The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1898-06-09

threatens our life. Goldsmith looked =
upon the rapid accumulation of :
wealth in England as a great evil,
and wrote: e
Ill fares that land, to fastening ills prey, I
Where wealth accumulates and men decay" I
Woe to that land where this I
wealth is allowed to combine into
trusts to fatten off the hard earnings
OF the peoplel Woe indeed to that
land where these trusts under sane
ton of law may fix the price of every
pound OF cotton or bushel of grain
you sell, and every pound of sugar
or yard of cloth you buy. They
march into our courts of law and
thwart justice, into our legislatures
and shape legislation, into our cleo
tions and choose our officers, and
with consciences fortified by large
donations to churches and schools,
they even dare to faunt themselves
from desk and pulpit, as patrons Of
education and religion.
But. our greatest danger is the |
ignorance of our people. We boast |
of our freedom and yet we are slaves
/, to the most tyrannical. of masters. !
No man is free who Is shackled with
| the letters of ignorance. No nation
is free or can be free, whose veal or
whose woe is in the hands of an
| ignorant or irresponsible class of
| men. Nearly one half of the men
who deposit ballots as free men can
not read them, and yet they presume
to settle the questions which puzzle
the wisest statemen. Here Is the
demagogue's hope. Ignorant men
on the farm, ignorant men in the
workshop, ignorant men in the mines,
ignorant men as tradesmen, ignor-
ant men holding offices, ignorant
men making laws, ignorant men pre-
tending to preach the truth, ignor-
ant men casting the ballot, and do
you wonder that the bird of evil
omen flaps it's dark wings above the
nations? Do you wonder that the
times are out OF joint?
What then is the panacea for all
these ills? How may We succeed in
bringing about a realization of the
dreams of the patriots who laid the
architraves of this government =?
One answer is in the words of Henry
Ward Beecher, uttered half a century
ago: eve must educate or we must
perish" This prophecy is based
upon the experience of representa-
tive governments of all ages. May
we be wise enough as a people to
heed these admonitions. May we
, as teachers be inspired by these
truths to greater exertions in our
l chosen fields! How. you may ask,
can education avert these troubles
: and dangers? Education is the
e development of all the powers
3 physical, mental, moral, as nature
4 intended them to be strengthened
To do this, books are a means, not
| an eEd. Going to school is of value
!! to the child not so much for the cold
J., dry knowledge of facts he learns out
!, of books, rs for the training, for the
: mental development obtained from
: the study of books. Boys use dumt
t bells and Indian clubs in the gym
{ nasiums, not SO much to learn how
;. to use them as to develop muscle
+ 1t used to be thought that educating
y a man uEfitted him for useful life
# If so, the fault was that of TIT
o schools, and of the methods EN-
+ ployed. The school which does no
e give men deeper sympathy will
e human society in its groupings ate
= truth and light is not a true educa
r tional institution, though endowed
q with the wealth of the Vanderbilt
I. The educated man is thinker ant
d should his trade be taken away from
o him he does not pine away and die
n but looks up some other station II
e life where he can be useful t,
y humanity. Education will cure ex
travagance. 1t is the fool and hi
It money that are soon parted. 1t vii
h deal death blow to the mortgag
d system. No scholar will pay mer
le chant so per cent profit under
lie mortgage when money is worth bu
6 per cent. Education will check tn
n movement from country to towI
lie Education will make the countr
a worth living in, and people will foe
d to the country to escape the dus
N and turmoil and unrest Of the towI
y Nowhere else are educated brains g
p much needed as on the farms of thi
10 beautiful Piedmont plain, who's
7. eq1al, tourists say, is not to b
,e found in all the world. This plat
l. must be the garden of the future.
n Education can and will cure the i'll
h that come from the tyranny of cOrpol
Ill ate wealth. Education will sho'
them their condition. and trust whic
m enriches itself at the expense OF tn
- toiler will be swept eff the face Of TIL
~ country. The people then will q
longer forge the chains and rivet theI
he about their necks which bind them
he poverty and despair.
Of Educate the people and you tran
Of form this government from govern
rs ment Of the few by the few to the go,
40 ernment of the many by the many. l
% eastern monarchies the crown is b,
III reditary. He who is heir presumI
tive is trained and disciplined for tn
se sublime duties OF kingship. When b
he ascends the throne with this equiv
IT | ment it is expected that his reign wi
IT prove blessing to his country and t
r. humanity. In this great countr
- every man Is a king. Not crOwne
"a mid pomp and ceremony with dii
dem studded with precious stones, bu
with no less sOlemnity and with ia
he more valuable crown, the blood bough
II diadem of American citizenship. Thi
ID brings to each citizen of the q. S. RI
ar sponib:lities as grave as those tina
If rest upon the shoulders OF easter
: monarchs. Universal suffrage implie
- yea, necessitdtes universal education
Fer how can we hope to escape tn
3. evils misrule if we fail to it our
l. selves for kiDgship. The king has th
l. cepter in America today and the kin
n | is the people. Unless he realizes hi
j. needs and supplies them the sad fat
A. of other nations and other ages Will b
:, repeated on American soil, and tn
:" crown which the people wear vii
Z be but crown Ofcruel mockery,
crown of thorns pressed into thei
X brow by the arch-enemies Of civiliza
10 tion.
10 Until the intellect of Our naOnl