The Newtown bee., 1899-08-25

Ibu6 600rs OT 0nr common SCHOOLS nave
passed out some OF the greatest men oil
Esur history, men whose lives have formed
an essential part OF II. We can scan lts
fair pages and fad ehronicled there the
Frames of preefdenfs, statesmen, lawyers,
Ihnanciers and philosophers whose only
early educatlon was secured In the COM
mon school of our land. Among those
most familiar are Fl anklin, Morris. Ham,
uton, Gay, jackson, Johnson, Lincoln,
marshall, all Of whom secured the little
education they had IN the common
IschooL What the past has seen will be
repeated in the future. IEshould be our
lohjsct to give to every child such an sad
vanta&e that bic may be cited to admin.
sster the duties of any offfce within the
gift Of che Citizens of our country. l1
There ere to-day enrolled in the COM
mon schools Of our country pupils to the
Of theSsanne grade l,203, 367. In high
|sehoofs there are1584 COL. In colleges,
professional and normal, a total of III,
755 In other words there are to-day "a
pupils in the co nnen schools OF our
country where there ia one in q college,
professional or normal school. In the
face OF these facts Is it not duty oblig-
atory upon Us to maintain the highest
standard that can be attained in that
branch ofsonr ed ucationaI system which
gives the most benefits to the masses? 1t
issthe great mass of children whom we
must reach with universal education of
higher scale. The greater mass of the
children of ourcouutry never have any
better advantages than those given them
by the village school, and for this reason
we must have q higher standard Of edu
cational development. -
In the state of Connecticut we have en-
rolled about 143, 1000, or about II per cent
of our population. Our state is not In
the rear rs regards educational advan-
tages, especially In the larger towns aud
cities, but in the great mai 3rity of the
small towns there is need OF better IA.
cilities for educating the younger
element. This fact ia plainly shown in
the towns of that nature. We find a
great many Of these towns, that for no
other reason than lack of interest, bar.
ring the way for better school advan-.
tages. MANY. of these towns ha We school
houses utterly unified for the purpose
for which they are used. Others have
cot the necessary paraphernalia with
which to carry on school on O. success
full and modern scale. These are but
two of the disadvantages under which
our school system Ia at the present time
laboring. Many more might be mention
ed; but they are too Familiarity known to
need any repetition here. j. 3D..
OUR CORNWALL SCHOOLS.
This Is particularly the trouble
with the schools of Cornwall. We
have in our town according to
our town report of last year, 246
pupils in9attendaDce in, our schools. We
are maintaining l6 separate schools at an
annual cost of $2263.05. The highest av-
erage cost OF educating each pupil lie
S23 So. The lowest &SE22, The average
tor the entire town being $l3 g.. Forty
We ars ago the entire number of schools In
our town was and the population ex-
ceeded that or to. day by over 500. Yet
in the face of all this we are paying more
to-day ON the average for educating our
Younger element than we did at that per-
iod and at the same time have less pupils
TO educate. To-day there is not single
achoolhouse in our town fitted properly
for the purpose for which they are used.
The pupils enter them in the morning
and all day face the barre whitewashed
walls with not a single map, in some cas-
go, upon which to rest their weary eyes
Blackbeards- are just as scarce, the
writer having had the pleasure Of teach.
ing for 10 weeks ia one of the schools OF
Cornwall, where the only blackboard was
Two! pieces of board painted black, the di
mansions of which, when placed togeth-
er,swere four feet long by three feet In
width, which served as the blackboard
upon which to, place the necessary work
tor teaching q dozen pupils This serves
as fair specimen of the manner In which
the scheolhouses. of Cornwall are equip
ped. The entire system is 8 disgrace to
che fair name of our town and it is high
time that the people become awakened
60 the realization Of the manner in which
they are providing education for the chill
dren within its limits.
" The town that sent the first mission.
arY to the Sandwich Islands Is certainly
not deserving OF the name which it is ac-
quiring by it's slovenlv system of educa-
Eiona The fact that this lack of interest
exists seems to be because OF the fall
ing off or the number of children
In our town compared with that of
former years. This is true only of GER
tain localities, particularly the farming
communities. In our centers, especially
in West Cornwall, they are increasing
rapidly. Some people seem to think
hat because they have no children to ed
ucate their duty to the rest ceases to ex-
ist. This is not so. When q person
takes the oath of citizenship, be swears
that he will uphold all OF the institutions
that are necessary for the maintainence
Of his government Can he divest him
self of this duty and say that the COM
mon school is not one of the essentials of
our nation?s Just as long as a person
keeps his citizens hip, inst so long he ia Ia
duty bound TO all OF the people that COM.
pose the nation and In every thing which
is for the good Of one and all. The great
est obligation that rests upon citizen
of our country to-day, is the duty that
he owes the element which is to become
the lawmakers of the future. .e>s%. xFf
Another familiar plea ia that, 1.-THE
children have a better chance now than
ever had" This may be true, but If
you have never had the advantage shall
you deny to other that which you were
denied p It .is an admitted fact that so
years ago there was not the need of the
education there Is to-day. This is true
not only in the common walks OF life J.
but more so in the professions 4.ssf
The demands to-day of the younger
generations are greater than they were
In former days.. An instance, which
comes to the, writer's knowledge will
serve to illustrate this more plainly In
the state OF Ohio is situated q manufact-
uring establishment which will hire no
person who is not a. graduate OF high
school. They also have posted notices
in their establishment that after 1915
they will take no person into their en-
plov who has not In their youth attended
a Kindergarten school. tits necessary
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