The daily journal. (Salem, Or.) 1899-1903, 1901-12-13

pSl lldlHo W NliluS aub * III NOhuuNt'
The country abounds with learned
and valuable works on moral science.
Some Of American, English, German and
French origin. Almost every aspect Of
the subject has been presented aud ably
defended IL is therefore with reluc-
tance that l attempt to present this pa
per.
The subject assumes that the public
school has moral influence.
Morality relates to the practice, mean
ness, or conduct of men as social beings
in relation TO each other and with ref
erenCe to right and wrong The word
moral is applicable to actions that are
good or evil, virtuous or vicious; and
mas reference TO the law Of God as the
standard by which their character is to
be- determined
The dissemh alton Of moral influence,
therefore, can only be expected where
ethical knowledge is impaired Il should
be taught as botany or chemistry,
The power Of cognizing moral distinc.
ions is the supreme function Of human
reason. And any school whose curricu-
lem does not incorporate in it's catalogue
a course Of moral instruction emphatic,
as to conformity to rules Of ethical cul.
tlre, graduates a student as ignorant Of
moral rectitude as he woul be of botany
or chemistry, had he not been taught
'hem.
The object Of tho public schools is es-
pecislly to lay the substructure for intel.
lectual expansion. Putting the stress
upon mental development, but mute as
TO moral culture, we must logically con-
clude, therefore, that the moral inhu'
ence OF the public schools is insign6-
cant.
This last proposition will conflict with
the teaching Of many on Moral Science
and Christian Ethics. Because there is
2 school who believe that all men, saw
age and civilized, have moral emotion,
that moral ideas are innate; that moral
distinctions areintrinsic; that conscience
dscerns the rightness OF actions and
principles intuitiyely, that is directly,
without reflection, az a man knows
white from black, or a pleasant from a
painful sensation. II this theory is cor
rect, il is then immateTial as to the
schools teaching ethics. For all men in
intuitiyey have moral conceptions.
70 affirm that particular act is right
or wrong, pTesupposes the existence in
the mind Of the rule of right and wrong.
How did that idea get there, unless il
was pot there? Mental development,
therefore, only enlarges the capacity Of
the mind to discern between right and
wrong, 1t does not add, neither does it
create a new faculty. Your rule Of right
and wrong ia the contribution Of some
one who also has received. The moral
judgments are made clearer in proper
tion TO mans intellectual elevation.
The mind, like the we'll prepared soil,
rapidly brings to generation the seed re-
tcAhNh ny tllN abMNis 40 Dhe iNA 10 hAalAT
datory in its "go and give" Freely ye
have received freely give" This is siguii-
icant with tbs thought Of our argument,
that moral poverty is the birthrIght Of
all men that the true riches Of moral
culture is the gift from without. Hence
the obligation levied upon the truly en-
lightened to impart 10 their fellows IN
darkness. Freely give, as 20 have re-
ceived
In proportion, therefore, to the degree
that the public instructors inculcate
moral ideas in the mind Of the child to
that degree can We cay, the public school
has a moral influence.
The educationalists, as Prof. Burney
calls them, atiirms that conscience, or
the moral faculty, is derived from sense
and experience Man is not born with