Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1903-04-01

ADJOURNED
CONTINUED from Fifth Page).

must be taught honesty and integrity
not by precept so much as by the ex-
ample of the teacher, by their rela-
lions with their fellows in school, by
the atmosphere OF the home and the
school room. | an not a believer In
the feasibility of teaching moraIlty
and integrity by precept alone, In
some of the homes where the
discord reigns you may see God
Bless Our Home" staring on the wall,
but the motto does not have any ap-
preciable effect; and you put the ten
! commandments on the wall and the
most approved moral maxims on the
wall, and have all the children read
them every day, but IL might not
amount to anything, In fact, the gen.
eral atmosphere of the home n
school room is what is forming these
prospective citizens Of ours, and we
cannot afford to lose the influence OF
either.
| have nothing to say about the
school curriculum tonight-that is not
the purpose of this address-but what
else do we want in the schools?
What are the best things in life? Too
much comparative stress may be put
on the ordinary subjects of instruc'
ton. While these ought to be taught
we'll and thoroughly, that school is a
failure which teaches nothing more,
There are a good deal better things
in this life than arithmetic, grammar
or geography. You cannot measure
the best things in life with a yard
stick or a bushel basket. They arc
intangible, they are unseen AS st
Paul says, they are the unseen things
which are eternal; and those are the
things we want 10 see implanted IL
the minds of the young in our schools
we want our children to lay hold o.
the ideas of God, immortality, free
dom and duty, and all the other ideas
that raise our race above the ANNA
and the clod. One such thing is a re
spect for authority. 1t is a danger al
ways in a free country that respect TO
authority will be diminished to or be
low the danger point, and these boy
and girls who are growing up in on
schools and homes ought from thei
childhood to learn to respect Lawful
authority in the home, the school AM
the state. We do not want to bree'
any anarchists. They are a class tina
is incompatible with the safety of OH
free institutions. Therefore, | for on
look to the school to enforce an,
auiatain 1au.ftl nnthnritu uyan
these boys and girls. my OWL particu
larry and all others, too. to be laugh
to respect and to yield always to tn,
lawfully constituted authority of thei
teacher. II they do that. their chance
for becoming l%aw-abiding citizens ar
very much better. The state does no
go to the enormous expense which !
, incurs simply for the sake of individ
uals. Ii is true that the only way yol
can have a good community is by hay
ing good men and women in II, bu
these schools are maintained for tn
! general public benefit as well. and W
have a right to look to the schools TO
/ the development of law-abiding cit
/, zens. A most dangerous vice in a Re
!. public like ours is the vice of selfish
: ness. II ought to be comparativel,
. easy. | think, to teach lessons of III
s~elfshness in the public chool. wher
association and mutual %necessit.
teach them TO respect the rights o
others; and when they learn that
when they learn to do unto others a
they would that others should do unit,
4. them. then they have got a good les
son both for the individual and tn.
, citizen.
| believe that the best things in Iii,
/, cannot be weighed. measured or CON
, pared; they are intangible. The low,
of human beings for each other is tn
very best thing in this life for an.
and for all of us; there is nothing els,
to compare with IL; and If children d,
not begin to learn that lesson Will,
they are young. the chances are the.
never will learn 1t, and will grow III
into selfish citizens. selfish men an,
women, who have little regard for tn,
rights Of others.
We do not want %compulsion eycep
when IL is necessary: we want then
to do and appreciate these RICH
things because they are right-be
cause we have learned to see that tn,
right thing is more desirable. both TO
us and for the community in which
we live, than the wrong thing. Non,
of the highest things in life can b.
demonstrated, in the sense that W,
demonstrate a mathematical problem
Nearly all these things that are wortl
having have to be taken on faith; anC
should be very loath to see a me
chanical spirit in the school room. anC
everything excluded and no lessons
taught except those that a be dem
onstrated as you demonstrate that two