The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1906-04-27
COMPULSORY EDUCATION
Advantages of Compulsory Education
as Shown by Per Cent. of Hitter"
acy Found in States Having
Compulsory School Laws
and Those without.
TCntinued from last week.

The following timely aud vigorous
report was made by the Legislative
Committee OF the Association.
The Legislative Committee beg leave
to submit the following brief report on
compulsory educatiOn:--
Every community is either OIeSt or
cursed by the characters that grow up
in it. and for that reason the COM
munitv. necessarily, is an lntereeIe"
party in the right development. OF us
children. No nation can be great, III
= broad sense. that does not look
carefully to the proper training Oh LIS
citizenship: no government can De Oet-
ter than the elements that compose IL,
the citizenship that creates and nam
talns it. The safety and permanencY
of free government must depend up
on the intelligence, enlightenment ana
GOOD character of its citizens. This
very obvious fact has long been rec
oonized as the justification Of the
public school system: and in many
| European countries and in most ol
the American States the idea mas
been carried further to embrace UNI
yersal education by means OF cOmpui-
sorry attendance.
The aims of public education can
not be fully realized if parents or
guardians, through indifference lg'
norance or cupidity, are permitted to
deny their children the advantages OF
an education. The State must pro-
tect itself by safeguarding the quality
of its citizenship: hence, to the &C
complishment of this end, TO proven
children from being deprived OF al
} education, and to save the State iron
, the baneful effects of an element or lg
, norant citizenship, compulsory atten
dance becomes necessity.
, The right of government to use II
resources for the education of its chill
; dren is now seldom questioned. In
only question is: How far ought
State so to do?
2 The idea of universal educatio
, through compulsory educational law
I is very old. The ancient Greeks an
= Hebrews insisted on regularattendan'
+ at school.
b Martin Luther said, nearly fot
hundred years ago, 81 consider u
magistrate bound to compel the Gil
zens to send their children to schoo
h for if it is proper for the State to COZ
" pei it's citizens to take up arms
h. time of war, much more proper Is
b, for her, both from a sense or RIG
b. and duty, to make them send the
i. children to school,"
h. John Stuart Mill justifes comp
h, sory education by the following sta
h, ment in his work of economics: VI
h. uncultivated can not be Judges or G
Ii. tivation. Those who need most to
IL. made wiser and better usually des
III. it least, and if they desired it, wol
o.. be incapable of finding the way to
: il bv their own light. ....."Wlth
ou. gard to elementary education,"
: saws "the exception to ordinary ri
may, I conceive, be carried still
al. Their. There are certain primary
ID. ments and means of knowledge VIII
OF. it is in the highest degree deslrea
1t. that all human beings born in
bu. community should acquire dur
bu. childhood.'
bu. Prussia adopted compulsory e
Lck. cation more than half century a
Lck. and for several generations the wi
world has accorded to Prussia
first place among nations IN maj
non educational.
usi. DR.. Seeley of New Jersey voices
ves universal thought by saying in
hen History of Education: The Prus'
rupe school system is the most etficlen
obi the world, at least so far las the
oov cation of the masses is concern
who 1t has practically obliterated i'll
rthe acy in the kingdom. More than 81
hich per cent. of the. recruits received
cam the army in 1893 were able to
and write. ;"
Further evidence of the etfectiye
- d of the compulsory system IN ma
B elementary education universe
found in the annual report OF
Prussian Commissioners of Educ;
~ H., ,t,,th n