The record-union., 1896-07-25
tism. the idea of reaching out for higher
THINGS cho,,ld hp encouraged

things should be encouraged.
Superintendent Black was not In love
with the present system of grading In
the public schools It did not give the
bright boy a chance to excel unless 1t
was a drag upon the average or dull
boy. Two consecutive grades at least,
he argued, should be assigned to each
teacher, by which plan the bright schol-
ar would not be impeded and the dull or
average one would not be pushed to
contend with things beyond his capabll-
tiles.
There had of late been a cry OF over
education, and he believed in the cry,
but applied it differetly than the usual
acceptation. Idleness, he asserted, was
the friend of evil, and it was between
the hours of business and dinner that
temptation crept in. There was being
an over-education in the saloons and
race tracks, and to him it was a ques-
ton as to whether the wealth OF the
State should be paid out for more
schools and good books to eaten and
hold the attention of the youth, or eA-
pended for prisons and jails in which to
confine them. He was glad to know that
the present graduating class had chosen
that education which exalts instead Of
that which degrades
Another innovation he would like to
see introduced into the schools OF the
city was that all schools should close on
the 30th of June, thus giving the pupils
a chance to escape the heat of summer.
at the conclusion of his remarks Su-
perintendent Black presented the twen-
ty-nine graduating pupils with the di-
plomas they had worked so faithfully
to procure and the friends OF each con-
tributed generous applause.
At the conclusion of the presentation
the orchestra played medley OF ma
tional airs, and the commencement day
exercises were over.
THE GRAMMAR SCHOOLS.
The three grammar schools also held
exercises, the programmes or when were
published on Thursday. At the Sutter
Grammar School the diplomas were dis
tributed by School Director P. S. Driver,
who addressed the pupils in words OF
commentator for their past efforts and
announcement for the future. The ex-
ercises were very interesting.
At the Hardness Grammar School the
exercises were quite elaborate and there
was a large attendance of heads OF fam
lilies and friends Of the pupils. In we'll
chosen words School Director H. +.
Brown addressed the pupils on dlstrl-
buting to them their diplomas.
A large audience witnessed the gradu-
ating exercises at the Sacramento
Grammar School, where a choice pro-
grammewas rendered. AS in the cases OF
day) was rendered. AS in the cases OF
the other grammar schools, the pupils
acquitted themselves in manner cred
liable alike to themselves and their
painstaking, efficient teachers. The di-
plonas were distributed by Hon. Win.
T Davis. President of the City Board
of Education, who addressed the pupils
as follows:
Miss Weeks has asked me to present
the diplomas of graduation and to
speak at this closing as representative
Of the educational authority OF TINS
city. The task of delivering public
address is distasteful to one not accus-
toned to it, and / would have declined,
except that I am counted as former
graduate of this school, and fortune has
decreed that I now specially represent
it in the Board of Education.
IT trust there is with each Of you
greater appreciation of the benefits OF
education than there was with those
with whom I graduated Then, there
were many Of the boys, particularly,
who, when graduated from the gram
mar school, thoughtlessly plunged into
the sea of actual life. They were not
prepared to cope with the more edu-
Gated, and the failures were many. In
this day education is everything, and
the young man who will determine to
assume the responsibilities of life with
out adequate preparation simply pro-
nounces upon himself the penalty of
lifetime of ceaseless yet lily requited
toll
"On the 1st day Of January it is Gus
tomary with all of US to review with
something of disappointment the dy-
ing year, and to look forward to the new
year with hope for prosperity The
1st of January, 1901, will end the nine
teenth century and mark the begin
ming Of the twentieth. These centennial
| commencements are the great data
points that mark in universal history
| the general progress Of the world and the
rise and fall Of nations. They deal with
mighty events only. The ending OF
many of the centuries has recalled a
| dark record of revolving depravity and
cruel disasters.
! Happily. the history Of the nine
| teenth century, after it will have been
written, viii show much for which the
people of the world should be profound
| ly grateful Within this cycle of time
has grown, from thirteen insignificant
| colonies that occupied a territory on the
Atlantic seaboard hardly larger than
| the State in which we live, great ma
tion that has expanded its territorial
| area across a continent, and has be-
come the protectorate of hemisphere
''This Republic of ours, at first men
ace to the power of a single King, has
within a comparatively brief nationa
life, by virtue of example and not by
force of arms, torn the crowns from the
heads Of many hereditary monarchs, ,anc
has compelled a more just recognition
by all who now remain of the rights o1
| the common people. The enlightened
and liberal policy that has governed oul
country has swept away the politica
and religious intolerance that marreG
the earlier years of the century; it has
| guaranteed to all its citizens the ful
rights of liberty and the free exercise
of conscience; and it has so fostered the
diffusion of general knowledge, the
arts and the sciences as to bring to in
vention and discovery the very many
marvels that now seem quite common.
place.