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B 50180 3


ARTES
1837
SCIENTIA
LIBRARY
VERITAS
OF THE
Į UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN |
TOEROI
31-QUA RIS PORSUL
M-ANONAM
CIRCUMSPICE
THE GIFT OF
DEAN ALLEN S. WHITNEY
LA
216
Worth the authon complements
.A4
cop. a


THE FREE SCHOOL SYSTEM
OF
THE UNITED STATES.
THE
FREE SCHOOL SYSTEM
OF
THE UNITED STATES.
BY
FRANCIS ADAMS,
-
SECRETARY OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION LEAGUE.
LONDON:
CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193, PICCADILLY.
1875.
-
THE JOURNAL PRINTING WORKS, BIRMINGHAM.
0 12-11-38 LE
GIFT OF
DEAN A. S. WHITNEY
12-7.243
Added c
NOTE.
The aim of the following pages is to supply for English
Educational reformers the means of insight into the operation
of the American system of Elementary Education. If it should
be objected that the social conditions of England and the United
States lie at extremes which render comparisons useless or
fallacious, it may be replied, that successive Governments have
recognised the policy of examining the educational systems of
various countries, with the view of adopting for our own use the
best methods found anywhere in practice. Moreover, international
comparisons are now forced upon all countries by international
competition.
That the experience of the United States furnishes valuable
lessons for England the writer trusts will be made clear. Not-
withstanding the differences which exist in the circumstances of
the two countries, the type of the inhabitants is essentially
the same.
Nor are the ideas to which Americans attach the
greatest importance in education foreign to England.
Local self-government is not the conception of American
politicians. The people of the United States borrowed the principle
from England, and making it the foundation of their Education
system, demonstrated the advantages of its application in such a
manner.
Neither is free education an exotic in England. Of all
English schools the free schools have been the most popular.
By making education universally free the Americans have made
the common school the most popular and successful institution of
that country.
Upon the subject of compulsion-an idea equally alien to
the political philosophy of both nations-English and American
6
proofs point to exactly the same conclusion,-that however popular
a system may be, it cannot produce the highest results unless the
school rights of children are placed under the protection of the
law.
The absence of a dominant church has helped to protect
the school system of the United States from the perils and the
Yet the "
odium of religious strife.
Yet the "religious difficulty" is not
unknown. The attempt to find a common religious ground cannot
be said to have succeeded. The question for the present remains
unsettled—but it is a growing opinion that the common school,
to be preserved, must be placed upon a distinctly secular basis.
One thing more. Bishop Fraser warns the readers of his
report that in judging of American education an average is no
safe guide. The same caution is still necessary. The key to
the true comprehension of the development of the system in
particular States will be found in an extract from the "Theory
of Education," published by the National Bureau of Education.
It is as follows:
"As a consequence of the perpetual immigration from the older
sections of the country to the unoccupied Territories, there are new
States in all degrees of formation, and their institutions present
earlier phases of realisation of the distinctive type than are presented
in the mature growth of the system as it exists in the thickly
settled and older States. Thus States are to be found with little
or no provision for education, but they are rudimentary forms of
the American State, and are adopting, as rapidly as immigration
enables them to do so, the type of educational institutions already
defined as the result of the American political and social ideas."
August 12th, 1875.
CONTENTS.
I.
GOVERNMENT.
...
...
(a) RELATION OF THE NATIONAL GOVERN-
MENT TO THE STATE
Representative character of system
Local self-government the mainspring
No federal education law
...
Powers of national government limited
Duty of State Legislatures
...
Success depends on enlightenment of people
Different views of popular education
Slavery hostile to the common school
Divergencies in social condition
:
Wealth and illiteracy in Massachusetts and South
Carolina
...
Powers of central government
Dread of centralization
...
Establishment of National Bureau
Its functions and powers
Policy of American statesmen
...
PAGE
17
17
17
18
18
...
18
19
19
19
19
19
20
20
21
...
21
...
21
22
...
23
23
23
24
...
:
:
Mr. Hoars' bill to establish a national system
Opinions of National Education Association
Mr. Perce's bill to establish an educational fund...
Extent of federal jurisdiction
Work of the central department
...
...
(b) RELATION OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT TO
THE MUNICIPALITY
Responsibility of States
...
Action of free States...
...
...
24
24
...
24
8
Position of the South
Common school system in every State
State legislatures enact school laws...
Local management
PROVISION OF SCHOOLS
Requirements of Massachusetts law...
Law of Maryland
...
...
:
...
:
:
:
:
PAGE
25
25
25
26
27
...
27
27
28
28
...
28
29
29
30
30
31
31
...
...
...
32
...
...
32
...
...
33
33
...
•
School accommodation in New Jersey
Supply of schools in Detroit and Cleveland
Development of school expenditure…..
Provision of schools in Pennsylvania
Powers of State over local corporations
Laws in harmony with popular sympathy..
Results of local government...
(c) SCHOOL DISTRICTS...
Area of school districts
""
The "district system
School districts in England …..
Multiplication of small schools
Abolition of "district system "
...
:
1.
:
...
...
...
...
:
:
(d) LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS OR MANAGEMENT
COMMITTEES
How described in different States
Constitution and powers of...
(e) LOCAL SUPERVISION
34
34
...
...
34
35
:
County superintendents
Advantages of system
...
...
(f) STATE SUPERINTENDENCE
Powers of boards of education
Duties of State Superintendents
Annual reports
...
...
...
:
:
...
:
...
...
35
36
42
42
43
...
43
9
II.
COST.
(a) THEORY OF FREE SCHOOLS
Introduction of free system …….
Element of rate-bills...
Reasons for State provision of education
Policy of retaining school fees in England
Arguments against free schools considered...
Free education not a charity
...
Responsibility of parents not lessened
Experience of Connecticut
Remission of fees in special cases degrading
The "odious rate bill "
...
...
Effects of rate bills in New York...
Policy of educating at common cost children of
improvident parents...
Causes which operate against free schools in England
No financial difficulty involved
...
PAGE
45
45
...
46
...
46
49
50
51
52
52
...
53
53
*54
...
54
...
56
57
...
57
57
58
...
59
60
...
61
64
65
...
65
67
68
...
68
...
69
69
69
...
70
:
:.
:
72
\ (6) PROVISION OF FUNDS FOR EDUCATION…..
Sources of school revenue
State school funds
...
...
Land appropriations
Amount of permanent funds
...
...
State taxes in different States
Reasons for advocating State taxation in Massa-
chusetts
Local taxes
...
Expense chiefly met by local taxation
...
Table showing amount and source of income
Unparalleled taxation for education
Increase of expenditure
Voluntary taxes in Maine.
...
...
...
School expenditure in New York and Massachusetts
...
School expenditure in the South
Expenditure per head of population
Comparison with English expenditure
10
PAGE
Donations
The Peabody fund
...
...
...
...
✓ (c) TOTAL ABOLITION OF RATE BILLS...
Its effect in New York State
Increase of attendance
...
Report of Rhode Island Commissioner
Operation of free school law in New Jersey
Michigan report
...
Larger attendance and longer school terms
Favourable effects of free school in Connecticut
Large increase of attendance
...
72
...
73
75
75
76
77
...
77
78
78
79
...
79
80
...
80
N
...
81
Y
84
85
85
...
85
...
86
87
92
94
...
95
...
...
95
(d) FREE SCHOOLS-THE PEOPLE'S SYSTEM
Unanimity of opinion.
...
Testimony of State superintendents
Reports of county superintendents...
Difference of opinion respecting free high schools
The law of Michigan
Mr. Dawson on opinion in Ohio
Free school books
...
Decrease of private schools
...
...
...
Schools attended by all classes
Power of assimilation
The work of the free school
Roman Catholic parochial schools
III.
ATTENDANCE.
(a) ANNUAL ENROLMENT
96
...
Per centage of enrolment in different States
97
Comparison with England ...
98
Extracts from State reports...
99
11
t
(b) AVERAGE ATTENDANCE ...
PACE
102
...
...
...
102
...
103
103
Degree of regularity the most important fact
Methods of arriving at averages confusing
Rivalry in School Statistics...
...
Evils of apportioning State-aid on average attendance 104
The experience of England...
...
Average number belonging"
104
...
105
Number enrolled, and average attendance compared 106
Comparison with England
...
Bishop Fraser's view fallacious
...
107
108
...
...
Average attendance compared with school population 109
The position of England
Average attendance and number belonging
American and English cities compared
Obstacles to regular attendance
Influx of Foreigners
Difficulties of climate
:
...
110
110
111
...
113
113
114
115
:
115
Demand for children's labour
Importance of the problem ...
(c) PERIOD OF ATTENDANCE
School-age in different States
...
...
...
Percentage of scholars over sixteen...
Age of leaving school
The school year
Length of school terms in different States
Not equal to English school term
Period of attendance in cities
...
...
:
...
116
116
117
...
118
119
...
119
:
120
121
(d) FAILURE OF INDIRECT COMPULSION
History of Factory Laws in Pennsylvania
Report of Mr. Woodruff
The law of Connecticut
Report of Mr. Cleveland
Co-operation of employers
...
Direct compulsion the only remedy
The law of Rhode Island
122
...
122
...
122
124
•
124
125
...
...
...
Favourable conditions for experiment
...
..
...
:
:
126
126
126
12
(e) TRIAL OF COMPULSION
Antagonism to compulsion
States having compulsory laws
Law of Massachusetts
Reasons for partial failure
Experience of Boston.
...
...
...
...
Mr. Philbrick's reports on compulsion
The New Hampshire law
...
Satisfactory results of
The Connecticut law...
The law of Michigan
Danger that it will prove ineffective
Weakness of the law
PAGE
127
:
:
:
127
:
127
...
...
...
128
129
:
129
...
129
:
131
131
...
...
132
...
...
:
133
133
135
1.
...
...
:
135
...
...
136
...
136
...
...
137
138
...
139
140
140
...
141
142
143
...
Compulsion in Nevada and New York
(ƒ) DEMAND FOR COMPULSION
Reform urgently demanded ...
Action of State Legislatures
Reports of State Superintendents
Waste caused by irregularity in Iowa
Truancy and absenteeism in Ohio ...
Demand for compulsion in Indiana
Missouri, Louisiana, California, and Nebraska
Resolution of National Teachers' Association
Compulsion a question of time
IV.
RELIGION AND MORALS.
(a) LAW AS TO RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION
Difference of legal opinions...
...
Case of Minor et als v. Cincinnati Board of
144
...
144
Education
144
Distinctive denominational teaching prohibited
Illegal to subsidise denominational schools
146
•
146
13
Christian and protestant instruction given...
Religious exercises in New England schools
Discretion of teachers
Statutory provisions in different States
Reading of Bible
...
...
Use of school buildings for religious purposes
(b) BIBLE READING-MORAL INSTRUCTION
Sectarian instruction not permitted...
Bible reading the rule
Exceptions in some States
Secular teaching at St. Louis and Cincinnati
Discretion as to use of Bible
PAGE
146
147
147
147
148
150
...
150
150
...
...
150
...
151
151
154
Moral teaching in Maine
154
...
Instruction in Morals in Boston and St. Louis
155
Morality of common schools
Infidel tendencies do not exist
The Bishop of Manchester's view
Religious teaching in English schools
(c) THE RELIGIOUS DIFFICULTY
...
Majority favourable to Bible reading
Growing opinion in favour of secular schools.
Two sections of community opposed to Bible reading 160
The Roman Catholic view
155
...
157
158
...
159
159
159
160
...
161
Conflict in New York State
162
...
Resolution of Chicago Board
163
Reports of the Superintendents of Iowa and
Missouri
164
Opinions of Mr. Northrop of Connecticut...
166
:
The Struggle in Cincinnati...
167
...
schools...
Roman Catholic testimony in favour of common
A contest apparently inevitable
The parochial system impossible
170
...
...
172
173
...
...
14
V.
TEACHERS.
(a) TRAINING
The conditions of teaching
...
Unfavourable effect of short school terms...
Inadequate payment of teachers
Preponderance of female teachers
...
...
...
...
:
PAGE
175
175
176
177
177
178
178
179
...
Necessity for training teachers of recent recognition
Dr. Hodgson's description of some English teachers
Action of London School Board
...
First Normal Schools in England and America 179
Reasons for Normal Training
...
...
180
The American problem
181
1.
County Normal Schools
184
...
...
Number of Normal Schools in differrent States
185
Instruction in Normal Schools
185
...
Private Normal Schools
186
...
...
...
Teachers Institutes
187
...
Their objects and value
:
187
189
...
•
...
189
Normal institutes
The pupil teacher system has no advocates
(b) EXAMINATION-QUALIFICATIONS
Teachers must be certificated
The practice in different States
Grades of certificates ...
Methods and standards of examination
Want of uniformity...
Reform required
...
Suggested reforms
...
...
190
...
...
:
190
:
190
191
191
...
...
192
•
193
...
..
...
:
193
194
...
194
195
195
195
...
Worth of American teachers
Bishop Fraser's opinions
...
(c) SALARIES AND SOCIAL STATUS
Low salaries
...
Table of salaries
...
15
Improvement in salaries
High social standing of teachers
Comparison with England
...
...
:.
::.
PAGE
196
197
197
...
(a) GRADING
VI.
GRADES.RESULTS.
...
Description of graded schools.
Advantages of grading
Economy of time and money
Its effect upon the pupils
Disadvantages of too strict grading
Union schools
Plans of school houses
Grades in the chief cities
(b) COURSE OF STUDY
...
...
...
...
...
Practically only two courses
higher...
:
199
199
200
201
201
202
203
...
...
203
...
204
207
elementary and
207
...
208
208
...
...
209
...
210
210
...
211
...
...
...
211
...
...
212
...
212
Description of course in New York and Boston ...
Grades in Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Louis, and
Cleveland
Comparison with English code
Materials for a close comparison wanted
No prescribed course in any State
Absence of uniformity
Connection between elementary and higher
instruction
...
...
Subjects generally taught
...
Teaching of German...
The schools of Boston
Gradation of scholars
Promotion of Pupils...
Compared with England
...
...
...
:
...
:
...
213
214
214
215
16
Elementary schools of New York ...
Examination of scholars
...
Comparison with English standards
The Cleveland schools
Examination questions.
Ages and status of pupils
St. Louis schools
...
The Cincinnati schools
Classification of scholars
The Chicago schools...
...
...
Night schools...
PAGE
217
217
:
:
218
220
...
...
221
...
223
...
223
...
224
225
226
228
:
229
...
...
...
...
229
229
...
230
...
231
232
...
...
...
...
...
...
(c) PRACTICAL OUTCOME
General reputation
...
...
Opinions of visitors to the States
Census statistics of illiteracy
Decrease of native illiterates
Foreign illiteracy
...
...
...
Per centage of illiteracy in England
234
Native and foreign illiterates in the free school States 235
Adverse influences of slavery and immigration
Nativity of foreign population
Results of the system
...
Bishop Fraser's testimony
...
236
237
...
237
...
...
...
...
...
238
VII.
REVIEW
GENERAL REVIEW OF THE SUBJECT
APPENDIX A.
EXAMINATION OF DR. RIGG'S CHARGES
239
255
APPENDIX B.
COURSE OF STUDY IN BOSTON, NEW YORK,
AND CINCINNATI
...
STANDARDS OF EXAMINATION IN ENGLISH
SCHOOLS
275
...
308
I.
GOVERNMENT.
(a) RELATION OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT TO THE STATE
—(b) RELATION OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT TO THE
MUNICIPALITY-PROVISION OF SCHOOLS-(c) SCHOOL
DISTRICTS-(d) LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS-(e) LOCAL
SUPERVISION-(f) STATE SUPERINTENDENCE.
(a) Relation of the National Government to the State.
The most conspicuous feature of the American school
system is its representative character. The doctrine of the
sovereignty of the people, pervading all American social
and political organisations, is carried to its furthest limit
in the schools of the country. The principle to which the
inhabitants are most attached is thus fitly exhibited
in the institution upon which they set the highest
value. Bishop Fraser says: "Local self-government is
the underlying principle of democratic institutions; local
self-government is the mainspring of the American school
system." (¹) The Schools Enquiry Commissioners, in their
report, ascribed chiefly to this characteristic of the system
C
1 Fraser's Report, p. 14.
18
the excellent results which the common school has
produced. "The schools are in the hands of the people,
and from this fact they derive a force which seems to
make up for all their deficiencies." (1) In the United States
they have actually that which Mr. Forster promised to
give England by the Act of 1870, but which at present
we are far from the realisation of—“ an education of the
people's children, by the people's officers chosen in their
local assemblies, and controlled by the people's representa-
tives in Parliament.”
It is sometimes said, apparently in disparagement,
that there is no national system of education in the
United States. It is perfectly true that there is no
federal education law embracing all the States. Such a law
would be widely regarded as repugnant to one of the
fundamental principles of government as generally accepted
throughout the Union, the object of which is to secure
the largest amount of local discretion consistent with the
recognition of national obligations. The powers of the
National Government over the States are limited by the
Constitution. Certain limitations are also imposed upon the
Legislatures of the States by their particular Constitutions.
So far, however, from restricting educational facilities, the
State Constitutions generally declare the duty of the Legis-
lature to make ample provision for popular instruction;
but it is in the municipal organisation of each school
district that the motive power which supplies and adminis-
ters the educational wants and machinery of the country lies.
The principle of local self-government upon which the
system is founded, presupposes a desire for education in the
community. Its success, therefore, will always greatly depend
upon the degree of enlightenment in the district where it is
1 Report of Schools Enquiry Commission, p. 640.
19
applied. In a priest-ridden country a system of education
depending chiefly upon popular suffrage would be, com-
paratively, a failure. That which Massachusetts regards as her
chief blessing, New Mexico rejects with disdain. (¹) While
America was yet a dependency of Great Britain, a forcible
illustration of the widely different lights in which popular
education may be regarded was contained in two replies, sent
from different colonies, to questions put by the English
Commissioners for Foreign Plantations. The Governor of
Virginia replied, "I thank God there are no free schools
or printing presses, and I hope we shall not have, these
hundred years." The Governor of Connecticut answered,
"One fourth the annual revenue of the colony is laid out
in maintaining free schools for the education of our
children." So long as slavery existed it was impossible that
the common school should find a home in the Southern
States. This must always be remembered in estimating
educational progress in the United States. To this cause
must be ascribed the wide divergences which still exist in
the social and educational conditions of the inhabitants of
different States. Under the influence of slavery, and up to a
recent period, without the free school system, the rate of
native illiteracy in South Carolina is about 60 per cent.,
while the wealth of the State is less than three hundred
dollars per head of the population. With conditions precisely
reversed, native illiteracy in Massachusetts is under one per
cent., and the wealth of the State averages nearly two
thousand dollars per head of the inhabitants. It will be
apparent, therefore, that the free school system must not be
judged either by the errors or eccentricities of a single State,
or by an average calculated upon the statistics of the whole
country. If, upon an impartial examination of the experience
1 Report of Commissioner of Education, 1870, p. 327.
20
and results of the system in the free school States, it is found
to be a failure, then only can it be justly condemned.
The powers of the Central Government are summed
up in "A Statement of the Theory of Education in the
United States," recently issued by the Bureau of Education
at Washington. "By the Constitution of the United States,
no powers are vested in the Central Government of the
nation, unless the same relate immediately to the support
and defence of the whole people, to their intercourse with
foreign Powers, or to the subordination of the several States
composing the Union." (¹) It was held by many of the
earlier statesmen of the country, including Washington,
that the authority given by the Constitution "to levy
taxes and provide for the general welfare of the United
States" included the power to make laws respecting educa-
tion. This opinion is not, however, generally accepted,
and the more correct view appears to be that the relation
of the National Government to public education is limited.
It is admitted that the National Government may use
either the public domain or the money received from its
sale for the purposes of education, and may call all persons
or States to account for whatever has been entrusted to
them by it for educational purposes. In various ways, but
chiefly by making reservations and grants of land for the
support of common schools and agricultural and scientific
colleges, Congress has recognised its duty to promote
education among the people. But the direct jurisdiction
of the Central Government is confined to the military
education of the army and navy, to the Territories and
the district of Columbia. (2) The dread of "centralisation"
which prevails throughout the States has had the effect of
checking every movement for enlarging the powers of the
1 Statement, p. 9. 2 Proceedings of National Teachers' Association,
1870. Paper by General Eaton, p. 122.
21
National Government. The whole tide of public sentiment
in America is in favour of a perfectly unfettered working
of the State systems. It was not until 1867 that any
department taking cognisance of national education existed
at Washington. In that year the National Bureau of
Education was established. This department had its origin
in "the need long felt by leading educators of some central
agency, by which the general educational statistics of the
country could be collected, preserved, condensed, and
properly arranged for distribution." (1) Its function is not
to direct the school affairs of States, but to co-operate with
them in the work of administering systems of public instruc-
tion. The Act which creates it defines the work it shall
perform, it being founded "for the purpose of collecting such
statistics and facts as shall show the condition and progress
of education in the several States and Territories, and of
diffusing such information respecting the organisation and
management of school systems and methods of teaching as
shall aid the people of the United States in the establish-
ment and maintenance of efficient school systems, and
otherwise promote the cause of education."
It will be seen that this department has no control
whatever over the school organisation of the States. Even
in the Territories, where the legislative power of Congress
is supreme, the authority of the Bureau is confined to the
collection and diffusion of information.
Whatever opinion may be formed in this country
respecting the advantages or disadvantages of the limitations
imposed upon the
upon the Central Department of Education,
it must be well understood that they do not arise from
accident or neglect, but are the expression of the settled
policy of American statesmen. Any invasion of the rights
1 History of "The National Bureau of Education," p. 1.
22
and duties of the municipality, either in respect to educa-
tion or other questions, is regarded with the greatest distrust.
In the session of Congress for 1871, a bill was introduced by
Mr. Hoar, of Massachusetts, "to compel by national authority
the establishment of a thorough and efficient system of
public instruction throughout the whole country." Although
the discussion of the bill in Congress, and the comments
of the press, revealed a public sentiment of considerable
strength in favour of some such measure, the general
feeling is thoroughly antagonistic to the proposal.
At a
meeting of the National Educational Association, held
in St. Louis in 1871, Mr. Hoar's bill was discussed, and
it was declared to be "in opposition to the uniform practice
of the National Government," and to "the views of the
founders of the Republic, and the leading statesmen of the
nation”—“ of doubtful constitutionality," and opposed to
a sound Republican political philosophy. (¹) The establish-
ment of the National Bureau was advocated in Congress on
the express ground that it would create no interference with
State rights. General Garfield, by whom the bill for the
formation of the Bureau was introduced, said, "The
genius of our Government does not allow us to establish a
compulsory system of education, as is done in some of the
countries of Europe. There are States in this Union which
have adopted a compulsory system, and perhaps that is
well. It is for each State to determine." Mr. Boutwell
said, "This measure is no invasion of State rights. It
does not seek to control anybody. It does not interfere
with the system of education anywhere. It only proposes to
furnish the means by which, from a Bureau here, every
citizen of every State in this Republic can be informed as
to the means of education existing and applied in the most
1 Proceedings of Educational Association, 1871, p. 18.
23
advanced sections of the country and the world." (¹) These
extracts fairly represent the prevailing sentiment of the
people at the time the Bureau was established, and there is
ample proof that the feeling has not perceptibly changed.
The annual meetings of the National Educational Association
are attended by the most prominent educationists from all
parts of the Union, and all topics affecting education are dis-
cussed. At the meeting of the Association held at Washington,
January, 1874, it was resolved unanimously, "That this
convention strongly approves the policy hitherto pursued by
the Federal Government, of leaving the people and local
Government of each State to manage their own educational
affairs without interference, believing that the principle on
which this policy is based is as sound educationally as it is
politically."
Any measure which, however slightly or indirectly,
encroaches, or seems to encroach, upon the absolute inde-
pendence of the several States excites antagonism. In
1872, Mr. Perce brought before Congress a bill "to establish
an educational fund, and to apply the proceeds of the
public lands to the education of the people." The professed
object of the bill was to dedicate the proceeds of the
public lands to the education of all the people of all the
States. The income arising from the fund to be thus formed
was to be annually apportioned to the several States and
Territories upon the basis of population; but it was required,
as a condition of receiving a share of the apportionment, that
each State should report certain specified statistics at certain
fixed times in the year. This was sufficient to arouse the
vigilance of the State officers, and the bill was resisted on
the ground that it would encourage centralisation and be
- prejudicial to the cause of education. (2)
1 History of National Bureau, p. 10. 2 New York State Report, 1872, p. 63.
24
Enough has been said to show the extent of federal
jurisdiction upon the question. Of the work of the Central
Department of Education I shall have occasion from time
to time to speak. At the outset, one is impressed by the
vast field over which its enquiries extend. Thirty-seven
States and eleven Territories are comprised within the area
of its investigations. Besides the enormous number of
common schools, which they contain, nearly 5,000 other
institutions of instruction are in correspondence with the
Department.
