Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1883-12-13
NUMBER 80


The heating and ventilation of the
buildings very naturally command u
leading place at this time in the At
tention of the public. While Is
would be premature To make any
pro rounced statement at present as
TO the success of the means provided
for heating, it may set at rest some
quite excusaole misgivings TO state
that since the buildings have been
put in proper condition, To the pres
ent time, the success has been perfect,
and that adequate Ventilation is se
cured beyond the possibility of o
failure. Those who will honor
teachers and pupils with their pres
ence Ia the scheol-rooms for any
length of time sufficient to observe
the workings of the new system,
will cease TO entertain any doubts AZ
TO its efficiency. Especially will
this be true in the case of those uh
servers who were acquainted with
the former condition of things, aud
who remember the unwholesome air
their children were compelled 70
breath, SO many hours IN the day,
and the discomfoIts and dangers re
sultiug from the varying temperature
TO winch they were exposed
The reform has been broughS
about at some cost, and doubtless 90
the dissatisfaction Of some. No
doubt there remains even TO the
present day in nearly every consid
cradle community n residuum Of the
people of long ago who believed that
intellectual endowments, and the
means for securing them, were tbe
peculiar property Of privileged
Glasses. Such, no doubt, fail to com
plehend the design Of publn
school system or It's necessity too
y pular governments. With them
schools maintained at public es
peuse are little more than a neces
sary evil. A recurrence to frs
principles at frequent intervals "
deslrablu in the discussion Of thia
subject, as III many others. AT the
risk, then, of repeating some trulsms
ark the attention Of any who may
be disposed 10 question the wisdom
of expenditure designed to give thu
utmost efficiency 10 asystem OF pub
! lie education, 10 one or two of 1o
iuudamu niaI propositions on which
such a system IN based.
1t il generally held, and correctly
too, that no government has ever be
fore existed in the world, whateve,
its name or character, that offered
to the masses Of its people so wide
a scope for the attainment of hap
piness or gave 80 fair opportunity
for the realization of human poss.
bilities. Differing from all othegs
that history describes, excelling alb
others az we are justified in beliey
ing, it is unique only in that il waa
instituted and has thus far heen
maintained by an unexampled race
Of men. Unparalleled diffusion oi
intelligence and power to perceive
the conditions essential to govern
ment by the people, has been the
one characteristic that constitutes
the principal distinction between
our own and other nations both past
and present. Abolish this distino-
tion by diminishing or weakening
the agencies that prepare the masses
to participate intelligently in the
affairs Of state, and there is no rea-
son for believing that our form oi
government would not speedily 70
vert to some of the well known
forms that have furnished the most
melancholy wrecks of history. Eter
nal vigilance is the price of liberty,
but the vigilance Of him whose in
tellect and senses are enyeloped IN
cloud Of ignorance can AVA,
nothing.
Without in the least disparagine
the other agencies, numerous and
powerful, that aid in the preparation
Of the citizens Of a republic, it may
safely he affirmed that the destruo
ton Of the common school systerI
would effect the ruin OF the politicd
fabric. To its agency must be at
tributed the largest share in the dis
semination of the knowledge and
power necessary for the intelligent,
exercise of the rights Of those who
constitute "nation Of kings"
J. II r.