Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1884-08-21

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.

pherson proceeded to introduce DIR. j
X. Weist, who occupied the first houl
in lecture upon Some of the Defects
of Our Present School System" The
doctors delivery is very emphatic anG
distinct, and consequently was listened
to by all with more than usual show
of attention. He first defined the rela
tive duties of teacher and physician
and the bearing, direct and indirect, oi
those duties upon the welfare of the
people mentally and physically. A true
education should embrace more than a
knowledge of the shadows of things
1t must make us creative like God and
nature. SO that every pulsation will
leave behind it a monument" The
first step toward the attainment OF this
education consists in developing the
physical powers of the being, which is
what our ordinary educational system
fails to achieve. Consequently the
whole Nation suffers. Indeed, the very
hand OF death is upon itl Pauperism,
crime, insanity and a general degenera-
tion are destroying the masses, and sal
vation can only come through proper
education of the people. Thus is
clearly demonstrated the great respon-
sibility of the teacher. The people
themselves constitute 'the most impor-
tant capital of the state; hence the
value of enriching that capital. The du-
ration of human life is less than it was
fifty years ago and continues on the de-
crease, which facts, together with that
OF the growth of consumption, insanity,
crime and pauperism, show great cause
for alarm on the part of the Intelligent
thinker. The controlling force of the
age is thought, which may be defined as
a product of the cells of the gray mat
ter of the brain; or, in other words,
''the result of change of form in inor
ganic matter taken into the system as
food" Therefore one readily appreci-
ates the necessity of the proper nutri-
ton of the brain or of the cerebral
cells. How is this to be effected with
out physical development? Educators
have emphasized and labored for
the one end of mental development and
the result of their efforts is multipli-
city of evils. The education of each
individual should be adapted to his pc
culiar organization hence the develop
ment of the race and that of the indi-
vidual can be best secured when the
one is treated as the end and the other
as the means. A system of education
should be judged by its effect upon the
people or nation rather than upon the
single mind. Every condition of the
physical system is hereditary, especially
when an entire people is trained and
directed to common end. "Enllghten
ed thinkers insist that a criminal should
not be treated as a blank but as a col
lection of hereditary tendencies, should
our schools and teachers, therefore, fall
behind the keepers of prisons IN knOwl-
edge and method? In the deterioration
of race consequent upon neglect OF
physical development, the decay Is first
to be detected in the moralsensibilities
How evident, therefore, is the end
State Superintendent John w. Hol-
combe occupied the second hour OF the
afternoon in giving to the institute a
clear idea of the school economy of the
State of Indiana He demonstrated the
simplicity of the Indiana system and
stated that frequent calls had been
made by new and distant States tor
similar system Wayne county is re-
nowned for her supremacy In educa
tional matters. In some of our neigh
boring States each county is hampered
with some one or two hundred trustees
which in an accumulated body must be
influenced to each and every reform.
Thus the machinery of the educational
system is rendered cumbersome and un-
wieldy.
THURSDAY MORNING.
Opening exercises were conducted by
Superintendent Wood. Mr.. Reece fol-
lowed in discussion of music, the best
methods of instructing in this branch
and the varying degrees of adaptibility
shown in the average child 1llustra-
tions were drawn upon fhe black board.
The best of teachers have taught this
subject without any share in the pro-
duction of tones, this part of the lesson
being confined exclusively to the class.
The remarks of Mr. Rcece were sue
eeeded by the rendering on the part OF
the institute of the songs, Singing of
Jesus Love" and Faithful Laborer.
After a recess, Prof Cyrus Hodgin
spoke concerning the constitution and
matters bearing upon the same. The
question was propounded him. Did
all the members of Congress sign the
Declaration of Independence?
We are informed that all did so save
one-Robert Livingston, of New York
made clear. He was also a member of
the legislature of New York at the
same time, and it is presumed that he
was summoned from the deliberations
of the supreme legislative body to par
take In those of his immediate State
Whether he regarded these last as the
more important, We cannot say. The
fundamental defect in the so-called
articles of confederation, was the form of
that document, its looseness, its vague
ness, its failure to bind obligations ire
coverably There was no executive
under these articles. no Judiciary. Con-
gress was its own executive. The States.
in brief. were supreme. the government
subordinate.
A recess was here given which was
followed By. remarks from DR.. James
+. Hibberd. The doctor drew line of
difference between habits. in the indi
vidual, and those things which are in
marks were very interesting.