Common School Teacher, DEVOTED TO THE CAUSE OF COMMON SCHOOLS, PUBLISHED MONTHLY, AT $1.00 A YEAR, EDITORS: W. B. CHRISLER, A. M., Editor. BRUCE CARR, Corresponding Editor. WALTER S. KIDD and SARAH E. TURNER, Ass't Editors. MAY, 1876. Educational Issues of the Day. W. B. Chrisler... The New Pronoun Again. Martin Crim.. How to Teach Orthography. W. B. Chrisler... Intemperance. E. B. Sutherland.... ment form the antithetical trinity. It becomes the people of this country, in this centennial year of their liberties, to inquire what more can be done to insure a perpetuation of these liberties, with brighter luster, through another hundred years, and on, down, along the coming centuries. The education issues of to-day are grave ones. Foremost among them is the great and overshadowing one of giving a good common school training to every boy and girl in the land. Romanism is opposed to this unless it is allowed to be done by the Romanish priesthood; and that they would not do it, if we were so insane as to give the education of our children into their hands, is conclusively proved by the ignorance of the masses in all Catholic countries. To educate is not the policy of the Pope. Romanism is not the only opposer of common school education. Infidelity, greed, selfishness, general immorality, and all things opposed to good government are found in the ranks of a besotted priesthood. Subordinate to the issue of giving a good common school education to all the children of this country, is the question of how is it to be done? On this question we stand on the doctrine of the last presidential message. We are in favor of a constitutional provision making it the duty of each State to see to the education of her children. We are a nation; and the nation should see that the children of the nation are educated in all that is necessary to execute well the functions of a citizen. But we forbear for the present. The problem of self-government is cation, liberty and a benign governnot yet fully solved in this country. It remains to be seen whether the education of the masses will become an accomplished fact or not. It cannot be denied that a large portion of the American people is essentially uneducated. Neither can it be denied that there is a strong element of opposition to the education of the people's children in the common school. We have citizens who are esteemed good men who are opposed to paying any tax for the support of public schools. They say, "Let every man school his own children. I don't want to be taxed to educate other people's children." We need not stop to expose the fallacy and selfishness of such language. Such men look upon other people's children just as they do upon other people's hogs.-"Let every man feed his own hogs." And if children bore the same relation to society that hogs do, it would all be well enough to say "let every man school his own children," just as we would say "let every man feed his own hogs." Children are not educated to be sold as so many fat hogs for the benefit of the parent. The main reason for educating children is for the benefit of the State. The State is passing every day into their hands-just as fast as they grow up. It is in the nature of an axiom that they ought to be educated in order to take good care of the State when they receive it-and receive it they must. Does not all history testify that an ignorant mass of human beings are incapable of attaining to freedom, or of maintaining it if, peradventure, they should obtain it? Ignorance, slavery and despotism go hand in hand. Edu These educational issues are upon us, and they will not down at our bidding, |