The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-02-21
A BRIGHT BOYS ARGUMENT
Why Cities Should Not Provide Ere
 Text Rocks

of Miss Grace Ruth Morris for free textbooks to be furnished school chill dren by the city. To-day is given an excellent argument on the other side of the question, as presented at the Nathan Hale Grammar school debate by Clarence Newton.
 The Day desires to specially compI- ment both Miss Morris and Master Newton upon the excellence Of their handwriting. Both the papers are written in the vertical handwriting taught at the Grammar school and are like copperplate. Editors and printers all like that sort of thing.
 Master Newton's paper is as follows:
 The city of New London furnish free textbooks for the pupils in the public schools! My most emphatic answer is, "Never!" This is question requiring much thought and careful meditation and am convinced that, after giving it such, almost any sane person can see the utter uselessness and extrava- gance of such an outlay.
 There are about three thousand pu- pills in New London's public schools Supposing that the amount of each scholars textbooks for one year aver age about three or four dollars, you have from ten to twelve thousand dol lars expended in one year, and what good has there been done?
 Our taxpayers should not satisfy themselves with seeing their money do so little good. True, it furnishes nice, new books for the school children of New London but how long will they last when the pupils know that more are forthcoming as soon as they lose or destroy these?
 Once more, ye taxpayers, could not this money be used to far greater ad- vantage? Could not a splendid statue be erected to the memory of him af- ter whom this school was named, Ma than Hale? And who would be most delighted, the school children or their fathers and mothers, the taxpayers? It would be hard to tell
 Then again, the money might be used to sweep from sight the breeding place of all this poverty and filth and ignorance. Where do the children come from who cannot afford to buy books? From that low quarter of the city where the ignorant and vicious dwell Some learned people may think | it a fine idea to pay out thousands of dollars to educate the children who come from this quarter, but think it | is better to remove the cause of their | ignorance, filth and poverty. Why not l set the idle and dissipated men to work on their streets, pulling down some of the old eye-sores and putting up sub | stantial brick or stone buildings. If 1 they do work they will have money to buy their children books, will they not?
 The necessaries of the pupils are full | ly furnished, and the comforts and pleasures provided are abundant, and with the addition of this so-called kindness, the cup of progress and hap piness would run over, and conse- l quently soil the reputation of the schools and that of the city as well. If the city gives the pupils too much care and is too indulgent, the scholars will naturally become careless and rest | on their laurels, so to speak.
 Webster said: How many children are ruined by indulgence. Indulgence | is not kindness or tenderness, but it | | or of negligence" I don't know l whether this expenditure is the effect | of kindness, tenderness or negligence, l but suffice it to say that it is indul- | gence. | Perhaps you would like to know when this question was started. I un- derstand that for four or five years it \ has been debated and discussed by some of the ablest pupils who ever en- tered this school, and seen the won derful progress that those of the af- l firmative have made. They have brought before you some of the best arguments that could be produced, but these best are so excellent that they have had the effect of setting the citi- zens of New London against, rather than for such scheme.
 Now, as these ancient arguments for the affirmative are again brought to light and again recolored, see if they are not again rejected by the wise cit izen if our city by the sea. Unless
 am mistaken, it doesn't take our citi-
 zens half dozen years to see the good
 if there is any, in a thing like that;
 oh! no, so rest assured that if there
 were any good in this project, it would
 have been seen long ago.
 Let me give you another excellent
 reason for my oppsition. A great
 many many children have brothers o,
 sisters in the public schools, and as soon as the older ones have finished 6
 book they give it to a brother or sister in class below them. Thus, one sci
 of books may be used successively by
 several pupils When pupils finisl
 their books and have no brothers ol
 sisters they are willing to sell them a
 small price to their friends. In thi.
 way pupil is able to get his books
 free or for small sum.
 As a well-known newspaper says
 "Why not free shoes, stockings ant
 mittens? Where shall the line b.
 drawn on paternalism?
 To more fully convince you that an
 right, let me add that there are boy
 who will succeed and who always hav
 books, and there are those who do no
 try to obtain an education and who d,
 not deserve free books. The forme
 class do not need to be furnished witt
 free books. A good example of thi
 class is that of a young man now il
 Yale college who entered that institu
 tion with only $1.50 in his pocket, bu by dint of hard work at a trade, h I