(b) Relation of the State Government to the Municipality.
Upon each State rests the responsibility of providing
for the education of its citizens. "This responsibility
has been generally recognised in the establishment, by
legislative enactment, of a system of free common schools,
supported in part by State school funds, accumulated from
national grants of lands, and from appropriations made from
the State revenue, and in part by local taxation or assess-
ment made upon those directly benefited by the schools
themselves." (¹) In many States this duty is enjoined by the
Constitution. How far the free States have fulfilled these
obligations may be learned from the report of Bishop Fraser.
"The common school system, which occupies so proud a
position among American institutions, is almost exclusively a
product of free soil. Into the Southern States, usually so
called, it had scarcely penetrated before the civil war, with
the exception, as I was informed, of a tolerably complete
organisation for the city of Charleston, S. C., and another for
1 Statement of Bureau, p. 10.
25
the State of Louisiana. In the border States, as Kentucky
and Missouri, the system existed, but in very dwarfed
dimensions. In the new State of Western Virginia it was
being organised during the period of my visit. But over the
Northern States, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from
the Ohio to the St. Lawrence, it has covered the land with a
vast network of schools." (1) In the ten years which have
elapsed since Bishop Fraser visited America, the Southern
States have made a vigorous, and in part a successful, effort
to remove the disgrace of a defective provision for popular
education. In considering what they have done it must
always be kept in mind that they have had to deal with the
legacy of ignorance and indifference left to them by slavery.
They have had, also, to contend with the difficulties which
followed the civil war, the chief of which was the impoverished
condition of many parts of the country, and the consequent
inability of the inhabitants to pay taxes for the support of
schools. To surmount all the obstacles in the way of an
efficient school system in a country with such antecedents
must be a work of time; but it is satisfactory to know
that the attempt is being made, and that the reports from
the Southern States show that the system is gradually
taking root in the soil.
In theory, at any rate, every State in the Union has now
a system of common schools, fashioned mainly on the model
of that which exists in New England, and which has been
made familiar to English readers by the descriptions of
Bishop Fraser and other visitors to the States.
It is, first, in obedience to the commands of the State
Legislatures that provision is made for common school educa-
tion; but the principle of self-government is applied much
more closely than is indicated by the recognition of the
1 Fraser, p. 11.
26
independence of the States. In no State-even where a
State Board of Education exists-is any extensive intervention
on the part of the State Government called for. The State
issues the command, and the municipality, or local govern-
ment, by whatever name it is known, carries it into execution.
"The local direction and management of the schools are left
to the municipalities or to the local corporate bodies organised
for the special purpose, and a general supervision is reserved
to itself by the State. In some States, compulsory educa-
tional laws have been passed; not, however, requiring those
who are taught in other ways to resort to the public schools.”
"The State arranges the school system, and designates
the various kinds of schools to be supported and managed
by the public authorities, and sometimes prescribes moreor
less of the branches of knowledge to be taught; provides
how districts may be created, divided, or consolidated with
others, and how moneys may be raised by or for them;
prescribes their organisation, officers, and their powers, and
the time and manner of filling and vacating offices, and the
functions of each officer; prescribes the school age and
conditions of attendance, and provides, in some cases, for the
investment and application of the school funds derived from
the General Government. The local municipalities organise
school districts under State laws, elect school officers, and
levy and collect taxes for school purposes. The local school
officers examine, appoint, and fix the salaries of teachers,
when not otherwise done, build school-houses, procure school
supplies, arrange courses of study, prescribe the rules and
regulations for the government of the schools, and administer
the schools." (¹)
1 Statement of Bureau, p. 10.
27
Provision of Schools.
Bishop Fraser has set out at some length, in his valuable
report, the laws of the State of Massachusetts respecting the
supply of schools. The requirement of the law in that State
is that every school district shall maintain schools enough for
all the children of school age for the period of six months in
each year. (1) In Dr. Rigg's superficial criticism of the
American system, it is represented that the State has no
power to enforce its regulations. Happily, the exercise of such
a power in America is rarely called for, ample provision being
generally made for schools by the spontaneous action of the
people. Of the law of Massachusetts Bishop Fraser says:
"The law is imperative, but the penalty attached to failure
to comply with it might be difficult of infliction. Mr. Mann
says that a township is indictable and punishable if it does
not maintain one or more schools, and he refers, in proof of
this assertion, to Revised Statutes, ch. 23, s. 60." (2) I know
of no State but Maryland in which the provision of school
accommodation is not compulsory. The Maryland report for
1873 (p. 10) says: "The law puts it in the power of the
citizens of every county to have a good school in every
district; it gives them advice, encouragement, and substantial
aid, but it does not use compulsion." The Maryland Board of
Education defend this policy on the express ground that the
time has not arrived when it would be advisable to force the
system on the inhabitants of the State. They are adopting it
of their own accord; to attempt to force it would check its
development. In regard to all the Southern States the true
policy of American statesmen is to be patient. Throughout
the Northern and Western States inadequate accommodation
1 Mass. report, 1873, p. 19.
2 Fraser's Report, p. 17.
28
is very exceptional. Here and there in the State reports,
a complaint of the kind may be found. In an examination
of the reports of more than thirty States, the only case
which I discovered that had the appearance of culpable
negligence was in the State of New Jersey. The report
of that State for 1873 (p. 50) states that in Jersey city there
were as many as 8,000 children for whom accommoda-
tion was needed. This was partly owing to a large influx
into the schools; and it was a healthy sign that at the date
of the report a very vigorous effort was being made by the
school officers to secure the requisite accommodation. In
many of the western towns, it is not always an easy matter
to supply schools as fast as they are required. The report
upon the schools of Detroit (1873) says:
The pressure
for admission into our public schools still continues, and,
notwithstanding the addition of 400 seats this year, hundreds
have been denied admission. To partially relieve these
urgent wants, we are operating a number of half-day schools.
At the rate of increase of population, we ought to furnish
about 1,000 new seats each year. With this in view, we
recommend the purchase this year of six sites on which to
erect school buildings." (¹)
The report for the city of Cleveland (Ohio), 1872,
says: "The necessity for more new buildings, having seating
capacity of from five hundred to eight hundred pupils each, is
pressing.
A careful survey of the entire city
will satisfy anyone at all familiar with its wants that, for
some years to come, it will be necessary to erect one new
building annually." (2)
These extracts, while they show the kind of demands made
upon the energy and liberality of American educationists, are
1 Mich. Report, 1873, p. 325. 2 Cleveland Report, 1872, p. 11.
29
a valuable index to the spirit in which they are met. If the
remarkable development of American industry, population,
and resources is taken into account, it is proof of the attach-
ment of Americans to their system of education that the
supply of schools keeps pace with national progress in other
directions. The amount of expenditure for school purposes was
doubled during the ten years from 1850 to 1860, and almost
trebled between 1860 and 1870.
Previous to 1868 there were in the State of Pennsylvania
some twenty-four districts which had refused or neglected to
supply public schools. Some of them had private schools in
operation, but in most the education of the children was
greatly neglected. The energetic measures taken by the
State authorities since 1868 have "accomplished the much-
needed work of bringing in the recusant districts." (¹) This
will dispose of the suggestion that the State authorities have
no means of compelling localities to do their duty. If,
however, any doubt about it exists in the mind of any
English reader, it may be set at rest by the authoritative
statement of the National Bureau. "The general form of the
National Government is largely copied in the civil organisation
of the particular States, and no powers or functions of an
administrative character are ordinarily exercised by the State
as a whole, which concern only the particular interests and
well-being of the subordinate organisations or corporations
into which the State is divided for judicial and municipal
purposes; but the State usually vests these local powers and
functions in the corporations themselves, such as counties,
townships, and cities. The power of the State over these local
corporations is complete; but they are generally allowed large
legislative and administrative powers of a purely local
character, while the State ordinarily confines its action and
1 Penn. Report, 1872, p. xii.
30
legislation to matters in which the people of the whole State
are interested." (¹)
But it is highly fortunate for the United States that
the school laws are in harmony with the sympathies of the
people, and that the interposition of the Government to secure
provision for education is unnecessary. Everywhere the
school-house is "the unerring sign of civilisation." The
report for Michigan (1873) refers to "the interest felt, and
the sacrifices made, by the pioneers in the new counties,
who sometimes organise districts and establish schools before
there are voters enough to fill the district offices." (2)
The simple principle of the American school laws is that
the people can be trusted to attend to their own business. In
the preliminary matter of providing school buildings and
machinery it leaves little to be desired. The doctrine of the
supreme authority of each district over its own affairs may be
pushed to inconvenience, and no doubt it has worked injuriously
in some respects-notably in the multiplication of small school
districts; but striking a balance between the good and evil,
and judging from the results alone, it is difficult to understand
what better system could have been devised.
There are
localities to be found in the United States, as in most other
countries, where schools are unpopular; but they are, as one
of their reports says, chiefly places "not favoured with
convenience for speedy transmission of news, and where
people are still voting for General Jackson.”
1 Statement of Bureau, p. 10. 2 Mich. Report, 1873, p. 53.
31
(c) School Districts.
Massachusetts was the first State in which a common
school law was enacted. Upon the model set up by this
State all the New England States and many other States
of the North and North-West have founded their school
systems. In Massachusetts, and all the New England
States, the township is the "political unit" upon which lies
the obligation to make provision for education; (¹) and the
township as the area of the school district has been adopted
in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, Missouri, and some other
States. (2)
"Both the area and the population of a township vary
indefinitely in the Eastern States. In the new States of
the West the area of all townships is the same-thirty-six
square miles-unless they lie on the borders of the State, in
which case they may happen to be curtailed.” (³)
"In New York the township' almost disappears as an
element in the organisation of the school system, its only
important constitutents being (a) the county, (b) the district.”(4)
This remark applies to many other States and Territories,
including Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia,
Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada,
New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South
Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin,
Arizona, Colorado, Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming." (5)
Although, at first sight, the area of a school district may
appear to be an unimportant matter of detail, yet upon it, as
the experience of the United States has proved, the efficiency
of any school system largely depends. The most formidable
1 Fraser's Report, p. 16. 2 Report of Commissioner of Education,
3 Fraser's Report, p. 16.
+ Fraser's Report, p. 29.
5 See Report of Commissioner of Education, 1873, p. cxx.
1873, p. cxx.
32
difficulty which the American system has encountered has
arisen out of this question. This is what is known in the
United States as "the district system." It had its origin in
a law passed in Massachusetts in 1789, authorising the
division of townships into districts for school purposes. The
original object of the law, Fraser remarks, was innocent and
praiseworthy; the result has been to create a most powerful
impediment to the easy working of the system.
In our discussions in England since the passing of the
Education Act it has been suggested that in adopting the
parish as the school district we have selected, in many cases,
too small a division. We have, however, happily steered clear
of the extreme which, in the United States, has been very
prejudicial to harmonious and efficient action. If every small
hamlet in the English parishes had been created a separate
school district, the error could hardly have occasioned greater
difficulties than have resulted under the law of Massachusetts.
Mr. Horace Mann said that this was "the most unfortunate
law on the subject of common schools ever enacted by the
State."(1) Unfortunately, it was not confined to Massachusetts.
The spirit of the law was in harmony with the strong political
predilection of Americans-the right of each locality to
govern within its own limits; and the system was adopted in
New York and many other States, before its action in
Massachusetts had demonstrated the mischief it would occasion.
In 1869 Massachusetts passed a law abolishing the system, (2)
and, I believe, in nearly all of the States where the law was
in operation, it has been repealed since Bishop Fraser made
his report; but wherever it still exists it is the subject of the
most bitter complaint and condemnation amongst school
superintendents and officers. The State Superintendent of
Maine, says: "Under the district system' these facts were
1 Fraser's Report, p. 35.
<
2 Mass. Report, 1873, p. 112.
33
patent-first, that the school moneys were inequably divided,
some districts receiving much more than they could profitably
expend, others much less than was absolutely needed;
second, poor school-houses in remote and sparsely-settled
sections; third, short schools, or poor ones, if the agent
attempted to lengthen by hiring cheap teachers. Little
money, poor school-houses, short schools, are the necessary
attendants of this system." (¹) In Maine an Act has been
passed authorising the abolition of the system by a vote of
the township.
The School Committee of Peru (Mass.) say: "In the
report of the agent of the Board of Education, in illustration
of the beauties of the district system, an instance is given
where a school was taught some months for the benefit of one
scholar, at an expense of sixty dollars.” (²)
The Pennsylvania report for 1873 gives an instance of
a district in which the school was composed of members of
one family. (3)
Most of the States have, after an extended trial of the
district system, reorganised under the township plan; and
the complete abolition of the former system, if it can be
secured by the almost unanimous condemnation of school
officials of all grades, would appear to be a question of time
only. I have alluded to the subject, partly because the
information is necessary to a fair understanding of the
previous working of the American system, and partly because
the experience of the United States may have valuable
lessons for England in any future development of our educa-
tional system. If the time should ever arrive to attempt in
this country a gradation of schools, the area of the school
districts will have to be reconsidered. In the meantime it
1 Maine Report, 1872, p. 86.
2 Mass. Report, 1873, p. 16.
3 Penn. Report, 1873, p. 135.
D
34
will be seen that it is possible to push a healthy principle-
that of local self-government-to an inconvenient extreme.
(d) Local School Boards or Management Committees.
The local Boards which have the control of schools are
called School Committees in Massachusetts, Maine, New
Hampshire, and Rhode Island; School Visitors in Connecticut;
School Directors in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Oregon,
Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington; School
Trustees in Arkansas, Kentucky, New Jersey, and South
Carolina; School Commissioners in New York; School.
Boards in Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada,
and Ohio; and Prudential Committees in Vermont. (¹)
However named in the several States, these bodies are
very similar in their constitution, powers, and duties, and
directly represent the opinions and will of the people them-
selves in reference to the maintenance and condition of their
schools. (2)
In Massachusetts the Committees consist of any number
divisible by three, elected by the township, one third of
whom retire annually. In this and some other States they
are paid a salary. Their duties consist in the employment of
teachers, provision and maintenance of a sufficient number
of school-houses, visitation of schools, and selection of text-
books.
In Ohio the duties and powers of School Boards follow
very much the line of the English Education Act. The
Boards are bodies politic and corporate, and as such are
1 See Report of Commissioner of Education, 1873, p. cxx.
2 Proceedings of National Educational Association, 1872, p. 255.
35
capable of suing and being sued, making contracts, acquiring,
holding, and disposing of property.
The Boards are empowered to appoint superintendents,
and to fix their salaries. They are also required to make
rules and regulations for the government of the schools under
their control. They must publish annual reports of the
condition of the schools and the management of school affairs.
They are also required to report to the county auditor, and
they are authorised to require teachers and superintendents
to keep full and complete school records. The studies to be
pursued, and the text-books to be used, are to be determined
by the Boards in their respective districts. (¹)
In other States School Boards are invested with similar
powers.
(e) Local Supervision.
Between the local School Board and the State Board, or
Superintendent, a third office, charged with the duty of
inspection and supervision, has been created in most of the
States-that of "County Superintendent," which is now in
use in twenty-eight States and six Territories. Upon the
necessity for such an agency American educationalists are
unanimous. In their school reports the motto of Holland,
"As your inspection is, so is your school," is constantly
quoted and enforced. When Bishop Fraser was in America
he noticed the want of a Central Bureau of Education,
and of the kind of control exercised by Her Majesty's
Inspectors of Schools in England. As I have shown, the
Central Bureau has since been established. With regard to
supervision or inspection, Bishop Fraser appears to have been
1 See Ohio Report, 1873, p. 38.
36
under the impression that it was in use only in the larger
cities, such as New York, Boston, Newhaven, Cincinnati,
and Chicago. During the last ten years there has been
a very marked educational revival in America, and
much has been done to supply adequate means for
inspection; but "I think Bishop Fraser is mistaken in
supposing that this kind of supervision existed only in
cities at the time of his visit to the States. It is true that
the County Superintendents are not under the regulations
of the National Government as in England, but they
are responsible to the State Department of Education,
whether that Department be under the control of a superin-
tendent, as in some States, or a Board, as in other States.
County Superintendents, or Inspectors, were appointed in
Iowa in 1858, in New York State in 1856, in Pennsylvania,
in 1854; and they now are employed in Alabama, Arkansas,
California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana,
Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota,
Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey,
New York (where they are called County Commissioners),
Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West
Virginia, Wisconsin, Arizona, Colorado, Dakota, District of
Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
On this subject General Eaton, the Commissioner of
Education, in his last report, says: "The importance of
intelligent oversight of schools finds continually increasing
recognition with our people. In some form, almost every
State and Territory in the Union has now both general and
local superintendence. The system abides where it has already
found a lodgment, and steadily makes its way to points
beyond. Arkansas has, in 1873, exchanged its former circuit
supervision for the closer inspection of county superin-
tendency. Indiana has put County Superintendents in place
of the County Examiners it had before. North Carolina is
37
calling for a kindred change, and Maine desires the restora-
tion of the superintendency it had. Tennessee, after abolishing
it, has restored it. And although, from false ideas of economy,
or from discontent with the imperfect work which small
salaries secure, there have been mutterings against it in some
quarters, good supervision abundantly justifies itself by its
effects, wherever a judicious liberality provides salaries suf-
ficient to secure the proper kind of men, and enable them to
give their undivided time to the performance of the duties of
their office. A universal adoption of the system on this
liberal plan would probably do more than any other single
thing to promote the interests of education in the States." (¹)
The first qualification of a County Superintendent, in
American opinion, is that he should be "a live man,"
having an eye like the Lady Blanche's—“ a lidless watcher
of the public weal."
The functions of County Superintendents vary to a con-
siderable extent in the different States. Amongst the duties
imposed upon them are: To visit, examine, and inspect
schools; to give advice and direction to teachers; to adjust
district boundaries; to give information and counsel to School
Boards; to settle all disputes respecting school matters; to
examine and license teachers; to apportion school moneys,
and to issue orders for the payment of the same; to examine
school accounts, and to prepare the annual county school
reports.
While amongst school officers the County Superin-
tendency is considered the right arm of the system, it is not
always a popular office amongst the people. It checks too
much, and grates upon the American notion of independence.
The consequence is that in some States an effort has been
made to keep the Superintendent in a subordinate
1 Report of Commissioner of Education, 1873, p. cxvii.
38
position. By offering low salaries a class of incapable
officers has been secured, and, as an inevitable result, the
work has been badly done. In Iowa and Missouri a very con-
siderable feeling exists against the continuance of the office.
In the former State it has had a trial of over sixteen years-
long enough, one would think, to demonstrate its utility, if
it were really a useful agency—yet there exists a wide
difference of opinion as to its value. The friends of the
system claim that it has not had a fair trial. The officers
have been chosen at political conventions, and all the vices of
American politics have had a share in the contest. The
salary, too, has always been insufficient to attract good
officers. No wonder that the office has been but a partial
success. "The greatest wonder is that the office has,
under such circumstances, not become more unpopular
than it actually has; and it doubtless would but for
the fact that a large number of talented, earnest, superior
men have been from time to time drawn into this
office, and have devoted their best energies to the performance
of its duties." (¹)
In the State of New York the system was in operation
previous to 1847. In that year it was abolished. The effect
of the abolition is described by the Hon. S. S. Spencer, late
Deputy Superintendent in the State, who says: "Its effect
upon the prosperity and advancement of the common school
system was, in many essential respects, most disastrous.
During a period of nearly forty years the progress of that system
had been uninterruptedly onward and upward; and a succes-
sion of wise enactments had strengthened and consolidated its
foundation, and expanded its usefulness in every direction.
The destruction of that feature, which, perhaps more than
any other, had come to constitute its most distinctive charac-
1 Iowa Report, 1872, p. 43.
39
teristic and crowning excellence, giving to its details their
peculiar symmetry and power, was the first retrograde step in
its history." (1) After the lapse of nine years the office was
restored in New York State in 1856, by providing for the
election of a School Commissioner in each assembly district.
In his report for 1871, the Superintendent of Public
Instruction, the Hon. A. B. Weaver, says: "There is no
attribute of our school system which, when wisely and faith-
fully exercised, is productive of more direct and practical
benefit than personal supervision by competent officers.
Much of the success and improvement which has already
been witnessed in many of the cities and rural districts of the
State is due to this agency; and if ever our schools are
brought to the highest condition of excellence, it will be
through an efficient administration of this branch of educa-
tional service." (2) After referring to the plan of inspection
in Holland, Mr. Weaver adds: "In our own State, and
under our own system of public instruction, it is not less
fundamental.”
The Hon. J. P. Wickersham, Superintendent of Public
Instruction in Pennsylvania, in a recent report says: "We
have had superintendents of schools in our counties since
1854, a period of fifteen years, and nothing is risked in
saying that wherever persons well qualified have filled the
office, it has done great good, and is popular. It must be
continued, either in its present or in some modified form that
will render it more efficient. The work it does, I am satisfied,
cannot be as well done by any other agency that can be
substituted for it."
Dr. Newton Bateman, Superintendent of Public In-
struction in the State of Illinois, in the course of a long
review of the results in other States, says: "I am persuaded
1 Iowa Report, 1872-3, p. 43. 2 New York State Report, 1871, p. 55.
40
that county supervision cannot be dispensed with without
serious detriment to the free school interests of the State. I
believe that its benefits are so obvious and manifold, that it
ought to have, and will have, a permanent place in the final
adjustment of the working forces in every State school law—
that experience has abundantly demonstrated its claim to be
regarded as an indispensable part of the true American system
of school supervision.
It can hardly be
doubted that the model system of school supervision, the
ultimate system of the future, will embrace as its essential
parts the State, the county, and the town." (¹)
The Massachusetts Board of Education have arrived
at the conclusion that this office must be adopted in
that State. Massachusetts having for years led the way
in matters of education, has been slow to receive suggestions
from her neighbours, or to accept reforms not initiated
in the State. Horace Mann said: "The newer Western
States enjoy one great advantage over the people of
Massachusetts. They have been exempted from the
immense labour of for ever boasting of their ancestors,
and so have had more time to devote to their posterity."
Now, however, the most prominent educators in the State are
of opinion that the appointment of County Superintendents
ought not to be longer delayed. The report of the Board
issued in 1873 recommends the creation of an additional
superintending and inspecting agency. "Many of our sister
States," says the report, "in the organisation of their school
systems, have incorporated what is best in our own, and not
a few have superadded improvements of which our own
system remains destitute. And in no particular have other
States surpassed us more conspicuously than in the provisions.
they have made for the supervision of schools. In nearly all
1 Illinois Report, 1871-2, p. 145.
41
the States of the Union there has been provided a class of
educational officers, occupying an intermediate position
between the Towns' Committees on the one hand, and the State
system of supervision on the other. In most of these States,
these supervisors or superintendents are county officers.
With the existing evidence of the utility and importance of
this agency of progress and improvement, which comes to us
from a score of States, it would be the height of presumption
in us to assume that Massachusetts can maintain her former
prestige in educational matters without the adoption of this
or some analogous instrumentality for the increase of the
economy and efficiency of the management of her schools." (¹)
(f) State Superintendence.
All the States and Territories, except Delaware and
Alaska, have State Superintendents of Public Schools; and
the following States have State Boards of Education for the
general regulation of their public school systems :—Alabama,
Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana,
Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan,
Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey,
North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Ver-
mont, and Virginia. A Territorial Board of Education exists
in Arizona. Kansas has a State Board of Commissioners for
the management and investment of the State school fund. (2)
1 Massachusetts Report, 1873, p. 19.
2 See Report of Commissioner of Education, 1873, p. cxxii.
42
These Boards are not entrusted with the extensive
powers and prerogatives which are exercised by the Education
Department in England. In this country, where the “inso-
lence of office" is proverbial, we find it a difficult matter to
submit at all times patiently to the humours of "my lords "
at Whitehall, and it may be safely said that such extensive
checks upon local freedom of action as they possess would
not be tolerated for an instant in the United States. A
School Board in England may not build a school, select a
site, or prescribe the amount of a school fee, without the
sanction of the Education Department. It is well understood
that the policy of the Department is directed by its chief for
the time being, whether he be President or Vice-President.
This is what in America is known as the " one-man power,"
against which the ire of American speakers and writers is so
frequently and so freely concentrated. As we know in England,
this almost absolute sway of the Department has its
inconveniences. But, on the other hand, it may be
doubted whether the superintendence of the State School
Boards in the Union is not of too restricted a character
to secure the highest efficiency in the administration of the
school systems.
The State Superintendent or the School Board in each
State is required to issue an annual report.
