The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1908-12-09
An Old Custom Worth ResurrectIng
Marshalltown Times r Republican. DC.

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Marshalltown Times Republican: Oc
casionally the country correspond
ence" of country weeklies contains an
item like this:
The folks at the Silver Creek school
house have organized literary soci-
! ETY. and are holding literaries once a
/ week"
1t doesn't seem of much Importance
whether Silver Creek has literary"
or not, does it? But it Is of Importance.
Lack of Itineraries" and other reasons
for gathering together has resulted in
a commission appointed h. the Presi.
dent to inquire into country life. He
wants to know among other important
things why there are not more liter
aries" like the one at Silver Creek.
One of the important matters for the
commission is to investigate into and
recommend remedy for the isolation
of the farm.
debate of the old time was a
function in the personnel of attend
ance People dressed up for it, combed
taeir hair, creased their boots and
generally smartened themselves 1t
went beyond the spelling school which
was looked on more as a diversion.
Debates" were serious business.
From eighteen to eighty all attended,
took part and interest and were eager
partisans. The ancient balance OF
wrong done the negro and Indian by
the whites rose and fell as the weight
of augmentation shifted. 1t was
real question then for men stood on
the floor who had fought -edmen and
risked liberty for the surreptitious
privilege of sheltering black ones in
defiance of the fugitive black laws.
Homely oratory, plain sense, ineradic-
able prejudice and class and racial
hatred blazed up and added to the
heat OF debate. 1t was interesting,
how much so high school seniors who
are debating on live questions can
realize. 1t was educative, broadening.
In some ways it atoned for the general
lack of Libraries and opportunity for
research. 1t awoke sluInbering facul-
ties, confirmed conviction stirred in
tellectual activity.
1t was good place for the boys
and girls to meet in a day when court
ing was done shamefacedly and love
sought covert from curious eyes and
the rude ridicule of the time. The
fifteen minute recess" gave Mrs.
Jones and Mrs. Brown time to ex-
change gossip and household receipts
The school directors got together then.
Thompson asked after his stray steer.
There was a little social session much
needed People came together in the
flesh and exchanged magnetic currents
The telephone does not carry OF con-
vey magnetism. 1t was human not
mechanical.
And it was great fun withal. When
Uncle Jim" Stokes. abolitionist. and
student of Fennimore Cooper. met
old Tommy" Thompson. Virginian by
birthright '49er, Indian fighter and
Democrat of the old school on the
mooted question of the wrongs Of the
black and red there was lightning-like
action and ripping of fur that might
have shamed two vigorous tom cats
hung across clothesline Parliament
tary rules gave way to a modified
Marquis of Queensbury code Repartee
was rife and epithet no. lacking. Each
had his partisans who cheered on the
Pro Ind Il
for days. Indeed instances might be
cited when at tie crossroads black
smith shop and cider mill nose bleed
and black eyes followed heartfelt crit
icism of judicial sense and honesty.
But this was always after the cider
had turned hard
Many a man has sat silent when he
would have given a horse to have felt
the courage to rise to oppose or sup
port before meeting of one kind or
another proposition he favored of
feared Tie debate" drove away
much Of this timidity It's training gave
the confidence to put into effective
words, if only in rude fashion, the
sentiments of the speaker. 1t afforded
some knowledge of the usages of de-
Lucrative bodies and it is a great pity
that it has been abandoned. The older
men of the farms should revive it. It's
questions should be live ones in mol
itics and agriculture. The younger peo-
pie will follow them and the school
house again become the center of the
community. Try it. 1t is worth while.