The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1894-12-14
District No. IL, Newbury

| The correspondent of the OPINION in a
recent issue deportlng himself from No. 70,
gave the readers formal dissertation Of no
/ small magnitude relative to the school law
of 1892 but to an 0bservant reader his re-
marks would seem TO partake more of the
nature of malevalence than of pure logic.
Were we to consult favOraby the reason
ing of our learned opponent we should re-
! frain from farther remarks as he proposes
giving us few points on English grammar.
We make no pretentiOns to literary excel
ence, have never studied the new methods
of teaching. Shall we fOrbear simply for
the reason we have not perfectly adhered
| to the laws of photography, etym0l0gy. syn
tax and prosody. Must we be able to clothe
thought with elOquence or ad0rn 1t with
rhetoric? Must we be able to declpher the
mysteries of the hieroglyphicS chiseled by
unknown hands. Or eXhume the hidden
fosils entombed for untold centuries in the
| bowels of the earth. Must we be able to
scale the heavens and tell you the exact
moment the erratic wanderer known to
astronomers as the comet of 1866 will reap
pear and paralyze the nations with conSter-
nation, in order to adduce favorably a
thought along those lines? Why sir, we
are free thinkers in No. ~, we have not yet
learned that we were not 'endOwed by our
Creator with certain and unalienable rights;
that among these are life, liberty, and the
pursuits of happiness. %
| = Wt.ItludTh6 AWdh6, vi WltIc
art thou P' he answers "Why sir, justice
seleps; that's why you go with impunity."
He who will invade persons private
character without a just cause, is not worthy
the name of man more appropriate name
would be perennial blossom" That
such persons strive to conceal their place of
abode by heading their communications
No. 20 is not wonder.
Again we remarked "there is little equal
| ity in the law" He frankly admits that
he is in hole to understand how the
legality of the law can be questioned.
1t seems to us that he is likely to stay there
until the towns make an average of their
school property and credit each district
with jusu compensation whether their
house be pavilion or sty. How are those
ha wing new and valuable houses going to
get their pay? Is it by building new houses
perhaps for those more wealthy than we?
Please let the light shine in this direction
that you may see to extricate yourself from
the hole.
We have been in the habit of thinking
that the word .'equaP' means, having the
same magnitude, dimensions, value, char
acterzed by fairness, to recompense fully.
Now if you had house worth say $4,000,
and we have a sly, who pays the difference
and when? We believe with our learned
scribe that teachers as rule are better ed
ucated than they were fifty years ago, the
scholar is better acquainted with military
tactics now than formerly. We acquiese
that the people will confirm this statement.
Do not try to evade or elude my former
statement. We made no mention of the
competency of teachers at the present day
indeed we have had many good ones and
have commended them often through the
press. He tells us we cannot maintain our
statement with reference to the ability of a
teacher within the past six years who could
not carry pupil through interest. We
ato 70 I, Eatn inn
court of justice if you please. Neither have
we been diScOurteOuS to teachers.
Again we remarked, those who are with
out school houses and desire to have them
built at the expense of the town are the only
ones who advocate the town system. He |
tells us this is too erroneous to demand at
tention. Sir, those people probably with a
larger grand list than ours have been with
out houses many of them for score of
years living in cOntentment but now the
dirge is ended and the quickstep is in order,
this is our opportunity we must have new
house. G.N4
Much more might be said of the inefficien-
cy of our learned pedagogue's remarks but
we fOrbear. With another thought we
close. That the town system is in the high
est degree offensive to the masses of the
people of Vermont cannot be denied, and |
what the people want they should have.
The legislator has no right to set its foot on
the neck of the people. Is there wonder
the statue of Ethan Allen in looking at the
OF the scene should shed tears
This is a progressive age let everyone do
all in his power to promote good schools.
We make no pretentions to metrical COM
position or the laws of versification, please
accept the following in line of thought
presented.
New occasions teach new duties;
The senate makes the law uncouth;
They must upward still and onward,
Who would keep abreast of Truth
Lol before us CLEAN her camp fires
We ourselves must pilgrims be-
Launch the life boat steer her boldly
Through the raging winter sea,
Nor attempt the Futures portal
With the present school law key.