Daily Republican., 1882-12-14
THURSDAY. DECEMBER IA. Isss.
PIIfeFImR at sSla0Ol.


school is carried on but as the article
stolen are generally OF no great value
such actions are generally overlooked
by parents and teachers and the pill
ferers are permitted to pursue their in
clinatiors unmolested. This Is where
great mistake is made. A boy who
commences in school to pilfer his
schoolmates pencils, knives, hats and
dinners, is laying the foundation work
of great criminal in after years un'
less he is in some almost miraculous
manner converted from the error Of his
ways before he commits great crime
and lands in the State prison. A boy
who wiltully steals in school, articles
of more or less value, is no less thief
than he who breaks into a house,
breaks open drawers, bureaus and
safes and steals sum Of money. We
are cognizant of case Of hat pilfering
that took place in school No. 4, two or
three days ago, which will serve as an
illustration of our subject A little
boy had seal skin cap which he was
go careful to preserve ifpossible from
the long fingers of those who often stole
his and others dinners, that he put 1t
in the pocket of his overcoat where it
could not be readily seen by the eye OF
q petty thief. Other eyes however
were upon that hat and when the little
boy came at noon for his overooat the
hat was missing from the pocket. The
most diligent search and inquiry failed
to discover the hat and the little boy
was compelled to go home mile and
hall distant bareheaded. Such petty
thiaving seemed to have become such a
general thing in the school that the
theft of boys hat seemed to elicit
neither surprise nor indignation
amongst the teachers, and had the boy
whose hat was siolea not persisted in
his search the next day the matter
would have been passed over like many
similar cases and have soon been for
gotten. The little boy apprised all the |
teachers OF his loss and insisted that a |
search should be made amongst the
boys in all the departments. I %
teachers asked all the boys it any OIL
them had found a hat but each aud
nvery one positively asserted his inuO-
cenCe. Finally one of the boys whis-
pered to the boy who lost his hat that
another boy in a certain department
had found seal skin cap. The princi-
pal of the school then went to the boy
named, who before had been loud in
HIS protestations Of innocence and a
stern look and command to produce
the hat brought it from the blushing
boys pocket. We have not heard that
the boy who was certainly 10 less than
a little thief was disciplined for his
crime either by his parents or by his
What kind of parents could this boy
have had? Even if he told them he
'Ound the hat, was it not their honest
courBe to make him return it to the I
principal of the school that the owner {
might be found? Will the teachers 0
md committee of Ne. have done q
heir whole duty If they do not inVesti- j
,ate the case and administer rsproof {
ind admonition to the erring boy? If h
parents, teachers and committee all I
mite in passing the case by in silence t
hey will but encourage the boy in his a
dishonest propensity, and the next v
hing stolen may be of H ore value than a
! seal 81 In cap. There is too much petty q
done in our public schools. 0
several children have long distance t
o 60 to a grammar school and they are a
to take lunch along which '
erves for a dinner, So common has II
he stealing of lunches become, that v
hese children are compelled to go Al
anything to eat from morning 81
ntil night. This should not be 80.
'ut if some of thsss little petty thieves
re not caught and punished thus pill b
,ring will continue and our public tt
chools will become potent in the train o,
lg of thieves as well as in imparting q v
ractical education. The most brilliant n
ducarion is useless thing to these &
Tho are lacking in honesty and morals. re
he loss of o dozen seal skin caps is a
othing compared with the permanent ia
,jury of permitting boy to 60 on un W
leCked in q career of crime and in o,
my. n,