Year: 1875

y
those which animal instincts afford, with
out the ability to cast an in ptelligent vote,
without the ability to avail himself Of ad-
| vantages within his reach mere clown. de-
| graded in his own selfesteem by eel tc compar-
ison with those who can read and write.
Millions of men, thus shut out from the
| temple of knowledge by poverty, by cap
rice OF parents or by the un aise stipginess
of the governments under which they were
born, now mourn over their inCurable
ignorance and their incalculable misfor-
| tune. Is any chilG-citizen of free land so
| meanly born that the State may slam the
doors of the schoulhouse in his face and


send him home t. live and work in bar


barous ignorance because he was born poor?
The boy OF eight years, though clad in rags,
has right TO demand from the State the
boon of being taught to read, and his right
is just as sacred as jury trial, habeas corpus,
free speech or that of sell. defense. To give


this tuition is the duty. OF parents, but If
they lack the means or the will, then it be-


comes the duty of the State.


The immediate cause of this truly
American doctrine was an anonymous


communication to the Bulletin, setting


forth the objections to the common school


system with what we shall characterize an


invidious effort to repeal it. We may add


to the forcible summary above quoted that


no member of the large public meeting of


Wednesday night attacked the common


school system or urged its repeal One


divine indeed intimated that when he


chad the honor to be connected with the


schools the superintendents were men of


the highest order, but that it were ''far


better to uproot the whole system than to


perpetuate the iniqu;tous one of the pres


ent." Yet, even he says, he "believes in


common schools"


We find, then, that the Protestant and
much Catholic sentiment is in favor of the
common school system, and that the move
ments against the administration of that
system do not affect the the attachment OF
the people to the system itself.


We have read carefully the anonymous
article which prompted the Bulletin with
the occasion to avow its opinion upon the
merits of the American school system. 1t
contains fallacies exposed in all the con-
tests that have taken place in the United
States. The prominent objections have
long since been made, and recently re-
peated in another form. They are:


l. That the rights of property are para
mount to the political rights Of the people.
2. That education does not improve the
capacity of the citizen to administer
representative and elective government.


Lest our native American readers
should believe that such incredible pro-
positions could be presented to Repub-
lican constituency, we quote the doctrines
from the communication itself.


1t is assumed that "education is a
luxury" and these questions are asked:


Then why should law intervene and
exact tax from industry; not to relieve
the wants of the impOverished-which be-
nevolence might excuse if it could not JUS
tify-but to contribute to the luxuries of
society,"


Why are the rights of property-the most
sacred and infinitely the most important of
human institutions, and which governments
are instituted slmOst exclusively to pro-
tect-thus violated?


1t is further said:


As taxation for public education is so
manifestiy in violation of the rights of
property, it is well to scrutinize with Sc
verify the arguments used in advocacy of
the system.


We have had good deal of this "sancti-
fication of property in one shape orian-
other. 1t is the doctrine of monarchy
and aristocracy, and has no relation what
ever to government founded on the in
alienable rights of the person to which
the right of things is made sigually SUBJ
ordinate. This degrading and transat-
lantic argument has been scoffed out of
every free school State in the American
Union. We consider it the highest duty
of State to promote the morality and in.
telligence of its citizens. We believe
that if every citizen is enabled to read his
civil and religious creeds it will be better
than if he had to hire an attorney or a
priest to read them for him. We believe
in the right of private judgment, and pri-
vate judgment would be of little avail if
the person could neither read the argu-
ment, evidences, or even the text of the
faith which he adopts. The intelligent
citizen has two chances of improved
morality. The one in his knowledge of
the consequences Of immortality, the other
in the relief which intelligent industry
affords from the offenses of necessity.
That the Safe is stronger in an army
of intelligent freemen than in conscrip-
ton of mercenary slaves, has been proven
from the days of the Hessians to the poems
Of Mexico. That it is more powerful in
the mechanical resources of an educated
people. than in the brute ferocity of ma
tive ignorance, has been demonstrated
wherever the European, armed, equipped
and provided. has invaded the wilds Of
primeval Africa. That education and an
equal right Of aspiration has proven su-
perior to the exclusive rule of few and
the compulsory ignorance of many, is
proudly evident to any American who re-
CARDS the power and respect of the United
States, seated in the first circle of the
most eminent nations of the world. The
system of republican America has abso-
lutely taken the immigrant serf of Eu-
rope and piled his descendants to be the
superior in many cases of the nobleman