Personal supervision of schools to any extent is not
required of State Superintendents, and it is obvious that it
would be impossible. The State Superintendent for Iowa
says in his report for 1872: "The Superintendent of Public
Instruction is charged with the general supervision of
all the public schools of the State, but this must
necessarily be of the most general character. In a
State like Iowa, with ninety-nine organised counties,
twenty-five hundred school districts, nine thousand schools,
fifteen thousand school officers, and as many teachers, it is
43
impossible, even if it were desirable, for this officer to exercise
personal supervision to any considerable extent." (¹)
The State Superintendent is the executive head of the
system of supervision. He is the official adviser and assistant
of the County Superintendents, through whom he communi-
cates with subordinate school officers, and sees that the
school laws are understood and obeyed. The policy of
school legislation in the United States depends to a very
large degree upon the views taken by the State Superin-
tendents. They are constantly addressing the people, either
through educational conventions and associations, or by
means of their annual reports. Those who have studied
the latter, however much they may differ as to the value
of American methods, will admit that in the State
Superintendents the United States possess a class of school
officers whose value it is impossible to estimate too
highly. While their reports are marked throughout by the
strongest feeling of patriotism, and of attachment to the
American school idea, they never attempt to slur over the
blemishes or defects of the system. Every detail of organi-
sation is subjected to a microscopic examination, and every
rotten place is discovered and exposed. The evidences of
partial weakness and failure which are seized upon with such
avidity by the enemies of the "free common school" in
England, are precisely those which the State Superintendents
have been the first to indicate, not as proofs of general
inefficiency and unsoundness, but as imperfections of detail
which demand a remedy.
Another feature of their reports worthy of notice is
the candour and fairness with which new methods are
discussed, weighed, and tried upon their merits. There
is no "finality" party amongst them. They are actuated by
1 Iowa Report, 1872, p. 40.
44
the belief that education is a progressive science, and while
claiming for their methods a large measure of success, their
almost universal opinion is that America, in common with other
countries, has taken but the earliest steps towards the perfect
school system of the future.
45
II.
COST.
(a) THEORY OF FREE SCHOOLS-(6) PROVISION OF FUNDS
FOR EDUCATION-(c) TOTAL ABOLITION OF RATE
BILLS (SCHOOL FEES)-(d) FREE SCHOOLS, THE
PEOPLE'S SYSTEM.
(a) Theory of Free Schools.
The idea of throwing the cost of public education upon
the State is not of American origin. Free schools existed in
Holland long before they were known in the United States.
Also, it is said that in 1526-more than 100 years
before the Pilgrim Fathers landed in America-Luther pro-
pounded to the Elector of Saxony the proposition that
"Government, as the natural guardian of all the young, has
the right to compel the people to support schools. That
which is necessary to the well-being of a State, should be
supported by those who enjoy the privileges of the State.
Now, nothing is more necessary than the training of those
who are to come after us and bear rule." (¹) From this
reasoning sprang the Saxon free school system.
1 Indiana Report, 1872, p. 12.
46
More than one of the United States claim the honour
of having first introduced the free school in America. On
behalf of New York, it is said that the Dutch who colonised
that State, took it there from Holland. Hartford (Conn.)
appears to be the first town which established a free school,
but there can be little doubt that Massachusetts was the first
State to make laws providing for a regular system of free
schools. In 1642 an Act was passed by the Massachusetts
Legislature enjoining upon the municipal authorities "the
duty of seeing that every child within their respective
jurisdictions should be educated."(1) From this beginning, the
free system, previously to the revolutionary war, had ex-
tended over the New England States. The element of school
fees, or rate-bills, as they are called in America, was sub-
sequently engrafted on the system in some of the States.
The morality of taxes for education is no longer
considered a debatable subject. No one questions the
moral right of a Government to levy taxes in order to
repel a foreign enemy. Now, the moral right to tax property
for educational purposes rests upon the ground that education
laws have become more necessary than armies for the
defence and preservation of the State; and especially this
is true under a free Government like our own or that of the
United States. "An ignorant people can be governed, but
only an educated people can govern themselves." We cannot
expect to have a wise Legislature unless we have an educated
constituency. If this be true, it is impossible to attach too
much importance to the education of voters, for upon their
qualifications depend those of the law-makers. In a Govern-
ment where every citizen has a voice, education must be
co-extensive with universal suffrage. Thus the education of
the people, considered purely by each nation as a home
1 Fraser's Report, p. 12.
47
question, is in an important degree a police measure. Daniel
Webster so described it. He said, "We regard it as a wise
and liberal system of police, by which property, and life,
and the peace of society are secured."
But when the foreign relations of the State are taken
into account, education occupies even a more important place,
as a means of national preservation. It is not so much to the
wisdom of Legislatures, or an enlightened social organisation,
as to skill in productive arts, that States in future must
look for their supremacy. Education is the great instrument
which determines this excellence. To secure these ends-
wise laws at home, and dexterity in competitive industry—
the justice and morality of taxes ceases to be canvassed.
To use a simile of Mr. Horace Mann, "In a wisely
administered Government taxes are the fares which we
pay on railroad cars, the price for being safely carried
and well provided for through the journey of life.” (¹)
Holding this view of educational taxes above all others,
some of the most wealthy citizens of New York petitioned
the Legislature for the passage of a law to tax their
property for the support of the public schools, thereby
making them free for all, both rich and poor. (2) They acted
upon the conviction that it is unsafe to live in a community
where children are suffered to grow up without education.
The education of the people is regarded in the United States
as the first and most important interest of society, and as a
work "too gigantic for private capital, too momentous for the
mischances of private judgment." It takes the first rank
amongst the necessities of the nation, and, accordingly, it has
been founded upon the most permanent and immovable basis,
instead of being left to the shifting ground of private
1 Randall's History of Free Schools, p. 220.
2 Ibid, p. 218.
48
benevolence or caprice, or even to that self-interest which is
so strong a motive power in modern society. That basis is
the whole property of the nation. The rule, subject to a few
exceptions, is that every man shall contribute to the support
of the schools in his district, in proportion to his wealth. In
the consideration of this question-the value of education
to the child or to the family-the bare personal interest
involved is allowed to sink very much out of sight.
The relation of the individual to society, the necessities of the
whole community and of succeeding generations, are the
prime elements in the controversy. Taxes to support educa-
tion are founded not upon "the idea that the individual wants
it for his personal good, but that society requires it ;" and
upon the further principle, that "the public has a proprietary
interest in all property as well as the individual, and may
use it as necessities demand." (¹)
"The poor man with a family of six children to be edu-
cated ought not to be obliged to pay six times as much as the
rich man with one child, or even as much as the latter with
six children. It is common intelligence we are endeavouring
to secure, and the cost of the attempt, and all the instrumen-
talities connected therewith, in justice and equity should be
paid by the common wealth, by all the property in the State.
This is a principle long recognised in the school district, and
in the town, since never the individual, but property, is
assessed for educational and other purposes." (2)
In discussing this question as between poor and
rich, or between property and labour, the important share
exercised by the working classes in the production of
wealth should not be overlooked. The rate of increase in
wealth in all countries depends, in a large degree, upon
the presence of the labourer, and this is pre-eminently
1 Kentucky Report, 1872, p. 11.
2 Maine Report, 1872, p. 25.
1
49
the case in the United States. The value of real property
augments constantly and rapidly, and the increment is owing
directly and largely to the increase of settlers. The value of
other kinds of property also depends, if not so directly, still
chiefly, upon the same cause, for without the workman capital
would remain idle and unproductive. It is admitted, also, that
in proportion to the education of the labourer, the increase in
the value of property is more or less rapid. In a new country
with the vast resources of America, the presence of sufficient
educated labour is the greatest force in the accumulation of
wealth. It is right, therefore, that the cost of education
should be borne by the wealth which it is mainly instru-
mental in producing.
Upon such considerations as the foregoing, the policy of
the American free school system has been established. By
different ways, perhaps, England and most of the European
States have arrived at the same conclusion-that it is the duty
of the nation to provide for the education of the people.
The following sentence from a New York report might
have been written of England with equal truth: “Education
is a matter of State concern. The popular sense has
recognised it as such, and that conviction is the basis.
of all Governmental regulations upon the subject. Unless
this be true, very much of our legislation in past years
is unjustifiable, and all appropriations from the State Treasury
for the support of schools are indefensible." (¹) We have no
longer in this country to contend about the principle of free
education that has been admitted by all educational
legislation during the present century. What remains for
us to consider is the policy of retaining the small con-
tribution now made by parents in the shape of school fees.
Our legislators have swallowed the camel, and are now
:
1 New York State Report, 1871, p. 19.
E
50
straining at the gnat, a process which it is to be hoped will
be of short duration.
In this place it may be well to notice some of the
familiar arguments which are used in England against free
schools, and to examine them in the light of American expe-
rience. One of the most common assertions is that free
education is a charity, and is calculated to undermine the
sense of independence in those who receive it. It is strange
that, in a country where free education for the middle classes
has been so general, such an argument should ever be
used, and still more so that it should be advanced by those
who have themselves been educated in free schools.
mingham, I remember to have heard this weighty reason
stated by the master of a free grammar school which was
at one period of its history almost entirely appropriated to
the use of the middle classes.
means.
In the older States of America, where free schools have
been long in operation, such a criticism is never heard; but in
some of those States where the system has been inaugurated
during recent years objections of the kind have been made.
The State Superintendent for Virginia thus replies to them in
his second annual report: According to current usage, public
education means education provided by the community as a
whole, in contradistinction from education provided by private
It recognises the principle that the commonwealth
has a stake in the pupils-the young people—and that she
means to guarantee her own future by seeing that they do
not lack the means of improvement. It is education by the
people, of the people, for the people. In other words, it is
education by the public for the public good; and this educa-
tion is free as well as public. It does not mean charitable,
by free. To say that a community, in providing a benefit for
itself, is doing an act of charity, is a solecism. A public
school is no more a provision of charity than a town pump.
51
It is free as the public hydrant is free, or a street lamp is free.
It is free to the individual, and to all individuals alike. The
cost is borne by the community, like the cost of water, street
lights, public roads, bridges, and such like public conveniences,
all of which are free. Nobody stultifies himself by calling a
free bridge a charity." (¹)
The State Superintendent for Kentucky says: “We
claim that the common school is no charitable institution,
erected outside of the State, to be abandoned or maintained
as charitable wealth may elect to dole out its alms; but it is
a needful part of the civil order, to dispense with which is to
abrogate one of the legitimate functions for which the body
politic is organised." (2)
In the Northern and Western States no man dreams that
in sending his children to a free school he becomes the reci-
pient of charity, and no argument so absurd is ever advanced
against the system.
In Connecticut, before the abolition of rate bills or school
fees, it was said (as it is constantly alleged in England) that
such a step would weaken the feeling of self-respect in
parents, and lessen their interest in the work of education.
How far it has done so the Secretary of the Connecticut Board
of Education shall tell. "Experience has disproved the objec-
tion that free schools would lessen the interest and respon-
sibility of parents. The argument was that men never value
what costs them nothing; but the fact is that parents do pay,
and all pay their fair and equal share for the support of this
central public interest. This system not only enhances the
interest of the parent, but dignifies the school in the esteem
of the pupils, and quickens the educational spirit of the whole
people. Every taxpayer, having contributed his share to the
support of the schools, naturally looks after this investment.
1 Virginia Report, 1872, Part II., p. 1. 2 Kentucky Report, 1872, p. 13.
52
Such was our theory, and now we say such is the fact. Each
school register has two blank pages for the record of visits of
school officers, parents, and others. These records show a
great increase in the number of visits to our schools. The
united testimony of teachers and school officers affirms the
quickened sympathy and zeal of parents. Their visits to the
schoolroom are always welcome. Where all are partners in
the concern, none need be debarred by fear of intrusion. Our
best teachers are most cordial in welcoming the visits of even
the humblest parents. The frequent conference of parents
and teachers often prompts valuable suggestions as to the
needs and characteristics of individual pupils. The details of
public schools are better known to the parents than are the
plans of private schools to their patrons." (¹)
It is time that in England we heard the last of the asser-
tion-and it is mere assertion-that the abolition of school
fees will degrade either parents or scholars. It would be as wise
to say that the abolition of turnpike tolls is calculated to degrade
the travellers who use the highways. If this is so, debasement
on an extensive scale has been going on of late years.
But, on the other hand, it has been abundantly proved
that the custom of demanding school fees and remitting them
in special cases does produce a sense of degradation.
Our public elementary schools of England have always
been regarded as charitable schools. All the expensive and
cumbersome machinery for regulating school fees in England
-the 25th clause, the 17th clause, the Act substituted for
Denison's Act, the bye-laws of School Boards-all these
are contrivances for preserving the eleemosynary character of
public education as it now exists; and that these do create a
feeling of debasement there are proofs enough if men will
look for them. The same effect was produced by the rate-
1 Connecticut Report, 1870, p. 29.
53
bill in America, and it was this that earned for it, wherever
it was in existence, the well-known name of "the odious
rate-bill."
The power to remit school fees, which formerly existed
in New York as it now exists in England, was ineffectual to
secure attendance at school. A former Superintendent of
that State says: "What proportion of the whole number of
children in the State are excluded from all participation in
the benefits of our common schools on account of the poverty
of their parents, or of the refusal or neglect of the trustees to
make the exemptions on this account required by law, cannot
now be accurately ascertained, and probably never will be,
however important these facts may be. The Superintendent
believes that the number in the whole State, embracing our
large cities, populous villages, and manufacturing towns,
whose destitution entitles them to be placed on the list of
free scholars, is much larger than has been generally supposed
by accurate observers; and the lowest probable estimate we
can form of that number is over forty-six thousand. Among
other obstacles to be encountered is the reluctance of many
parents to participate in the benefits afforded by these exemp-
tions, owing to the manner in which this bounty, as they call
it, is bestowed. They will not send their children to the
schools to be reproached for their poverty, and assailed with
taunts that they are educated at the expense of their more
fortunate neighbours." (1)
As long ago as 1845, the County Superintendent of
Genesee (N. Y.) presented a report on free schools, in which
he says:
"There are children in the State, and, we have reason
to believe, in almost every county in the State, who do not
attend any school, for the very obvious reason that their
parents have not the means to pay their rate-bill; and the
1 Randall's History, p. 214.
54
self-respect and pride of those parents forbid that they should
be exonerated from such payment by the trustees." (1)
Again, the State Superintendent for New York
reported: "Teachers complain of the rate-bill system, not
only because it improperly withholds their wages, but because
the trustees find great difficulty in exercising with fidelity, and
at the same time satisfactorily, the power of exemption.
While the cupidity of the taxpayer is excited, the pride of
men of moderate means is aroused, and their sense of
independence revolts at being certified and put upon the
record as indigent persons.” (²)
Governor Clark, in his message to the Legislature, in
1856, proved from the returns sent to the Superintendent's
Department that a very large number of children were kept
out of school on account of "the repugnance on the part of
parents to avail themselves of their privilege to educate their
children in formâ pauperis, as a district charge." (3) Bishop
Fraser also refers to cases in which parents were too poor to
pay rate-bills, and too proud to own it. (4)
Another argument often advanced in England is, that it
is wrong to tax the thrifty and industrious citizen for the
education of the children of the idle and improvident. This
reasoning was admirably answered by Mr. Horace Greeley in
an address read at a Free School State Convention in New
York. He said: "But we are asked why a citizen who has
worked, and saved, and thrived, should pay for schooling the
children of his neighbour, who has drank, and frolicked, and
squandered till he has little or nothing left. We answer, he
should do it in order that these needy and disgraced children
may not become what their father is, and so, very probably,
in time a public burden, as criminals or paupers. The
children of the drunkard and reprobate have a hard enough
1 Randall's History, p. 217.
3 Randall's History, p. 330.
2 Randall's History, p. 252.
+ Fraser's Report, p.55.
55
lot without being surrendered to his judgment and self-denial
for the measure of their education. If they are to have no
more instruction than he shall see fit and feel able to pay for,
a kind Heaven must regard them with a sad compassion, and
men ought not utterly to leave them uncared for, and
subjected to such moral and intellectual influences only as
their desolate homes may afford. To stake the education of
our State's future rulers and mothers on such parents' ideas of
their own ability and their children's moral needs is madness,
is treason to the common weal. They will be quite enough
detained, even from free schools, by supposed inability to
clothe or spare them; but to cast into the wrong scale a dead
weight of paternal appetite and avarice, in the form of rate-
bills, is to consign them heartlessly to intellectual darkness
and moral perdition. And, in truth, the argument for taxing,
in equal amounts, the improvidently destitute and the frugally
affluent father of a family for school purposes is precisely as
strong for taxing them in equal amounts to build court-houses,
support paupers, dispense justice, or for any other purpose
whatever. Nay, it is even stronger, for the drinking, thriftless,
idle parent is far more likely to bring expense on the
community in the shape of crime to be punished, or
pauperism to be supported, than his thrifty and temperate
neighbour; and, according to our adversaries' logic, he should
pay more taxes on his log-cabin and patch of weedy garden
than that neighbour on his spacious mansion and bounteous
farm. The former will, probably, turn off two paupers to one
of the latter, and should be assessed in a pauper rate-bill
accordingly. And this argument, from parental misconduct
against the justice of free schools, is of a piece with the rest.”(¹)
There is a large class in England who think that wise
ends are served by keeping the people under restraints which
1 Randall's History, p. 270.
56
they consider to be due, but which are in reality petty and
vexatious. While it is from them that we hear most about
preserving the independence of the poor, they have
always been opposed to measures intended to enlarge
popular freedom. They find a personal gratification in the
exercise of petty charity, and the power to deal out to the
working classes little doles such as are contemplated by the
clauses of our Education Act, which provide for remission and
payment of fees. They have a morbid curiosity which takes
a delight in investigating the circumstances of families, and
in probing the bitter experiences of poverty. Notwith-
standing their eternal homilies about parental independence
and responsibility, they possess the spirit of patronage, long
fostered by the social conditions of the country, which has
done much to keep so many of our people in a state of
miserable dependence and subjection. When their system
of alms-giving can be carried on at the public expense, their
zest is no doubt greater, and they will not willingly surrender
any power which still has force to pluck "the slavish hat
from the villager's head." This class now stands in the way
of the complete realisation of the free school system in
England.
The amount of the school fees, which is steadily
decreasing in proportion to the amount expended upon.
education, can no longer be taken into account either as
an element in the preservation of self-respect, or as a fiscal
question of great moment. It would not over-tax the ingenuity
of even the present Chancellor of the Exchequer to provide a
substitute, if the school revenue now derived from fees were
entirely remitted, and the amount paid out of the Consoli-
dated Fund. Mr. Salt, the Conservative member for Stafford,
in a recent speech, expressed an opinion that the Govern-
ment would have had no difficulty last year in making
provision, by means of the education grant, for the school
57
fees; and whereas the remission of local taxation made
by them, amounting to about two millions sterling, has
hardly been felt in the country, the abolition of fees would
have been a direct boon to thousands of homes throughout
the land.
If, on the other hand, the sum now realised by school
fees were thrown upon the rates, it would not, taking the
whole ratal of the country into the calculation, have
amounted to an extra charge of 1d. in the pound. The
net annual value of rateable property in England and Wales,
in 1872, was £109,447,111. The poor-rate for the year was
£12,100,490, or 2s. 24d. in the pound. The school fees for
the same year amounted to £599,283. If the latter sum
had been added to the poor-rate it would have amounted
to an increase of only one and three tenths of a penny in
the pound.
Judging by the experience of the United States, which
will be again referred to when considering the abolition
of rate-bills, there is every reason to believe that the
advantages of abolishing school fees in England would be
immediate, and, in proportion to the difficulty of the financial
operation, immense.
(b) Provision of Funds for Education.
A fashionable way of accounting for the American free
school system, and one that was gravely advanced at a meet-
ing of the London School Board some time back, is to say
that the Americans possessed vast tracts of national lands
which, not knowing what else to do with them, they devoted to
educational purposes. It is common, therefore, to speak of
the schools of the United States as depending chiefly for their
58
support on funds derived from public lands. An examination
of the sources of revenue in almost any State will show
that this is a popular error.
The school revenues of the different States are of various
kinds, and as there is but little approach in this respect to
uniformity of nomenclature, a good deal of confusion is
possible in the investigation of the subject. There are what
are known as School Funds, Surplus Revenue Funds, Saline
Funds, State Taxes, District Taxes, Registry Taxes, Dog Taxes,
Liquor Licences, State Appropriations, and State Apportion-
ments, and in some States in the South there are the
Capitation Tax and Poll Tax. It is not necessary to examine
separately the nature of each of these sources of income.
In American discussions they are generally classified under
three heads-I, State School Funds, answering to Endowments
in England; II, State Taxes, answering to our Government
Grant; III, Local Taxes, or, as we should call them, Local
Rates. To these divisions must be added another which
occupies an important position in the school finances, that
is-IV, Donations.
I. STATE SCHOOL FUNDS.
These are generally permanent funds, the income of
which may be used for school purposes, the principal
remaining intact. They have been accumulated, for the most
part, from national grants of lands and from appropriations
made from time to time by the State Legislatures.
The lands granted by Congress are known as the "16th
Section Lands." Bishop Fraser explains the 16th section
lands as follows:-"Out of the 3,250,000 square miles which
constitute the territorial extent of the Union, the public lands
embrace an area of 2,265,625 square miles, or 1,450,000,000
acres."
“This immense extent of territory, as it is gradually
59
surveyed, is laid off in townships six miles square, each divided
into 36 sections or square miles, of which the 16th is specially
appropriated for the support of schools, and is called the
'School Section.'" (¹)
This process of reservation began in the earliest days of
the Union. In 1785 Congress enacted that there should “be
reserved the lot No. 16 in every township for the maintenance
of public schools.” (2) In the Acts admitting Oregon and
Minnesota to the Union, the 36th section in each township,
as well as the 16th, was devoted to school purposes. (3)
A section of a township is 640 acres a square mile.
Land of the same description is sold by the Government for
one dollar twenty-five cents per acre; but in Indiana the
16th section lands remaining unsold are valued at five dollars
twenty-five cents, and this is about their average market value
in most Western States. In 1870 there had been altogether
set apart by Congress for common schools, universities,
agricultural and mechanical colleges in the States and
Territories, 79,566,794 acres, or 124,322 square miles-a
larger surface than that of Great Britain and Ireland.
In nearly all the States the greater portion of the land
has been sold, and the proceeds invested for school purposes.
The history of the proceeds of these 16th section lands in
some of the States is a very melancholy one. In the South
especially it is so. One of the first acts of secession in several
instances was the perversion of the school funds for the
purposes of war. (4) In Arkansas and Louisiana, the
attempts to trace the devolution of the funds reveal the
most deplorable state of affairs. All the records of transactions
relating to them were lost or destroyed during the war.
Another contribution to the school funds was made by
1 Fraser's Report, p. 42.
2 Proceedings of National Teachers'
* Ibid, p. 115.
Association, 1870. Paper by Gen. Eaton, p. 112.
4 Commissioner's Report, 1870, p. 13.
60
Congress in 1836. Under the administration of President
Jackson, the National Debt contracted by the revolutionary
war and the purchase of Louisiana was discharged, and there
remained a large surplus in the treasury. The Government
distributed this money among the States in the ratio of their
representation in Congress, and the income in a large number
of States was set apart for school purposes. By the terms of
the Act of Distribution, this money is liable to be recalled;
but although nearly forty years have elapsed since the deposit
with the States, not a dollar has ever been recalled, and the
probability is that the fund will never be disturbed. This is
known as the United States Deposit Fund, or the Surplus
Revenue Fund, and it helps to make up the permanent
State School Fund in many States.
The following table shows the amount of the permanent
school fund in different States in 1872 (¹):—
STATE.
Indiana
Arkansas
Connecticut
Florida ...
Illinois
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Maine
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri...
Nevada ..
:
:
:
...
:
:-
...
...
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:.
:
:
...
:
1 Indiana Report, 1872, p. 20.
$.
8,437,593
2,000,000
2,809,770
216,335
6,348,538
4,274,581
750,000
1,400,270
289,991
2,210,864
2,500,214
2,471,199
2,525,252
29,263
61
STATE.
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina...
Ohio
Rhode Island
West Virginia
Wisconsin
:
...
...
...
:.
...
:
::
:
:
:
$.
336,745
556,483
2,880,017
968,242
6,614,816
412,685
216,761
2,237,414
The total revenue derived from Permanent School Funds
throughout the Union, in 1873, amounted to 3,884,408 dollars;
while that proceeding from State and local taxation was
63,324,293 dollars. (1)
II. STATE TAXES.
In the majority of the States a State School Tax is
raised and apportioned amongst the school districts—in a
few instances on the basis of average attendance, but more
frequently according to the population of school age as
shown by the census.
In New York State the law provides that there shall be
raised each year a tax of one mill and one-fourth of a mill
(14 mills) for the support of the common schools. (2) This
State tax was a part of the free school plan.
The free school law of New Jersey (1871) provides that
for the purpose of maintaining free schools there shall be
levied annually a State School Tax of two mills on each dollar
of the valuation. The sum derived from this tax amounts to
about three fourths of all the money needed to maintain the
schools. The tax is uniform in all counties, and is apportioned
for the use of schools on the basis of the school census. (³)
1 Report of Commissioner for Education, 1873, p. 512. 2 New York
State Report, 1874, p. 63. 8 New Jersey Report, 1873, p. 11.
