Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1892-12-08

1attAtA W OOtNNl III AAOleN VI NlAV
State House in Boston; that is one
statue in the making aud placing
Of which, in my judgment, no mis-
take was made; Massachusetts,
great educator deserves equal hon
or with her great statesman. 1t
was favorite belief of Horace
Mann's that the state which made
the largest expenditure for pop
ular education would be the state
which would grow fastest in wealth
and in the power OF supporting a
large and diversified population;
the census returns of every decade
since his time give proof as graf
flying as it is surprising of these
sayings of Horace Mann. The
states which have spent and the
states which have grudged both
contribute proof to this theory of
Mann's; to my mind Webster re-
ceives as much honor as he con-
fers by the relative position Of his
statue and Mann's in the Boston
state house yard.
But statistics showing increase
of wealth do not show all the ben.
efits which u state derives from a
generous and even lavish support
of a free system of popular eduoa.
ton; this republic has no chance
of long continued existence save
through the enlightened sentiment
of large masses of truth loving
men; the mere existence OF educa-
ton cannot save the state; educa-
ton must be diffused, lavished;
reading. writing and arithmetic
are no longer the rudiments of an
education; the state needs a large
class of men and women who have
studied physiology for instance, and
understand something of the laws OF
life; the state must have those who
have studied the history of our
own and other lands who shall
keep the record of the success or
failure of social experiments, and
who shall use that record for doc
trine, for warning, for reproof, for
instruction in righteousness; the
state needs a large number who
shall study literature, and by fa-
miliarity with the hest thoughts
of the worlds best minds shall
keep alive in men and commun-
titles that which for want of u bet
ter name we call "soul;" the state
needs large number of boys and
girls who can stay long in schools
and colleges and drink deep; the
state needs a provision more am
pie than that as ye provided by
even the most liber, communities;
education must be lavished; our
history for the past thirty years
shows that intellectual and polit-
ical leadership belong to the states
which have not brilliant leaders
like Kentucky, but to the states
which have wise maj ajority OF vot-
ing citizens; an educated common.
atty, an educated proletariat; edu-
Gated "scrubs," ii you please, are
the only antidote for the political
follies which mean political sui
eide. On two occasions since the
war a deep sea of financial delu-
sion has swept over this country
and swallowed in its embrace all
the states which have a low rate
and dashed itself to pieces
as on rock against the
states which have a high rate of
school taxation; it is not within
the borders OF any state which has
a high rate of school taxation that
a chartered lottery now lags super
huous or has had its charter with
held only after an agitation which
shook the state TO lis foundation;
tariff reform was a sentiment for a
long time in certain states which
have a low rate of school taxation;
it became a winning issue when it
was taken up by a few states
which tax themselves highly for
schools; the de-partyizing Of the
civil service of the United States,
it is conceded by all intelligent
men, is vitality necessary to the
preservation of public honor and
popular freedom; intelligent men
differ only as to times and meth
DDS Of advancing this reform; but
there is not civil service reform
association in single state in the
Union which has a school tax rate
of less than 81 90 per caput. There.
fore it is perfectly clear, | submit,
that besides inilicting irreparable
loss upon its children, the state
which impoverishes and degrades
its schools makes itself the nursery
of disorders and delusions, makes
itself nuisance and danger to its
sister states and may make the re-
moval of its liberty a necessity;
the force bill sentiment is not dead
but sleeping; but even if it were
dead and the federal power could
never again invade a state, what is
to prevent such state from re.
committing the incredible folly of
secession; the course OF this ar
gument will, l expect, show that
no folly is too great to be expected
from state which through
combined ignorance and cupidily
defrauds its children of their birth
right.
l have a clear right to crit
icise the southern states; | was
born on their soil, and since | have
been a voter have voted for and
with the south first, last and all
the time; if it were worth while to
tell about il here | could tell Of
injuries and losses suffered for the
sake Of voting with the south; !
can prove by the testimony Of
living men that through good and