Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1896-02-20
Morals and Public Schools.

y :
like benedictiou. The ho ne. of the
people pulsated with life and an hour
later every walk resnunded the patter
of hundreds OF well-shod little feet,
and hundreds of faces bcanled with
the flush of health and pleasure. The
bell had called the children to school.
Among the little men and women
who responded to this call to du.y are
to be found those who will he the
great ones of greater age than this.
If is fitting to associate these little
ones, the public schools and the great
names of the future III one picture.
The children are the pure ones III |
thought and the schools nodded the
age that makes them ii possibility. |
In the narrower walks of past methods
of training the mind Of the newer man
hood could have been made. Ages of
sectaran precepts have dwarftd the
minds of the millions. An oak may
grow in the crevice of IA cliff and burst
asunder the restraining forces but a.
grander tree will grow in the fertile
valley. The mind that is nourished
with good impulses, noble thoughts
and the Inspiration of freedom has a
better n4nfst than Pegasus: it scars on
the wings of the American eagle.
The optimists say our grand country
knows no living traitor and our insti-
tutions of freedom Will never make an
hA
support Of our grand government are
our public schools. There are none
who avowedly oppose the fundamental
principles of these schools but there
are those who would detract from
them. The essence of these schools is
in the advances of recent yeaSnnYhich
haye made them free from 0@rian
influences. As the Romdns> grew
apace in broader light and butnt>down
with strife so is our grandest' ihstitu-
ton Of free republic in danger from
the curse of creed. There may be no
traitors in our fair land, tut there are
those who have caused the public
school structure to totterhpon ITS foun-
dation. It seems To be law of nature
for both ma terial and abstract things
to return in the cycle of ages to prim-
Ary principles. The schools of the
Greeks and other notions before the
dark ages advanced to realms we have
but barely reached, and they were de-
stroyod by constitutional waste Of vital
force. The Pagans have struggled to
gain mental supremacy under the
shadow Of superstition but they have
only tloundered to smother in their
own nets. The followers Of every
other faith have failed to reach the
ideal civilization while fostering a
superstitution. Should we not take
warning and keep our state schools
separate aud apart from the church.
True Christianity is worthy of venera'
ton and that veneration should lie
taught with as much zeal as the love
Of parents Is taught but articles OF
n faith'have no place in public schools
The Bible should have :its expounders
In the church and IN the home and
there Il something above logic in re-
ligiou. Experienced educators have
analysed the childish mind until tht
stages of development are marked
with precision and the appropriat.
courses are applied at the most olpor
tune time In their natural order. a
moral code Is rs much a course IL
every public school as are the funda
mental principle of the ordinar.
sctences. There are no skeptIcs t,
poison the mind against great truth
Of the moral cOdc and there are no ex
ceptions to the general rule of charac
ter moldlng along these lines. If tina
greatest of all books the Bible wer
even read in the schools the poison q
the skeptic's soothing would have to b
counteracted. The influences of III
Bible IN tho school cannot be good.
It would be AN unwelcome supper
to this position IL research should n
veal what Is not improbable that tn
graduates Of sectarian schools were no
Of a. high moral standard us tn
graduates Of the public schools. Gen
eralities are accurate enough to estat
lish great sociological truths. TIL
morals OF the people of Americ
are better than those of any othe
country. In foreign countries til
highest standard Of morals is found
exist where the public schools are tn
common means of education, and tn
lowest where education is IN the keel
Ing Of be religious orders. In ii
United States, where the morals al
= =. better than in any other country in til
world, the districts where education
most nearly general are far in advaht
Of the districts where ignorance sti
prevails. The evidence is paramount
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