62
In Ohio a State School Tax of "one and three tenths
mills on the dollar" was formerly raised. In the last two
years, however (1872-3), the tax has been only one mill on
the dollar. (¹)
The school law of Missouri provides that 25 per cent.
of the State revenue shall be applied annually for the sup-
port of schools. (2)
In Pennsylvania an annual sum is appropriated from
the State Treasury for the support of education. (³)
In Rhode Island, the State is required to appropriate at
least 50,000 dollars for the support of the schools. In 1873
the State appropriation was 90,000 dollars. (*)
The State Board of Education and the Commissioner of
Public Schools advocate a State tax of one mill on the dollar.
"This amount, divided by the present system, would give
relief, immediate and valuable, to all the poorer towns of the
State, while it would be a small return from the richer for the
benefits which have been and will be conferred by the con-
stant contribution of population, labour, and capital to the
growing centres of business." (5)
The Legislature of Indiana, by an Act passed in 1865,
provided for the collection of a tax of sixteen cents on each
100 dollars of taxable property in the State, and 50 cents on
each taxable poll, for the support of common schools. (6)
Under the school law of 1872, the State of Connecticut
pays out of the State Treasury to each town one dollar and
a half for each child enumerated. (7)
The Maine school law of 1872 provides for a tax of one
mill per dollar on all the property in the State. This
amounts to about one dollar per census scholar. (8)
1 Ohio Report, 1873, p. 4.
* Pennsylvania Report, 1873, p. xlii.
Rhode Island Report, 1874, p. 76.
7 Connecticut Report, 1873, p. 9.
2 Missouri Report, 1873, p. 9.
4 Rhode Island Report, 1874, p. 49.
• Indiana Report, 1872, p. 25.
8 Maine Report, 1872, p. 10.
63
The law of Illinois requires the State to levy a tax
of two mills on each dollar's valuation of all the taxable
property in the State. This sum, which in 1872 amounted
to 900,000 dollars, is distributed amongst school districts in
proportion to the number of children under twenty-one years
of age. (¹)
The Constitution of Alabama, adopted in 1867, pro-
vides that one fifth of the aggregate annual revenue of the
State shall be devoted to the maintenance of public
schools. (2)
The school law of Arkansas provides for a tax of
"one dollar per capita on every male inhabitant over
twenty-one years of age," for maintaining free schools. (3)
The law of California requires that a tax of ten cents
on each one hundred dollars shall be levied upon taxable
property throughout the State. The report for 1873 advo-
cates the raising of this tax to twelve cents.(*)
In Michigan a tax of two mills is levied in addition
to district taxes, but the exact nature of this tax does not
appear from the only report which I have seen-that for
1873.
State School Taxes, varying in amount and in the
manner of assessment are collected in Florida, Georgia,
Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Massachusetts has no State School Tax, but the
Board of Education, in the report issued in 1873, recom-
mended its adoption. The following extract sets forth
the reasons for which the tax is advocated :—“ While the
principle that underlies the American system of popular edu-
cation—that it is the duty of the State to provide for the
education of all the children of the State, by means derived
1 Illinois Report, 1872, pp. 13, 18.
3 Connecticut Report, 1871, p. 31.
2 Connecticut Report, 1871, p. 31.
California Report, 1873, p. 57.
64
from the taxation of every man in proportion to his property,
whether he have children to educate or not-is nowhere more
generally accepted than among the citizens of this common-
wealth, yet, strange to say, the State has never voted a dollar
from the general State revenues for the direct maintenance
of her common schools. It has ever been her policy, from the
time when schools were first required to be set up in the
colony of Massachusetts Bay down to the present day, to
require the towns to provide their own schools without any
aid whatever from the public treasury. The effect of this
policy has been, no doubt, to develop to a great extent the
local interest in the public schools, and any change in the
support of schools is to be deprecated which would release
the municipalities from the responsibility of providing mainly
for the support of their schools by raising an annual school
tax. In the early periods of our history the plan of throwing
the entire burden of the support of the schools upon the town.
worked satisfactorily, and it was, perhaps, as well adapted to
the then existing circumstances of the population as any
which could have been devised. While agriculture was
almost the sole occupation of the people the taxable property
was very equally distributed, and there was no marked dis-
parity of the burdens imposed for the maintenance of educa-
tion, nor any great inequality in the benefits which it con-
ferred. But that state of things no longer exists: we have
become a manufacturing people, there has been a rapid
accumulation of wealth, and the taxable property of the
State is concentrated to a remarkable extent in the cities and
large towns. Certainly, two fifths, if not a half, of the property
of the State is embraced in the limited territory which lies
within five miles of the State House. The consequence is
that, while in certain portions of the State a tax sufficient
to maintain good schools during the period required by law
is a serious burden, in other portions the tax adequate for
65
the same purpose is comparatively light. This radical change
in the state of things imperatively demands a corresponding
change in the mode of providing for the support of schools.
The object in view is to restore, to some extent at least,
the ancient equality of educational burdens and equality of
educational advantages."
"The proposed plan does not contemplate any increase
in the aggregate taxes for schools; it does not propose to
shift all the responsibility from the municipalities to the
State. It proposes to appropriate a small share of the means
of the whole State for the benefit of the whole State. The
specific recommendation is, that provision be made for raising
a half-mill State School Tax, to be distributed to the cities
and towns, a part in proportion to the number of children of
school age, and a part in proportion to the school attendance,
a fraction being reserved for the education of teachers, and
for other general educational purposes.” (¹)
III. LOCAL TAXES.
From what has gone before it will be seen that the
school system of America must rest chiefly (indeed, in some
States—such as Massachusetts, almost wholly) for support
upon local taxation. This was so at the time of Bishop
Fraser's visit, and although local taxation has since been
relieved to some extent, his description, if we except
Indiana and New Jersey, remains substantially true. "The
amount of State aid, even when it is largest, as in
Connecticut or Ohio, measured by dollars, is not, it is true,
1 Massachusetts Report, 1873, p. 15.
F
66
very considerable—at least, not in proportion to the total
cost of each child's education." (¹)
Again: "But a school's main reliance for support,.
even in Connecticut, where the State Fund is so dispropor-
tionately large, and the income from that source consequently
so considerable, is upon funds either raised in or belonging
to the township or district in which it lies." (2)
In the report of the Commissioner of Education, the
items of State taxation and district taxation are not given
separately.
In order, however, to enable English readers to form
correct conclusions upon the subject, I have referred to the
reports of some of the chief States for the items of local
taxation. In the following table I have arranged the income
derived from (1) permanent school funds; (2) taxation both
general and local; (3) taxation purely local. It will be
apparent from the table how large a proportion of the school
revenues is raised by local levies. (3)
For the convenience of home readers, I have translated
the American currency into English-taking the value of the
dollar at 3s. 9d. :-

STATE.
Interest on
Permanent Fund.
Total Revenue
derived from
Taxation,
General (i.c., State)
and Local.
Revenue
separately derived
from Local
Taxation.
Year
of
Report.
Page of
Report.
$81,795
£15,336 11 3
California
Connecticut
Illinois
$131,748
£24,702 15
$487,731
£91,449 II 3
о
$1,423,719
£266,947 6 3
$1,541,597 (1) 1873
9
£289,049 8 9
$1,105,601 1874
26
£207,300 3 9
$5,292,942 1872 13:
£992,426 12 6
$1,203,842
£225,720 7 6
$6,675,097
£1,251,580 13 9
1 Fraser's Report, p. 50.
2 Ibid, p. 50.
3 NOTE.-For the amount of the State School Tax in proportion to the
average attendance in certain States, see Appendix A., p. 258.
67
Table continued from preceding page:--
STATE.
Interest on
Permanent Fund.
Total Revenue
derived from
Taxation,
General (i.e., State)
and Local.
Revenue
Year
separately derived
from Local
of
Report.
Taxation.
Page of
Report.
Indiana
$531,561
£99,667 13 9
$1,482,279
£277,927 6 3
$530,667
£99,500 1 3
1874
LO
5
Iowa
$275,789
£51,710 8 9
$3,898,702
£731,006 12 6
$3,569,137 1873
11
£669,213 3 9
Louisiana
Maine
$180,000
£33,750 0
Michigan........
Massachusetts..
$44,884
£8,415 15 0
$19,361
£3,630 3 9
$849,775
£159,332 16 3
$3,889,053
£729,197 8 9
$493,845
£92,575 18 9
$204,995 1873 12
£38,436 11 3
$683,776
1874 8
£128,208 0
$3,594,686 (2) 1873 150
£674,003 12 6
New York
Ohio
Pennsylvania...
Rhode Island …….
...
Virginia
Missouri ....
New Jersey.....
......
$196,176
£36,783 0 0
$291,817
£54,715 13 9
$70,363
£13,193 1 3
$335,000
£62,812 10 о
$231,276
£43,364 5 o
nil.
"}
$30,000
£5,625 0
$1,145,384
£214,759 10
$10,305,397
£1,932,261 18 9
$6,739,344
£1,263,627 0
$7,548,149
£1,415,277 18 9
$8,075,679 (1) 1873 335
£1,514,189 16 3
$2,561,133
£480,212 8 9
$2,095,220 1873 59
£392,853 15 о
$1,145,384 1872
6
о
£214,759 10 о
$2,426,705
£455,007 3 9
$1,154,374 1873 8
£216,445 2 6
$7,643,364 1874 22
£1,433,130 15 0
$5,252,550 1873 4
£984,853 2 6
$556,250
$455,850 1874 49
£104,296 17 6
£85,471 17 6
$83,000
£15,562 10 о
$850,000
$574,434 1874 10
£159,375 0 0
£107,706 7 6
NOTE. The first two columns of the above table are taken from the Commissioner's
Report, 1873, p. 512. The figures in the third column are derived from the several State
Reports for the year indicated.
Bishop Fraser says of the sums raised by taxation in the
United States, that, "viewed as a burden pressing equally on
1 These amounts are taken from later Reports than those in the second
column. 2 This amount is raised for support of schools, including only
wages, fuel, and care of school room.
68
the property of the whole community," they are " quite
unparalleled. That they are borne so generally without
complaint, and, indeed, that the amount appropriated to the
public schools keeps growing so considerably year by year,
is a proof, if proof were wanting, of the value the Americans
attach to their system of education, and of their determina-
tion that it shall be efficiently maintained." (¹)
Since these words were written the progress of education
in America, and the development of school revenue, has
been more remarkable than at any former period.
In Iowa the aggregate annual expenditure rose from
761,537 dollars in 1863, to 4,229,455 dollars in 1873. "The
significance of this fact is unmistakable. Such munificent
expenditure can only be accounted for by the liberality and
public spirit of our people, all of whom manifest their love of
popular education and their faith in the public schools by the
annual dedication to their support of more than one per cent. of
their entire taxable property; this, too, uninterruptedly through
a series of years commencing in the midst of a war which taxed
our energies and resources to the extreme, and continuing
through years of general depression in business, years of
moderate yield of produce, of discouragingly low prices, and
even amid the scanty surroundings and privations of pioneer
life." (2)
Of other Western States the same story is true; and not
only of the Western States.
In 1872, Connecticut raised $10.95 per child, while
ten years before she raised only $3.54 per child. (³) The
report for the same State for 1867 showed an increase of
37 per cent. in one year. (*)
In Maine, the purely voluntary taxes for the purpose of
1 Fraser's Report, p. 55.
3 Connecticut Report, 1873, p. 30.
2 Iowa Report, 1873, p. 16.
+ Connecticut Report, 1867, p. 25.
69
prolonging school terms, additional to the amount required
by law, have generally been from 20 to 30 per cent. of that
amount. (¹)
In New York State, the expenditure for the maintenance
of public schools was 3,744,246 dollars in 1860, while in 1870
it amounted to 9,905,514 dollars. The proportion of the
latter sum raised by taxation (State and local) was over nine
and a half million dollars. In twenty-one years the people
of New York State have expended, in support of public
education, almost one hundred millions of dollars. (2)
In Massachusetts, the sum raised by taxation for the
support of schools in 1871 showed an increase of 100 per
cent. over the sum raised for the like purpose in 1864-5,
a period of only six years. (3)
A word of recognition is due also to the manner in which
some of the Southern States are carrying the burden of the
public schools-doubly severe to them because of the im-
poverished and exhausted condition in which the war left
them. In Virginia, the first two annual taxes (for 1870 and
1871) were both collected in rapid succession within the
year 1871. Mr. W. H. Ruffner, the Superintendent of
Public Instruction, says he trembled for the result; "but
this sudden and severe strain on the popularity of the
school system was borne astonishingly well, even by the
opponents of the system, and abundant evidence was
furnished that the people were ready for its general
extension." (4)
Throughout the Union the expenditure for school pur-
poses was doubled during the ten years from 1850 to 1860,
and almost trebled between 1860 and 1870. The amount
raised by taxation in 1860 was two and a half times the
1 Maine Report, 1872, p. 31.
³ Massachusetts Report, 1873, p. 13.
2 New York State Report, 1871, p. 24.
• Virginia Report, 1873, p. 166.
70
amount raised by taxation in 1850; while the amount thus
raised in 1870 was more than three times that of 1860.
During the twenty years expiring in 1870 the population
had increased about 70 per cent., and the aggregate amount
expended for education had increased to six times the sum
raised in 1850. The school income derived from taxation is
more than eight times as large. In 1850, the amount raised
by taxation was less than one half the entire amount, while
in 1870 it was nearly two thirds. (¹)
The following table exhibits the amount of public
school expenditure in the States referred to, per capita of
population between six and sixteen years of age:-
STATE.
$. cts.
STATE.
Massachusetts
21 74
Vermont
Nevada
19 28
Indiana
California
14 92
Oregon
Nebraska
17 02
Maryland...
Connecticut
12 89
Minnesota
Rhode Island
Illinois
New Jersey
Iowa
Kansas
12 73
Wisconsin
:
:
:
•
:
13 26
Maine
•
:
Michigan
:
New York
Ohio
0:0
Pennsylvania
New Hampshire...
10
15
12 17
11 31
9 61
10
16
9 24
9 23
7 18
Delaware
Mississippi
West Virginia
Missouri ...
Louisiana.
Arkansas
Kentucky...
Virginia
...
0:0
:
:
$. cts.
7 55
7 37
7 14
6
55
6 62
7 06
6 57
5 80
4
98
3
70
3
62
3 44
3 13
2 48
2 80
:
9:0
See Commissioners' Report 1873, page 12.
For purposes of comparison with the home system I
have also set out in the following table the amount raised by
current taxation per capita of the whole population, men,
1 St. Louis Report, 1872, p. 9.
9:0
.
71
women, and children, in the States named.
The whole
public school expenditure including endowments, is very
considerably in excess of the amounts stated :—
STATE.
Massachusetts
Revenue raised by
Taxation, 1873.
$3,889,053
£729,197 8 9
Entire Population,
from Census of 1870.
Amount raised
by Current
Taxation per
Head of
Population.
$2.66c.
gs. 11½d
$2.35c.
Es. 934d.
1,457,351
New York
$10,305,397
4,382,759
£1,932,261 18 9
Pennsylvania.
$7,548,149
3,521,951
£1,415,277 18 9
$2.14c.
8s. 0¼d.
California
$1,423,719
560,247
£266,947 6 3
$2.54c.
9s. 6d.
Connecticut
$1,203,842
537,454
£225,720 7 6
$2.23c.
8s. 44d.
Illinois
$6,675,097
2,539,891
$2.62c.
£1,251,580 13 9
9s. 934d.
Indiana
$1,482,279
1,680,637
£277,927 6 3
.88c.
3s. 3½d
Iowa
$3,898,702
1,194,020
£731,006 12 6
$3.26c.
125. 2½d.
Kansas
$931,958
361,399
£174,742 2 6
Kentucky
$838,000
1,321,011
£157,125 o o
Louisiana
$493,845
726,915
£92,595 18 9
$2.55c.
95. 64d
.63c.
25. 4 d.
.67c.
25. 6d.
Maine ...
$849,775
626,915
£159,332 16 3
$1.35c.
5s. 034d.
Maryland
$1,093,721
780,894
£205,072 13 9
5S.
Michigan.....
$2,561,133
1,184,059
£480,212 8 9
Minnesota
$814,891
439,706
£152,792 I 3
$1.40c.
3d.
$2.16c.
8s. id.
$1.85c.
6s. 11 d.
Mississippi ………….
$1,089,685
827,922
204,315 18 9
$1.31c.
4s. 1034d.
Missouri ....
$1,145,384
1,721,295
£214,759 10
.66c.
25. 54d.
Nebraska
$111,018
122,993
£20,815 17 6
.90c.
3s. 4%d.
New Hampshire
$434,150
£81,403 26
318,300
$1.36c.
5S. id.
New Jersey.......
$2,426,705
£455,007 3 9
906,096
IOS.
$2.67c.
od.
72
Table continued from preceding page:-
STATE.
Revenue raised by
Taxation, 1873.
Entire Population,
from Census of 1870.
Amount raised
by Current
Taxation per
Head of
Population.
Ohio
$6,739,344
£1,263,627 0
2,665,260
Rhode Island ....
$556,250
£104,296 17 6
217,353
Vermont
$415,432
£77,893 10 o
330,551
Virginia
$850,000
1,225,163
£159,375 0
West Virginia
………...
$693,059
£129,948 11
442,014
3
Wisconsin
.....
$1,810,096
1,054,670
£339,393 0
$2.52c.
9s. 54d.
$2.55c.
9s. 634d.
$1.25c.
4s. 84d.
.69c.
25. 7d.
$1.56c.
5s. Iod.
$1.71c.
6s. 4¾4d.
For the year ending 31st August 1874, the expenditure
from the Education Grant for public elementary education in
England and Wales, was £1,268,773 8s. This included the
grant for day and evening schools, the amount advanced
towards furnishing and building school premises, the annual
grant to training colleges, and the cost of administration
and organisation of districts. During the same year, the
income derived from School Board rates was £136,693 8s. 1d.
The population of England and Wales in 1871, was 22,712,266.
The amount raised for education by taxation last year was,
therefore, 1s. 24d. per head of population. If we add the
voluntary contributions (£616,326 1s. 8d. during the year),
the whole expenditure out of taxation and voluntary con-
tributions was 1s. 91d. per head of population.
IV. DONATIONS.
In estimating the sources of educational
educational revenue
in America, private benefactions cannot be left out of
the account, although they
they are
are mostly devoted to
73
secondary education by the establishment of colleges and
universities. These institutions do not stand in a hostile
relation to the public school system, since they are chiefly
intended to take up the work of higher education at the
point where the public school leaves it.
From the statistics of educational benefactions for 1872,
contained in the Report of the Commissioner of Education,
it appears that in that year 9,958,494 dollars was the sum
total reported to the Bureau. Of this amount, 6,282,461
dollars were devoted to the establishment of colleges and
universities, 1,155,856 dollars were for the benefit of
theological institutions, 10,422 dollars for schools of law
and medicine, and 482,000 dollars for agricultural and
scientific schools. Other sums were left for the superior
instruction of women, for libraries, and normal schools, and
academies. "Beyond all these," says the Commissioner,
"there are doubtless numerous, and, in some cases, large
benefactions to education, individual and denominational, of
which this office has no specific information." (¹)
The Connecticut Report, 1871, says: "The last decade.
is unprecedented in the number and amount of gifts and
legacies for learning. The amount is probably greater than
that given for the same objects in any previous fifty years.
The donations for colleges, seminaries, schools, academies, and
libraries in Connecticut is nearly three millions of dollars.” (²)
Special mention must be made of the magnificent gift of
Mr. Peabody in aid of education in the South. Of this fund
"the amount now available is, in round numbers, two million
dollars, and yields an annual income of a little over one
hundred and twenty thousand dollars. Besides this there are
Mississippi and Florida Bonds, amounting to about fifteen
1 Report of Commissioner of Education, 1872, p. lxi.
2 Connecticut Report, 1871, p. 83.
74
hundred thousand dollars, from which nothing is at present
realised. According to the donor's directions, the principal
must remain intact for thirty years; the trustees are not
authorised to expend any part of it, nor yet to add to it any
part of the accruing interest. The manner of using the in-
terest, as well as the final distribution of the principal, was
left entirely to the discretion of a self-perpetuating body of
trustees. Those first appointed had, however, the rare advan-
tage of full consultation with the founder of the trust while
he still lived, and their plans received his cordial and
emphatic approbation." (¹)
Donations are not made out of this fund to colleges,
academies, or any private, sectarian, or charity schools. To
free schools, continued about ten months in the year, the
trustees pay sums varying from 300 dollars to 1,000 dollars,
according to the average attendance. The people are required
to pay for current expenses twice, and usually three times, as
much as they receive from the fund, and to bear all expenses
of erecting, and repairing, and furnishing school-houses. They
are to grade their schools, and provide a teacher for every
fifty scholars. The avowed object and purpose of the Board
of Trustees is "to strengthen the State system of public
schools by rendering them superior to private schools.” (2)
The design of Mr. Peabody was to inaugurate a movement by
which the disasters of the South might be repaired from the
abundance of the North. His example has been followed by
others. The amount paid to any school is in no case large;
but as a stimulus to public exertion, as well as to private
munificence, the endowment has already produced most
valuable results.
1 Virginia Report, 1871, p. 33. 2 Arkansas Report, 1873, p. 17.
75
(c) Total Abolition of Rate-bills (School Fees).
When the Bishop of Manchester visited the States, now
ten years ago, rate-bills were in use in New York State,
Connecticut, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Michigan. In
his report, Bishop Fraser says they were chiefly met with
in the rural districts of New York State. In the city
of New York the schools were wholly free, and also, as is
well known to the present writer, in many rural districts.
At the time of the Bishop of Manchester's visit the agita-
tion against rate-bills was at its height in New York,
and within two years a free school law was passed. Rate-
bills had been the subject of contention in New York State
for over twenty years. About the same time they were
abolished in Rhode Island. In Connecticut they had given
rise to more disputes than all other parts of the system put
together; (¹) and in that. State they were shortly afterwards
disused. New Jersey and Michigan followed the example of
New York, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, and in 1871 the
rate-bill had entirely disappeared throughout the Union. It
was time it was abolished, for it was everywhere described as
the "odious" rate-bill.
I propose to show, from the reports of the States where
the system of rate-bills was in use during recent years, what
have been the results of making the schools wholly free.
The report of New York State, issued at the close of 1870,
being the third year of the Free School Act, states that better
results were produced during that year than ever before:
"The attendance in the rural districts, in 1867-the last and
most successful year of the rate-bill system-was for an
average term of only thirty weeks and three days, while that
of each of the three years following was for an average term
1 Connecticut Report, 1867, p. 88.
76
of thirty-two weeks and four days. The average length of
time each pupil attended school, in the rural districts, was
more than 16 per cent. greater in 1870 than in 1867."
"The average number of pupils, for the whole State, in
attendance each day of the entire term, in 1870, was 16,284
more than in 1869, and 64,748 more than that for the shorter
term in 1867," (1) the last year of rate-bills.
The same report says that the rate-bill plan "repelled
attendance by directly taxing it." (2)
In the same year the County Commissioners for New
York, almost without exception, report that the free school
law had been received with universal satisfaction by the
people.
The report for the next year (1871) shows that the
average attendance in the rural districts was nearly 17 per
cent. greater than in any year of the rate-bill system, while
the increase in school population since 1867, when that
system was abolished, was less than one and a half per cent.,
and the average length of school terms had advanced more
than seven per cent. The average attendance in 1871 was
greater by 73,691 than in 1867. (3)
The report for 1873 says that "the statistics for the
year are distinguished by the unprecedented aggregate and
average attendance at the schools, which exceeds that of any
previous year by several thousands. This is not a spasmodic
increase, but is the product of an uninterrupted growth that
has characterised the returns each year since the free school
system was inaugurated." (*)
"The free school system, inaugurated in 1867, has been
so successfully vindicated by its results that it may be deemed
Under its operation the aggregate yearly attendance
secure.
1 New York State Report, 1871, p. 10. 2 Ibid, p. 62. 3 New York
State Report, 1872, p. 10. 4 New York State Report, 1874, p. 7.
