Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1907-11-02
ChiIds Right to individual Pro-
lection From Birth.
RIGHT TO DEMAND MORALITY
The States Duty 10 Foster the
Means 10 Produce Good Citizen
chip and Enforce Law.
Compulsory Education.

School COMMITTEES. Ashviilc, n. c.
The ground fer compulsory educa-
ton lies in tn following propositions
(a) The ehllds right to individual
protection from birth to an indefinite
period of his existence.
tb) societys right to demand moral
ity among all people, young and Old
(c) The states duty 10 foster
means to produce good citizenship and
enforce law and order.
A child-always qualitative hazard
IS born 2 bundle of undeveloped
problematical forces and possibilities,
lsuspectible to direction and control;
wholesome Development. or warping
and pervertion. But, his first impulses
are essentially of the animalism rather
than to the ideal and spiritual He is
more or less a savage with various la
tent capacities for good or for bad.
| These appear by degrees in the course
of his growth, and need guidance and
restriction according to the situation.
He Is subject TO memorable laws of
evolution which he cannot avoid No
mater how good or bad his Inheritance
From the blood of his parents and an
eestors, his unfolding is subject large
! ly to the influence Of surroundings
which bear unon him from babyhood
! He arrives TO our arms an innocent
weaking. wholly dependent upon some
adult person or persons to rear it
property. This duty deyolTes first and
chiefly ON his parents; secondly, on rs
eachers. If the parent are sklftIess.
Indifferent. lazy, ignorant, vicious
criminal, whether occurring through
poverty or meanness. the child's char
acter will paltake Of them and suffer
from their unfortunate consequences
from the very outset Of his inte'Egenc
for his int lectual forces muse inevi-
tably develop amidst an atmosphere
of immoraiy His whole nature viii
slowly but surely evolve along the
lines Of responsibility, deception and
vice. lie win reach maturity with lit
tie or no adequate conception of
rigbt ani wrong little or no real'za-
ion of the sanctity Of law and order
and the sumlimity Of Justice; he viii
have no regard fer truth nor shame for
! falsshood he will scarcely understand
honor. and will not feel disgrace even
whom ccnv.c ed of crime. Our criminal
and police courts offer abundant proof
of these facts So, a citizen developed
from a child reared in those conditions
lis generally considered unsafe, unde-
sirable aften dangerous. snd is too
Frequently also a criminal at heart
if not in conduct AT best he is one
that is avoided, if not Stunned and
mistrusted by his neighbors. You dom
want to live near him. even you fear
to employ him. He is practically an
outcast of society without hope of per-
sonal or adomestic Improvement OF
social recognition He is often a sore
spot on the body polite which you
would remove if YOU could. Al this
degradatin can be found among chill
dren and adults at orr doors, some
times in families where poverts is the
chief initiative cause. How far reach
ing and how much more perverted can
human beings become where large
numbers of families are. reared SINH
larly i'm contact with each other, IS
evident 10 the most superficial think
err
The child has right to protection
by the community against the condi-
lions that work for his early desecra-
ton and ultimate destruction. He has
right to protection against his own
Inherited weaknesses; against his
own inherited tendencies to amman
, ism and against he Multitude OF Ne
lfarlous circumstances that beset him,
threaten him, buffet him, every hour
from the moment he reaches his era
Idle Indeed the child-a brother OF
yours and mine, even if>born the low
est and vilest-has a right to a guid
ing hand and supporting arm to-
wards Ideals and success in -
t Now, next to the parent, foster par
ents, or legally appointed guardians
the state is the guardian of all chill
! dren II a child, from any cause, is
J kept from his n ght due him from his
immediate protectors, ii becomes the
1duly of the state TO procure them for
him. II the immediate protectors
whether his parents or other person,
morally or legally ob'isatad-neglect
/ to give the child his dues in rearing,
1t is the duty Of the state to punish