The weekly chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Craig County, Okla.) 1905-1913, 1909-07-09
BARTROLDT TALKS
OK EDUCATION
characterizes Lack Of Political Eduea-
ton AS a Sin Of
Omission.
BY Associated Press.

BY Associated Press,
New York July 3.-Representatiye
Richard Bartholdt of Missouri, spoke
to the National German-American
Teachers convention here today on
the subject of Political Education"
Congressman Barthoidt said that all
were agreed that the brains of our
school children should not be weigh.
ed down with unnecessary ballast, but
in determining the question of what
was necessary and what was not great
mistakes we're made There might
be too much of good thing, and there
might also be too little, he said. and
from our present course of study he
could cite examples of both. AS an
illustration he pointed to the instruc.
ton of physiology which he denounc-
ed as objeetional because of its tend
ency TO subvert scientific facts for q
purpose. To be unobjectionabe he
said, hygenic instruction should never
go beyond an effort to warn from ex.
vesses of all kinds.
On the other hand the speaker
characterized the lack of political edu
cation in our public schools as a sin
of omission. In monarchy, he said,
where the first simplest political
truths the speaker referred to the as
founding spread of prohibition. II the
masses Of the people, he said, were
conscious of the existence of those
inalienable individual rights which
even majorities must respect as in-
vioIable prohibition could have never
made any headway at all. To be sure
in order to enable us TO live In peace
full communities, individuals had to
give up part of their natural rights,
but such renunciation, even in des
potic states, would never be extended
to actions which were neither wrong
nor immoral in themselves and which
would not interfere with the rights of
our neighbors Whenever this we'll
defined line was transgressed, either
by legislatures or majorities, liberty
was deprived of its essence and re-
mained only in name. The conse
quence would be that one thing was
being regulated by law today, another
thing tomorrow, and thus violence
was done to the very foundation of
the state whose complete collapse
would be only a question of time.
In conclusion the speaker argued
chat 1t was an easy matter to enllght.
en- our youths on those simple ques.
tions, and It was high time for our
teachers to fill this gaping void in our
course of study in the interest of an
intelligent progress and of the perpet-
uity of our free institutions The
German Schoolmaster" he exclaimed,
has won the Franoo-German war
May the future historian record the
fact that the German-Ameriean teach.
er has saved our democratic liberty
duty is to obey, instruction as to the
rights and duties of citizenship might
not be essential but in a republic such
instruction was an indispensable nee.
essity because the welfare of the
country depended upon an intelligent
i exercise of the franchise. AS a means
of its selfpreseryation It was the duty
of democratic state to equip the pros.
pective citizen with the intellectual
means to vote intelligently All our
political ills could easily be traced to
lack of political enlightenment. The
press was doing much as an educa-
tional factor but the real work of In.
structing our youths as to the funda.
mental principles OF government and
the extent and value of our inherited
liberty should begin at school so that
each graduate as ne enters life NAV
thoroughly understand what he owes
the state and what the state owes
him
As an evidence of what he termed
the gross ignorance with respect to
the