77
of pupils at the public schools has increased nearly eighty-
two thousand, and the average daily attendance nearly eighty
thousand.” (¹)
The Commissioner of Public Schools for Rhode Island
reports results equally gratifying. He says of the city of
Providence, where the schools were free, that "the effect has
been in the highest degree satisfactory; and notwithstanding
the indifference of some and the opposition of others to the
free schools, the number of children in schools has largely
increased, and the percentage of those who do not attend
school largely diminished." (2)
In New Jersey the free school law has given a new
impulse to education, and vigorous efforts are being made
to overtake the necessities of the State. The Board of
Education report in 1872: "There has been a large increase
in the number of pupils attending the public schools, and we
may safely infer, from the absence of all complaint, that our
school machinery is working to the satisfaction of the entire
community." (3) The State Superintendent reports: "The
free school law of New Jersey went into operation the 1st of
September, 1871. During the year for which this report is
rendered, therefore, all the children of this State have had an
opportunity of attending school free of charge. The results
of the first year's experience under the working of this law
are most gratifying. There has been a liberal increase in the
salaries paid to teachers, and the time the schools have been
kept open has been considerably increased." (4) "The law
gives general satisfaction. It is popular in all parts of the
State. The unanimity with which the bill passed the Legis-
lature was most gratifying to its friends, but far more
1 New York State Report, 1874, p. 57.
3 New Jersey Report, 1872, p. 5.
2 Rhode Island Report, 1871, p. 22.
4 New Jersey Report, 1872, p. 9.
78
gratifying has been the hearty endorsement given it by the
people." (¹)
The Michigan report, issued shortly after the abolition of
the rate-bill, says: "In consequence of the schools being free,
the length of time they have been held has been greatly
increased. In some districts they are said to have nearly
twice the length of school that they have previously had. The
advantages of the free school system are so manifest that
it was adopted in most of the cities and large towns several
years since, the rate-bill being abolished by public vote. A
larger number of children are found to attend the public
schools, and there is far less irregularity of attendance.” (²)
The Connecticut Board of Education, in their report for
1869, say:
"The reports come to us from all parts of the
State of a largely increased attendance of the children of
those parents who were unable, or more frequently unwilling,
to pay the charges for tuition; and while we have no sympathy
with this last class of parents, we rejoice that their children
need no longer suffer for this their parents' neglect." (3)
The Secretary of the Board, Mr. B. G. Northrop, says:
"The law has received an emphatic ratification from the
people. The rate-bill is buried beyond the hope of resurrec-
tion. If any‘mourners go about the streets,' the procession
is a small one. There is little prospect of an 'about face'
and another march towards the dark ages. No such retrograde
movement ever occurred in this country. Wherever once
repealed, the rate-bill has never been re-enacted.
In many
States, for long periods, and under varying circumstances, the
rate-bill has been fully and fairly tried, and everywhere it
has been found wanting.'” (*)
1 New Jersey Report, 1872, p. 10.
2 Report of Commissioner of Education, 1870.
3 Connecticut Report, 1869, p. 5.
Title, Michigan, p. 185.
4 Ibid, p. 17.
79
In the following year Mr. Northrop was able to refer to
the test of experience. He says: "The free school law has
accomplished more than its friends promised. The unanimity
of its adoption by the Legislature and its welcome by the
people were favourable signs. But the test of experience is
still more decisive. The actual results of the first year's trial
demonstrate the necessity and wisdom of the law. They
show that nearly six thousand children were kept from school
by the rate-bill." (¹)
The Report for 1871 shows results still more remarkable:
"The increase in the whole number registered the first term
of free schools, as reported last year, was 6,208, and for the
corresponding term now reported 5,744, or an increase in two
years of 11,952. How beneficent that legislation which has
led nearly 12,000 children to school, and thus to a higher
future." (2)
The increase in attendance in the year previous to the
adoption of free schools was only 432. (³) With the large
increase of attendance under the free school law, the dura-
tion of the schools has also made a considerable advance. (*)
In his last report (1873) Mr. Northrop says: "Our people
believe in free schools, and are determined to maintain them.
The old rate-bill is abandoned for good' in Connecticut, and
is now unknown in this country. It is a proud fact that the
public schools of every State are free." (5)
<
The testimony of the State Superintendents and Secre-
taries in all these States is strengthened by the reports of the
County Superintendents. A large volume might be filled
with extracts from their reports, proving the universal delight
with which free schools have been received.
1 Connecticut Report, 1870, p. 29.
2 Connecticut Report, 1871, p. 19.
3 Connecticut Report, 1870, p. 5. 4 Connecticut Report, 1871, p. 5.
• Connecticut Report, 1873, p. 30.
80
This testimony points to two conclusions-first, that the
exaction of school fees is a serious bar to attendance; and,
secondly, that free schools can be kept open for longer periods
than schools not free. The people are willing to pay taxes
for the support of free schools where they will not contribute
towards the expense of education by means of school fees.
!
(d) Free Schools, the People's System.
If there is one question upon which the citizens of the
United States are practically unanimous, it is in support of
free schools. The gauge of public interest in the system is
the burden of taxation which the people are willing to bear
for its maintenance. It has been shown what this amounts
to. The Superintendent for Pennsylvania says that in every
district except one the schools are put in operation by the free
suffrages of the people; it is the people's system. (¹) The
Superintendent for Iowa says that the opposition of wealth has
long ceased to exist. Wealthy men are the most liberal in
their views, and the most active friends of popular education.
The taxes which are levied to support the schools are
self-imposed. "However much our people may disagree on
other subjects, they are practically united upon this." (2)
It will be seen that upon other points of the system
there is a division of sentiment, but as to the propriety of
retaining the free character of the schools I can find but one
opinion at any rate, so far as the elementary schools are con-
cerned. A small minority are opposed to free high schools.
Doubts, questionings, murmurs of discontent, mingled with
<<
1 Pennsylvania Report, 1873, p. xii.
2 Iowa Report, 1873, p. 17.
81
voices of direct opposition or appeals for reconstruction and
improvement, are coming up from every quarter of the Union-
from the old States as well as the new. This statement is
not to be understood as affirming or implying that the public
opinion of any State having a well-established system of
common schools has become hostile to the system as such,
or to the policy of free schools supported and controlled by
the State. It is believed that no instance of that kind has
occurred, or is likely to occur, but, contrariwise, that on the
main question the sentiment of the States and of the nation
as the aggregate of States is as sound and as firm as ever.” (¹)
This feeling exists where we should hardly expect to find
it. The Superintendents for Virginia say: "The favourable
advance in public sentiment has continued, as is unequivocally
shown by the testimonies of County Superintendents on pages.
31-33. The evidences of this, however, are patent to every
observing eye. The platforms of both political parties, and
the political speeches made during the canvass, would have
placed the fact beyond a doubt, if there had been no other
evidence." (2) And again: "The struggle which the school
system has heretofore been compelled to wage for its exist-
ence is over.” (³)
The report from West Virginia is that "opposition is
withdrawing, and, by its practical results, our system is daily
recommending itself to the judgment and affections of the
people." (*)
The Hon. Warren Johnson, State Superintendent for
Maine, writes: "Free education for all is the instinctive
demand and prime necessity for all republics." "Society
must assume the responsibility of ordering the education of
youth. This responsibility cannot be left with the in-
1 Illinois Report, 1872, p. 47.
3 Virginia Report, 1873, p. 19.
G
Virginia Report, 1873, p. 2.
+ West Virginia Report, 1872, p. 9.
82
dividual, with benevolent associations, fraternities, or religious
bodies, or to charity. The old brotherhoods of France, the
Established Church of England, the parochial, denominational
schools everywhere, have failed to accomplish the purpose.
Society, through its organic forms of municipalities, State or
National governments, must issue the fiat, 'Free education
for all.'" (¹)
Mr. Thos. W. Harvey, State Commissioner for Ohio,
says: "The people, in the past, have shown their ability and
willingness to guard, foster, and protect the common school,
the pride, the boast, the glory of our nation. They will
continue to do this in the future.” (2)
This is confirmed by the reports for Cleveland and
Cincinnati, both in the same State. The former affirms that
the schools are constantly growing in effectiveness and in
the confidence of the people; (3) the latter, that the schools
never stood higher in public confidence. (*)
The Washington Report (1872) says that no tax is so
cheerfully paid as that for school purposes. (5)
The Superintendent for Louisiana refers to the hold
which the system of free schools has taken on the affections
of the people. (6)
(C
The Superintendent for California says: The people
are so much in earnest in their support of the public schools,
that in 1873 they voluntarily taxed themselves 10.48 per cent..
more than they did in 1871." (7)
"at no
The State Board of Rhode Island report that
period in the history of the State has there been a more
profound interest manifested in the prosperity of our common
schools." (8)
1 Maine Report, 1872, p. 100.
3 Cleveland Report, 1872, p. 14.
5 Washington Report, 1872, p. 3.
7 California Report, 1873, p. 42.
2 Ohio Report, 1873, p. 56.
4 Cincinnati Report, 1869, p. 22.
• Louisiana Report, 1873, p. 11.
8 Rhode Island Report, 1871, p. xi.
83
Between 1854 and 1871, a period of eighteen years, the
city of New York contributed in taxes, over and above what she
received, more than five and a half million dollars to aid other
portions of the State for the support of public schools. The
Board of Education ask: "Could a stronger statement than
that contained in these figures be made, illustrating the high
appreciation that the people of the metropolis entertain in
relation to the necessity and importance of supporting and
developing a sound system of public instruction ?" (¹)
From Maryland it is reported that "the popular feeling
in favour of public schools is more unanimous and more
intense now than at any previous time." "Every effort on the
part of School Boards to furnish better accommodation and
better teachers has been responded to by the people, and has
resulted in an increase of pupils and in a higher appreciation
of the school system." (2)
The Superintendent for Indiana says that "the enemies
of free schools have either been converted or have sunk
away in sullen silence.” (3)
The Superintendent for Kentucky refers to the "futility
of opposition" to the free school system.
In Michigan, the healthy public sentiment in relation to
the free schools is proved by the fact that the amount paid in
salaries has increased from about half a million dollars in
1860 to over a million and a half in 1873. (*) In the sparsely
settled districts of this State, and under all the disadvantages
which attend new settlements, the most commendable and
extraordinary efforts are being made to obtain good schools.
In proof of what the inhabitants of the State think of
free schools, Massachusetts points to the increase of 100 per
cent. in the amount of school taxation in seven years.
1 New York (City) Report, 1871, p. 16.
3 Indiana Report, 1872, p. 11.
2 Maryland Report, 1873, p. 9.
4 Michigan Report, 1873, p. 55.
84
We have seen already, in speaking of rate-bills, the
opinion of those States where the schools have recently been
made free.
There can be no doubt that the State Superintendents
are in the best position to gather the suffrages of the people
on this subject; but if we go deeper and examine the reports
of the County Superintendents and of local School Committees
we arrive at precisely similar results. Now and then a
grumble is heard about heavy taxes, but the reports which
record them are of the most exceptional character, and suffice
only to prove the general rule. A more frequent complaint
is that the incidence of taxation is unequal, especially in New
York State and in Missouri. In twenty-one counties of
Illinois the Superintendents report almost perfect unanimity
of public feeling in favour of the system, while in two counties
only is there any opposition. In Virginia, the Superintendents
of ninety-three counties report a gain in public sentiment,
while five only report unfavourably. In Missouri, nine
counties report dissatisfaction on account of school taxes,
whilst sixty-seven state that public opinion is strongly in
favour of the system.
This description answers for the whole Union. Those who
have known America best and longest will agree that, whether
the attachment of Americans for free schools is founded on
good and solid reasons or otherwise, there can not be the
slightest doubt that it exists, and that it forms one of the
most striking features in the national character.
It must be said, however, that in recent years there has
been manifested a feeling, partial in extent and evanescent in
character, that the State should provide for elementary
instruction only. That this limitation of free education has
not a large number of advocates may be gathered from the
fact that the Superintendent of only one State, so far as I can
ascertain, advocates it. The Superintendent for Maryland
85
favours a small fee for attendance at the high schools. (¹) In
Michigan, the legal right of a district to levy taxes for provid-
ing instruction beyond ordinary English branches has been
formally challenged and decided. In the case of Stuart v.
Kalamazoo School District, it was contended that the laws of
the State could not be construed to authorise district schools
to be supported free of tuition in other than primary English
branches, nor to authorise a district high school to be estab-
lished and maintained in any other way than by charges for
tuition. The Court decided that the law authorised the
establishment of high schools, and that a tax for their sup-
port was in accordance with the provision of the Constitution.
The Commissioner of Education, in his last report, refers
with gratification to the fact that the opposition to free high
schools has been checked, and that there has been no confine-
ment of the State provision to the rudimentary and lower
schools—no stopping at "the point where, to the poor man,
the question of expense obliges him to arrest the further
pro-
gress of his children." (2) Mr. Dawson observed this difference
of opinion in Ohio: "There is difference of opinion as to how
far education should go, and as to whether the higher educa-
tion, which can be but the good fortune of the few, ought to
be paid for by the many. That question will have to be
discussed hereafter in England and in America. All agree
that all ought to have enough to start them in life, and to
make them intelligent citizens; all are not agreed that the
Latin language or the higher mathematics shall be taught at
the public expense." (3) The whole subject is debated at length
in the reports of several States. From these I gather that
there is a consensus of opinion amongst educational officials that
the present basis of the free school should not be narrowed.
1 Maryland Report, 1873, p. 15. 2 Report of Commissioner, 1873, p. xxi.
3 "In Ohio." Gentleman's Magazine, March, 1875.
86
The tendency is rather in the direction of an enlargement of
the present privileges of free schools. Thus, in the matter of
school books, I find there is a considerable demand that they
should be provided at the public cost. One reason for this,
no doubt, is the text-book difficulty, arising out of the number
of different sets of books used in the same State, and some-
times in the same school district. But apart from this
difficulty, which is, however, of no slight dimensions, there is
a growing feeling that with free schools free books ought to
be supplied. It is argued that books are part of the school
apparatus and machinery, and ought to be provided by the
same means. In some of the largest cities of the Union this
has been the rule for many years. The Bishop of Manchester
found it in operation in New York city. (¹) School books are
free in Philadelphia where no scholar is required to purchase.
a school book, except to replace one lost or injured. (²) The
Boston Board of Education recommended the adoption of free
books in 1869. (3) In Baltimore, the practice is for the Board
to supply books and to make a charge for their use.
In many
districts of Iowa, books are purchased by School Boards for
the use of pupils. (4)
The opponents of free schools in England have
endeavoured to show that the free system is being under-
mined by the increasing preference of the people-especially
of the richer class-for private schools. I have sought
diligently for evidence upon this subject, and the bulk of
that which I have been able to collect is opposed to this
view. It has been supported in this country chiefly by
extracts and notes taken from the report of the Bishop
of Manchester, and used without reference to their context.
I do not for a moment impugn the fairness of Bishop
1 Fraser's Report, p. 55.
3 Boston Report, 1869, p. 8.
2 Philadelphia Report, 1872, p. 276.
4 Iowa Report, 1872, p. 32.
87
Fraser's report; nor do I class him with those "enemies" of
the free school system, and of most other free institutions, who,
to use his own words, "enumerate with ungenerous pleasure"
those defects of the American school system and social
organisation which are "patent to the eye of the most
cursory observer." Mr. Collings has exposed, in the appendix
to his pamphlet on American schools, the manner in which
evidence is got up against the system. (1) This, however, has
not prevented later writers from following the same method.
Of these the most recent and, amongst several zealous
competitors, the most flagrant offender is the Rev. Dr. Rigg. (2)
Of the relative positions of public and private schools
Bishop Fraser says: "By the theory of a common
school system, scholars of every rank are supposed to
come within the sphere of its operation. But actual—I don't
know whether they can be called natural-distinctions
cannot be disposed of by a theory, and, as a matter of fact,
social distinctions do tell with a very marked effect upon
American schools. Speaking generally, they are in possession
of the great middle class, the artisans, storekeepers, farmers.
The system works with a much nearer approach to its idea or
theoretic perfection in the country, where ranks are more
equalised, and there is no one rich and no one poor, than it
does in the cities and towns. Yet even in country districts
aristocratic feelings and prejudices, very foolishly and
unhappily, it must be admitted, are beginning to prevail.
And in all the cities, New York, Newhaven, Hartford,
Providence, and even in Boston, the wealthier class, indeed
all who can afford to do so, almost without exception, send
their children to private schools. Of the persons whose
acquaintance I made in the country, most of whom I should
1
“Outline of American School System," by Jesse Collings, p. 51.
2 See Appendix A.
88
rate at about the same level of social rank and social feeling
as myself, I do not remember one who used, either for sons or
daughters, the common schools. In all these cities there are
finishing schools for young ladies, just as there would be in
cities of the same character among ourselves; and there are
private day or boarding schools for boys, at which they
remain till they are fit for college.” (¹)
"At Yale College, Newhaven-which, and Harvard Uni-
versity, near Boston, are the Oxford and Cambridge of America
-I was informed that, though a large proportion of the students
had been educated in the common schools, yet, as a general
rule, they finished off with a year's preparation in a private
school, with a view to a more exclusive reading in the classics.”(²)
There can hardly be said to be any competition
between these different classes of schools-the common school
on the one hand, and the academy or private school on the
other. They exist side by side in an amicable way, because,
apparently, there is a demand for both. In wealthy
neighbourhoods the latter flourish and abound; where
property is more equally distributed, it is to the interest
of the inhabitants to support the former." (3)
Assuming that these extracts represent the case correctly
at the time of Bishop Fraser's visit, it is worth while to
enquire what has been the tendency since.
There were at that time fifty-nine academies and
six hundred and eleven private schools in Massachusetts.
In 1869, the private schools had decreased from six hundred
and eleven to four hundred and eighty-one, (¹) and in 1873
the number returned was four hundred and sixty-three. (5)
In 1873, the Secretary of the State Board of Education
wrote: "We have over fifty academies, many of which
4
1 Fraser's Report, p. 99. 2 Ibid, p. 100.
Report of Commissioner of Education, 1873, p. 166.
»
Ibid, p. 101.
5 Ibid, p. 176.
89
have outlived the wants which called them into being,
and are struggling for a precarious existence." (¹)
Mr. Philbrick, the Superintendent of the Boston schools,
in his last report, says: "It appears that while the population
of the city from 1856 to 1873 increased 55 per cent., and the
pupils in the public schools increased 51 per cent., the number
of the pupils in the private schools actually decreased." (2)
Of the private schools and academies in New York State,
the report of the Superintendent, issued in 1870, says: "The
State does not monopolise the work of school instruction, or
attempt to exclude others from it. On the contrary, outside
and independent of its own public system, it tolerates un-
incorporated private schools, and, up to the present time, has
chartered about forty literary colleges and four hundred and
twenty academies. Twenty-two of the colleges, with some
changes in names and plans, are still in operation. Of the
academies, about two hundred are conducted under their
original charter; about eighty have been absorbed in the
organisation of Union free schools, and the others are either
dormant or dead." (3) The School Commissioner for Cortland
County (N. Y.) says: "Private schools, always exerting, to
a greater or less extent, a deleterious influence on the public
schools, do not flourish under the operation of the free school
system. Most of the academies are unable to compete with
free schools, and are rapidly giving place to Union schools." (4)
In four years, in Ohio (between 1870 and 1873), the
number of pupils attending private schools decreased by
nearly one half—viz., from 10,500 to 5,945. (5) The Report
suggests, however, that this large decrease may be partly
accounted for by errors in enumeration.
In Illinois there was a large decrease, between 1870 and
1 Massachusetts Report, 1873, p. 190. 2 Boston Report, 1874, p. 414.
3 Report of Commissioner of Education, 1870, p. 227.
Ohio Report, 1871, p. 31.
New York State Report, 1871, p. 210.
90
1872, in the attendance at private schools; (1) but in 1873 it
appears to have again risen. The report for Illinois, for the
year 1867-8, says: "The number of private schools has
decreased rapidly during the last four years until 1868, when
there is an apparent increase of thirty-eight over the last year.
This is only apparent, not actual, and is due to an imperfect
enumeration in the city of Chicago. The large number of
private schools in that city is partly caused by the inadequate
accommodation afforded by the public schools. So extra-
ordinary is the growth of the city, that although several large
new school buildings are added every year, the increase in the
number of seats does not keep pace with the increase in the
population." (2)
The report for Maine, 1871, says of academies: "The
total number of such institutions is sixty-seven. An
examination of these returns discloses the fact that, while a
few of the highest seminaries, fostered by denominational
sympathy and aid, have developed to a vigorous and healthy
existence, the great majority are in a feeble and precarious
condition. Their resources are insufficient for the support of
the schools, and their constant application to the State
Legislature for aid is a confession that they are unable to stand
alone." (3) The report for the same State for the following
year says: "The academies, the former real high schools of
the people, are gradually disappearing from the field, where
at the proper time they did a noble and faithful educational
work." (4)
The scholars attending private schools in Connecticut
had decreased from 10,364 in 1869 (5) to 9,029 in 1872. (6)
On the other hand, in New Jersey, between 1871 and
1 Illinois Report, 1872, p. 2.
tion, 1870, p. 112. 3 Report of
4 Maine Report, 1872, p. 90.
.G
6 Connecticut Report, 1873, p. 146.
2 Report of Commissioner of Educa-
Commissioner of Education, 1872, p. 142.
5 Connecticut Report, 1869, p. 108.
91
1873, there was an increase of attendance at the private
schools amounting to nearly 6,000. This is accounted for by
the fact, already referred to, that the public school accommo-
dation was deficient. (¹)
The Rhode Island report for 1873 says: "As the schools
of the State have become more efficient than private institu-
tions, we have found patronage withdrawn from the latter, and
that attendance upon the former has improved. That
improvement still goes on." (2)
The Superintendent of the city of Williamsport (Penn.)
says: "In our first report, made in 1868, soon after the
office of Superintendent was created, the following language
is found- But very few, if any, of the children of those
families which move in the most fashionable circles attend
the public schools; a large number of select and private
schools are well sustained in our midst from this circumstance.
While some parents consider it a disgrace for their children
to attend public schools, there are others who send to private
schools from the fact that the higher branches of a liberal
English education are not taught in our first grade public
schools.' What a change has taken place
an
entire change in public sentiment, from that of opposition to
that of cordial support of the schools, and the consequent
discontinuance of half a dozen private enterprises, the pupils
of which are now enrolled on our public school register." (3)
Iowa reports for 1872 a very considerable increase in
pupils attending private schools. This is partly explained by
the fact that schools are opened as private enterprises during
the excessively long vacations of public schools. (*)
In Virginia there has been a complete absorption of private
schools since the inauguration of the free school system. (5)
1 New Jersey Report, 1872, 1873.
3 Pennsylvania Report, 1872, pp. 249-51.
1871, p. 150. 5 Virginia Reports, 1871,
+
2 Rhode Island Report, 1873, p. S.
Iowa Report, 1873, p. 13; ibid,
pp. 5-7; 1872, pp. xii. 3.
92
The Wisconsin report for 1871 states that "the fact
noticed last year may be repeated with emphasis—namely,
that there is a tendency to the extinction rather than increase
of academies, arising from the fact that the high schools,
normal schools, and the preparatory departments of the State
University and the colleges absorb the larger share of academi-
cal students." (¹)
The report for Washington (1872-3) says: "During the
year twenty-eight new private schools have been established
in Washington, and during the same period twenty-five were
discontinued, in most instances for lack of support, many
students preferring to avail themselves of the increased
facilities afforded by the public schools." (2)
Going farther West, the reports from California,
Nebraska, and Minnesota show that the attempts to conduct
private schools in competition with public schools almost
invariably end in failure; and the reports of the County
Superintendents throughout the Union confirm this testimony.
There will be found, of course, in every community a
certain number who will prefer to educate their children in
private schools; but that neither in North nor South, East nor
West, in large cities nor in rural districts, are the schools
regarded as the schools of the poor, is a fact capable of easy
demonstration.
In Boston, the examinations are now arranged to accom-
modate those parents who wish to take their children out of
town before the beginning of the long vacation. (3) The
Superintendent says, in a late report: "If there are
Boston citizens who desire that the schools should be kept
down to a pauper level, and that they should be attended
only by the children of the poor, they never give public
1 Report of Commissioner, 1872, p. 358.
2 Washington Report, 1872-3, p. 92. 3 Boston Report, 1869, p. 223.
93
expression to such sentiments. A high English educational
official, while on the way with me to visit one of our grammar
schools, enquired about the social grade of the children in the
public schools; he wanted to know especially if professional
gentlemen sent their sons to them. My answer was, 'At
the school to which we are now going, you will find the son
of the Chief Justice of the Commonwealth; at a school not
far from it you might find the son of the Governor, and at
another the son of the Mayor of the city." (¹)
The following is a list of the numbers and occupations of
parents whose children attend the schools of Detroit :—
Clergymen, 71; physicians, 90; lawyers, 57; teachers, 22;
editors, 24; architects, 35; musicians, 37; civil officers, 110;
military officers, 21; policemen, 62; firemen, 53; merchants,
910; grocers, 308; bankers, 25; insurance men, 62; persons
of leisure, 135; shipowners, 57; jewellers, 36; book-keepers,
210; travelling agents, 153; clerks, 447; civil engineers, 45 ;
agents, 266; conductors, 98; sailors, 234; engineers, 255;
bakers, 99; tailors, 212; butchers, 186; brewers, 71; saloon-
keepers, 141; teamsters, 186; expressmen, 47; telegraph men,
19; printers, 129; carpenters, 1,206; moulders, 195;
machinists, 444; blacksmiths, 254; wagon-makers, 52;
draymen, 97; hackmen, 14; barbers, 78; washerwomen,
124; day labourers, 1,168; boarding-house keepers, 88;
masons, 238; plumbers, 68; shoemakers, 337; tinsmiths, 69;
painters, 215; farmers, 129; cabinet-makers, 92; peddlers,
296; gardeners, 72; sailmakers, 24; photographers, 23;
widows, 542; manufacturers, 508; unclassified, 945. (2)
In St. Louis there are in the schools, 7,243 children of
mechanics; 2,228 children of manufacturers; 3,336 children
of merchants; and 1,071 children of professional men.
