The Democratic advocate., 1898-03-19
Compulsory Education-Let 1t be
Summed

EDITORS OF The ADVOCATE Maryland
and Delaware now have before their legisla-
lures compulsory educational bills. The
Maryland bill was presented by delegate Eddy
Elmer Harm, young lawyer of Frederick.
The hundreds of thousands of dollars that are
now demanded AT the hands of our Legislature
for educational purposes in the state could mol
even partially be complied with without rails
ing The tax rate. Do our tax payers want
thlsI Moreover, education, low and high.
has not produced the results promised for il.
and, III the face of this fact, it would be folly
to saddle the people with either high tax rates
or compulsory education. The popular mind
IS undergoing change on educational subjects
and our Carroll county Legislators should be
reminded of this that they may voice and vote
wisely on educational matters.
The bishop of Nebraska says our education
Is making us a nation of socialists and an
archlsts. We see, sure enough, that Socialist
Debs is getting around the country an "a very
lively manner, and he wants compulsory edu-
cation-he has lately said Books are better
than beer" and he wants his followers to
study up and be prepared to take charge when
the time soon comes for the rich men to divide
up and for the politicians to hand over the
keys OF our legislative halls.
Sam Jones is unalterably opposed 10 both
He gave a Christmas dinner to all the young
men Of his town and gathered in all the pretty
girls to wait on them. He took occasion to
tell the young men in AN atter-dinner speech
that 'work of some kind was the essential
for them, and he has since declared that he
believes in universal home education to work
and books for all children who have home and
parents. He says 1.-The state has no more
right to educate our children than it has to
feed, clothe, spank and put them TO bed.
Sam known all this mans socialism.
Prof. II. I. Peck, of Columbia College,
New York city, also sees socialism and dam
ger in our schools-he says:
Education means ambition and ambition means
discomfort .,oy, discomfort, in itself, is divine
thing. When it springs up in strong creative in
telect capable of tranSatng il into actual achieve
ment it is the mother of all progress: but when 1t
germinates in limited and feeble brain it is the
mother of unhappiness alone. Let the state DEGREES
that all shall have some share OF education that Is
some share of discomfort and as the vast majority
of minds are limited and feeble, compulsory educa-
ton means everywhere compulsory discontent
Right here it would be well to call to mind the eX
of this discomfort in the most advanced educa
tional states of the East North and West. The
South has until lately known nothing of this.
Prof. Peck continues: Gould anything be more
tatuous or dangerous from stateman's point OF
view? The thoroughly pernicious fruits of such
great masses of men stirred by vague dissa tistac
ton with their lot their brains added and confused
understood, yet thoroughly adapted to make them
ripe for the work of the agitator for the enemy OF
public order"
The North 4meyicdn Reriec some time ago
contained long and forcible article from
Richard Grant White on ''The Public School
Failure" few extracts from it will be
profitable food for reflection on the part of our
legislators. Here they are
The case is worse than that of mere failure; for
ha been deDlOra threatens
disastrous"
Knowledge will not lift the masses, except as u
balloon is lifted because it is inflated with gas"
THE road TO the best government of the people
does not lie only through the door OF the public
sch0ol-house."
lie school is the efficient foe of ignorance the last
fifty years should have in all these respects an
Improvement so great that admiring nations would
applaud and humbly hope to initiate. But who
needs to be told that in all these respects we have
deteriorated?'
"Our large towns swarm with idle vicious lads,
and young men who have no visible means OF sup
port Our rural districts are infested with tramps-
a creature unknown to our fathers, ana even 10 US
in our YOUTH
Bribery at elections is almost openly pmcticsd
by both our great political parties: ,.,. ,.o
become so common that the public record OF the
last fifteen years on this subject is such that 1t can
not be remembered without shame
"Crime and vice have increased year after year
almost pari passu with the development of the pub
lie school system, which, instead OF lifting the
and hybrid class unfit for professional or mercantile
life, unwilling and also unable to be farmers or
artisans that gradually our skilled labor is done
more by immigrant foreigners while our native
citizens, who would otherwise naturally fill the re-
spectacle position in society," seek to make their
living by their wits-honestly if they can; if not,
more or less dishonesty"
"Filial respect and parental love have both dl-
minished.''
The remedy may be briefly indicated as dis
continuance of any other education at the public
cost than that which is strictly elementary-read-
ing, spelling, writing and the common rules of
practical arithmetic; and in the remission OF all
education higher than this to parents the natural
guardians, and earthly providence of their chll-
dren. And those children only should be thus
educated ut public cost whose parents are too poor
10 give them even elementary education them
Selves
If government is TO assume parental and iornl-
alive function, and to attempt the making OF good
citizens, it may with much more reason and pro-
priety establish public farms and public workshops
and train in them its future citizens to get their
living respectfully and honestly, than 1t may
establish and compel attendance upon schools on Il
system the result or which, according to the eXpe-
rience of half century, deterioration in purity OF
morals in decency of life, in thrift. and in all that
goes to make good citizens, accompanied by Il
steadily increasing failure in the requirement OF
the very elements of useful knowledge"
SgEesrue Nd. FRANCIS B. LIvEZEY.