Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-06-23

auLnorltles the power, IN the eFenb vi utvol
neglect to give schooling. to take the child
away from it's parents and place it in some
public institution. In regard to the effects
OF this compulsory educational law l am
told that it is working throughout the
country, generally, In the most salutary
manner. Not all the children are brought
to school under its operations, bat that
muen larger proportion attend than form
erly, is one of the most obvious, as II is
one of the most hopeful, facts in connec-
ton with English school life. Under the
inspiration of examples afforded in Ger.
many and in the United States, England
has taken rapid strides in the last decade
in the direction Of affording cheap educa'
tional facilities to the masses of her popu'
lation, and she is still going forward. Ev-
erywhere is the old paroehial school,
where
SECTARIAN INSTRUCTION
Formed the greater part of the teaching,
and from which, for that reason, the chill
dren of dissenters were almost wholly ex.
cluded, giving place to the Public Element
airy School, whose affairs are managed. not
by the parish priest, but by Board elected
by the rate-payers, and In which sectarian
teaching has no place whatever. In many
of these schools religious instruction IS
given at the order of the School Board, and
in most of them, even where there is no
| instruction, there is at least Bible reading
and prayer. But SO solicitous has the Gov
eminent been that religion shall not be
thrust upon those who object to it, or be
considered in any sense part of the regu'
lar school system, that it stipulates that
whatever religious exercises any particular
School Board may conclude to have, snail
occur at the opening aud closing only, and
shall be so conducted as in no way to IN
terfere with, or detract from, the two hours
of secular instruction which constitute the
minimum of every school session. 1t Ia
further provided that, be the religious ex-
ercises what they may, parents NOT wish
ing their children to take part in such ex.
ercises, shall have q right to withdraw
them during that time, and it is particu.
larly enioined that such withdrawal shall
not deprive these children of any of the
benefits of the school, or in any wise de.
tract from their standing in the school.
Moreover, withdrawal from
Does not mean keeping the children at
home. They must be at school, and the
| teacher must see to it that while the others
are receiving religious knowledge, or OBJ
serving religious worship, they shall, in
| some place by themselves, be receiving in
struction in secular matters. This is what
| is called the conscience clause of the Edu<
catioaal Act passed in 1870 and amended
at various times since. There was, of
course. bitter contest over this clause.
| The Established Church mustered all it's
/ forces in opposition, but dissent and liber-
eralism carried the day, and the triumph
then gained put England abreast of the
other enlightened nations of the earth in a
matter in which, up to that time, she had
| been strangely backward, and paved the
way for more recent legislation by which
dissenters have equal rights with church
men to the education afforded in her great
universities. In my visit to this English
village CLEANED some facts In regard TO
RENTS, WAGES, ETC
Which will probably interest your readers.
Most of the land in this country is fsrmed
by renters who pay from s. to $40 per
acre. When land commanding this rent
changes hands, which is very seldom, it
brings from $3.50 to S225 per acre. Horses
used in farm work are usually of the mass.
i've build, so common in this country, and
range in price from 5000 to $500. A good
mich cow, with calf, is worth $3.50. Farm
laborers earn from So % to 81 per week,
and frequently have large families to sup
port out of this pittance. During harvest,
which lasts from month to six weeks, the
farmer contracts with his hands to work
for him during the whole time putting in
about eighteen hours hard labor day for
S25, with s. extra for beer At this Pc
Rod the weekly wages is Of course sus-
pended. The marvel is that these farm
laborers are able, on their small income, to
keep up such good appearance. The man
has good suit of black in which to go to
church on Sundays, and his wife sits by
his side attired with equal neatness and
comfort, and they both with their children
also, present tidy and well.cared for look
as you see them on the streets during the
week. Their dwellings, viewed from the
outside, are suggestive of anything but
poverty or distress. They are of humble
| dimensions, to be sure, but the windows,
shaded with imitation lace curtains, as
many of them are, and lit up by Towering
plants, present really beautiful appear
ance, and whet the appetite for an inside
view. Within you find almost invariably
CLEANLINESS AND GOOD CHEER,
And what is still better, an all-pervading
| bor,a faaI;,0 The bo,,o looI-s I'll o-.a. -,
though it were occupied by those who felt
it privilege to live there and were bent
on making the place something beyond a
mere shelter. That this class make their
small earnings serve them so well is owing
to several resons. Rents are very low,
the tasteful dwellings costing them, with a
small garden attached, from Sl5 TO $50 a
year. Clothing, too, costs less than one
half what it does in America, and is more
| durable. The schooling of the children
amounts scarcely to anything. For the
| first child four cents week must be paid
for the second two cents, for the third two
cents, and all the other little ones, even If
| there should be a score in the family, 90 TO
school free. In return for this sum the
children get fair education, and have all
necessary books found for them. The
farm laborers suffer the most in the matter
of eating. They get enough, such as it is,
| but it is of kind at which the poorest in
our land would deem it virtue to turn up
their noses in contempt. For breakfast
and tea the bill of fare ia bread and drip
ping, the latter a cheap substitute for but
ter. For dinner a vegetable pudding is
usually the order, and | am credibly In
formed that if these people get little fat
bacon two or three times a week they con-
slider they are living on che fat of the land.