Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1899-03-06

49,
in State1ratt.
And the great eulogist of both, in on,
of those grand sentences which con
down the ages to stir the souls of men
said: If we work upon marble, it vii
perish; ii we work upon brass. time viii
deface it; if we rear temples, they vii
crumble into dust, but if we work upon
immortal minds, if we Undue them Will
principles, with the just fear of God
and love of our fellowmen, we engravt
upon these tablets something which vii
brighten to all eternity"
With these illustrious precepts, con
tirmed by the experience of the people
to whom they were addressed, a legisla
ttlre at this day need have no misgiving.
rs to the validity or propriety of any acl
which tends to the mental elevation OF
those for whom they make the laws.
The measure of usefulness to the
commonwealth of any educational cs'
adjustment. depends upon il number OF
conditions. For a public institution. TIC
the creation and support of which the
peoples money is appropriated, two con
siderations should be paramount:
IA location, which by reason OF
inviting surroundings and convenience
of access shall render its benefits avail
able to the largest possible portion OF
the inhabitants; and
"A purpose and plan of work which
shall meet and serve the most important
needs of the people by whose revenues
it is to be supported. In short, there
should be applied here, as in other mat
tiers of public concern, the homely
maxim of government the greatest
good to the greatest number. Judged
by this standard, | feel warranted in
saying that the New Mexico Normal
University. for whose formal dedication
we are assembled at this time, furnishes
beauty in woman-its Nv excuse
for being: and simply steps into Il place
which the time and circumstances held
open for it. The proof of this depends
not upon the opinion of any man. The
actual results already shown have furn-
ished the facts.
Opening its doors five months ago, in
an unfinished building, this institution
began with an attendance of "a pupils,
the largest first enrolment shown by
any similar school in the United States.
Since then the attendance has gone on
increasing until it has now reached the
number of $50, not including its pre-
paratory class, temporarily provided fol
those pupils whose scholarship is not
quite up to the standard of admission
into it's normal school. This attendance
10 Io rmnr than fhot of unr nthar inStitII.
ton in the territory, in equivalent
grades.
This territory began the establish
ment of the higher seats of learning ten
years ago,a and two of them have been
in active operation for eight years, with
provisions for maintenance from the
public funds far in excess of anything at
our command. Nevertheless, this Nor
NAL University, in less than a year, has
already exceeded both of them in that
which is the ultimate test of usefulness
to the public, viz: the number of its pu-
pills who avail themselves of its oppor-
tunities. | make this statement not for
the purpose of boasting of it, nor with
the attention of drawing odious COM
parsons with our neighbors and friends,
to whom VIC wish all prosperity and sue
cess, but to simply emphasize my point
that Notwithstanding the establishment
of these other institutions, there yet re-
manned a place untitled in the educa-
tional economy of this territory: and to
demonstrate by the unanswerable logic
of facts, that the New Mexico Normal
University is the right school in the
right place. That this rapid develop
ment will go on, there need not be the
slightest doubt. 1t requires not the
gift of prophecy, but only a slight &C
quaintance with the history of schools
like this to assure us that the progress
already begun will continue, until the
limit of our present facilities is reached.
For all schools, the normal is the one
stands nearest to the people. To
the average American citizen there is
object so dear as the education of
children. 1t is his pride, almost to
the point of mania, to give them in this
respect something better than he him
self enjoyed. The log school house,
with it's Webster's spelling book and
arithmetic for text books, was
good enough for him, but for his
children, there must be tablets and
charts and models, libraries and
laboratories, and stately buildings to
contain them all, in comparison with
which the humble equipments of his
youth would be historic curiosities In
some places, indeed, they are preserved
as such. ] well remember. on a visit |
once made to the famous and ancient
of Elton, in England, being shown
n the midst of all the splendid struct-
erected there as fit surroundings
to the Queens palace. the old, original
form room, installed by England's ear
lest educator, Henry the Sixth. There
we're the rude benches of tough oak, put
together with pegs, and ornamented
with the carvings of centuries, whitfield
by the pocket-knives of sturdy English
boys in the cause, not of art, but of mis-
chief. The venerable spot was the holy
Of holies in that temple of learning, and
it. the most sacred object of all,
Vas pointed out to me the altar on which
these guileless youth did frequent and
sacrifice,-a well shaped oaken
block, fitted to the form Of a kneeling boy,
IN which for nearly five centuries the
poets, statesmen and soldiers
If England had received, at the vigorous
land of muscular head-masters, the
'udiments of a sound English education,
through the medium of
we'll picked birchen rods.
The modern American wants his chill
lren better educated than he was, and
For nothing else, save alone the
honor of his flag, will he so endure toll
ind sacrifice. For this he pays without
complaint the taxes levied for the sup
port of schools, and when necessary to
advantages greater than the
school affords, he denies him
ielf the Injuries, and often the comforts
If life. When, therefore, a public insti-
has for its leading object the
making and training of the teachers, to
whom the people are to entrust the edu-
,atiOn of their childrnn H. iS hut natural