Iron County register., 1899-03-02

: upon the rights of another. When il
enters upon constructive work it is
getting upon dangerous ground that
presages its overturn. The less the
State interferes with the Individual or
the family, the better for the commu-
nifty. We believe that there Is a limit
: to the functions of the State. The
public schools in their incipieney were
started 10 teach -sthe three Rs" aud
them only; because OF the sparseness
OF rural settlements, the taxing power
was used as an easy means to eQualize
the burdens of maintaining them and
collecting money for their support;
but the founders of that system had
no idea that 1t would ever assume
The dimensions 20 which it has grown
IN the last quarter of a century
The people say. lit is all right 10 fur
nish the means of giving an elementary
education to the child, but now that
we have enabled you to lay the foun-
datiOn OF your structure you must be
the architect of your own fortunes"
No man need lack higher education
in this day when the land overaows
with books and with schools maintain
ed By private enterprise even against
State competition. To what point he
| shall carry his education Is for him
| alone TO determine The State has no
| interest in the matter, and should
neither encourage nor discourage. In
order for the Professor to make out his
case he must show that a higher edu-
cation is impossible without State aid
| this he cannot DO. We would like 20
know just what he means when he
says, '.Our high schools have wider
purpose than simply teach pupils 10
understand their duties and exercise
their rights as citizens. They are
concerned in training for true, noble
and useful men and women, not mere
II in their political capacity, but in all
the diverse and complex relations of
human life" In cold type this looks
like bit of platitude. Why not be
more specific? Would the Professor
have State training school in relig-
ion, for instance? What does he mean
by '.true and noble''-words easy TO |
use, but to which no two persons at |
tach the same meaning? The fact Is, |
there is no call on the part of the peo-
pie for any school of the kind the /
Professor contemplates. They would |
have never known such a want, say /
the less charitable, If the Professor /
had not kindly taken them in hand |
and informed them. And it is a fact |
that the people who pay the taxes are
apt 70 look more warily upon innova-
iions which require increased expendi- |
ture than do those whose professional
enthusiasm too often blinds their bet
ter judgment The specs OF the teach
er are apt to show widening vistas of
elegant buildings for colleges. high |
schools and academies, with results
lodged in the clouds. These are
dreams that yex the Imagination, but
more vexatiou often follows an attempt
to realize them. II the last paragraph
in the Professors article Is a fair sam
pie of his logic we fear he will not at
tain the chair of logic in any high
school or college not aided by the
State Does he mean TO say that the
schools at West Point and Annapolis
are OF the same nature, and their es-
and maintenance governed
by causes analogous to those which
S1AC aL0 Aa2lAd4U the ,
schools of the country? Government
exercises its legitimate function in
providing against armed foes from
and in policing at home; but
it properly has no more to do with the
citizen in his literary attainments than
in his selection of a trade or vocation.
Protecting the citizen in his pursuit of
welfare and happiness is right; taking
charge of his attainments and provid-
ing for him as the parent does the child !,
Is quite another thing. In conclusion,
we believe the parent should clothe, |
feed and house his children, |
and any effort on the part of the State
to assume the duties of the parent is a
mistake the effects of which will in
crease as our population increases.
The time has come when the tax payer +,
should draw his purse-strings or be i,
prepared TO 90 farther. Pushed TO its
logical conclusion, State education !
creates machines according to State :
models. The family should become /,
more and more, and the :
State less and less.