The clarion., 1885-11-25
The Public School Fund rs 1t Wise
~ Administered
NUNBRh III.

ject Is one of great importance. and
deserves to be most thoroughly VENT
lated. To the people, education and
taxation are attractive, vital and mo
mentous topics. That NAV not do in
justice to TIE CLAkIoN, | will quote it,
words:
THE argument which iustifiee educa
tion to limited extent is good TO sns
tain the most advanced public educa-
tion."
| maintain that it is not the provinc,
OF government to take care of it's eiti |
zens, in the sense IN which il is the dut,
oi the parent to provide for his children
That government which governs least |
afier protecting all in their rights oi |
personal security, personal liberty and |
private property, is the best as a genera |
proposition To undertake more thar |
this in behalf of those of sound mind |
and BODY, is a violation of the true theory
of civil government
IF every man were fed and clothed |
from common store, and educated
from a public fund, founded by tn.
labor of all. many, depending upon the
| labor of others, would he less indus
trious than they now are" By leaving
every man to provide for the wants al
| himself and family, "a greater numl er
are cared for, and the general welfare i,
better promoted than would be done il
! each larored for the benefit of all"
| There are arents, however, who. through
| thriftlessness or misfortune. would allow
their children 20 grow up in utter ieno
rance, and such, looking to the general
welfare, may reasonably be regarded a.
| the wards of the State, as to education
intelligence being indispensable to the
! stability and success of our popular
form of government. But this duty of
The State does not exist outside of the
evil irtend' d to be remedied. Where
| parents have the ability. and vet will
not give their children a good rudimen
tary education, it would te more in
accordance with the true theory of gov
ernment for them to be compelled b,
| law to do so, than for others to be taxed
10 have it done.
lnas person VINO can spell well. read
we'll, write good, legible hand. j.
master of the first tour rules of aritb-
meth, so as TO dispose of at once. with
accuracy, every question of figures which
comes up in practice. anc who has the
ability to write pure grammatical Eng
lish, has opened to him the great volume
of human knowledge, and is possessed of
the necessary educational qualifications
TO enter successfully upon the duties
anG responsibilities Of life. To this ex
ent consent to taxation for educa
tioEal purposes. But here, true allegi
ance to my own family and to the oesr
interests of society, III my judgment.
commands halt.
Nor can | concur with TIE CLARION
in the opinion, that The religious
society which contr Is Tougaloo Univer
p, 1lty, furnishes an unanswerable argu
ment to the criticisms of Justice" VIVA
this society is doing is holly voluntary.
One has right to do as he pleases with
his own, and Christian philanthropist,
are to be commended for every coutribu
tion they make to a good cause; and
this done. it is the right of no one to sa,
To them. You have not paced your none,
where 1t will do the most good. But Ia \
money should not be wrung by legal
process from the hard earnings of the
laborer, or from the accumulation OF n
wage producer, to assist in the higher
education of the children of parent.
who are abundantlv able to educate theil
d, '~n children.
d Besides, it is grave question, whether
universal higher education would prov,
4 blessing or a curse. Our law is tha,
there shall be maintained in this Stat,
4 uniform system of free schools for al
, children between the ages of five ane
twenty one years" Now, if every chile
N the State were kept at school from
five to twenty one years of age, does an,
one believe that thereby the materia
Interests and general welfare of th,
people of the State would;be advanced7
-ertainly do not, nor am | singular il
his belief
. The New York Observer is edited l.,
A., Christian gentlemen OF great ability anC
| arge experience, and in recent nut
,er of their paper, we frd lhem saving
{ "Whilst earnestly advocating the mos
LIBERAL appropriations for our publ,
schools, and the most rigid measures fo
occurring the education of all the chill
lren of the city in the ordinary branch-.
i # an English education, we have aiway
| been opposed. and have not hesitated I.
xpress our opposition to giving cole
yiate education to favored few, or eve,
the many, by levying an enormou.
{ AK upon the citizens at large :
{ eve think it is high time this subiect
| had more careful consideration en- tb.
art of ouI tax paying citizens, and W.
reiterate our decided convection that
no part of the duty of Government
lational, state, or municipal. to provid,
u public expense colleges and otbe
Institutions for the higher education @
he few who may be able to avail them
: elves of these advantages. ;
'To give classical, scientific am,
trtistic education to those who are abl.
% pay for it, or even to those who ar,
rot, by taxing the people at large. is a,
mirage upon Democratic or Republica,
principles"
A larger percentage of our popula
ion is engaged in the cultivation
f the soil than in any other one profes
ion, and College and University educa
ion do not cultivate an aptness or fond
,ess for field labor. To some extent
-eally produces a physical disquaifica
ion for it, as well as for all other form
# manual exertion. The person VIII
'as spent several of his youthful wear
tt primary schools, and then still NOR
It College, has painful apprenticeship
10 undergo, before he will be accounte,
good laborer, at digging up stump,
ploughlng, reaping, making rails, ditch
ng, or taking care of stock. Even tn
mechanical occupations are not hankere,
fter by College graduates. In lat.
report of the trustees of the New Yorl
jity free schools, on wGich millions @
lollars are annually expended, is found
regard to the high schools, this sig
ificant remark:
''The actual result of our present systen
only too often to dissatisfy cur young
men and women with modest occupation
md with laborious and difficult trades
They prefer, in too many cases. to b,
anything in preference to being artisans
md their education in those cases wher.
| t causes them to disdan he trades o.
heir parents,as itdoes in many instances
is possibly harm as much as a benefit
That enterprising and sagacious paper
The New York Sun, has this to say OIL
the existing system of free public educa
lion ia that city:
"We spe"d on these schools in New
York about four millions year, and th,
sum is annually increasing; vet tn.
pupils come out ofsthem unified e.,
the purpose of earning their living
md the longer they remain under i,astyuf
lion the Tess adapted they are likely to be f..
the careers upon which circumstances com
oet them TO enter Those
Who pursue the whole course gain littL
or nothing which is of practical advan
tage to them in the struggle for existence
upon which they enter at an older age.
and lose the necessary outside training
the others referring to those who leave
school early] have got at the most teach
| able period of life
An able and instructive essay by
/ Mr. Savage, on "The Defects of the