San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-01-04
OUR CHILDREN'S RIGHTS.
A QUESTION OF GREATER IMPORT
ANcE THAN STOCK RAISING.
small extent in the bronchi. Lancet

Father Paxton's Story-A Point from Her
bert spencer-The kindergarten System.
Parents Responsibility to Children-The
Biases of ChiIdren's Minds.
Old Father Paxton used to tell this story
with great glee 1t was in Egypt" and
forty years ago. He was then busy estab-
fishing Sunday schools in those sections OF
illinois and Missouri that were, from their
peculiar stage of civilization, famed as
Egypt" and the pike Country" 1t twas far
from common desire that schools of any
sort should be founded OF one settlement
he had been forewarned to expect failure.
The king bee of the town had sworn that
nothing of the kind would be tolerated. de
lived on a knoll in the only whitewashed log
house in that section. Paxton rode up, and,
seeing his rival sitting straddle of log In
front of his mansion eating peaches, ne
straddled the log on the other side OF the
basket and Joined in. "How do, stranger!
lite in and welcomed" was, Of course, the
southern style of greeting. A conversation
sprung up easily about weather, crops ana
the kedntry in general That's hne lou OF
hogs over there" said Paxton. Fine, stran'
ger You might say it; as fine as this kedn-
try holds" "How many mout there bef'
''There mout be sixty there, stranger, and
nary one that isn't q rooster"
COUNTING HIS PROGENY.
Just then little chap ran up and seized a
pouch II say" said Paxton, "be that chill
der yours" Eyes, stranger, it be- And
how many mout you be after havln2F
How many! How many children' Well,
stranger, there's where you be after having
me, but III count up and see" Calling MS
woman to the door, Ne ordered her to count
while he named them of Finding that diff
cult, he changed the plan and did the count
ing himself, while she did the names. IL
turned out that there were sixteen. Now
was Paxtons chance "An unnaterally line
lot of 'em, too" he said; but, stranger, 1t
seems to me there's something wrong about
it" "What's that" cried the old boss
''Why, when l axed you how many hogs you
had, you told me right off slxty-three; out
when | axed you how many chllder you
had, you couldn't tell without both OF ye
countin Pears to me you reckon more on
your hogs round here than you do on your
| children" 81 swan to Jericho, stranger, ef
| that amt square hit; and | hold you must
be the Sunday school man. Give US your
ham. Go ahead open next Sunday, and my
Sal and her sixteen will all be there sure"
suppose if this story were told to be ap-
| piled to the average citizen Of an average or
| even cultured community it would be re-
! sented. Yet Herbert Spencer does not hest
| tate to say: ''Without calling in question the
great Importance of horse training and pig
feeding, we would suggest that, as the rear
| ing of full grown men and women is also Of
! some moment, the conclusions indicated by
theory and Endorsed by practice ought to be
| acted on in the last case as in the first" 1t
| will hardly bear challenge that there is no
| live thing about the novels of the land that
secures SO little directive culture as child.
1t comes up by kick and cuff and imitation.
BEGINNING OF EDUCATION.
The fact is the most important end of edu-
ton is the beginning. 1t is when the mind
first begins to observe that most wise teach
ers are needed l live in hopes that before
long kindergarten system will cover the
whole United States Theoretically, the
child should be taught at home; and, when
parents are what they ought to be, the first
ten or twelve years should be rigidly home
years; but where the parents are incapable
or UNIV &c, TO child should have something
better nan nome can give him. The state
shout! see 1as he is taught on the best pos
sible plan. 1t present he is simply turned in
with Il rabJle gathered alike from the slums
and from the cottages.
Father Paxton's hint that "a little more
care is given your hogs than your children"
is applicable far more widely than at first
seems. If a man owns a hog he intends to
make the most of it. l believe it is true of at
least one half of the children born in this
country that the parent only thinks, not how
to make the most of them, but how to make
most out of them Anything like an idea
of responsibility to children is not felt
1t does not dawn on the average parent that
he is under obligation literally to bring
his children up to their very best power.
believe child has as good right to Oc-
cupy himself in the line of natural tastes as
other people have. This will seem to many
absurd, or meaningless, in two ways In the
first place a very large proportion of parents
do not recognize the fact that children have
any natural bias toward very sUeciREzed en-