The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-03-20
years over which the COMMON .ehool eurriculum

w coxomon ecnoOi IMAM ID the nigh school.
The opposition TO the high school seams 70
come from three classes of people. First-Thoss
who bslisve it 10 against the law and who wish
70 obey the laws Second-Those who do not
believe in ft ~ 4 school, Third-rhose Who do
not wish TO pay taxes for it
Now the opposision OF the frst class must de-
pend upon the disposition Of the courta II
they interpret the law 90 that the high school.
unoer whatever name you please, can Be con.
Quoted - . part Of the common school system,
the hrst objection viii b disposed Of 1t would
seem that the addition Of good many studies,
% long - they are taught In English, to the
common school grades il allowable.
As 70 the second objection of those who do
not believe In the high school. There 10 some
shing in the united wisdom Of the years, and
that wisdom has crystaliissd into Q sentiment
very general throughout the United States that
something more than the ordinary common
school branches ought to b taught The city
OF New York, with all its misrule, even sup
ports college for ito citizens. / suppose there
Is not In the whole country. at least in the
Northern states, q city of the size of Seattle
without its high school. ! say something il
due to the judgment 90 universally rendered by
studies taught in our high school
that can b advsntageously omitted: and
some things perhaps ought to be taught there
that are now omitted. II the school does not
satisfy the public, - at present conducted, the
thing 10 do is to change il, not to abolish It.
The school 10 not conducted wholly to enable
iss pupils to earn their living. No school, even
the primary. 10 conducted on that basis. We
owe debt to every child TO open to them some
thing OF the great laws of God - we'll - the
multiplication table.
1t 10 said that pupils coming from the high
schools are no better fitted to earn their bread
than they were before they entered 1t, except in
certain special fields. II there not room in Sc
attic for 300 or 800 graduates Of the high schoof
Among 90 many toilers with their hands will it
nos do good 70 have few. even IL they must dig
for living, who have had the treasures Of his
tory and science and art and literature opened
to them! The fast horse can earn more money
than the average man, but that does not prove
the horse superior to the man. Earning power
does not measure tho value Of the citisen to the
state. The scholar who does manual labor from
the time he leaves the higher schools il, never
thelsss. lifted into new and greater world by
the priceless boon which the state has conferred
upon him. His mind may feed ever after ON
things worth thinking Of
1t IL . difficult thing to overcducate It 10
easy to educate in q one-sided manner, and / am
Is ready as the next man to object to such
process. But certainly the study of history of
other countries beside our own 10 the very best
provision against the demagoQue. The present
and past wildcat schemes on currency and la
Dor and other matters would never gain foot
hold among people acquainted with history.
The child OF years Old knows enough arith-
metic to get on well in life. ] know q wealthy
man who only learned to write his name be-
cause hs was ashamed TO sign so many deeds
with . cross He needed education In something
more than the common branches. He could
use figures fast enough. 1t is possible that more
science ought to be taught in the schools; per-
haps more technical training ought to Be given.
But in the name OF Gods own generosity give
the pupils something more than they can get
before they are Is The laws allow pupils to at
tend school until they are 81, but what could q
grammar schoolf Do We wish to put q
premium on slugrards7 And 10 the bright
young mind to be met with the statement: "No,
you must not learn any moro unless you Day
Tor 1t from your own pocket You have gone
ahead fast enough. an your diligence shall not
b rswarded?"
believe this IL a moral question. else would
not discuss 1t at all in the pulpit believe It .
debt We owe every young person 70 give them
the largest opportunities possible. Because
some In the last generation could only learn by
bitter sacrifices, and starved the body to feed
the mind, do we wish to compel this rising gen.
Grafton TO do the same? The children OF the
poor need some help, and 1t 10 right that the
community should give them some assistance
~ fChSb W u0i tuem Iuto Oottor soIt Vi HIS
The we'll TODD man may say that he bears
more than his burden of education. But he
must send his children 70 school somewhere,
and he is at least a. likely 40 tho poor man to
send them TO the higher achools
Whoever sends his children to . college or
academy sends them to an endowed school. II
such schooling makes q rate Of tuition less than
his school taxes il 10 because somebody who
loved education has given an endowment to
that school, Every rich mans son in Harvard
and Yale and Chicago university 10 q charity
pupil to q large ex tent. No great school 10 sup
ported by it, tuition fees. Now. il . man takes
On advantage OF such schools for his children,
let him return the compliment and help support
q higher school in his own town, where the
children OF the poor can go. Freely 20 have re-
ceived God never thinks He has given us too
much. Shall We hold back the best We can give
to the young people of todayf This question
must 10 considered from another standpoint
than that of finance, but about that also, ~ .
third Objectionable objection of the taxpayer
something may be said. Suppose you allow IL
to go over the United States that seattle has
shut up its high school! This 10 the year OF the
Columbian fair. Publish il abroad 20 the world
that Seattle is preemnent unique in this re-
spect Do you. as business men, think il would
enhance the value OF your property? What are
the first two things that country adyertisss to
make it attractive? Churches and schools. No.
body in these days wants to live where the best
OF either is lacking. Ispeak As Western man,
ret with Eastern eyes, for l believe l know how
the Eas, feels on this subject. And the East 10
the hope of this country. Thence must come
its people, its money
The state has furnished a university and has
voted il q good sum to begin building Is il
logical 20 provide a university course and leave
out the preparatory course that leads TO i,7
Educate, not less, but better Educate, not in
the high school is not what you want, make IL
over But in the name of generosity. in the
name Of hope tor a better day. in the name of
good business prneiples-don't abandon II. II
NAV be tina; many go To il no viii not result in
ANYTHING great But the majority of the best
teachers and leaders and servants of the public
were educated in the high school 1t has been
to thousands Of poor boys and girls gate into
another world of thought and service. Had it
not been Tor the free high school, should have
now been 'doing even poorer work on the farm
than am doing in the ministry. and tina, is I'M
necessary when the competition among farmers
is already 80 close.
A DISTINGUISHED UNITARIAN.
Representative of the Association Com
ing to seattle.
Pew lob, W Chadwick of Rr0okiyu u