The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1905-09-21
HENDERSON. N. c.. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2l 1905

public schools; and the wisdom and ne
cessity OF such request is beyond de-
bate. Scarcely can any factor in Amer
lean life command deeper spiritual in
| terest or more urgently call for the pray
ers "f the church than the public school
system. Reasons for this can be given
only briefly and in part in our present
| limits:
l. Consider the vast extent of the pub
lie schools. They cover the entire coun-
try. They are found everywhere, from
the cities and towns to the villages and
hamlets, and in the most remote and
sparsely settled rural communities. In
them are gathered all classes and ma
tlona!ltles The sons OF tho millionaire
and the day labOrer march side by side.
the children OF judges and congressmen
and bricklayers and hod carriers NAV all
join in the same recitation
We have not the very latest figures at
hand but out of population OF nearly
,OOO, 600 in the United States there
were Is, ,O38, 900 children in the public
schools, not quite three-fourths of the
entire number Of children between the
ages OF five and eighteen. What a ire
menfous army! $4,000, ,OOOyoung souls
from every rank and grade of society;
nine times as many as there are people
in Chicago, larger than -four Greater
New Yorks, eight times the population of
the great State of North Carolina!
2. Note the supreme Importance of
the place filled by the public schools.
The usual age of admission is any
where between and Is or 20. Surely
the most important stage Of human life,
the time when habits are forming, when
the foundations are laid, when charac-
ter is nodded and the mental and moral
disposition is receiving it's permanent
cast. Between those ages the mind and
heart are most receptive and responsive
most susceptible to outside influences.
Students of child-nature are agreed that
even long before they are ten years old
children receive their deepest and most
lasting impressions, and the mold of
their future life has practically been set
Certainly the period between the ages of
five and fifteen is the most important,
and during this period the vast majority
are in the public schools. 1t may be fur
ther noted in this connection that the
most of these children will never attend
any other school, as only a small minori-
ty of the youth of the land enjoy a college
or university training. And moreover,
considerable percentage receive in the
public school not Onl y their mental train
ing but about all the moral instruction
and discipline they will ever get. This is
true especially OF large areas in the cities
and OF mill towns and Industrial centers
Here then is the situation: For the fu
ture well being of the nation the training
OF the childhood and youth is the most
important consideration. And in the
formation of character in the broad sense
in which we defined the term awhile ago,
under present conditions, the strongest
factor is the public school,
Indeed the public school system is
sort OF immense citizen-factOry, in which
are gathered some Is 900 900 boys and
girls to be made into citizens 1t is
mill where American manhood and
womanhood are being fashioned and
whose stamp, good or evil, the citizen
ship OF the future will bear. Thence shall
issue the future hOme-makers and society
molders. those who shall make laws
and hold Office and direct business. From
it's doors shall come the merchants and
mechanics and farmers. the lawyers and
doctors and preachers. the editors and
journalists and molders ofpublic opinion,
the senators and judges and legislators
and politicians of tomorrow. OF course
many of these will later feel the influences
of the college and university, but the
public school will have already sOwn it's
seed in the springtime.
But the work of the public school is
not confined to American bred youth
There is the foreign element. America
Europe and, in spite of the restrictions of
stringent immigra ton laws, vast hordes
of the lowest grades of European peoples
flock to our shores. Very many of the
immigrants are the poorest, most igno
rant, most undisciplined to be found in
Europe. A considerable percentage are
vicious and criminal. Few Of them honor
American traditions or share in American
ideals. They know little or nothing of
the sanctity of the home and the Sab
bath; they are strangers to the dignity
and privileges, as we'll as to the respOn
sibilities of American citizenship. They
bring with them seeds OF many pernicious
teachings that breed anarchy, lawless-
ness, discomfort, and the worst forms OF
socialism. A great task OF the public
schools is to gather in the children of
these immigrants and "Americanize'
them; by the instruction and discipline of
the school room to eradicate the evil and
implant the true; to elevate these great
masses to the highest plane of American
citizenship and instill high ideals OF man
hood and womanhood.
Surely here is an urgent call to the
active interest and the prayers of Chris
tian people, not only that the evil may
be averted from our own childhood and
youth but that our ''best things may
be communicated to those who are in
such need, and who left alone are con-
stant menace to American institutions.
Those engaged in this work should have
the help and encouragemento of our heart
lest moral support.
3. This leads at once to the considera-
ton of another reason why Christian peO-
pie should pray for the public schools. 1t
is to be found in certain popular tenden-
cies OF the age. There is constant dan
ger of the ideals and standards Of Ameri-
can citizenship and society being lowered.
twist. Public morality is apt to sag 1t
needs constantly to be buttressed. Stand
ards tend to drop and ideals to tarnish
Eternal vigilance is the price of healthy
public morals and nationol prosperity.
Part of the work of the public school is
to keep the great army of childhood and
youth up to the proper standard ofman-
hood and citizenship. /
There is an evil tendency so widespread
that it may almost be styled national.
DR.. Strong in ''Our Country says that
the most striking defect OF young Ameri- |
ca is lack of reverence; that our youth !
have little reverence for their elders. for
authority, for law, for rulers; and quotes
in support of his manifestly true asser- |
ton the eminent English critic, Mat
thew Arnold who after an extended visit
to America makes this charge against
us. also the words of a New England
scoool commissioner as follows: The
spirit of self assertion, of insubordina-
ton, of dislike to all restraint, OF open
autagonism to laval this is far more
prevalent today than ever before. The
evil has certainly not dlmlnlsned or
crown less acute since Dr. Strong's book
was published some fifteen years ago, |
We need to pray for schools where
wholesome discipline will be exercised
and authority maintained, and habits OF