Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1886-07-13

a 4 sASs AA'Cdii III any mar
row ana sectarlan sense, but in that
broad sense which includes all that
substantially agree on the great fu6- |
datnental principles taught by the
Great Teacher, and about which there
can be no controversy. Our com
mon school system has been our pride
and our boast. Have We not been
unduly proud and boastful? Have
we made Of it all We should? Is there
not MUCH to be done to develop and
perfect it? We have expended vast
sums Of money upon ii, and have cal
culated this was all that was necessa-
ry. We have taught reading. pen
manship, arithmetic, grammar, and
some history Of our country, &C.: but
how much is omitted, which, if not
taught in the common school, the
masses never learn, for few are able.
or if able, are not inclined to place
their children in schools Of higher
grade. The common school has been.
and will continue to be, the princi-
pal means of educating the masses of
our citizens. How important, then,
that the system be brought up to ALL
its possibilities. Here a good prac-
tical education is to be had, if had at
all, by nine out of ten Of our chill
dren. | commend to your attention,
men and women of to-day, and to
those soon to be men and women, the
noble system of our common schools,
and pray you to study its possibilities
and labor to bring it up to all it is ca
pable of. / suggest, by way Of ques-
ton, few matters in the line of this
thought. Could not our common
school be made the means of instruc-
ton in some Of the more common and
useful arts and callings say of agri-
culture, some Of the simpler mechan-
ic arts, &C.? Could not the general
principles of the science of political
economy and Of civil government, the
duties and privileges of American cit
izenship and such like kindred mat
ters be substituted in the place of so
much memoriter drill in the length of
rivers, and the height of mountains,
and such rubbish as, if ever needed
in after life, can readily be obtained
from map or cyclopedia? By way
of familiar lectures, could not the
masses be taught something of the
general principles of physiology and
| hygiene, and of common business
law? l throw out these as sugges-
tons to lead out your thought in the
line of improvement. Have we not
been too fearful of any form Of NOR
al instruction in our common schools:
l do not now plead for the introduce
ton of sectarian and theological dog
mas; but l DO plead for an infusion
of the principles of SOUND MORALITY
4 into all our educational appliances
those great and universal principles
that all good men and good women
agree upon and practice. These
should be taught and insisted upon
and their practice be compulsory
while the pupil is in or about the
school, ard where this cannot be done
. let the school be purged of the fou
(tmember. Better onelto grow up IL
ignorance than many to grow up cor
rupt. The charge that our schools
. are often, the very hotbed Of mora
corruption, is not entirely wlthou
foundation. Our aim in all educa
tional movements must be to tran
men and women for useful and SAT-
; citizens, and this requires not slmpl.
! q we'll disciplined and well cultivated