Besides these, the parents are classified under the heads of
1 Boston Report, 1874, p. 229. 2 Michigan Report, 1873, p. 316.
94
agents, artists, boarding-house keepers, boatmen, butchers,
clerks, confectioners, draymen and teamsters, farmers and
gardeners, day labourers, laundresses, public officers, saloon-
keepers, and seamstresses. (¹)
The Superintendent for Gallipolis (Ohio) says: "The
public schools here have greatly advanced in public favour,
and to-day they are cherished and patronised by nearly all,
and certainly by the best citizens of the place." (2)
The Superintendent for Virginia put this question to the
local authorities, "Have all classes of society been pro-
portionately represented in the schools?" with this result:
"We have reports on this subject from forty-nine counties.
In forty-one counties the public schools were attended
by all classes alike, high and low, rich and poor. In the
other eight counties many of those who were able to give
their children private schooling did so." (3)
One of the most remarkable features of the American
free school is its almost infinite power of assimilation, and
this is one of the greatest works which the school does. It
draws children from all nations together, and marks them with
the impress of nationality. Mr. Dawson says: "The school has
more to do than to educate the children: it is the mill, so to
speak, into which go children of English, Scotch, Irish, German,
Russian, Italian, and Scandinavian parents, and come out
Americans. Africa contributes its negroes, and now Asia is
sending its Chinese. All must learn English, and the result
will soon be that the population of the United States will be
the most homogeneous of nations." (4) It is by means of the
free common school that there is an American nation. With-
out it the nation would long ago have been split up into as
many sections as Germany before the Empire. It is not too
1 St. Louis Report, 1872, p. 19. 2 Ohio Report, 1873, p. 221.
3 Virginia Report, 1871, p. 152.
"In Ohio." Gentleman's Magazine, March, p. 341.
95
much to say that it was the teaching of the free school that
saved the Union at the time of the civil war. Some of the
good results of this school-fellowship of classes and of races
are noticed by Mr. Dawson: "Far from the great cities there
is little or no choice of schools; there is but one school in
many places, and that is a good one, and all classes of
children go to it. If anyone does not choose that his
children should mix with all the children of his neighbours,
he must have them taught at home or send them away to
some boarding school. I was unable to see or to hear of any
ill effects arising from this mingling of classes, and I attribute
the superior good manners of (what would be called in Eng-
land) the lower classes in the United States to this early
meeting with those above them. Possibly, some vain ambition
may be stirred up, or some undesirable finery may be worn ;
but these are small evils compared with the strong feeling of
fellow-citizenship which is created.” (¹)
There is one thing, and one thing only, which appears to
threaten the common school—that is, the Catholic question.
Wherever large numbers of Roman Catholics congregate,
parochial schools are opened, and the children of Catholics
are withdrawn from the public schools. In the large cities
where many private schools are found, the great proportion of
them are of this character. There are a few other sectarian
schools in the States, but at present the Catholics stand alone
as a denomination in their hatred or fear of free schools.
When other sects follow their example it will be an evil day
for the American common school, and, as I think, for the
nation.
1 "In Ohio." Gentleman's Magazine, March, p. 341.
96
III.
ATTENDANCE.
(a) ANNUAL ENROLMENT (b) AVERAGE ATTENDANCE –
(c) PERIOD OF ATTENDANCE-(d) FAILURE OF INDIRECT
COMPULSION-(e) TRIAL OF DIRECT COMPULSION-
(ƒ) DEMAND FOR DIRECT COMPULSION.
(a) Annual Enrolment.
In the competition for improved methods and results.
in school affairs which, happily, now engages such general
attention in many countries, it is becoming well understood
that a large number of scholars on the register does not
count for much. Unless the attendance of the whole
school is for a certain period, and very regular, the devotion
of teachers and the most scientific methods can accom-
plish comparatively little. Indeed, there is a kind of
attendance-the hanging off and on of children-which,
while it does them very little good, is a positive injury to the
rest of the scholars. This is a lesson which we are learning in
England; and as the League has done something to enforce
97
it, I shall not be thought to over-rate the significance of the
facts in stating the progress which has been made in the
United States in the enrolment of scholars.
A large
attendance, even though it be at intervals and uncertain,
indicates that the public mind is partially awake to the
importance of education, but that the waste and obstruction
which are caused by irregularity are not understood; and
this feeling respecting the necessity of instruction is one of
the first requisites in the work of national education.
It may safely be affirmed that there are very few native
American children—at any rate, in the Northern and Western
States-who do not attend school during a certain period of
their lives. What is called "absenteeism," which means the
total neglect of school advantages, is chiefly found amongst
the foreign population. There is no large class born in these
States to whom the inside of a school is an absolute
mystery. That the attendance of a considerable proportion
is much too short and too irregular is more than probable,
as will be seen; but the first steps-the provision of accom-
modation and the registration of scholars have long ago
been taken.
In the following States the enrolment of children, with-
out distinction of age, colour, or nativity, and including
both public and private schools, exceeded, in 1873, the
whole number between the ages of five and fifteen:-
California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hamp-
shire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont,
and Wisconsin.
In the remaining States the percentage of enrolment of
the population between five and fifteen was as follows:-
Alabama, 37.8; Delaware, 594; Florida, 416; Georgia, 307;
Kentucky, 66.08; Louisiana, 41·8; Maine, 90·4; Maryland,
673; Mississippi, 70-17; Missouri, 88.2; North Carolina,
H
98
51.4; South Carolina, 45'7; Rhode Island, 910; (1) Tennessee,
49.7; Texas, 56-6; Virginia, 51-2; West Virginia, 67·19.
These calculations are made from statistics contained in
the Reports of the Commissioner of Education for 1872
(p. 946) and 1873 (p. 512). The numbers of children
between five and fifteen are based upon the returns of the
United States Census, 1870, an allowance having been made for
an increase between 1870 and 1873. I am unable to give pre-
cisely similar figures for England-there is no international
uniformity of statistics-but for the purposes of comparison
it may be well to state the results as nearly as they can be
ascertained. The last census gives the number of scholars
(children in school) in England and Wales under fifteen as
3,563,888, while the total population of school age (between
three and thirteen) was 5,374,301. This gives a percentage of
enrolment upon the school population of 66.3. The number at
school over fifteen is not included in this estimate, but this
omission may safely be set off against the numbers in
the States under five and six years of age omitted from
American calculations, who, being under instruction at home-
and in private schools, are as much entitled to rank
as "scholars as large numbers of those included in our
English census. From these figures it would seem that in
1871 England occupied a position, as to enrolment of pupils,
between the border States and the old slave States-below
Maryland and Missouri, and above Virginia, the Carolinas,
and other Southern States. Allowing for a considerable
increase in the enrolment between 1871 and 1873, we still
should not at that time reach the standard in Mississippi
and Missouri; but it is satisfactory to know that great and
rapid improvement is now being made in this respect.
>>
As regards the United States, the facts are under-stated
1 Rhode Island Report, 1874, p. 49.
99
rather than otherwise, as a reference to the Reports will
show. The enrolment throughout the Union (exclusive of
territories) was, in 1873, about 60 per cent. of the whole
population between five and twenty-one, according to the
census of 1870.
The Superintendent for Pennsylvania says: "The school
age with us is between six and twenty-one, and the probable
number of persons between these ages is now about 1,200,000.
Of these we had enrolled during the past year, in public schools,
834,020; in private schools, soldiers' orphans' schools, orphan
homes and asylums, academies, colleges, &c., probably 50,000
more; making in all 884,020, or in round numbers 900,000.
Of the 300,000 children of school age not in school, the great
majority, without doubt, are between fifteen and twenty-one
years of age, having obtained a greater or less degree of
education, and are engaged in learning trades, &c.; but a
careful observer cannot but be convinced that there are many
thousands of our youth growing up to manhood almost wholly
ignorant and uncared for." (¹) The population of Pennsylvania
(between five and fifteen) in 1870 was 854,340; (2) less by
nearly 50,000 than the numbers in school.
In Iowa, in 1872, 71 per cent. of the population
between five and twenty-one were enrolled in the public
schools alone. (3)
The Report for New Jersey (1872) shows that 77 per
cent. of the population between five and eighteen attended
school (public or private) for some portion of the year. (*)
The Illinois Report for 1872 gives the enrolment in
public schools for the year as 75 per cent. of the population
between six and twenty-one. (5)
The Report for Connecticut (1873) shows that 94 per
1 Pennsylvania Report, 1873, p. 14.
2 Report of Commissioner of Education, 1872, p. 946. Iowa Report, 1872, p. 10.
New Jersey Report, 1872, p. 22. • Illinois Report, 1872, p. 7.
100
cent. of the children between four and sixteen attended
schools of all kinds during the previous year. (¹)
<<
The Report for Ohio (1871) states that over 78 per cent.
of the population between five and seventeen were enrolled
during the year. It may safely be affirmed that, within the
last school year, only about one fifth of the youth of Ohio,
between the ages of five and seventeen years, were not en-
rolled in any school. To comprehend the full significance of
this fact, we must bear in mind that many children, whose in-
struction and training have been quite up to the average
standard of popular education in the State, leave the common
school before they are seventeen years old, to engage in some
other employment, or to enter academies or colleges, and that
in many cities and towns children are forbidden by law, as in
some localities they are forbidden by custom, to enter the
schoolroom before they reach the age of six years." (2)
The Superintendent for New York State says: "In-
cluding the number reported in attendance upon private
schools and academies, more than 80 per cent. of all children
in the State, between five and twenty-one years of age, at-
tended school some portion of the last year-a number larger
than the entire population between the ages of six and seven-
teen years." (3)
In comparing the attendance at school in the State of
New York with that in Prussia, he adds: "But our period of
pupilage is eight years longer than that of Prussia, which in-
cludes only those between six and fourteen years of age, and
our ratio of attendance is correspondingly less by reason of the
greater number embraced in our enumeration. Making a just
allowance for the number of those below six years
of age who
are not sent to school because of their infancy; and another
1 Connecticut Report, 1873, p. 26. 2 Ohio Report, 1871, p. 28.
3 New York State Report, 1871, p. 10.
101
just allowance for those between fourteen and twenty-one,
who have acquired a sufficient business education, and have
betaken themselves to active pursuits; and still another just
allowance for those who, although they do not attend school
during any one particular year, have attended, or probably
will attend, during several of the other fifteen years of the
school period, and I believe it is a fair conclusion that the
school attendance in our State is at least 90 per cent. upon a
basis like that of Prussia.” (¹)
At a meeting of the National Educational Association,
held at St. Louis in 1871, in the course of a discussion upon
compulsory education, the Hon. E. E. White, of Ohio, said:
"Recent statistics which I have seen show that 18 per cent.
of the entire population of Prussia are in school in a given
year. Ohio statistics for last year show that about 22 per
cent. of our population were enrolled in the schools, and,
making a liberal reduction for errors, the statistics will still
show, I think, that the school attendance is as large a per
cent. of the population in Ohio as in Prussia." (2)
In the Report of the Commissioner of Education for 1872,
statistics are given of the school attendance in fifty of the
principal cities throughout the Union, having populations
ranging from 942,292-that of New York city-to 27,000
that of Nashville, Tennessee. From these statistics the Com-
missioner arrives at this conclusion: "If the enumeration of
the school population for all the cities were confined to the
population between six and sixteen years of age, and the
number of pupils in parochial and private schools were fully
reported, the total enrolment in the public and private schools
would probably cover about 90 per cent. of the youths be-
tween these ages." (3)
1 New York State Report, 1871, p. 64.
2 Proceedings of National Educational Association, 1871, p. 223.
3 Report of Commissioner of Education, 1873, p. xxix.
102
In the Northern and Western States, there can be no
doubt that, although isolated places may be found where there
are considerable deficiencies, yet upon the average they have
arrived at what in England would be considered a very ample
registration of scholars. In the States of the South, where
free school systems have only been in operation for a short
time, much remains to be done, but the progress has been
rapid when we take into account the difficulties under which
the work has been conducted.
(b) Average Attendance.
We are all agreed that one of the most important facts
in regard to a school system is the degree of regularity with
which scholars attend; yet this is a point about which it is
not always easy to arrive at a correct conclusion. In the United
States the methods of calculating average attendance are not
always uniform, so that fair comparisons between states and
cities do not at once appear on the face of the statistics
obtainable. Still less is it a simple matter to draw a com-
parison which shall convey the exact relations of England
and the various States, for then we have to compute the
irregularities which are known to prevail in this country.
In America there is a keen competition between some of
the larger cities to show a high average of attendance. It is
considered a point of honour to stand well in this particular.
In England, besides the spirit of rivalry, there is a much
more powerful and direct incentive to exhibit good results,
since the Government grant depends largely upon this return.
How this rivalry operates in some cities in the United
States may be best illustrated by an extract from a speech
103
made at a meeting of the National Educational Association,
held at St. Louis, in 1871. In the discussions of the
"Department of School Superintendence," Mr. W. R. Creery,
of Maryland, said: "School statistics are valueless for pur-
poses of comparison, because there is no uniformity in the
language used, and no common understanding of the methods
from which the various results are derived." Again, the
admirers of high percentage of attendance create wrong
impressions, and give to the enemies of public schools an
opportunity to make unfavourable contrasts upon unfair
bases. School reports fall into the hands of a great many
people, who, from a single item, draw a wholesale con-
clusion. It is a very pretty showing to have 95 or 96
per cent. of a school in attendance. The community in
which this state of affairs is presented may be regarded
as appreciating the whole subject of education to the value
of 10 per cent. more than any other city, which can justly
show but 85 per cent. of school attendance. The truth
may be that the latter people love the cause as ardently as
the former, but show it in a different way.” (¹)
Americans are not slow to borrow from other nations,
and it has been suggested that they should adopt the English
plan of dividing the State taxes upon the basis of average
attendance.
I find that many of the school officials are pressing this
reform upon State Legislatures. It may well be doubted,
however, whether in England this mode of apportioning the
grant has been productive of unmixed good. The reports of
Her Majesty's Inspectors in recent years point to the con-
clusion that the system has operated not so much to secure
increased attendance as to encourage irregular modes of keep-
ing registers, which cannot be too strongly condemned. The
Proceedings of National Educational Association, 1871, p. 226.
104
report of the Committee of Council for 1872-3 is especially
instructive upon this subject. There is hardly an Inspector
who does not refer to the irregularities which prevail. Mr.
Stokes noticed in his district a method of keeping school
registers which has, at least, the merit of simplicity. He
says: "The worst of all methods is where the neglect of
any entry at all-i.e., a blank in the record-is assumed to
mean presence; so that whenever the class rolls are not
marked, all children are counted present." (1)
No doubt, the attention which has been called to this
matter in recent years will lead to improvement, as it has
already caused the issue of more stringent regulations by the
Education Department; but it will still remain certain that
very considerable deductions must be made from the averages
given in our reports before they can be received as sufficiently
accurate to be made the basis of reliable estimates.
The average attendance, as frequently stated in the
reports of cities in the United States, is calculated, not in
reference to the number enrolled, but to the "average number
belonging." The latter number is based upon a standard
sometimes arbitrarily selected by a School Board or a teacher,
and differing in various cities. The rule as adopted in Chicago,
Cincinnati, St. Louis, and some other cities, is as follows:-
In all cases of absence of pupils from school, whether
with intention of returning or not, and whether the absence
be occasioned by sickness or other causes, including even the
suspension of the pupil, and excepting only the case of trans-
fer to some other school in the city, the pupil's name shall be
kept on the roll as 'belonging' for three days, and dropped
uniformly on the beginning of the fourth day, in case he
does not return." (2)
1 Report of Committee of Council, 1871-72, p. 73.
2 St. Louis Report, 1872, p. 158.
105
The object of stating this item of "number belonging"
is to show, "by comparison with the number in attendance,
(a) the importance attached to regular attendance on school by
the community; (b) indirectly how much influence the teacher
exerts on the pupils, and through them on the parents; (c)
local and temporary causes interfering with attendance-such,
for example, as epidemics, local excitements," &c.
"The entire number enrolled, compared with average
attendance, shows more general causes, such as are not depen-
dent to so large a degree on the inclination of the parent or
pupil, or the energy and ability of the teacher. For instance,
the poverty of the people causes the withdrawal of pupils, to
place them at work during certain seasons of the year. But
the "number belonging," compared with the number attending,
indicates causes dependent, to a large degree, on the tone of
the community, the will or inclination of parent and pupil,
and the influence of the teacher. Hence the latter item in-
dicates a field wherein much can be done for the improvement
of the schools, and, indirectly, of the tone of the community;
while very little, comparatively, can be done to influence
the former item-the entire number enrolled." (¹)
Another authority thus explains the advantages of keeping.
both methods of calculation: "(1) The total enrolment,
compared with the actual average attendance, shows the
irregularity of population, and the insufficiency of zeal or
means on the part of the people at large to continue their
children at school the whole scholastic year. (2) The average
'number belonging,' compared with the average daily attend-
ance, shows the temporary irregularity, and indicates the
strictness of discipline on the part of the teacher, the moral
tone of the pupils, and, to a large extent, the prevailing tone
of the community." (2)
1 St. Louis Report, 1872, p. 159.
2 Proceedings of National Educational Association, 1871, p. 227.
106
In the State Reports the item "number belonging" is
very seldom given, and we have materials for examining the
attendance at school in two lights only-(1) in comparison
with the number enrolled, and (2) in comparison with the
school population between certain ages. An investigation of
the figures not only shows the comparative advancement of
the different States, but leads to one important conclusion
applicable to all-that under the most popular school system
in the world it is impossible to dispense with laws for
compulsory attendance.
The numbers enrolled and the average attendance in
public schools in nearly all the States are set forth in the
Report of the Commissioner of Education for 1873, p. 510. A
calculation of the percentages, as shown in the following
table, gives some most curious results :-
STATE.
Number
Enrolled.
Average
Attendance.
Per Cent.
Alabama.
103,615
73,927
71. 3
California
107,593
69,461
645
Connecticut
114,805
67,599
58. 8
Florida
18,000
14,400
80° 0
Georgia
76,157
32,240
42. 3
Illinois
655,508
329,799
50' 2
(1) Indiana
465,154
298,851
64. 2
Iowa
347,572
204, 204
58.7
Kansas
121,690
71,062
58.3
Louisiana
57,433
34,000
59.19
Maine
122,442
103,548
845
Maryland
130,324
59,001
45. 2
(2) Massachusetts
Michigan
276,602
205,252
74.2
324,615
170,000
52. 3
Minnesota
124,583
54,895
44.06
1 Taken from State Report, 1874, p. 6.
2 Taken from State Report, 1873, p. 150.
107
Table continued from preceding page:-
STATE.
Number
Enrolled.
Average
Attendance.
Per Cent.
Mississippi.
148,780
125,000
84.01
(1) Missouri.
371,440
210,692
56. 7
Nevada
3,848
3,322
86. 3
New Hampshire
69,874
47,759
68. 3
(2) New Jersey
178,826
99,444
55. 6
New York
1,036,999
503,240
48 5
North Carolina
146,737
97,830
66. 6
(3) Ohio
694,348
407,917
58.7
Pennsylvania
834,020
511,418
61. 3
Rhode Island.
28,245
22,435
79. 4
Texas
129,542
83,000
64.07
Virginia
...
160,859
91,175
56 6
West Virginia
81,100
61,244
75. 5
Wisconsin
281,708
180,185
63.9
4
In England, for the same year, there were on the regis-
ters of public elementary schools 2,218,598. The average
attendance was 1,528,453; the percentage of attendance
68.8. (*) It must not be overlooked, however, that in all the
Northern and Western States, the enrolment in America
embraces a much larger school population than the enrol-
ment in England.
In his report to the Schools Enquiry Commission, Bishop
Fraser gives the percentage of "attendance" upon enrol-
ment" in five States. In Massachusetts it was 80; in Rhode
Island, 78; in Connecticut, 72; in Pennsylvania, 64; and
in Ohio, 57. (5)
In comparison with these results, Bishop Fraser states
those arrived at in England under the Duke of Newcastle's
1 Taken from State Report for 1873, p. 7. 2 Taken from State Report, 1872, p. 8.
3 Deducting re-enrolments, the percentage is 59 18. State Report, 1873, p. 17.
* Report of Committee of Council, 1873-4, p. ix. Fraser's Report, p. 94.
108
Commission. In ten "specimen districts" the average attend-
ance upon enrolment was 76 per cent. Upon these statistics
Bishop Fraser based the conclusion that the percentage of
attendance in America "is no better than, indeed hardly so
good as, the average condition of schools among ourselves." (¹)
This deduction has given great satisfaction to many people in
England who were content with our system of education before
the Act of 1870; but it seems to me that it was a very hasty,
and, if improvement is to be our object, a perilous judgment to
arrive at upon the materials at hand. That the figures repre-
sent the degree of regularity within prescribed limits is true,
but they tell nothing whatever of the hold which a school
system has upon the population. A very select enrolment will
give a very high average attendance, as in the case of Florida,
which, in the above table, stands much higher than New
York. It is clear that as a school system reaches lower
down and takes in the poorest class, embracing "“the mass of
apathy, thriftlessness, and ignorance," it must become pro-
portionately more difficult to present a high average attend-
ance, and, without a stringent system of compulsion,
impossible to do so. The only way to show how far a system
embraces the many is to compare the attendance with the
school population.
The school population in England and Wales (between
three and thirteen) was, at the last census, 5,374,301. The
average attendance in 1873 was 1,528,453, giving 284 as
the percentage of attendance.
In the following table the school population for all States
is taken from the returns of the last United States Census
(1870), and the numbers in average attendance from the Report
of the Commissioner of Education, 1873, except for Indiana,
Massachusetts, Missouri, and New Jersey.
The average
1 Fraser's Report, p. 93.
109
Population Population
STATE.
between
5 and 15.
attendance in these States is derived from the State Reports:-
Average
Per Cent, of
Attendance on
Population.
Between
5 and 21.
between
Attendance.
5 and 21.
Between
5 and 15.
Alabama
...
273,464
414,117
73,927
27.02
17.8
Arkansas.
128,836
201,302
32,863
25' 5
16. 3
California
110,480
152,610
69,461
62. 8
45 5
Connecticut
107,974
170,425
67,599
62. 6
39. 6
Florida
51,637
77,633
14,400
27.8
18. 5
Georgia
324,751
490,956
32,240
9. 9
6. 5
Illinois
661,614
977,508
329,799
49.8
133 7
Indiana
452,789
675,893 298,851
66. 0
44 2
•
Iowa
320,404
467,547 204,204
63. 7
43. 6
Kansas
88,420
129,287 71,062
80·3
54 8
•
Louisiana
180,491
271,769 31,000
18. 8
12. 5
Maine
135,334
215,133 103,548
76.5
48.13
Maryland
193,466
294,350 59,001
30. 5
20.05
Massachusetts (1)
282,485
462,398 205,252
73.0
44 3
•
Michigan...
285,341
429,175 170,000
59. 5
39.6
Minnesota
118,167
166,223 54,895
46 4
·
33.02
Mississippi
...
222,087
337,502
125,000
56-2
37.03
Missouri
466,971
684,942
210,692
45 1
•
30. 7
Nevada
4,399
6,457
3,322
75 5
51 4
New Hampshire……………
60,070
98,453 47,759
79.5
48 5
New Jersey....
209,585
316,942
99,411
47. 4
31. 3
New York
966,852
1,506,289 503,240
52.04
33. 4
North Carolina
285,144
435,085
97,830
34 3
22. 5
Ohio
670,844 1,016,272
407,917
60 S
40.13
Oregon
23,767
33,578
15,329
64.5
45. 6
Pennsylvania
854,340
1,295,823
511,418
59. S
39. 4
Rhode Island
42,837
69,639
22,435
52. 3
32. 2
Texas
...
228,618
339,344
83,000
36. 2
24. 4
Virginia
314,021
474,850
91,175
29.03
19. 2
West Virginia
120,689
178,393
61,244
50 7
·
34 3
•
Wisconsin
285,551
416,921 180,185
63. 1
43 2
I have not been able to procure the average attendance in Delaware,
Kentucky, Nebraska, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Vermont, so that these
States are omitted.
