The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1898-01-29
EDUCATION IN MEXICO.

lhe lncc5Sant cry of certain ssatarian
writers, such as DR.. Strong, of the Evan
gelical Alliance, is that dense ignorance
prevails in every country where The
"komish church" holds sway. Italy
SPAN ana Mexico have been cited again
ard again as illustrations, and until rn-
Gently Ireland was represented as a
country without education on account Of
the people being Catholics. The latest
report OF the United States; commissioner
or education. however, staggered great
many Americans when he placed ireland
IN the van OF European countries in tnn
percentage of school enrc!lmont and dc
carcd it ranked next to the United
States. Samuel Laing, the Scotch Pres
py'erlan traveller, took away the breath
CT se"tarian higots when he said, in his
DOOR, that even in Italy the education
on the common people in reading, writing
and arithmetic, music, manners and
morals. is at least, as generally diff,lsed
and as faithfully promoted as in Scot
land, adding that Rome. with a pop,
lA'lon of l5S,67S persons, has 372 primary
schools with 1872 teachers and li.0O)
children attending them"
Now comes William j. Bryan, in tho
New York World. and this is what he
says about education in tho sister 70
pubic OF Mexico, whose Independence
was achieved by Hidalgo, the warrior
priest:
Mexico is making substantial pro
gre&s in education. The public schools;
arc free and attendance is compulsory.
The president and those associated with
him III authority are putting forth every
possible effort to improve the system CT
instruction and to bring all the children
under tho influence Of the school teach
cr. AS an illustration, in the sto.c rf
Mexico the number of schools has in
creased more than 100 per cent within
the last ten years, and the number of
pupils in attendance shows an equal in
crease. The girls and boys enter s.ho n
upon equal footing. and the ambition OF
the pupil is stimulated by the offer of re-
wards for merit.
ut was our good fortune to be invited
to witness the distribution of prizes for
the schools of the federal district. Moth
Ing impressed me more than the scene
hero presented. President Diaz delivered
the awards to several hundred bows and
girls. The Indian and the Spariard.
tho rich and tho poor. all minglc to-
Gcthcr in tho public schools and vie
with each other for the prizes. The
state not only furnishes instruction in
the elementary branches, but provides
industrial training for both boys and
girls. normal schools for teachers and
professional schools for students OF law
and medicine. President Diaz recently
quoted Il remark from Won MOltl1e in
praise of the German school teacher and
also pointed out the necessity for cduca-
ted mothers. He recognizes, as did
Jefferson. that popular education Is vital
IN a republic. and largely through his
efforts Mexico sees yearly increase in
the numbcl~of those who are capable Of
Intelligent participation in government. Z"
For Catholic country with popula-
ton largely made up OF Indians and
other inferior races, the republic Of
Mexico deserves great credit for the edu-
cational progress 1t Is making Had
Mexico been governed by Protestant
Anglo-Saxons it Is probable that the
aboriginal inhabitants would have been