Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1891-09-18

III SCHOOL Jhe vital question is "Nho
can see and honor the great man of the
next generation in the blushing, stammcr-
ing school-boy of today?
Only he can do this who respects child
hood for its own sake Do not fancy that
you can know i'm advance who will be the
men to fill posts of honor and responsible
lty; but try so to train the boys whom Won
teach That each one of them, if placed I'M
der responsibilities, may prove Trustworthy
lou DO not need to teach American boys
mat any one of them may become presi-
dent of the United States. They know
That quite as well as YOU do! It's in the
air! But you do need to teach them the
duties and obligations that rest on every
citizen of the United States, that they NAV
be honest, true-hearted, public-spirited
members of the commonwealth in what
ever station they do their life work Teach
Them their responsibilities and their obliga-
tons, and their privileges and their rights
VIII come out clearly enough, by implica-
ton.
God Almighty must think a great deal
OF plain, commonplace people, or He never
would have made so many of them" Abra-
ham Lincoln once said. In Just the same
way every teacher and every trustee of our
public schools has occasion to say, ''God
Almighty must think great deal of dull,
commonplace boys and girls or He wouldn't
make so many of them" 1t is not a diff
cult thing to teach the twenty finest minds
selected from your High school Any one
who knows enough could do that. But it
takes genius, patience and fine enthusiasm
to awaken higher aspirations and incucate
nobler habits in the dull boys and common
place girls of the school Yet most of the
teachers work must be done with and for
them, because God has made so many of
them
An occasion such as this inevitably sug-
gests the relation of city, or, as you of
Brattleboro still prefer to call yourselves.
of village, to its public schools, and es-
pecially to its High school. The assertion
has recently been made from certain quar-
tiers, and from other quarters contradicted,
that the last census clearly indicates de-
creasing confidence on the part of the peo-
pie of some of our states in their public
schools. Highly as | value the work of
the academies, the seminaries and the pri-
vate schools, | should regard it as a matter
for grave concern if the people were to
feel decreasing confidence in the educa-
ton given in the public schools. do not
believe that our people will allow the pub
lie schools to deteriorate; and when loyal
affection for High schools is strong and
high, as it is here tonight, we shall do
well to ask ourselves what reasons there
are for the maintenance of such institu-
tions in all the important towns of our
Union. Why should the state educate its
children at the public expense? Has the
state right to draw upon the public treas
ury for anything higher than merely ele-
mentary common school education?
little thought will convince us all that
if society and civilization are to advance
the state must exercise functions which
may be classed under three heads: The
state should do for the individual what the
individual man should not be allowed to
do for himself, for instance, to intlict upon
others punishment for wrong done him:
what individual men will not do for them
selves, as the suitable care of the high
ways, where what is everybodys business
becomes nobody's business: and lastly,
what individuals cannot do for themselves,
as in the care of the sick or the unfortu-
nate in institutions like that which stands
on the outskirts of your village and of
which you have just reason to be proud
Does the maintenance of High schools
at the public expense fall under any one of
these three classes of the proper functions
of the state? Manifestly, if all children
had parents who were both willing and
able to educate them in the best possible
way at the best private schools, it might be
an open question whether the state should
maintain a system of public instruction.
But it is obvious without discussion that
there must always be many children, des-
tined to become citizens of the state whom
the ignorance, the carelessness or the pow
erty of their parents would forever debar
from an education, if the matter were left
wholly in the hands of their parents. But
chilli in 70,
grow up to become a citizen, since every
citizen has a direct influence upon the So
cial and political life of the state, since the
intelligence of the citizens determines the
soundness and prosperity of the state, the
| law of representation under ethics the
supreme law in political science-demands
that the state see to it that its future citizens
are educated. In democratic republic like
our own the hope of the nation lies in in
telligent citizens. To secure a great body
of intelligent citizens, the state must sup
port an efficient system of public educa-
ton. And since such system, supported
by taxation that falls upon all, should be
open to the children of all, it is evident
that the children of the rich and the poor
alike should have access to these schools.
The old prejudice of a generation ago
which led to the argument that rich men
took an unfair advantage if they allowed
their children to go to the public schools,
has disappeared from almost every section
of our country.
But if a system of public education, de-
signed to fit those who receive it for intel
lgent citizenship in the republic, is to be
made thoroughly effective in the lower
grades of the public schools, experience
teaches that opportunities to pass on to
higher courses of study must be open as a
stimulus to the brighter and more deserv-
ing pupils in the lower grades. Primary
schools cannot be kept in high state of
efficiency unless the pupils who complete
that course of study can look forward to
thoroughly good grammar schools beyond.
For a similar reason, the grammar schools
cannot be maintained in the highest state
of efficiency unless the High school course
is open to their best pupils as a reward
that follows the successful completion of
the grammar school course.
Granted that the best possible elemen-
tary education should be given by the state,
and it follows inevitably that to secure the
best primary education the state must also
provide efficient High schools open to all
who complete the lower courses. do not
care now to argue the question from any
other point of view than this. 1t would be
easy to show that apart from considerations
of the obligation that rests upon the state
to educate its citizens thoroughly, good