Hutchinson gazette. [volume] (Hutchinson, Kan.) 1895-1902, 1897-09-16
The eoumtx HIe h school.

The 0ouwty Hig h School.
In the excitement incident to the
campaign. the proposition fOr the es-
adjustment of the cUul lty high school
in this countysh0ld not be overlooked.
Voters will bs called upO a IA the COM
ing November election to express
themselves tor the eSaA blishnent OF
such an insmtitiOa,op against 1t. The
merits of the proposed institution
Isl lid receive careful cons liberation to
the end that wise deeis ion may be
made. There is me- idea AlOre firmly
Embedded in the public min than the
public free scaOoN There re none to
oppose it. There aEs'nO tax 81 so will =
ling y paid as those imposed for its es-
tablisbment and maintenance. There
are among the peOSle' seemingly vast
aud almost irreoonciiAble differences
OF opinion on certain, great questions
of public policy hut they, the whole
people. stand agreed united upo1 chs
question. The reason for this unAn-
unity of opinion iS not far to seek &.
The people clearly,reeeQniZe that the
safety Of self ordered and self-GOvern-
ing relation like ours is primarily ecu
dFtiOned upon the intelligence OF the
people IL is faith in the virtues of IN
telligence and the efficacy of liberal ed
ucaIiOn to meet the,duties and r+quire
ments of free citizenship, when has
prompted he people to lay broad and
firm tue foundation of great general
system of public free instruction. In
the light of this. it is believed by the
friends of the county high school that
the intent and purpose of such instr
tuition needs only to be made clear to
the peOp to receive their cordial sup
port. The friends of this movement
believe it is u step forward, a step in
the right direction.
What is the county high scnOOlH 1t
IS an attempt to give to the boys and
girls of the towns and country an OPP
pOrtuRity tor the acquisition Of that
knowledge which the high schools of
the larger cities provide for the boys
and girls of the city. This seems right
and seasonable. Now, let us look for
a moment at what we call our system
of public schools. This system com
prists the con mon schools of the town
and country, the high schools of the
city, the State Normal for the training
of teachers at EmpOria, the Agricul-
tural College ut Manhattan and the
State University At Lawrence. These
are all public schools. those OF the
highest grade AS we'll as those of the
lowest grade. The term system i'm
plies completeness, Wilderness, proper
subOrdinatiOn of all the various parts
looking to the accomplishment OF one
general purpose. Is this true Of our
school systemY BY no means. The
common schools provide for the first
eight grades of the pupils school life.
Then, if the pupil is "A resident of one
of the larger cities Of the State, the
city high school gives him four more
grades. He may then pass on without
charge to the university, the states
highest free school. there TO receive
that form of highest culture under the
patronage of the State. 1t is mere OBJ
served that to the boy or girl of the
larger cities, the system is complete.
This is not true for residents OF the
town and country. The district SCHOOL
carries the pupil over the irst eight
grades. The next four essential to en-
trance at the door of the university
are denied To him. The bars are closed
and bis opportunities for that more
liberal culture of the university, an
institution which should be open to all
on equal terms, are cut off. This is
not tair play. 1t is no answer to say
that the country pupil may enter the
city high school where preparation for
admission to the university may be
made. The city high school is gener-
ally crowded and admittance TO those
on the outside are often refused on