The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1890-10-23
THE PUBLIC SCHOOL THREATEN
ED.


schools that are main tanned in the state"
As proof of this state of feeling he quotes
one sentence from the special report OF
an obscure superintendent of schools to
the state department. Not another par
ticle OF tangible evidence is introduced
to justify the assumption OF hostility to-
ward the parochial schools which con-
stitutes the underlying principle" OF
Mr.. Vllas's discussion of the Bennett law.
Had not this sentence been divorced from
its fellows, its meaning could not be dis
torted SO as TO serve Mr.. Vilas's purpose.
The entire paragraph, which is an ex-
tract from one of my reports, reads:
The denominational school is a per-
petual menace to the public school, and
is gradually undermining favorable SEN
timent Regarding it, It is no alarmist,
but one who reads the signs OF the times
Alright, who predicts that before the close
OF the present century, the public schools
in many sections OF the state will be sub
ordinate to the UNCONVENTIONAL schools,
and that very little English will be
taught in majority OF the latter"
Taken in its entirety there is nothing
in the above capable OF the construction
which the first sentence might bear If de-
tached from the rest. 1t implies no an
tagonisms between the schools as co-or-
dinate educational factors. The denomi-
national school is a menace to the
public school, not in the sense of
successful rivalry in imparting elemen-
tary instruction, but When it aims to
supplant it, while refusing to give to
English instruction the attention which
its Importance demands.
For years the process Of superseding
the public school by the parochial,
has been Systematically carried on. It
was not because there existed any need
OF enlarged facilities for elementary in
struction, as the country school is rarely
taxed to its full capacity. It was not
that inefficiency OF the teacher made i'm
perative higher grade OF talent, as in
competency finds it difficult to leap the
barriers which hedge the public school.
1t was largely because the language OF
the public school is English. The paro-
chial school exists to-day not SO much
for the religious instruction it gives as
for the language which it teaches. The
| English language is as foreign to the in
tent of parochial school instruction as a
foreign language is to the purpose of the
public school. Both yield to necessity
| and give heed to local conditions. There
| are parochial schools in the state where
nothing but English is taught; there are
public schools in the state where virtual
ly, nothing but foreign language is
| taught. But that does not deprive either
OF its distinctive characteristic with refer
ence to the language it is it's chief mis-
| sion to serve.
If the parochial schools of the state
| pushed their way into sections where
education was neglected, every person
would applaud their purpose no matter
what language they employed in their
battle with illiteracy. But they do not.
The pioneer in the onward march OF edu-
| cation is the public school. The paro-
chial school follows, appropriates to
| ton and then diverts it to the accomplish
ment of its own ends,-the perpetuation
OF foreign language and the suppress.
sion OF English to the fullest extent
which circumstances will permit. Is it
unreasonable to ask that these schools,
which in many places have destroyed
the public schools, not through the
operation of the natural law Of the
survival Of the fittest," but through
the admonition and mandate of the
clergy,-ls it unreasonable to ask that
they give in part, at least, instruction in
the language OF the schools they have
supplanted? If conscious of their pow
er to control legislatures and carry cleo
tons through the active cooperation of
politicians who look toward office with
extreme wishfulness, is it asking too much
OF them to graciously permit the parent
to send his child for limited period to
some school where he may obtain the
instruction they refuse to give? In view
OF the fact that they have usurped the
functions OF the public school, is there
auy force in the argument used by Col.
Vilas's protege, Prof. r. B. Anderson,
that little time is all these schools want
to prepare themselves for the work of
teachin gEnglish? Time, only a little time
was all the protected industries of this
country asked for. But time only in
creased the insolence of their demands
until what they asked as a favor was de-
manded as a right.
The fle1ibility of conscience shown by
Office seekers this fall, might reasonably
be permitted to those having religious
scruples against instructing their chill
dren IN the English language. But no:
In their case conscience must be unyield.
ing, to the end that the office-seeker be
benefited. They must be protected, par
tlcularly In that right which consists in
denying their children a knowledge of
the legal language OF the land. Possibly
1t has occurred to some of these people
who are thus to be protected, as it has to
the laborer who is protected by tariff.
that those most urgent in their behalf
seemingly. have shrewd eye to the bene
fits which might result to themselves
from this stand for the rights of con-
SCIENCE indeed that they are the only
5enefciaries.
The t1ippant assertion, made with
shrewd calculation of its political value,
that "zwei und zwei machen vier" is as
valuable In that form to the American
child as Is two and two make four"