Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1882-08-13
eureka Dailp 5entinrl.
SUNDAY. August 10, 1882.
u TEACHERS.

whirlwind about the ears of the Schooi
Trustees of that town, insisting upon
their employing as teachers the young
women who have been educated there.
The cry is for "home talent" This
topic is of the first Importance, and
should be calmly discussed. Great care
should be taken to get the right start IN
discussing it. The chief interest IN
volved may not be properly appreciated.
The ardor of local pride may cause it to
be overlooked altogether. The teacher
should meet with every consideration
His claims to be treated with the utmost
courtesy and appreciation are just. But
the vital question, and the one that
should o~vershadow all others in the
minds of School Trustees, with whom
rests the responsible duty of hiring
teachers, is, how the interests of the
school children may be best promoted
The boys and girls who go to school
should be thought of first. They should
be properly taught. The welfare Of the
country depends upon their proper edu-
cation. It is a solemn and almost awful
responsihility-that Of preparing the ris-
ing generation for the duties of life.
The children's destinies are involved in
this consideration it should be, and is,
the greatest care Of parents the coin
monwealth spends money freely for its
own honorable preservation, in order
that this serious task may be properly
performed. There is something lament
able in the fact that the youth of the
country may be allowed to grow up in
comparative ignorance, or confusion of
mind, which is worse. The spectacle Of
young energies misdirected or blunted by
incompetent teaching is one OF the saddest
that the intelligent mind can contem-
plate. 1t excites feelings not materially
different from the sensations aroused by
observing the inmates OF an insane
asylum. The paramount aim OF School
Trustees should be to secure the most
competent teachers that they can afford
to employ. They should keep this whole.
some end in view, and let every interest
of a personal or local sort drop into
insignifcance beside it. II a better
teacher can be had in California than il
Nevada, do not hesitate, but send It
California for him. If you can afford t
pay a leading teacher of the East tn
price that his services are worth in tn
market, pay him the money and buy HI
invaluable labor. Send to the ends 0
the earth and get the best teacher yol
can find, Messrs. Trustees. Never mlnt
what his nationality is. Only be certain
that he is a master in the art Of teaching
and then import him if necessary. Th
phrase IF necessary" is used advisedly
Ii when a teacher is needed you can ge
one at home who is just as competent a
one you could get elsewhere, why, 0
course, give the ''home talent the pref
ereuoe. The qualifications OF the HON
man and the foreigner being equal, Away
give preference to the former. But if il
comparing the two with reference t
their competency to educate the boy
and girls in our public schools, from
whom we expect so much and think 0
always with so much s~olicitude, you fin,
the foreigner superior, give him tn
situation that you have at your disposal
not for his sake but for the children's
ANY teacher who, being inferior, would
press his claims to employment il
our public schools on the ground tina.
''home talent" ought to be preferred
gives prima facie evidence OF his mora
unhtness to train up the young people O
a great nation in the way they should 60
1t is presumed he is inferior mentally
but his own plea for protection shows
him to be a moral coward. He stand.
in the light of a pauper. He asks EN-.
ployment certainly, but not because il
competition he is found to be superior ii
the qualifications required for his services
and all-important work. He begs for g
support which belongs to some other
person by right of greater competency,
He %solicits for himself more than he il
worth, and, for the sake of his living.
places the whole community at a dis
advantage. He deprives the public
school children of the light which that
benefcent institution is intended to shed
Owing to his interposition as a specimen
of "local talent" stupidity takes tbs
place of enlightenment. 1t is not righr
to consider school teachers as objects O
charity. Let whatever charity there !!
to spare be bestowed upon the schoo
children. Teachers (of the right sort dc
not beg for sympathy. They are like
other people in business who nave the
proper mount of pride. They prefer to
be independent and ''hoe their own row.
Belonging to the neighborhood, if they
think themselves equal Or superior to an
outsider, they demand the preference
for themselves; otherwise not. Teachers
who have not this spirit should not be
educators of our children.