1 Massachusetts Report, 1873, p. cv.
110
A comparison with this and the preceding table will
show that while in England we have a more select enrolment,
and consequently a more regular attendance, than in many
of the States-some of them the principal Northern and
Western States—yet that, so far as concerns our hold upon the
great mass of the population, we stand only on a level with
some of the most backward of the old slave States. This
reflection is the more serious when we remember that in the
foregoing calculations the whole of the school population,
native and foreign, white and black, are included. I do not
forget that our average attendance is estimated upon a longer
school year than that in most of the States, but against this
fact may be set the later school age in the United States; and
when allowance is made for every difference which would tell
in our favour, there can be but one conclusion that in the
work of getting the masses into school we are still far behind
a country in which absenteeism and irregularity of attendance
are admitted, on all hands, to be the most crying evils under
which their system labours.
The percentage of average attendance upon "the number
belonging," as given in some city reports, will hardly be of
great interest in England, for the reason that the method of
calculation, and any advantages which it affords, are very
imperfectly understood. Yet, as the percentage of average
attendance is founded upon a much more limited registration
or enrolment under this method, it affords a more equal basis
of comparison with our average attendance upon enrolment
than when the total enrolment in the States is estimated. I
will give a few examples of the results in different cities, but
I do not claim for them any special value. Any estimate or
comparison which leaves out of account a large proportion of
the school population can only prove deceptive, and give
warrant for a false security. The school officers in the United
States do not blink the difficulty which the absence of com-
111
pulsory laws entails upon them, but in a country where so
much depends upon the true comprehension by the people of
the work to be done, it is above all things desirable that the
exact outcome of their system should be set before them.
This is not done when high averages, based upon arbitrary
methods of calculation, are set up for admiration. If it is
necessary to retain "average number belonging" as a com-
putation to enable the State Superintendent to direct his
energies in the best manner, it appears to me that it should
be kept for the use of school officials only.
The following table shows the results of this calculation
for some principal cities :
Per Cent.
Year of
Report.
Total
City.
Average
Enrolment. Belonging. (1) Attendance.
Number
of Atten-
dance on
Per Cent.
of Atten-
dance on
Number
Enrolment Belonging.
1874
Boston
50,000
44,942
41,613
83.2
92. 5
1873
Chicago
...
44,091
28,831
27,003
61.2
93. 6
1874
Cincinnati..
26,795
21,564
20,609
76.9
95 5
•
1873
Cleveland...
15,085 10,362
9,676
64.1
93. 3
1874
New York (2) 215,545
117,239
54.4
1874
Philadelphia
92,036
79,565
86. 4
1872
St. Louis... 30,294
22,010
20,479
67.6
93.04
1873
Washington
8,935
6,890
6,417
71.8
93. 4
¹ In Washington called the Average Enrolment.
2 The above figures for New York include evening schools, corporate
schools, and coloured schools. In his last report the Superintendent says:
"The average attendance and yearly enrolment as shown in the preceding
exhibit, present a very great discrepancy, the former being only about 55 per
cent. of the latter. As I have stated in previous reports, this is, to a certain
extent fictitious. As many pupils are constantly passing from school to
school, in consequence of a change of residence and from other causes, and as
each school returns all the pupils who attended during any portion of the
year, without regard to their attendance at any other school, the same pupils
are consequently counted several times in the aggregate of the different
returns. Were some means devised to correct this statistical inaccuracy, the
number showing the general enrolment for the year would be considerably
112
It will be evident from a glance at these figures that the
vital calculation is that of average attendance upon enrolment.
These cities do not all rank as high as the cities
of Pennsylvania taken together, where I find that the
average attendance in the cities and boroughs having 5,000
inhabitants or upwards, was 80 per cent. of the enrolment.
The latest returns which I have been able to obtain from
some of the largest towns in England show the following
results:-Liverpool: "Number on the roll," February 1875,
57,698; average attendance, 38,449; per cent. of attend-
ance, 66.6.
Leeds: "Number on the roll for the month
ending February 28, 1875," 44,498; average attendance,
27,531; per cent. of attendance, 61.8. Bristol: "Number on
the rolls," 19th February, 1875, 25,182; average attendance
for the four previous weeks, 17,807; per cent. of attendance,
70.7. Newcastle-on-Tyne: Number on books, January, 1875,
17,444; average attendance, 12,149; per cent. of attendance,
69.6. Birmingham: Number on the books, week ending 4th
June, 1875, 51,334; average attendance, 34,718; per cent.
of attendance, 67.6. Manchester: Number on the books
week ending February 27th, 1875, 48,275; average attend-
ance, 32,407; per cent. of attendance, 67·1. The general
average is thus slightly in favour of the American towns. It
will be seen that the number on the roll does not mean the
total enrolment for the year, but the number on the books at
a given period; in reality, "number belonging," though not
average number belonging." In comparing the English and
८८
reduced; and I see no reason for continuing a practice which, in a serious
manner, impairs the accuracy of our returns, and at the same time gives a
false impression as to the actual number of children who attend the schools.
I recommend, therefore, that the records of the schools and the methods of
making the returns of attendance be so modified as to correct this error,
which, besides what has already been stated, seems to indicate that the pupils
are very irregular in their attendance; whereas, in fact, they are quite
remarkable for regularity as well as punctuality."
113
American towns, it must also be remembered that here com-
pulsory bye-laws have been in operation for several years, while
of the American cities above given, Boston and Washington are
the only ones in which compulsion has been tried at present.
The practical conclusion is that greater stringency is required
in England in the application of compulsion, since in the chief
American cities (New York, perhaps, excepted) they are doing
as well without compulsion as we are with it. If the rural
districts were taken into the calculation for the States a very
considerable falling off would be found; especially in the new
and thinly-populated States the average for a whole State is
deceptive. The percentages in the towns are high; in the
country necessarily low, because of the isolated situation of
large numbers of the population. You do not find good roads,
trim fences, and the common evidences of civilisation in every
school district out West. Neither has the Constitution pro-
vided for every parish an "educated gentleman" by profession,
for generations past. All this must be considered in forming
an estimate of what the common school has done and is
doing in the States.
The obstacles to regular attendance and the temptations
to absenteeism and truancy throughout the Union are very
great, and arise in no slight degree from the new character of
the country and its social conditions. The constant influx of
a foreign element acts as one of the chief hindrances, as the
process of assimilation must necessarily be gradual. It is the
policy of the nation to welcome all additions to the numbers.
of the people, and the impediments which arise from this
cause are very seldom made the subject of complaint by the
State Superintendents; but the State Reports nevertheless
abound with evidence that this difficulty is not the least under
which the work goes on. The County Superintendents very
frequently refer to the fact.
The Report for Connecticut (1872) says: "A large pro-
I
114
portion of these uneducated children are of alien parentage,
and know only a foreign tongue. Living as they do in com-
pact manufacturing villages, and associating mostly with those
of their own race, they remain ignorant of the English lan-
guage." (4) "Most of the French Canadians, when they come
to this State say they are to stay but a few years; when they
have got a little money they shall return to Canada. But very
many who come with that purpose remain here." (²)
The School Commissioner for Rhode Island says: "It
will be noticed that there are very great differences in the
several towns in the proportion of children who did not
attend school, and that the greatest percentage of absentees
is in those towns which have the largest foreign population
by parentage." (3) And again: "It will be found in all cases
that there is a direct relation between the number of absentees
from school, and the number of children of foreign parentage.”(4)
"A greater proportion of the truancy and absenteeism from
school is among the children of foreign parentage, and is
greater in the country towns which have a large foreign
population than in the city of Providence." "The greater
portion of those in the State who cannot read and write is
amongst the foreign population, and chiefly among those born
in foreign countries." (5)
The other adverse influences which act chiefly in the
rural districts are almost inseparable from the climate and
the unsettled state of many parts of the country. In the
winter bad roads—often impassable on account of snow—and
the severity of the weather tell against the schools; and the
heat of the summer is even more trying than the cold of
winter; so much so that it is often impossible to keep the
schools open. Sickness is a most formidable opponent, and I
1 Connecticut Report, 1873, p. 7.
2 Ibid, p. 22.
3 Rhode Island Report, 1871, p. 21. 4 Ibid, p. 22. 5 Ibid, p. 24.
115
find that many schools are constantly broken up by small-pox
panics. The demand for juvenile labour is also very great.
Cotton-picking in the South, and corn and fruit gathering
in the North and West, empty the fall schools; while in
manufacturing and mining States, such as Connecticut,
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania, the drain
upon the schools arising from the demand for children's
labour is constant and immense.
How to overcome these obstacles is the problem now
uppermost in the minds of American educationists. No one
pretends that attendance at school is sufficiently regular. In
writing on this subject, the State Superintendent for New
Jersey says: "We are making reasonable and satisfactory
progress in all matters pertaining to the schools, excepting this
one. Except in rare instances, all the money needed for the
maintenance of the schools is freely voted; the school terms
are being gradually lengthened; every year more care is
exercised in the selection of teachers, and better salaries
are paid them; the school buildings are all the while being
improved, and increased vigilance is exercised by school
officers in their work of supervision. In the matter of
attendance, however, we seem to be making no advancement
whatever. In our efforts to make our school system productive
of the greatest good, irregular attendance must be regarded
as the greatest obstacle we now have to contend with." (¹)
This is true not only of New Jersey, but of nearly every
State in the Union. Compulsion is the greatest want under
which the American system labours.
Period of Attendance.
It is impossible to ascertain, even approximately, from
1 New Jersey Report, 1872, p. 21.
116
the materials supplied by the reports, the length of time spent
in school by children in the States.
The information which is to be had may be classed under
two heads-(1) the school age; (2) the school year.
(1.) THE SCHOOL AGE.
The legal school age in the several States is as follows:
From 4 to 21 in Florida, Maine, New Hampshire, and the
city of Washington. From 5 to 21 in Alabama, Arkansas,
Delaware, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri,
Nebraska, New York, and Virginia. From 6 to 21 in Illinois,
Indiana, Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and
West Virginia. From 4 to 20 in Wisconsin and Oregon.
From 5 to 20 in Maryland, Michigan, and Vermont. From 6
to 20 in Kentucky. From 6 to 18 in Georgia, Nevada,
Tennessee, and Texas. From 5 to 18 in New Jersey. From
From 4 to 15 in Rhode Island.
From 5 to 15 in California
4 to 16 in Connecticut.
From 6 to 16 in South Carolina.
and Massachusetts. (¹)
As very few of the State Reports distinguish the ages of
scholars in their enumeration or enrolment, it does not
appear how many years are spent in school upon the average
in different States. Without doubt, the vast majority of
children leave school before fifteen or sixteen. In the winter,
however, when many kinds of labour are out of the question,
there is often a large influx of scholars between fifteen and
twenty-one. The average for a State, even if it could be
obtained, would hardly be a reliable basis of opinion, since the
extremes between cities on the one hand, and isolated villages
on the other, are so far apart. Thus I find in one town of
Ohio, Gallipolis, that 38 per cent. of the pupils are over
sixteen years of age.
1 Commissioner's Report, 1873, p. 510.
117
The following table practically illustrates the ages of
scholars in particular towns:- - (¹)


STATE.
Town.
Whole No.
Enrolled.
No. over
16 years
of age.
Per Cent.
New York
Fulton....
Geneva
1,239
390
31 4
1,427
500
35'03
11
Bath
725
75
10. 3
=
"1
Greenwich
270
50
18. 5
11
Watertown.
2,004
430
21. 4
11
Massachusetts
Whitehall
870
120
13. 7
Amherst
849
120
14. 1
.....
Canton
717
100
13. 9
Rockport...
806
200
24 7
·
Sandwich
793
117
14. 7
11
Ware
657
116
17. 6
New Hampshire
Nashua
2,211
702
31. 7
Minnesota
Mankato
1,125
175
15 5
"
Minneapolis
2,298
290
12. 6
11
Rochester
945
150
15 8
Maine
Gardiner
860
160
18. 6
Farmington
528
80
15. 1
11
Eastport
600
140
23. 3
"
Ellsworth
1,700
400
23. 5
11
Bath
1,716
290
16. 8
Michigan
Ann Arbor
1,788
295
16. 4
1?
Battle Creek
1,383
215
15. 5
Manistee ..
809
100
12. 3
11
Owasso
727
110
15. 1
Iowa
Muscatine
1,400
300
21. 4
Oskaloosa
1,010
260
25.7
"
Winterset
445
50
11. 2
Indiana
Anderson
650
150
23.07
Goshen
699
113
16. 1
South Bend
1,500
392
26. 1
-
Vincennes
1,123
200
17. 8
1 Commissioner's Report, 1873. See table, p. 514.
118
Similar instances will be found scattered all over the
Union, but these percentages are very high, and must not be
taken as representing an average. In those towns which have
no high schools, the proportion of children in school over
sixteen must be very small. Even if the numbers above this
age attending the public schools were given, we should still be
unable to arrive at a just estimate of the numbers under instruc-
tion, since it is at about this age that the "academy" often
comes in to supplement the work of the common school.
In Maine, the average school period ranges from the age
of six years to sixteen-ten years. (¹)
In Rhode Island, on an average, the children leave
school before fourteen. (2)
The School Commissioner for Ohio has collected statis-
tics which he says "indicate that the average length of time
spent by each youth in the public schools is from five to
six years. Of course, a large number attend school a much
longer time, and a few perhaps, never avail themselves of
common school advantages." (3)
The average age of pupils in the public schools of West
Virginia, in 1872, was eleven and a half years, (*) the school
age beginning at six.
In Massachusetts, in 1872, over 8 per cent. of the pupils
in attendance were between fifteen and twenty-one years of
age. (5)
In Ohio, in 1873, the pupils between sixteen and
twenty-one constituted over 12.6 per cent. of the average
enrolment. (6)
In England and Wales the percentage of children over
fourteen in schools receiving grants, in 1874, was '99;(7) but
1 Maine Report, 1872, p. 8.
3 Ohio Report, 1871, p. 9.
2 Rhode Island Report, 1871, p. 41.
4 West Virginia Report, 1872, p. 6.
Massachusetts Report, 1873, p. 150. • Ohio Report, 1873, p. 15.
7 Report of Committee of Council, 1874-5, p. 3.
119
this must not be put in comparison with the American figures.
Private schools in England do the work which in the States
is frequently done by public high schools, and, consequently,
the numbers over fourteen under instruction do not appear in
the enrolment of our public elementary schools.
There can be no doubt, however, that, as a general
rule, children remain at school much later in America than
in England. While their higher age gives them a great
educational advantage over English scholars, it is, on the
other hand, unfavourable to average attendance.
(2.) THE SCHOOL YEAR.
The legal school year varies in different States, and the
actual school year-the period for which the schools are
taught differs again in many States from the term required
by law.
The Report of the Commissioner of Education (1872)
states the average period during which the schools were taught
in the principal States as follows: California, 6 months 10
days; Connecticut, 8 months 12 days; Illinois, 6 months
27 days; Indiana, 5 months 16 days; Iowa, 6 months 14
days; Maine, 106 actual working days; Massachusetts, 8
months 28 days; Michigan, 7 months; Minnesota, 6 months
18 days; Mississippi, 5 months 10 days; Missouri, 4 months;
Nevada, 8 months 10 days; New Hampshire, 4 months 43
days; New Jersey, 8 months 18 days; New York, 35 weeks
1 day; Ohio, 152 days; Pennsylvania, 6 months; Rhode
Island, 34 weeks 2 days; Vermont, 6 months; Virginia, 5
months 15 days; Wisconsin, 7 months. (¹)
In most of these States the period during which the
schools were open was in excess of that required by law.
1 Commissioner's Report, 1872, p. 609.
120
The school terms throughout the Union are being gradually
lengthened, but it will be a long time before the American
schools reach the English scale. The average duration of
schools in England and Wales is not given in the Government
returns, but the number of school meetings (400) required to
secure a grant cannot be held under forty weeks, and it is
probable that the average is considerably in excess of that
period. From the school registers of one of the best schools
in Birmingham, which I have before me, it appears that the
school was open for forty-six weeks in 1874. With the
opportunities afforded by the length of the school year in
this country, it is humiliating to reflect that so few attendances
are actually made. Out of the whole number of scholars on
the register last year, only about half made 250 attendances.
These attendances would be made in twenty-five weeks.
From a return issued by the Education Department
it appears that in the four counties of Dorset, Nottingham,
Suffolk, and Warwick, about 18 per cent. of the scholars
attending public elementary schools made less than 50
attendances, over 30 per cent. less than 100, over 40 per
cent. less than 150, and over 50 per cent. less than 200.
At a meeting of the Manchester School Board, held on the
26th of last April, Mr. Bremner presented a statistical
report of 8 elementary day schools in that city (4 Church
schools, 3 British, 1 Roman Catholic), containing a total
of 5,110 children. Of this number 3,105 had attended
during the year only 100 single times, and under. Of
these 3,105 children, an analysis showed that 955 had
attended twenty times only during the year, 312 thirty
times, 312 forty times, and 252 fifty times, 281 sixty
times only-in all over 2,000 had attended sixty times,
and under. (¹)
1 School Board Chronicle, May 8th, 1875.
121
In the State of New York, in 1872, the average time
each pupil in the rural districts attended school was sixteen
and nine-tenths weeks; in the cities, nineteen and three-
tenths weeks. (¹) When the large enrolment is taken into
account this is a very good average.
The Cincinnati Report for 1874 gives the attendance in
the district schools of the city as follows: Less than 8
months, 34.6 per cent. ; 8 and less than 10 months, 26.9 per
cent; total less than 10 months, 61.5 per cent.; continued
through the year, 38.5 per cent. The attendance in the
intermediate and high schools was even better than this. (2)
In Cleveland, for 1873, the period of attendance of the
scholars is reported as follows: Less than 6 months, 35'7 per
cent.; less than 8 months, 47.8 per cent.; 8 and less than
10 months, 246 per cent.; total less than 10 months, 72-4
per cent.; 10 months or the entire year, 27.6 per cent. (3)
The average length of school attendance in Iowa is less
than four months. (4)
The percentages of the number enrolled attending school
in New Jersey, in 1872, were: Between 8 and 10 months, 15
per cent.; between 6 and 8 months, 17 per cent.; between 4
and 6 months, 19 per cent. ; less than 4 months, 40 per cent. (5)
These are very inadequate materials upon which to found
any general conclusion as to the length of time spent in
school in each year, but they are the only ones which the
reports afford. There is a very general agreement in the
States-first, that the school terms must be lengthened; and,
secondly, that attendance must be made compulsory.
1 New York State Report, 1873, p. 10.
3 Cleveland Report, 1873, p. 39.
2 Cincinnati Report, 1874, p. 104.
4 Iowa Report, 1872, p. 38.
5 New Jersey Report, 1873, p. 17.
122
(d) Failure of Indirect Compulsion.
Laws for regulating the employment of children in
various departments of labour, based on the same principle
as the Factory Acts and the Agricultural Children's Act in
England, have been tried in several States. As in England,
so in America, they have had a very partial success, and in
the great majority of cases have failed to fill the schools, or
to protect the children against the cupidity of parents or the
temptations of the labour markets. Even in States where
the law has been worked with the fullest co-operation of
employers, the results have not been encouraging, since
children have been removed into neighbouring States where
no restriction is placed upon their employment; and in
those States where the law has been ignored by the parents
and employers alike, it has been practically a dead letter.
The history of the Factory Laws in Pennsylvania is a
most disheartening story of failure to protect children in the
enjoyment of school rights. The law forbids altogether the
employment of children under thirteen years of age.
Children between thirteen and sixteen can be legally
employed only nine months in the year, and for no period
unless they have attended school for three consecutive months
in the preceding year. The practice is very different.
Mr. W. W. Woodruff, who was appointed to visit the
mills, factories, and mines in Eastern Pennsylvania, in 1873,
states the result of his inspection. "It was found that no
attention whatever is paid to the laws prohibiting the
employment of children under thirteen years of age; nor
to the one forbidding the employment of children between
the ages of thirteen and sixteen more than nine months
in any one year, and not at all unless they shall have
attended school at least three consecutive months within
123
the same year. Many manufacturers were entirely ignor-
ant of the existence of such a law; others seemed
to have some vague ideas that at some indefinite past
time some laws-they did not know what-touching this
matter had been passed. One manufacturer said that when
the law of 1849 was enacted there was an attempt made in
his factory to obey it, but it was found that no other manu-
facturers in the vicinity were even attempting to obey the
law; and the result was that his hands began to leave him and
go to neighbouring factories where their children would be
employed. So the effort to obey the law was abandoned."
There was very little variation in the results obtained
at different factories of the same kind. In the cotton
factories it was found that from one fourth to one third of the
persons employed are under thirteen years of age. In the
woollen factories more skill is required, and but few under
thirteen years of age are employed."
In rolling mills, boys have not sufficient strength for
the labour required until they are fourteen or fifteen years of
age. So in these mills the law is seldom violated."
"The views and opinions of those engaged in manufac-
turing were solicited upon the general subject of the educa-
tional needs and opportunities of the children in their employ,
and in regard to the best practicable way of meeting the
exigencies of the case. In some of the factories it was thought
by the officers that all the children could read and write. In
some others, nothing was known by the officers in regard to it.
They made no enquiries into such matters; if the children
employed did their work properly, the employers were con-
tent, and did not interest themselves further. The general
testimony was that it is a rare thing for parents to take
their children from the factories to send them to school. It
is easier for the average parent to understand the value of
three dollars in hand every Saturday than it is to com-
124
prehend what an education may do for the future of his
child." (¹)
Mr. Woodruff refers to some noble examples of care mani-
fested by employers in the welfare of children. Mr. Samuel
P. Crozier, of Upland, Delaware, has opened a reading-room,
night school, and lyceum, and erected a bathing-house in
connection with his factories; and such instances of the
recognition of responsibility by masters are, happily, not rare
in the States. But in the keen rivalry of commerce, the
child more often goes to the wall. In the cotton manufac-
tories there are many kinds of labour which children can
perform better than adults, while it costs only one third as
much. Again, if the factories of one State are not allowed to
employ children, while those of the adjoining State are under
no restriction, the result is disastrous to the former. These
reasons have not only operated against the Factory Laws, but
also against the adoption of direct compulsion.
The law of Connecticut, passed many years ago, provided
that no child under fifteen should be employed in any manufac-
tory or business unless he should have attended school at least
three months in the preceding year. The penalty for breach of
this law was formerly 25 dollars, but it was, nevertheless,
very commonly disregarded. In 1869 the law was amended:
the age under which a child might not be employed was
reduced to fourteen, and a higher penalty of 100 dollars was
substituted in case of its violation. The Amendment Act also
provided that an agent should be appointed to secure the due
enforcement of the law. The State Board of Education
appointed Mr. Henry M. Cleveland agent for this purpose,
and he made his first report in 1870. If this law has failed
in Connecticut, it cannot be because there was no one whose
duty it was to enforce it. Four different classes of officers—
1 Penn. Report, 1873, p. xxxvii.
125
school visitors, state attorneys, grand jurors, and the agent of
the Board of Education-were instructed to co-operate in
carrying out the law. Mr. Cleveland visited nearly all the
manufacturers in the State, and submitted to them a plan
for carrying the law into effect, under which they were
invited to divide the children in the mills into two or three
classes, and to send out to school one class the first succeed-
ing term, another class the second term, and the third class
the third term, so that each child might get three months'
schooling during the year succeeding the date of the arrange-
ment. Nearly all the manufacturers gave their cordial assent
to this plan, and pledged themselves to its execution by sign-
ing a voluntary agreement as follows:-
"We hereby agree that from and after the beginning of
the next term of our public school, we will employ no
children under fourteen years of age, except those who are pro-
vided with a certificate from the local school officers of actual
attendance at school the full term required by law."
While the manufacturers were ready to do their duty,
the parents were not, in all cases, and the agent says: "I
found some parents unwilling to take their children out of
the mills, and positively refusing to send them to school after
they were discharged." (¹) Some of the children, when they
were discharged, were carried into the neighbouring states of
Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Mr. Cleveland says of a
similar law passed in Massachusetts in 1867: "It is conceded
that the law has not answered the expectations of its friends." (2)
The statistics of the Massachusetts Bureau of Education con-
firm this view.
That the Connecticut law has not wholly remedied the
evils against which it was directed is evident from the report
for the following year, 1871. Mr. Cleveland, after a year's
1 Conn. Report, 1870, p. 21.
2 Ibid, p. 20.
126
experience under the Act, says: "Facts conclusively show that
very many children have been sent out of the mills who have
not entered the public school, and in many cases where ample
room and a full supply of teachers had been provided.
Realising the necessity, in a republic, of universal education,
I cannot hesitate to say that we ought to incorporate the
principle of compulsory attendance into our school system in
this and in every State in the Union.” (¹)
In the following year the Legislature of Connecticut
passed an Act for compulsory attendance.
