The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-11-12
OUR CIIILDREN'S RIGHTS.
a QUESTION or GREATER IMPORT
ACE THAN STOCK RAISING.
Father Paxton's Story-A Point from Her
bert Spencer The kindergarten system.
Parents Responsibility 70 Chiidren-The
Bias.s Of Childrcn's Minds.


Parents Responsibility to ChiIdrcn-rhe
Eins.s Of Children, Minds.
Old Father Paxton usel 70 tel this story
with great giec T. was in Egypt" and
forty years aeo. Re ves then bl.y stab
iisLing Sunday schools il thoc rct'oas of
Illinois and Misso,r' that were. from their
peculiar stage Of civilization. famed as
Egypt aud the Pike Country twasfar
from q common desi-e that schools Of any
sort should be founded. Oh one settlement
be hed been forewarned TO expect failure
The king bee II the town bad sworn that
nothing OF the kind would be tolerated. lie
lived on a knoll IN the only whiteWashed los
house in that section. Paxton rode up, and
seeing bis rival sitting straddlo of log in
front Of bis mansion eating peaches ne
straddled the log on the other side OF the
basket and Joined in. "IiOs do, stranger
lite la aud welcome" was, 0f course the
southern style Of greeting \ conversation
sprung up easily about weather, crops and
The kcdntry in general That's fine LOT Of
hogs over there" said Paxton. Fine, stran-
CERT You might say IL; as fine a. .'.ia kedn-
try holds" "How many mout there Der
There mout he sixty there, stranger, and
nary one that ISN'T a rooster"
COUNTING HIS PROGENY.
Just then little chap ran up and lied q
pouch II say said Paxton, "bc that chill
der voursN Yes. stranger 10 bc' And
how many m0ut you be after hayin9
How many, How many chiidrenl Wen,
stranger. there's where YOU be after having
me. bet III count up and seq Calling bis
woman 10 the door. he ordered Der 20 count
while be named them or Finding that diff
ult, hc changed the plan and did the count
ing himself. while sine did the names It
turned out that there were sixteen. Vow
was Paxtons chance. An unnaterally tine
lot Of en-. too he said; but stranger, 10
seems % me there's something wrong about
H." whats tnatr cried the old boss.
"Why. when / axcd you how many hogs you
had. YOU told me right OF sixty-three; but
when axcd YOU how many chllder you
had. YOU couldn't tell without both Of ~
countin'. Pears 70 me YOU reckon more on
your hogs round here than YOU do on yolr
that amt a square hit; and hold you must
be the Sunday school man. Give ui your
han. Goahead; open next SUNDAY, and my
Sal and her sixteen will all be there sure
suppose If this story were told 70 be ap-
Piled to the average citizen Of an average or
even cultured community ID would tie re-
sented. Yet Herbert Spencer does not hesi-
tate TO say: Without calling IN question the
great importance of horse training and pig
ieeding. we would suggest that, as the rear
ing If full grown men and women Is also ~
some moment, the conclusions indicated by
theory and Endorsed by practice oleht - TO
acted Oh IN the last ease as in the first" 1t
viii hardly bear u challcngo that there IS no
live thing about the bowels 81 the land thr5
secures so little directive cultare as child
IL comes up by Kick and culi and imitation.
BEGISNI2G OF EDUCATION.
The fact is the mos. important end of edu-
tiou is the beginning. Iii when tine mind
nrsc begins to observe that most wise teach
ers are needed. / live in hopes that before
long "a kindergarten system Will cover the
whole United Stats Theoretically, tho
child should be taught al home; and, when
parents are what they ought % be, the first
len or twelve years should he risldly home
years: bat where the parents are incapable
or unwisc. the child should have something
better than home can give him. The state
should see that be is taught on tie best pos
sible plan Al present bee IS simply turned n
with "a ra5blc gathered alike from the siums
and from the cottages.
Father Paxton's hint that "a little more
care is given your hogs than your children
is aDplicabis far more widely than 40 first
seems. II man owns hog be intends 10
make the most Of IT, believe il 5truo 81 40
least one halt az ~ children BON % this
country that the parent only thinks, not how
t. make the most # them. but how 90 make
most out Il them. Anything like an idea
Of responsibility To- children IS not is.t
II does not dawn on the average parent that
he is under obligation literally % Orns
his children up 90 their very best power
Ibclieyca child ha, a. good q right % oc-
cupv himself IN the line Of natural tastes as
other people have. This viii seem to many
absurd. or meaningless. IN two ways In the
first place % very large proportion of parents
% not recognize the fact that chiidgca have
any natural bias toward very specialized emf
,lovment. do not think they give the mat
Ter any thought They simply recognize the
sssential difference between girls and boys.
but all bows are boys-aud al girls are girls
cut out of common Jumps, with common
illnesses. The idea that boy. born on a
farm should be mentally unfit % do farm
work. does not enter the head Of average
fathers. OF course. II frail In body, be is con-
signed 10 the law or the ministry. But itso
happens that an artist orfnechanIc or engineer
Is often born where least looked for lt IS
one OF the chief obligations OF the parental
relation t. discover the stronger bases Of
.hildrens minds, and encourage and aid
them. / set this down rs one Of the chill
iren's rights that must and will lind empha
as in our better civilization. M. Maurice,
#. d., IN Globe Democrat
Tradesmen's Signs in Russia.
In Holland and Belgium the names Of the