Roseburg review. [volume] (Roseburg, Or.) 1885-1920, 1886-12-24

uu'y 10 encourage, by suitable leglsla
ton and judicious appropriations
higher institutions Of learning, tha,
they may be rendered as easy and ac
cessible as possible to all classes oi
citizens
In this country every youth has the
chance and the right to make himself
honorable and useful. This chance is
as free as air, and is furnished him on
every hand, readY-made to occupy an
upright position IN the community.
Every inducement that generous gov
ernment can bestow is held out to him.
Public schools and higher institutions
OF learning are everywhere. The
teachers In our Colleges aad Uniyer-
-sies arc doing q grand work for educa.
ton OF the youth of our State. Every
enterprising boy who is striving to be-
come an intelligent and useful citizen,
may secure liberal education in these
institutions of learning. Beginning in
the primary school, the ambitious
youth continues his course through the
various grades until he reaches the
University or Colleges. Here, with
the advantage of more mature years
and thought, he is prepared to acquire
that higher education that imparts
strength of character and refinement
OF manners, rounding up his work,
and entering the walks of life as the
seif-polsed and well-balanced man.
The way is open, then-there is no
established rank, no line of aristocracy,
no obstacle worth naming, indeed, in
this state, that stands in the wsy Of
any boy or girl who is struggling up
wards. We have now, in part, COM
prehensive system of education-and
this system must continue to be advo.
Gated, established, and extended, thus
making the way ever open and easy to
the children of the rich and Of the
poor. Has our country lost anything
by its generous system of public edfica
sloni Do you regret that the free
Public schools and Colleges of Oregon
have already furnished the community
tens, yea, hundreds of intelligent men
and women? Do we regret the policy
OF leaving the avenues to honor and
eminence open to all? Do you regret
that grand basis of freedom and intel
ligence upon which our government
restsi Do we regret from that free
dom of education that has furnished
the opportunity to thousands of poor
boys and girls to rise from obscurity to
the, highest places in the government,
literature and seiencel Are we ashamed
of Webster, Lincoln, Garfield, Bryant,
Whittier, Holmes, Everett, Emerson,
Hawthorne, Margaret Fuller, Francis
Wayland and Horace Mann2
Again, from another standpoint.
every man is factor in and member
of society. In this he has no choice.
1t is absolute and compulsory. What
sort of factor, then, shall he bel His
duties to himself are mo lifted by his
duties to his neighbors. Forces oper-
ate upon him that tend to preserve his
own independence and dependenee-in
other words. these forces render him
subject to social, civil, and moral laws.
These forces tend, on the one hand, to
cause the individual to disregard the
claim of society upon him, and, on the
other, TO cause society tc disregard the
right of the individual. Is it wrong,
then, to magnify man, or debase him as
an individuall Is his freedom of
thought and speech to be restricted be-
cause it is abusedl Are free institu-
tions to be condemned because they
elevate the masses? By no means;
but, on the contrary, the chief glories
OF free government, with free institu-
tions and free schools, are that thew
made men capable of self-government
by pressing upon them individual re-
sponsibilities. A people who are not
free can never be strong. True man
hood is the ripened fruit of indepen
dence. The foolishness of youth must
he tolerated to secure the soberness of
age. With this view of social status.
what will insure proper respect for
more than educationq Not
a smattering, but a full, strong, liberal
education! Some contend that the
multiplicity of UNCONVENTIONAL and
other institutions, now on hand, has
disintegrating influence Oh society. If
this be SO, then, let it be counter-bal-
anced by the reconstructing influence
of more liberal educational policy on
the part of the State. Learning brings
with it judgment, weight, discretion.
1t democratic forms of government
give higher position and increased priv
iliges TO the individual, they must seek
to make him worthy of the trust re-
posed IN him. If government grants
the right of suffrage, it ought to insist
uron an intelligent exercise Of that
right. Those who have not been
taught to rule themselves cannot wisely
rule others. To monarchy which
contains from without, ignorance is
not necessarily dangerous. But to q
republic which controls from within.
education is vital. Rightly educated
men see that there must be authority,
and they respect it-respect it the
more because it emanates from them
selves. Our schools, then, must sober
the reckless, must curb RIGHTEOUSNESS
(if | may use the word) of opinion,
must teach that conservatism, which
while it does not refuse to recognize the
glad promise of the future, still holds
finally to what is good in the past.
1t has been we'll said by eminent
teachers that Intelligence is the key
stope OF our national structure. This
intelligence must be constant and COM
prehensive, and if it saves the republic
1t must be broad and universal. An
archy and nihilism are abroad; outward
authority, general and local, begins
to lose its hold upon men; the annals
of the times begin to show elements Of
discord and disruption; children set at