St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1885-03-07
THE BLAIR EDUCATIONAL BILL.

On the duty OF the State relative 10
public education are so unreliable
as professional educators or
teachers.
The qenaark il entirely correct,
On the weG known fact that the
court is always seeking to extend
itg jurisdiction, we're the views Of
the class Of writers and lecturers re-
feared to, accepted and followed the
governmental machine would be
speedily converted into o huge pat
emit educator /: every ward Of the
cities and every precinct Of the par
ishes or counties would have it's
high school and university in addi-
ton TO its grammar schools ; and we
should soon have swarms of vaga-
bond youths chattering dog Latin
and bad Greek, puzzling their leaden
brains over useless mathematical
problems and otherwise wasting
precious time in idle and useless
pursuits.
The error Of this class Of. theo-
rists appears to be in assuming that
all human creatures are born with
equal faculties, and are capable Of q
like degree Of mental cultivation.
Thus they have developed an I'M
mense amount of feeble and worth
less brain at the expense of an i'm
nlense quantity Of very valuable
Drawn and muscle and if they were
permitted TO have their way, they
would carry their sorry work D
great deal further.
We know of no one Of these pro-
tessional instructors, for all Of whom
in their especial sphere and person
ally, we have a great respect and
esteem, who has given more strik-
ing and amusing example Of the
narroWness, one-sidedness and dy-
namitic explosiveness Of his class
than the Rev. "A. d. Mayo, who adj
dressed the Congress Of Educators
IN this city Monday night. After
referring to the several quite est
mable gentlemen who had just pre-
ceded him as "Great Men," Mr..
Mayo proceeded to discuss the
Blair educational bill and said that
in Congress there are two classes Of
men, statesmen and politicians, and
that the former supported the Blair
educational bill, while the latter
opposed it.
Now as Messrs. Pendleton, Beck,
Coke, Bayard, and several other
Senators Of equal standing and abil-
ity, unquestionably the ablest states
men in the Democratic party, or,
for that matter, in the Union, OPP
posed the proposed Blair steal, &C
cording to the Boston educator and
his class generally, these gentlemen
are mere politicians and dema-
gogues, while the horde Of senators,
little and medium sized, who, pan
dering to the now too common de-
mand of congressional constituen-
cies upon their representatives to
''grab, in the general scramble for
spoils, all they can, supported the
steal irrespective of its constitution
ality or unconstitutionality, its mer-
its or dement's, are statesmen. The
gentlemen's rule applies TO the
members of the House, the ablest
and most thoughtful members Of
which oppose the bill, while every
demagogue IS rampant bowler for
it.
The proposition is too absurd to
require further discussion its sim
pie statement shows the utter unre-
Iiableness of the views Of mere pro-
fessional educators on such issues,
however honestly they may be en-
tertained.
The Blair bill should receive the
condemnation of every disinterested
citizen Of this country. It was CON
eeiyed in hypocrisy, but we trust
that it will never be brought forth
as q living law. It's originators had
no more purpose of observing the
cause Of public education, that Jesse
James and his gang Of freebooters
had Of developing the civilization of
the West.
It had been obvious long before
its introduction in Congress, that
there vas a rebellion developing