Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1912-02-02
Why Compulsory Education ?
(Communicated.)


school attendance laws is somewhat
unfortunate since il is apt TO suggest
the contast between the attitude of
the consciously thirsty horse and that
of the poverbial horse driven to
water though determined not to drink.
Possibly this ill-omened word is as
much of "red "a q to the political
descendants Of the heroes of 10 and
'61 the word rex" is said to have
been to the Republican Romans. at all
events, 10 Americans and half-assimi-
lated aliens who tend to interpret
liberty ia this land of the free is the
right to do as please and nobody
can hinder me" this ugly word com
pulsory" seems to threaten our most
cherished fetish.
But even more unfortunate than
this association of ideas is the IN
deniable fact that not all children
or even all parents respond eagerly to
the privilege of education any more
than all horses are thirsty when con-
fronted with the watering trough.
The above considerations suggest sew
eral grave questions. Should horse
be forced Ito drink when his equine
spirit rebels? Is he well informed as
to the benefits of water TO his sys-
tenn? And if not, is he the best
Judge of his physical needs?
Not to treat this most serious
questioa which is before the lawmak
ers Of Maryland with undue levity,
| It US ask ourselves frankly why the
resp possibility and the privilege of
determining the character and amount
of his children's education should be
taken from the parents, i. e., in most
cases the father, and turned over to
the State.
1. Intelligent and ambitious fathers
recognize parental responsibility to
give their children fair chance in
the world and if possible place them
a rung higher upon life's ladder than
they themselves have climbed; and,
Furthermore, they know we'll that
material advantages without intelli-
gent training, may prove a more SER
Gus handicap than poverty and ne
glect. But are all parents intelli-
gent?
2. Unintelligent, narrow-minded OF
selfish parents, and their name is le-
gion, assume that what was good
| enough for themselves and for social
ed self-made men is good enough for
their children; or else, in their eager
ness to exploit the manual labor OF
their children for the benefit Of the
family exchequer, they fail to perceive
| that they are penny wise and pound
1 s.L hoA kvrz
their children too early TO unskilled
mechanical tasks, even if these are
not actually Injurious to health of body
or mind, they are diminishing their
children's chances of entering upon
more profitable skilled labor later in
life.
s. There are plenty of accessible
statistics, which it is beside the pur-
! pose of this article to quote, which
show conclusively the ratio of Hitter.
acy to vice, degeneracy and crime
| and its bearing upon the economic and
industrial efficiency of a immunity.
If the newly awakened civic con.
science of this nation, or of any of its
component states is To remain awake
and active, legislatures must not be
allowed to take such risks as are in
volved in the presence Of illiterate OF
unframed citizens any more than
the risks of contagious diseases or
| firetraps.
If any man could be trusted to pro-
tect his own family and his neigh
bors from epidemic without compul-
sorry sanitary legislation possibly by
analogy it would be pertinent to
leave to his judgment his children's
education. But the history of modern
regulated philanthropy alone bars
witness to the fact that it is unwise
and unsafe to assume that all parents
can be trusted to determine what is
best for their children.
The theory of the patria potestes as
a modern working hypothesis breaks
| down before the facts of American
civilization in both its urbane and its
rural aspects.
1t is true that our educational the.
DRY and practice are in state of
transition and likely to undergo pro-
found modification in the near future.
Much criticism ranging from the pro-
tests of local taxpayers and self-im-
portant chronic "kickers" to the anal
ysis of educational experts has been
brought to bear upon the situation.
Signs ae not wanting that destructive
criticism has already begun to make
way for the work of reconstruction.
Never has there been a time when
more attention has been paid to the
demands of the farmer the manu-
facturer, the financier for practical
education for life from the primary
grades to the university. The slo-
gan of economics efficiency is heard
within the convention halls of the
educators as well as in legislative
assemblies.
For these reasons il seems a most
opportune moment to bring into
line the few states which lay behind
in this matter of providing against
illiteracy and its attendant evils. If
our educational system is not at pres
ent ideal, it is it least in fair way to
improve. and to argue against the
prassage of the proposed school at
tendance laws for Maryland on the
ground that our educational system is
open to criticism and that even ex-
perts are aware of it, is the part of
crank or a dog in the manger.
T. a