The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-09-26
THE HOPE OF THE COUNTRY. .
cov,JIssIONER GLENN's REPORT OF
THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

SCHOOLS. In the Value of the Build
tnrs and In the Sentiment of the
peouIe In Favor of EducatiOn-A
urief survey of the Various Cues
,fons That VIII Come Up Before
the legislature In Relation to the
schools.
s.,,e school Commissioner Glenn's an
anal report has been furnished the print
ave- Mr.. Glenn, in the course of his re-
,,rt saws: within the last two years I
I've visited personally, every one of these
,e- If the state's) counties. I have travel
"A within that time, more than 10000 miles;
have delivered more than 500 addresses on
education"
He reoorts an educational revival es-
os,sllv noticeable in the transition from
Inc school house to coy modern buildings,
nau equipped for their work, also that the
,aople are gathering closer to the school
houses as to a center.
His statistical work shows a gain of 143
teachers in the state the number now
being SIPS. First grade teachers, increase
2-S. normal trained teachers increase, 22;
n1p.ls enrolled increase, %, 120; total enroll
,,ent. SS9O57; increased number of visits
nv county commissioners, 1873; school
houses owned, increase, IA; toal, 421; value
increase $780, total value, $7S,977.
White schools, increase, 1853; total, Ash;
colored, increase, 81; total schools. 7419.
He notes an increased demand for ed
ucational facilities among the common
people I'VE have" he says, "boundless
resources that intelligence alone can de-
velop and put upon the market" 1t is
only through the Intelligent development
of their resources that he thinks Georgia
will reach her greatest prosperity.
Those states" he says, that produce
the greatest amount of wealth annually
by converting raw material into manu-
featured products are those states that
have the finest systems of public schools.
This also is true, as the records will
show Crime decreases among the ma
tive population just in proportion as in
telligence spreads among the laboring
classes.
The plain people of this state are be-
ginning to study this question, I believe,
as never before in their history, and they
will continue to demand more and more
the kind of popular education that will fit
our children, not only to bring our raw
material out of our soil, but to convert
that raw material into manufactures for
the markets of the world.
After all, the state is going to live in
the children of the state, as it lives no
where else. The perpetuity of our insti-
tutons and the advancement of our
growth as a people, and the increase of
the taxable wealth of the state, all of
these depend more upon the foundations
of life and character that are now lay
ing in the public schools of Georgia than
they depend everything else combined
He devotes some space to the discussion
of what he calls the "other side of educa-
ton and in forcible language points out
the necessity for a fostering of morals, and
incubation through the pubic schols, and
the home Of a spirit of true manhood and
Womanhood that can alone make a people
truly great.
THE school house of the future, there
fore must be more and more a place
where the destiny of man or woman can
be shaped, where power for usefulness
can be forged where inf1exible purpose of
high thinking and noble living can be i'm
mutually fixed in the lives and characters
of our children.
Our public school system has passed
beyond the stage In which it needs to be
either apologized for or defended. 1t is
no eleemOsynary institution in which ed
uCdlDH Is pfONlueQ Dy d CudIldDl6 COul-
munity for the children of the poor. 1t is
no mere preventive for crime, prescribed
on the ground that 1t is cheaper to teach
children than to police adults. Our pub
lie school system is based on the broad
principle that universal suffrage requires
as condition precedent universal educa-
ton that self-government is impossible
without self-education; that state which
maintains a policy of political power must
be founded on a democracy of learning;
that the people cannot safely assume that
they are wise enough to govern themselves
without making provision to acquire the
wisdom. On this basis, and on no other is
our American system of pubic education
esablshed-the right and duty of the
state to provide for the education of its
rulers AS in a democratic state all the
people are rulers, the state must provide
for the education of all the people, But
all the people constitute the state; the
people must, therefore, educate them
selves"
lie then enters into discussion of what
the state should teach: 1.-THE languages,
mat We may understand our fellow man;
history and geography, that we may know
me world in which we live; literature,
mat we may know and remember the
great thoughts of great men; political sci
ehee, that we may know how to serve the
state Whenever called upon.
STATE, he says: 1.-THE Improvement in the
s'hool house buildings in Georgia for the
last two years has been remarkable. In
many of the counties as many as fifteen
new modern school houses have been
punt The interest that the country peo-
pe are taking in this matter has been
noted, am sure, by the members of the
present legislature in their own counties.
Inc counties for the most are now laid
OIL INTO school districts as the law re-
Qllres, and the county boards of education
ore actively engaged in securing for the
children comfortable school buildings The
people in each one of these school districts
OF course contribute, in many instances,
everything that goes into the new school
mousse In many instances where the peo-
ple cannot build the school house without
uep, the board of education makes a
small contribution.
Nearly all of these new school houses
are equipped with modern school furni-
lure maps, charts and other appliances
necessary to do efficient work.
These school improvements that have
peeR going on in the country are leading
w other improvements, that bring from
year to year., material enhancement of
'a.-e Of real estate in the country.