Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-03-20
ONE POINT At 4 TIME.

Bishop Ireland's Position on the Common
School Question in General and the
High School in Particular.
TO the Editor of the Globe.
Common school. "There must be such
schools, as without them a large number
of children would receive no education
at all and the State would suffer from
such ignorance
Now, Bishop Ireland's admission is.
broad enough to embrace the legal State
school system which is free to all and
common to all, extending from the lowest
department of the highest Of the LEGAL
COMMON STATE SCHOOL SYSTEM. This of
course assumes that the system of State
common schools is q UNIT, capable, like
any other unit, to subdivisions; but no di-
vision of unit can change the value of
the unit
The bishop therefore begs the question
when he assumes that the grade called a
''high school," is no part of the
legal common school unit. This is no
more in reason than to assume that one
tenth is no part of ten-tenths, or unit,
which is absurd. Then it is absurd to
say that the legal common schools of the
State of Minnesota must end at any one
point short of it's completed school unit.
1t must occur in the development of
this legal State school system, common to
all, that the State must see the necessity
of adding to the mental, certain indus
trial elements, terminating finally in re-
Quired trades and arts, leading to COM
merclal products, the physical wealth of
growing communities, as well as to the
learned professions. These mental and
material developments inhere to this
common State school system. At what
point in the growth of this integral unity
the material Industries can be most econ
omically attached is one Of the questions
now under vigorous inquiry in the Ameri-
can school system.
Now, if Bishop Ireland can demonstrate
to the world that these required develop
ments of common State school system
can all be perfected in the first. second,
third, or tenth grade of the system, he
| may induce the State to limit the State
eoInmon school system to that grade,
even if that grade is the kindergarten.
But his astute mind has long since dis
covered that the powers of the human
mind develops sereotins, like the orders of
life, in the natural series terminating in
men. Had the natural series ended any
where short of man, we can imagine the
system of life would be incomplete; and
so far as it fell short of the seeming end
of the series failure. In like manner
the State common school series is one
completed growth, like the coupled life
of the planet On which man works out
his systems after the pattern given him by
! the great author.
We say, then. that unless Bishop Ire
| land can tell US at what point in the le-
gal state serial school unit, we can stop
and say thus far shalt thou go and no
farther; we must conclude that his ad-
mission gives up the argument; for he is
in favor of the State common school sys-
TEN. This he favors as a good citizen.
We add the system is unit, and the
bishop favors the system. Then are we
all unit On the question of high
school, a material part of this system
And if St. Paul high school needs a
building, of course we are bound to
build one. G.