversation, reading and
observation: However much mel
and women might differ on other sub
jects, they agreed when they began
talking about their children and how
to educate them. The first great vi
tai necessity in the South was to wake
the people up to the great Importance
of local taxation for school purposes
supplementing the state school fund
The only hope of a state was renewed
interest in local taxation. This mus
be accomplished by perseverance anC
persistence of all those who were in
terested in the subject. Perseverance
alone could accomplish the grea
work, by making the public take the
subject into consideration. ANY
young man, who was going into poll
tics, should link his fortunes with the
question of education. While there
was all this debating and delaying
! going on, the children were growing
up and getting out of reach. The
teacher was the school. Plant gooc
teacher IN the midst of every group o
childi en- :, III this state, and even i
| there was no schoolhouse but a spread
ing tree, there would be a good school
Put true teacher to work and chile
can be taught more in a year than h'
could learn in five years under the
old memoriter plan. This was don,
here in Nashville. What every stat,
needed was such, teachers in every dis
trict. Put the true teacher in tn,
most barren district in the world, anC
! like the fountain in the desert, tha
teacher will create a paradise arounc
her. But this getting the true teache
was hard thing to do. 1t could no
be done if the director felt bound +
put his daughter or his wife's sister il
charge of the school. The directo
was too often appealed to to give pos
tions to the unfortunate or those VIII
were needy. The pity for this elias
: was all right, but the most pity ough
. to be given the children who had to i
tortured by inexperienced teacher.
: The most competent teachers onl
should be employed. The crop of e'