Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-09-25
FIFTY YEARS AGO
In THE STAR

Discomfort with the public educational
methods in the District was in evidence
fifty years ago and eff
Night forts were being made to
c.L.1. develop the system to the
"~A"' end Of extending educa-
tional advantages to larger number. In
The Star of September Is, 1850. is the
following paragraph:
Numbers of people interested either
for themselves or for those under their
charge are daily asking us the question.
What about the night schools this win
| ter?' This is a question Of vital interest
to several hundred lads whose circum-
stances compel them to work through the
day. whose parents cannot be deprived of
the benefit of their labor. who toll
through the weary day i'm the vari-
| Gus workshops of the city, who drive
carts and fetch and carry, who struggle
and buffet with the world for their daily
bread. and in the various occupations of
our busy town strive to rise above the
necessities of their positions. 1t is a
vital question to those lads. whose only
chance for acquiring a little school
knowledge depends upon the tardy philan-
thropy Of a selfish municipal legislature.
w nat cares the dlucTlIldu VI Tic SCuhNIl~
man, whose mind is bent upon the ad-
| vantage which he will derive from the
passage of this or that bill. who is wrapped
in contemplation of the rise and fall
of his city lots contingent upon the
improvement of this or that street, for the
poor apprentice boys? Gentlemen of the
city councils. these boys want to be alder
men and councimen themselves one of
| these days, and they call upon you from
their workshops to place within their
| reach such opportunities as will enable
| them to occupy those places with honor.
| Let us then have the night schools, and
| let us have them at once!"
| The effort to do something for the
younger members of the community half
century ago was not
Juvenile limited to providing them
om with better educational
OAoAueAS' facilities, but 1t recog-
nized the fact that some of them from
time to time came into conflict with the
law. In The Star of September 20. 1850,
! is paragraph along this line:
"Want of house of correction.-This
| subject has been so frequently agitated
| hardly necessary to mention it; but the
evidences of the want of such an insti-
tuition are increasing daily. The police
magistrates and justices of the peace are
every day called upon to do something
| with the little children who are beginning
| to commit offenses that old offenders dare
| not attempt. Larcenies and burglaries
have been perpetrated by children which
| would be considered as chef d'oeuvres OF
| old thieves. What can be done with
them? The penitentiary is hardly a
| suitable place for children of such ten
| der age, and yet they ought not to be let
run at large without restraint Other
children are confirmed drunkards and
violators of all laws, of decency and
morality. What can the magistrate do!
| He must let them go or send them to the
workhouse, and who can point to child
| that has been reformed by such a course ::
1t is not a place of punishment that is
needed, but an institution for the refor-
nation of children who are without pa
rental restraint"