The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1891-10-19
Rev. Mr.. Cummings and the Public
Schools.

To The Editor of the Press.
Your editorial In today's PRESS relative To
my address at the State Sunday School ron.
veation gives one the idea that bod do
nounced and condemned the public school
system The same idea is conveyed in the
report you published Friday morning of the
ciosing exercises of the convention. This is
one Oh the evils that men suffer from when
tneir words are partially reported and that
too' IN the language of some other person.
having defended the public schools both
pupncly and privately, preaching on their
relation to the country and to the church, it
seems strange to me that / should be an
nounced as having condemned the institu-
tion' Lest any one should get wrong i'm.
preston from my statements about the
schools l said explicitly that the public
scnooi system was one of the foundation
stones Of American institutions; that we
could not exist as nation without it; and
that the evils of which l spoke were not
necessarily connected with the schools but
were Incidental to them. / did state that the
majority OF young men who are ruined were
ruined when they were boys, and that the
majority of young men who are of age and
are not entangled in the most common vices
VIII never become entangled in them. I
Iurther stated that boys were ruined by their
associates; that, in the absence Of proper
parental care and teaching, they learned the
most Important and vital truths and secrets
OF lie from boy companions and were often
poisoned In the teaching; that there were
more boys otherwise good bOys) ruined by
their associates before they were fifteen
wears veal oid tnan there were young men (other-
said, moreover. that many were ruined by
the associations into which they were
thrown In the public schools that because
the mass of children attend the schools, and
because innocent and tender children were
thrown into contact with vile aud vicious
children, and because there was practically
no restraint nor control over these
little ones excepting the hours
they are In the school room,
ana lnasmuch as the good do not redeem the
evil, but the evil corrupt the good, therefore
the schools were prolific source of evil to
the moral habits of children. Those who
heard me understood what / said and meant.
lt was not the teachings in the school. not
the public school system that was evil; but
it was the association into which the child
was thrown before he was mature enough to
resist evil and the public schools occasion
the association more largely than any other
institution. am sure Of my ground when |
done by and to primary school children on
the way to school, on the play ground and
even within the buildings. The same things
might TAXI, place were they on the way to
churcn and at church were the same oppor-
tunities offered. The influence of the schools
came naturally and necessarily into the
question under discussion. There are evils
associated with our schools. especially In the
primary grades. No one realizes this more
keenly than the thoughtful mother whose
child Is there. The evils must be acknowledged
before they will be remedied. Unless they
are remedied in some measure no institution
will suffer more than the school itself. We
do not forget the good influences flowing
from the public schools. Because the influ-
ence Is so great 1t is all the more dangerous
II 1t Is poisoned from any source. The evil
influence of bad company was only one of
the suggested causes Of the degradation of
young manhood. The address was approved
by the audience at the time; and nave been
the utterances therein made.
G. S. CUMMINGS,