The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-06-22

but Of having God and great cause to
lead them. They are the protestants
against the educational establishment:
the advocates of the enforcement of
Christ in education.
THE CHILD AND THE STATE.
There was large audience in the AS
scmbly hail to hear DR.. Alderman, pres
ident of the University, deliver an elo-
quent address on The Child and The
state"
Ilesident Alderman congratulated the
Assembly on its bIave part in our educa
conan awakening and upon the vigor of
us stomach 1Or the contest, yet to come.
I-ele ne declared he had learned to
Nnow and love the teachers of the State
A.ere he had had sight of their sovereign
y i'll the tasks of our new life. Here he
Iad mbibed faith that they would
.rcnleve them royalty, as indeed they had
done for history will not record so much
solid educational achievement in any pre-
vious decade.
"A ann not here tonight with any
Thought Of special pleading or parley or
academic dispute. | come simply to de-
END the thesis that it is the supreme
1uty of the people of the State to provide
or the education of their children, and
mat every child in the commonwealth
ligh or low, rich or poor, black or white
las the same right to be educated that
he has to be free-a thesis that / would
fain see nailed to all the guide posts
chat point our ways, and to every door
which our feet must pass.
And something l have even permitted
INV al 20 Al
influence of this large and liberal idea,
Jnr separated thought on other matters
nighr again grow into unity, and all OF
us who are bound together, whether we
will or no, by the ties of scholarship and
nigh endeavors, might march as COM
rades by one music, to one common and
most desirable goal.
THE most sacred thing on earth to any
man is his child and the sacred and
fascinating element in society is like
wise the child. This great truth is con-
Stantly neglected in home and commun-
ity life, but crops out so instinctively in
Zines of national peril that every great
period of renaissance and revolution has
been marked by an unconscious turning
towards childhood for the reahza ion of
its hopes and dreams"
''This idea was elaborated and shown
- have forced a new conception Of the
State as a grand system of human
cooperation rather than an august
policeman restraining evil passions.
THE State is the will of the people
expressing itself in laws and institu-
tons"
''The State has conscience, heart, a
purpose and will"
This new philosophy comes out of the
Christ-life operating upon democratic
social structure and must hereafter
manifest itself in the aims and orders
of the State. / have seen this gracious
''Zeit-geist' or better, Christ spirit
sweep down the classes who stood out
solidly against the idea ten years ago.
The belated aristocrat, the doctrinaire,
the hard, self-seeking man, the time
server, the pious persOn-with more piety
than brains, and to-day we stand facing
stiff breeze of tumultuous zeal for
public education.
Two classes yet remain to be won over,
Il. The misguided person who says
we are too poor to educate and esteenls
taxation a robbery.
- The ignorant man himself conscious
of some deep need and fretful, but some
how submerged in dismal, stolid mac
| tivity and content. These are the classes
to convince and arouse. Civilization can
| not be forced upon men. The desire for
any good thing must precede its realiza-
ton. Men must want education enough
| to make some sacrifice for it before they
| are ready for it.
If taxation for education is robbery,
then all taxation is robbery and the State
is highwayman.
when l came into the world l have
every reason to believe that / was a
small, reddish object, unlovely to see or
handle, and with no discernible rights
whatever. If l was npurished, protected
and cared for, it was not owing TO my
intrinsic deserts, but to the constitution
Of human society that | found, when |
came, built up by the toll and blood of
generations, and but for which my share
of the good things of life would be a
| flint aXel and stone hut.
Society having done all these things
| for me, / ought to be ashamed to refuse
TO aid those reaching up into life. If
l am not ashamed, the State ought to
force me ITO my duty. So much for the
right of the matter. Now, as to its
necessity, President Alderman then show
ed how we were passing through great,
silent revolution, seeking to find clue
to changed social order under the
stern pressure of poverty. Ignorance is
slavery. Uneducated races must die and
States must pay for being stupid. Draw
a line from Cleveland to Washington and
we are all in a state of literary, financial
and industrial servitude to that small
section of our land. We have a great
State potentially, great in moral vigor,
brain-power, climate, tradition and soil.
We lack training and skill"
Here the speaker gave the melancholy
statistics OF our backwardness in the
education Of all our people, but he de-
clared that no note of railing or despair
should be heard in our speeches. Neither
should we underrate what had been
done. Our progress since 1880 has been
Marvellous and constitute our epic period
more truly than the heroism of the civil
war. 1t took Massachusetts, twenty-five
years, beginning with 1910, to make the