The Ontario Argus. (Ontario, Or.) 1???-1947, 1915-09-16

acter or be failure in the making of
good citizens. We are agreed that
the states work Is to make good cit
liens. Hers IL Is to protect the
rights of the law abiding and to pre-
vent lawlessness and injustice. DAN
iel Webster declared that "the right
to punish crime involves the duty to
teach morals" The state must be
concerned about the morals of her
citizens even more than the intel
lectual attainments. Great empha-
sis is added to this statement by the
fact that all the nations which have
perished have gone down thru the
vices and crimes of her own people.
Believing, then, that II is the state
duty to develope character, how is II
to be done to the best advantage?
BY courts and penal institutions to
care for the incorrigible and the law
less? Not so. No more htan the
farmer can secure his best crop by
letting weeds and corn grow together
until harvest. BY proper cultiva-
tion the weeds are hindered while
the crop is helped to grow. SO the
state by proper cultivation of the
virgin soil of her children and youth
is able to keep down the crop of NOR
al weeds that destroy character and
usefulness of her citizens. II may
be necessary for the courts to gather
n few of the moral weeds and decide
how best to dispose of them. How
ever chief attention is to be given to
development of fruitful characters.
Now the public school is the best
place the state has to cultivate char
acter. This is true because all the
coming citizens are touched by these
schools, except the incoming adult
foreigners who may become citizens.
The National Reform Assn, lately
said "The supreme heed of the nation
Is not for intelligent or mental cul-
ture In her citizens. important as
these are, but that they shall be men
and women of good moral character,
able to distinguish between right and
wrong, and resolved to do what Is
right and to avoid and resist what
liz wrong. The chief end. therefor,
OF the schools, to be held supreme
above all mere intellectual culture.
IL TO develope the moral nature OF
the pupils" We recall words OF APP
probation by a school patron that
show how parents desire the moral
touch In the school. This mother
was not especially pious. But she
spoke OF n primary teacher as one
"who taught not only books but man
ners and morals as we'll"
There is a deep interest In our de-
nomination and others in establishing
chairs OF English Bible In all OF our
denominational colleges. A splendid
step that must result In great good.
But II Will teach comparatively few.
Only 100000 students are In all
the colleges. universities and profes-
sional schools OF the u. S. while there
are over 10 millions In the public
schools. With the bible In the pub
lie schools II will touch ninety-nve
times as many lives as In the insti-
tutions OF higher learning and at
time when life Is more plastic.
But when you deal with morals,
we must say OF the bible "Whence
shall we go. thou hast the words" we
need, All that Is good In any code of
morals has come from the bible and
there is nothing so good for the grow
ing of good citizens.
The bible was the basis upon which
our forefathers founded our govern
ment and our school system. How
shocked they would be to see how far
we have strayed from IL in some
things.