Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1903-06-12
Governor rlontague On Public
Schools

present Governor, A. j. Montague,
heartily endorses the public school
and that it NAV be better, more
perfect and complete system in his
state, is expanding much energy
and allowing his influence to count
to that end.
That some of his ideas in regard
to the important question may be
placed before our readers we here
with reproduce extracts from his
speech recently delivered at the
closing exercises of the Harrison
burg public school, as published in
the Rockingham Register:
"Mr. Montague came forward
amid hearty applause. He said he
had come to Harrisonburg not so
much to make a speech as to evince
his deep and abiding faith in public
school education. The world has
not grown up by the great arm
stroke of any one man or any
thousand men. 1t is the product
of the entire contribution of thons-
ands Of men, ola ..on1 Young, COW
,ering a period of ages, which after
all the centuries now cOnfronts US
with an infinite power.
He believed that the least govern
ment was the best government;
and that the State should do moth
ing for the citizen which the citi-
zen could do for himself. The
browning glory and power of any
nation lies in the indiyidualism of
the people. But what the world
needs today is not so much men
that are good for something as
men that are prepared to do some
thing. There is no use to argue or
to dogmatize about the value OF the
public schools in the production OF
such men. Wherever they have
been tried they have uplifted and
blessed the people.
Virginia has done a great deal
for public education and will do a
great deal more. She is doing
more than any other Southern
State, but it is still not enough.
The private schools are disappear
ing; the private academies are less
numerous; the UNCONVENTIONAL col
leges are feeling the effects of the
increasing popular interest in the
public school system.
A community or nation cannot
be measured by few good men OF
a few bad men. 1t is the general
average and the general mass that
makes the government.
Government of, from, bv, and
for the people means simply educa-
ton Of the people by and for the
people. Free government rests on
the consent of the COY erned and
unless this consent be an intelli-
gent one. it is not consent after all.
The Governor then enumerated
the four cardinal and essential ele
ments of free people-free poll
tics, free education, and free re-
ligion. Our government shuold
guarantee equal opportunity and I
fair competition in the race of life
To insure these education should
be as successful as possible, and it
should be moral, intellectual, and
physical. We have reached an ex-
ceedingly practical age in America:
It's an age Of doing things, an(
each and every child should be ed
ucated. But what sort of educa
ton? How much beyond the eie.
mentary processes of read ng, writ
ing and arithmetic did we get al
school that was Of actual and prac'
tical value in the business Of life;
What successful business man is
there here hut achieved his success:
bv means of things he learned
after leaving school?
Let US give to our children man
nal, technical training. Let them
understand that labor is high an(
noble calling. We have reached
an age of machinery. We are con-
fronted with forces which only in
tellect can handle and control. Ii
for his two daughters, said the
speaker, he was forced to choose
between music and cooking-it
they could not have both-he
would take cooking all the time.
Its contribution TO domestic hap
piness and domestic economies was
beyong computation.
Public school education is worth
every dollar that is invested in it
In Massachusetts the per capita
contribution to public education is
S1I a year. The per capita income
of that same population Is quad,
ruple that of our own. The high
err education will take care of itself
if We cat but arouse popular inter
est in public primary education.
He wanted to say for the people
of Rockingham county that they
had done more for this cause than
any other county in the Common,
wealth. You are getting more
good schools and not SO many bad
ones every year. He would rather