Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1886-06-14

recommended ''that corporal punish
ment be avoided in all cases. where
good ordrr can he preserved. nv mild
Ell measures. 1t is avoided if pos
sible, for among the hundreds of
teachers with whom | have been as
sociated both 10 country and city
have never known a single instance
of corporal punishment, until after
every mild measure that human inge-
nuity could devise, had been exhaust
ed But when it comes to the point
where it must be resOrted to. or had
boys must he turned into the street,
Boston still has the good sense to
evils And this has to be done quite
frequently in some localities where
you may find six or eight different
types of humanity in one room. [
think it quite possible to be able to
discipline a school successfully for
years without ever having recourse to
the rod, in some parts of the city and
in many PARTS of the country, but it is
a great mistake to deprive the teach
ers of the right to do it if necessary,
or to stigmatize the act as brutal,
when conscience tells us it is a beJter
way than sending the unfortunate
wrong doors adrift. Nearly all of us
who nave reached middle life know
what it was to stand in wholesome
fear of the rod, in the days of our
youth, both at home and at school.
But how many of us look back upon
our parents, or teachers, as brutal
for netting out justice to us in this
way? Dear, blessed, God-fearing
old saints How tenderly and low
ingly we guide their faItering steps
down the declivity of life if they are
still with us How we revere the
memory of those who are among the
dead
1t is suggested that we give object
| lessons from NATURE" teach the pine
nomena Of the earth, air, and heav-
emily bodies, and thus lead the tho'ts
of the children upward toward the
Maker of them. That is just what
We have been doing, with heart and
soul for many year. We also
teach the rules of pollteness, the laws
of health, the effect of alcohol and
narcotics on the human system, not
neglecting some of the fine arts. such
as music and drawing; and we en-
deavor to teach them that order is
the first law of the universe, and
should be of the school-room, but it
is terribly up hill work on account of
the opposition we meet with from the
world outside.
Having no acquaintance with Mr..
Dunton, the gentleman who eloquent
ly pleads for the abolition of the rod
we do not know whether he is mod
ell father, or shrivelled bachelor,
but his article indicates the latter.
We have no doubt that like other non
resistance men, he places his whip in
the socket when he drives his docile
animal to the post-otlice, or his steers
before the pillow. He probably does
not believe in moral suasion for the
animal. Beautiful as may be his
theories, and much as we wish they
: might in all cases be followed, obser
+ walton, experience and history al
show that corporal punishment adj
; ministered in different cases, like tn
:. heroic lancet OF the blue pill will cur
ailments that nothing else will re
4 lieve. We do not see why ordlnar
Y corporal punishment Is worse thar
severe mental punishment. One i
, the smart or burn of the cuts Uera
the other is the sting of the mind
n There are cases when the conscience
pride, and other good qualities ar
so wanting in the pupil that Their
seems to be no way of reaching hir
i through these mediums. The in
e stance is rare where the nerves O
e feeling lie so deep that they canno
e be reached by vigorous applicatio
It of the stick or rattan. The theor
1 of our friend is not new one, as b
e plainly shows, and has been befor
1t the world long enough to be univers
h ally adopted if it were really The thin
most desirable. We have no dout
IS the Creator would have resorted t
st the milder methods of punishment
( they had been effective, but his metl
Re DDS, 50 far as bible examples go, al
sr corporal and condign. But we q
y not expect to convince our opponer
|. that his theories are wrong, and a.
he not quite ready to admit that they a
s entirely right. A TEACHER.
81 WASHINGTON LETTER.
= ESPECIAL CORRESPONDENCE OF THE MONITOR.