, 1881-12-04

- If5uUQTufQQIE HQQ IICuulGSOkuH5 "A3 AOt
board, boa oIiIcailr % = "rcsponsi6le: How could any
one believe thut Anything was wrong when tho
doubt, by tho hest motives but whose charRes
positively implied neglect of duty on the part Of
to Believe cd tut s M:ss. surr, who had nothing Or
ticia1ly to dn With tho school. should be r'Eht
and that Mr.. ScrutIon. the manager appointed
duty. BESIDE Besides h.,.i not Government inspectors
visited the school, and how, could they fail TO
find out faults?
But Mrs. Surr was not to be deferred
from her purpope of securing all invcstiga-
tion. :lsrl what did the investigation de-
yelop? 1t showed to the British public i'll
tile heart of London school rs vile us Dick
ems Dotlleboys Hall. 1t showed that the
tribe Of Squeers still lives and prospers OIL
British soil. But Mrs. Surr was obffgelt to
reach over the heads of all the "managers,"
and over tile heads Of all her colleagues OF
the board. She was compelled to go to the
Home Office and appeal to the Secretary Of
State, who, with his wand OF Office stretch
ing over the heads of an army Of s'1nspect-
, ors,'' ''inemberS Of the School Board, aud
''nlanagers," warmed an Investigation into
life Still Mr.. Scrutton, a respected" nlclll-
ber Of the board, was ''indignant." He de-,
laa1ded the privilege of confronting Mrs.
Surr; he wond have evidence" and hesot
it in abundance. The evidence disclosed all
the Squcers processes in their abolninab1c
Ilideousness.
If ii master could not find out which boy had
Disturbed him by talking, the whole school was
PITT on bread nnd wAter for Il day. Tho suule
punishment was given ii ii window wus cracxed.
to 70 without dinner and to stand tor hours In
the open air on winter day. the children
were So furnished that many of them stole tho
food given to the dug. Tho boys also frc4ucnI-
ly took bread from the pantry, driven to theft
by systematic starvation PinnfoFcs 1nstenu ot
s1antly wtr11. The lads used sometimes to wcnr
their socks tor six weeks without q change. At
one time twenty Of them were In bed with bad
feet, produced by cold and by stumbling in Tho
wet yards without shoes or stockings. For
this reason one boy was confined to oed FOR
t naecd On him ' whln he ws II, ue md
WIS kept Tor twelve days and ni0hts III cell on
bread and water. The first day no was bircaed.
and when he cutl1e our no WAS caned. The birch
was s.lked in lime before 1t was ready for use,
in order that its effects might be- the more pa!-
tuI. Another boy died in the storerpom: n',-
flctls were always " on to him: seven boys
deliberately set I're to the school rather than
sand nny ongeT .ho crTe ea 3 e. 10 whcn @
famous: beetles, cr:ckets, and DIRT wero ire
queulIy fund In tue soup. One boy was sctto
timuel. and ne died. Bur the poor little felltw
was logged for idlcness the day before he ex-
pired!
We do not intimate that the public schools
Of this country probably furnish any conf
parson to this picture Of horrors. But the
readers Of THE TRIBUNE will bear III mind
that precisely such 4 school (private) WAS
lately found in the City Of New York. We
cite this ease FROM England to show that the
public is not bonnd to take anything for
granted which concerns the management Of
public institutions. We cite it to show that
it is possible for great abuses to exist in pub
lie institutions Immediately under the noses,
50 to speak. of those whose duty it is to see
that they do not exist And if abuses of this
character-abuses so gross as to appall the
stoutcst hearts-cal pass without notice for
months and years. it is patent to the COM
monest understanding that faulty methods
Of instruction. dullpess and stupidity, par
TALLY, and injustice to the pupils generally
may exist in any public-scllool system. The
influence OF habit, the force Of custom, the
power Of routine upon the human mind, is
almost incalcuIable. Man. rarely reforms
himself IN the absence Of any influence ex-
crted from without. And it is presumption
on the part Of public-schooi teachers to claim
that they furnish an exception to the uni
rersal law.