The law of Rhode Island prohibits the employment in
the factories of children under twelve years of age, and also
between twelve and fifteen years, unless they have had at least
three months' schooling in the previous year. The law also pro-
vides that no child under fifteen years of age shall be employed
in the factories more than nine months in any calendar year.
But the law is inoperative. The reports of the manufacturing
districts supply constant examples of its violation. The
Board of Education, reporting in 1872, say: "In the former
report the notice of your honourable body was directed to
the employment, in manufacturing and other establishments,
of children who are thus deprived of the privilege of school
instruction. The evil referred to is a very serious one. The
law regulating the matter has long been inoperative.” (²)
It would be impossible that the law should have been
tried under more favourable conditions than existed both in
Connecticut and Rhode Island, where the employers were,
almost without exception, strongly in its favour. The parents,
irritated by the exclusion of their children from the factories,
either removed them to other States or left them to run about
the streets. This is precisely the class of parents for whom
compulsion is needed, and who are amenable to no other
1 Conn. Report, 1871, p. 12. 2 Rhode Island Report, 1872, p. 13.
127
influence. Why they should be
tenderness does not clearly appear.
regarded with so much
But notwithstanding the
cumulative proof of the failure of these indirect compulsory
laws, it may be assumed that the "patch and repair party,"
both in the United States and England, will continue to
advocate them.
<<
(e) Trial of Compulsion.
"The
When compulsion was first advocated for England it
was said to be unsuited to the "genius of the people.
The same thing has been said across the Atlantic.
wedge of despotism;" "the first step towards centralisation;"
opposed to the genius of American institutions "—these
are phrases which have often been heard in the past, and
will, no doubt, be heard again; but the Americans, while always
jealous of the safety of their institutions, are the last people
in the world to be frightened by phrases, and so the idea of
compulsion has been steadily growing for many years. Its
universal adoption throughout the States is now, as in
England, only a question of time.
Compulsion has hardly been enforced a sufficient length
of time in any State to test its operation thoroughly by expe-
rience, except, perhaps, in Massachusetts. In all the other
States where it has been adopted it is a very recent importa-
tion. It will be of use, however, from such materials as can
be obtained, to ascertain how the law has been received.
The States in which compulsory laws, of more or less
stringency, are in operation are Massachusetts, Maryland,
Connecticut, Michigan, New Hampshire, Nevada, New York,
Texas, and District of Columbia.
128
Truant laws will be found on the Statute Books of
Maine, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and other States, but they
are permissive, and are not generally obeyed.
The law of Massachusetts is somewhat similar to our
present law in England. There is compulsion in theory
for the whole State; there may be compulsion actually or
not, as the inhabitants of a district choose.
By the General Statutes, parents and guardians are re-
quired to send to school, at least twenty weeks during the year,
all children between the ages of eight and fourteen years, under
a penalty of 20 dollars for each offence against the law. More-
over, no child under ten years of age can be legally employed
in any manufacturing or mechanical establishment. No child
between the ages of ten and fifteen shall be so employed who
has not attended some day-school three months, or sixty
school-days, within the year next preceding such employment,
under a penalty of 50 dollars against employer and parent. (¹)
Towns are required to appoint truant officers, and make
other provisions for carrying the law into effect. As there is
no penalty annexed for a breach of the law on the part of
corporate authorities, the Acts, so far as they require municipal
action, are virtually permissive, and, like most permissive
legislation, they fail to secure the object aimed at. Out
of 342 towns only 127, in 1873, had made the provisions
concerning truants required by law. The Board of Education,
in their annual report, recommend the adoption of "a more
stringent system of compulsion, with the necessary agencies
for its efficient administration. For want of such agencies
the existing compulsory provisions are not generally carried
into effect. Towns are required to appoint truant officers,
but as there is no penalty annexed, the requirement is largely
ignored." (2)
1 General School Statutes, pp. 59, 62. Massachusetts Report, 1873, p. 17.
2 Ibid, p. 19.
129
The law fails for the same reason that the Agricultural
Children's Act has failed in England-it is not sufficiently
stringent, and there is no one whose special business and
duty it is to see that it is enforced. Amateurs do not readily
come forward to undertake offices of this kind. Where the
law is put in force, there it succeeds. Take for instance the
case of Boston. Mr. John D. Philbrick, the late superinten-
dent of schools for the city, in his report for 1872 said: “It
appears that the whole number of pupils of all ages belonging
to the public and private schools is considerably in excess of
the number of persons in the city between five and fifteen
years of age; that the number between these ages belonging to
the public and private schools is 92 per cent. of the whole
number in the city; that of the 7 per cent. not attending
school, six sevenths are pretty well accounted for; making
99 per cent. in school or accounted for, while 1 per cent.
remains unaccounted for. This statement of the case respect-
ing the school attendance in this city seems to afford evidence
for the belief that the number of children who are growing up
without acquiring at least the rudiments of education is quite
small. During the past ten years I do not remember to
have met with the case of a child who had resided in the
city until the age of fourteen without learning to read and
write."
"Our truant officers are expected to look after all
children not attending school, who are found in the streets
without any lawful occupation. From their reports, and from
information derived from other sources, I had good reason for
believing that they are faithful and efficient in the perform-
ance of their duty. But as I occasionally hear it said in edu-
cational speeches, or read in some newspaper communication,
that there are several thousand-from ten to fifteen thousand,
I think, is the number named-vagrant urchins in the
streets, growing up in ignorance, idleness, and vice, I thought
K
130
I would try to find where they were.
Accordingly, a week or
two ago, on a bright and sunny morning, taking care not to
select a holiday, I set out on a voyage of discovery. I went
to all the railroad stations, I drove round the marginal
streets, scanning the wharves and alley-ways, keeping a sharp
look-out for boys and girls of school age. The result of this
perambulatory expedition, which occupied two or three hours,
was quite extraordinary in respect to the smallness of the
number of children of school age that were found at all.
Every one found was stopped, and his case enquired into..
The whole number found was hardly more than could be
counted on one's fingers, and among them there was only one
who had not a good reason for being out of school.
This was
a truant who had slipped through the fingers of his teacher
and escaped the vigilance of the truant officer. The next day
being fine, I continued the survey, going through nearly all
the streets of a densely-populated section of the city. The
result was about the same as that of the preceding day. The
few children found, with one exception, gave good reasons for
their absence from school. He was a licensed newsboy, and
was generally found in school. A similar district in another
part of the city was inspected on the third day. It was the
same thing over again. I propose to repeat this survey of
the streets when the spring opens." (¹)
"As I have already intimated, the truant law, which has
been in operation for twenty years, has proved a powerful
auxiliary in the warfare against ignorance. Indirectly, the
truant officers have performed a very valuable service, which
perhaps was not anticipated when the truant law was enacted.
They have, to a very great extent, been the means of making
those classes of persons who do not appreciate the value of
education at least feel the disgrace of voluntary ignorance.”(2)
1 Mass. Report, 1873, p. 196.
2 Ibid, p. 197.
131
The New Hampshire law, passed in 1871, provides that
every parent or guardian having the control of a child between
eight and fourteen shall cause such child to attend school at
least twelve weeks in each year, unless excused by the School
Committee of the town. The penalties incurred for violation of
the law are 10 dollars for the first offence, and 20 dollars for
a subsequent offence. It is the duty of School Boards to sue
for penalties thus incurred, upon written notice served by a
taxpayer, stating by whom, when, and how any such penalty
was incurred. (¹)
The weak place in this law is that it makes any tax-
payer an informer, and there are very few taxpayers who
will accept the office. Consequently, in some districts the
law is inoperative. The Superintendent of Public Instruction
sends me the following statement respecting the working of
the law :-
"The compulsory law of New Hampshire is working
better than its most sanguine friends anticipated. The State
Superintendents, since its enactment, have been earnest to
secure its efficient enforcement, with the following encourag-
ing result:
1872.
1873.
Children between 4 and 14 not attending school.... 4,602
Decrease...
Percentage of non-attendants to number registered ⚫063
1874.
3,680 ... 2,593
922 1,087
·052 ... ⚫037
In other words, the non-attendance has been diminished 44
per cent.
The law is pretty well enforced in most of the larger
places. A great difficulty now is, that in the outskirts of
most of the country towns there still remain a few families
from whom the centralisation of population has withdrawn
the schools. To compel the children of such to go three or
1 Report of Commissioner of Education, 1873, p. 250.
132
four miles to school seems hard, while to sustain a good school
for only two or three pupils seems almost an equal burden.
Yet nearly every country town presents from one to a dozen
just such cases-children who seldom or never enter a
school-room, or are entered on the returns to the State-
children growing up in ignorance, to be the scourge of
the next generation. The problem of their education is one
of the most important now before our people. The same
question is coming up in the mountainous districts of other
States."
By the Connecticut law, passed in 1872, all children
between eight and fourteen are required to receive not less
than three months' schooling. It is too soon almost to speak
of the results of the law. The State Board of Education,
immediately upon its passing, appointed an agent to supervise
its enforcement. Some extracts from his first report show
the early effect of the statute. "I know from observa-
tion that boys cannot be found in the streets of New
Haven in school hours; even the lads who were accustomed
to wait at the depot to shine your boots' are missing. They
have gone to school. Possibly, children who have not attended
school as the law requires are employed in factories, stores, or
shops in New Haven; but in the largest manufacturing
establishment which we visited in the city, no boys under
fourteen years of age were found who had not certificates
that they had attended school three months during the year."
"In Hartford the truant law is faithfully enforced by two
officers detailed for that purpose." "In New London, the police,
under direction of the school visitors, take charge of all boys
at play or loitering in the streets in school hours, and in that
city the laws relating to attendance at school are well
enforced. The school visitors of the town of Windsor Locks
have appointed one of their number to attend to the enforcing
of these laws, and I was informed that this duty is
133
faithfully discharged, and with good effect. Other places
where the requirements of the law are systematically obeyed
or enforced might be named, but these are sufficient to
show that no part of the law need be considered a dead
letter." (¹)
The compulsory law for Michigan, passed in 1871, is the
same, almost word for word, as the New Hampshire law.
Parents are required to send children to school for twelve
weeks in each year, of which six weeks are to be consecutive,
unless excused by the School Board. Directors of School
Districts and Presidents of School Boards are required
to publish notices of the law. The directors or presidents
are required to take action against parents to recover
penalties on receiving written notice from any taxpayer of
a violation of the law.
This statute is in great danger of becoming a dead letter.
It contains that which in England, and in almost every other
country, would be fatal to its success-it depends for its
results upon the action of amateur detectives. A very short
time has elapsed since the law was passed, and already
there is evidence of its partial failure, notwithstanding that
when enacted it was accepted with almost universal satis-
faction. The Hon. Oramel Hosford, in writing to Mr.
Northrop, of Connecticut, said: "I do not remember that
any law bearing upon the school interests of the State
was ever received with such universal favour as this one.
The press, without distinction of party, very generally com-
mend it, and very few of the people were heard to speak
against it.”
The State Superintendent, in his report for 1872 (p. 18),
said: "The moral effect of the law was very manifest. Many
children found their way to the school-room, not waiting to
1 Connecticut Report, 1873, p. 19.
134
be compelled to attend by the force of law. The final results
can only be determined by the faithfulness with which the
law is executed. The law is sufficiently exacting to meet all
cases, and if there is any failure it must be in its vigorous
execution."
The report for 1873 gives the number of children
between five and twenty in the State as 421,322. Of these
324,615 attended school during the year. The average attend-
ance for the school year (over seven months) was about half
of the latter number-say 162,000. The number of children
between eight and fourteen years of age subject to the
compulsory law was 181,604. Under this exhibit it would
therefore be possible for all the children between eight
and fourteen to have attended school during three months of
the year. This assumption, however, is negatived by the
reports of the County Superintendents. A circular letter
issued by the State Superintendent to the County Superin-
tendents requested that, in their official reports for the year,
they would state to what extent the compulsory law had
increased the attendance upon the schools. I have gone
through the replies of the County Superintendents, with the
following results: Out of fifty-three County Superintendents
whose reports are printed, twenty-nine state that the law has
been almost wholly disregarded, and that no attempts have
been made to enforce it. Seventeen report that the silent
influence or moral effect of the law has had a valuable
influence in securing attendance. Three report attempted
prosecutions, failing on technical grounds, and four others
make no allusion to the law. A few extracts from the
reports will show where the difficulty lies. The Superin-
tendent for Macomb County says: "The compulsory law
exists in this county only in name. Known violations of
the law occur in nearly every district without notice. The
inhabitants of districts, when offences are committed, seem to
135
regard a prosecution in the light of personal difficulties, and
refrain from any litigation in the matter." (¹)
"The
The Superintendent for Sanilac County says:
principle and intention of the law may be right, but the
larger proportion of the individuals who violate this law
cannot be reached by it. You cannot interest men to such
an extent in the intellectual welfare of their friends' children
that they will excite a feeling of hatred in the neighbour-
hood by prosecuting those who do not send their children to
school. (2)
The Superintendent for Calhoun County writes: "The
compulsory law has increased the attendance by its silent
influence on the public mind." (3)
The Superintendent for Charlevoix County reports: "The
compulsory school law has had a decidedly good effect in
lessening the amount of school vagrancy. This law, in con-
nection with free schools, has reduced the number of cases of
unnecessary absence from school almost to a minimum.” (4)
The Superintendent for Grand Traverse County says:
"In some localities, and with a certain class of people, its
influence is apparent in an increased attendance of a very
backward set of children, who appear to have been much
neglected." (5)
But it is apparent that unless the law is enforced when
violated, the moral force which at first attended it will very
soon evaporate. The Superintendent for Shiawassee County
reports: "The Compulsory Act, having never been enforced
in our county, is losing its effect". (6)
The compulsory law for Nevada was only passed in 1873,
and that for New York in 1874. It is therefore too soon to
2 Ibid, p. 181. 3 Ibid, p. 115.
5 Ibid, p. 126. G • Ibid, p. 182.
1 Mich. Report, 1873, p. 155.
4 Ibid, p. 120.
136
obtain any information respecting the working of compulsion
in those States.
What is wanted in America to make compulsory laws
thoroughly successful is a strong administrative department
at the head of the system in each State. The principle of
local self-government must be supplemented by State control.
The absence of this feature is painfully evident in the working
of the Michigan law; and before compulsion can accomplish
its best results, some State machinery will have to be
called in.
In all the States where compulsion is now legal it has
been felt desirable to move cautiously, and not to bring the
principle into odium by making its application too stringent.
For the same reason, in most States the law at first required
only three months' school during the year. This has been
generally enlarged to six months, and in some States to nine
months. So the measures for effecting compulsion which
have already been passed are only regarded by American
educationists as tentative, and they look forward to the time
when attendance at school for much longer periods can be
secured.
الحمرا
(f) Demand for Direct Compulsion.
Notwithstanding the assertion here and there that
America is not Prussia, and that compulsion is not compatible
with free institutions, there is no reform so urgently and so
generally demanded as one which shall remedy the present
irregularity in attendance at school. I know of but one State
Superintendent who, within the last four or five years, has
offered strenuous opposition to a compulsory law. The Hon.
137
Abram B. Weaver, Superintendent for New York State, in
his report for 1871, argued at length that compulsion was
unnecessary, or at any rate that better teaching was a more
pressing reform. But public opinion was too strong for Mr.
Weaver, and last year the Legislature passed a compulsory
law-not a very stringent law certainly, but one which will
be sufficient to test the operation of the principle.
Within the last two or three years the State Legislatures
of Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Maine, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Cali-
fornia have had compulsory bills under their consideration,
but they have not hitherto escaped the perils which every-
where seem to beset desirable legislation. During the present
year the Pennsylvania Legislature has had under discussion a
bill for compulsion. The constant effort to secure the passage
of these laws sufficiently indicates the direction which public
feeling is taking, but there are more positive proofs of the
strong support which compulsion has in America.
A few short extracts from the reports of the State
Superintendents will show how urgently a compulsory law is
desired by educationists.
The Superintendent for Pennsylvania, in his report for
1872, says, referring to irregularity of attendance: "I have, in
previous reports, pointed out this great evil and the dangers
it threatens, and, as wisely as I might, suggested remedies for
it. I can do no more. The case needs prompt legislative
action." (1)
In the report for the following year he recurs to
the subject, and urges the passing of a "general law making
it the duty of all parents, guardians, and employers to see
that all children under their control attend school, for a cer-
tain number of months in the year, up to a certain age.” (2)
The Superintendent for Illinois refers to compulsion as
1 Penn. Report, 1872, p. xxii. 2 Penn. Report, 1873, p. xxiv.
138
the "most important school question of modern times." He
says: “Given all other elements, as lands, buildings, equip-
ments, funds, and teachers of the best quality, and in costliest
profusion, there yet remains another essential condition—
pupils. If these are wanting, or to the extent that these are
wanting, there is no education. To that extent treasure is
wasted, time is lost, and the system is a failure." (¹) After a
most careful examination of the arguments for and against
compulsion, Mr. Bateman concludes his able paper by main-
taining that it has been proved that the intervention of the
Legislature, by means of compulsion, is necessary to perfect the
American school system-that such intervention is not
unconstitutional or tyrannical; "that it puts the right of
the child to be educated above the right of the parent to keep
it in ignorance; that it protects the many who do educate
their children against the counteracting influence of the few
who will not that it shields the innocent from cruel wrong,
since starving the mind is worse than abusing the body; that
it is grounded upon the belief that to bring up children in
ignorance, wilfully and without cause, is a crime, and should
be treated as such; that such conduct on the part of those
having the control of children, being a fruitful source of
criminality, should be under the ban of legal condemnation,
and the restraint of legal punishment; that the allegations as
to the incompatibility of such laws with the nature and spirit
of our political system are unfounded, as also are the appre-
hensions concerning the assumed harshness and severity of
their enforcement; that the operation of such laws in many
of the most enlightened States of Europe is a vindication of
their wisdom and beneficence, affording an example that may
be safely followed; that there is no proof that the masses of
our people are opposed to such legislation, but, on the con-
*
1 Illinois Report, 1872, p. 187.
139
trary, that there is good reason to believe that general
enlightenment on the subject would result in a general
approval of the measure; that the exclusively voluntary
policy has been, and is, but partially successful, while the
accelerated influx of foreigners renders the adoption of new
measures of education without delay a grave political neces-
sity; that the proposed legislative intervention is but an
affirmation of the irrefutable truth, that if it is right to tax
all for the education of all, then it is equally right to see that
all are educated; that it is in the line of a general human
right, and of a fundamental right of children, and is compul-
sory only as that right must be protected against any and all
infringements; that it is required to fully utilise the vast
resources already devoted to public education, and to pre-
vent enormous and increasing waste of money, property, and
effort; and, finally, that it is demanded by the clearest prin-
ciples of justice, both to children and taxpayers-by the
franchises conferred and implied in the Bill of Rights embodied
in the Constitution-by consideration of the highest political
wisdom, and by the facts and exigencies that now exist in
this State and in every other State of the Union.” (¹)
How great is the waste caused by irregularity is shown
by the Superintendent for Iowa. He says: "The average
length of time the schools have been taught is six months.
and ten days, while the average length of school attendance
is less than four months. We thus provide and pay for two
and one half months of school more than would be actually
required to instruct the number registered if they attended
regularly. The cost of maintaining these two and one half
months of unnecessary school, exclusive of school-house
building, is 1,171,300 dollars, or 5-13ths of the whole cost for
the year." (2)
¹ Illinois Report, 1872, p. 225. 2 Iowa Report, 1873, p. 38.
140
The Superintendent for Maine, in discussing the statistics
of illiteracy and the remedy, says: "To the thoughtful citizen
no other remedy can be apparent than that the State shall
insist upon some acceptable measure to secure the education
of all its youth. Every taxpayer should insist upon coercive
education, for it is only thus he will obtain compensation for
his own time, labour, and business vigilance, represented in
his contribution to the public treasury; only thus that he will
obtain fulfilment from the State of the compact she makes
with him to return an intelligent community for the tax thus
imposed upon him." "The State needs it as a safeguard against
the pressing demands of capital for cheap labour, raw muscle,
mere human working machines, and against the incoming
tide of immigration and ignorance, to supply this demand." (¹)
The Superintendent for Ohio says: "Truancy and
absenteesim are evils for the cure or prevention of which
no laws have been enacted; attendance at school is entirely
optional. Children unable to read or write may be employed
on the farm, or in mine, workshop, or factory. The State
does not interpose to protect them against the avarice of
thoughtless parents or the rapacity of employers. There is,
however, a growing sentiment in favour of stringent laws
against truancy and the employment of illiterate youth in
industries of any kind, when such employment is a virtual
denial of school privileges. Our people desire to see the
results of compulsory laws, although it is questionable
whether they are ready to sanction their enactment." (2)
In Indiana, compulsory education has been advocated
for a long time past. The Superintendent, speaking of the
reception of compulsion in Michigan, says: "I doubt not that
a judicious law, compelling attendance upon the schools,
would meet with similar favour in Indiana. It rises above
1 Maine Report, 1872, p. 92. 2 Ohio Report, 1872, p. 37.
141
all partisan considerations. Such a law would be the best
friend of the orphan and neglected. It would open to
thousands a door of hope, that is now probably closed for ever.
The public is ready for this measure. It can be enforced. It
will break up old and bad habits, and form new and better
Its adoption will mark a new and better era in
educational matters, and erase from the census reports the
figures that tell the disgraceful story of our illiteracy." (1)
ones.
The Superintendent for Missouri, who, though not
strongly in favour of compulsion, says that "universal edu-
cation must at all hazards be secured," reports as follows:
"Within twelve months past public sentiment within this
State has experienced a remarkable change in respect to
enforced attendance. This fact is indicated with emphasis by
the complexion of educational meetings in which an opinion
has been expressed by vote. Meetings of teachers and citizens
in Jackson, Cooper, Jefferson, and Butler Counties took strong
ground in favour of the proposition. In the published minutes
of the Teachers' Institute, held at Lee's Summit in December
last, I find the following minute: Resolution on compulsory.
education for all pupils between the ages of six and fifteen
adopted; 53 in favour, 18 negative. The citizens were then
invited to vote, and stood 5 to 1 in favour of the resolution."" (2)
"Our system
<
<
The Superintendent for Nebraska says:
should secure a good education to every child. Call it
compulsory' if you please, but no child should be allowed to
reach the age of sixteen years without enjoying the advantages
of school a sufficient length of time to enable him to learn to
read and write.” (³) The fact that the great majority of
educated minds in all States now endorse the movement, is
itself no feeble argument in its favour." (4)
1 Indiana Report, 1872, p. 117.
3 Nebraska Report, 1873, p. 40.
2 Missouri Report, 1873, p. 77.
¹ Ibid, p. 50.
142
The Superintendent for California advocates compulsion
in a long and able paper, and says the people are prepared for
it. The only time the people have had an opportunity to
express their will, they have declared themselves overwhelm-
ingly in favour of compulsory education." (¹)
The school organisation in the Southern States is pro-
bably not sufficiently complete to allow the early application
of a compulsory law, but even in these States compulsion
has its friends. The Superintendent for Louisiana says:
"Where the parent fails to do his duty to his child, is it not
the duty of the State to provide for the wants of that child?
If we desire to reduce our large percentage of illiteracy, we
must establish such State laws as will compel our youth to
avail themselves of educational privileges. City ordinances
must be passed prohibiting truancy, and, as in other cities,
providing the means for the same. To this matter, and in
recommendation of such legislation as may be necessary to
effect the desired object, I especially call the attention of
the State Board of Education." (²)
At the meeting of the National Teachers' Association
held in St. Louis in 1871 the question was discussed. This
meeting was attended by the best known educationists from
twelve States, and the following resolution was passed unani-
mously" That to
"That to secure universal education in this
country, our present system of voluntary school attendance
should be supplemented by truant laws, reformatory schools,
and such other compulsory measures as may be necessary to
reach that class of youths now growing up in ignorance." (3)
The reports of the State Superintendents are but the
reflex of the opinions expressed by school officers throughout
the States. The more minute the examination of this subject
¹ California Report, 1873, p. 23. 2 Louisiana Report, 1873, p. 286.
3 Iowa Report, 1871, p. 60.
143
the more apparent it becomes that American educationists
will spare no pains and omit no means, however stringent, to
place their system upon the highest possible level, and to
secure the utmost efficiency. When Bishop Fraser visited the
States he found that "from many sections of the community,
and especially from those who would be called the educa-
tionists, the cry was rising, both loud and vehement, that
greater stringency was required in the law, and that com-
pulsory attendance was the proper correlative of free
schools." (¹) From that time until the present the advocates
of compulsion have been constantly increasing in numbers,
and the demand for this reform has daily grown more emphatic.
Every year will now probably add to the number of States
adopting the law, until it covers the whole Union.
1 Fraser's Report, p. 39.
144
IV.
RELIGION AND MORALS,
(a) LAW AS TO RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION (b) BIBLE
READING; MORAL TEACHING - (c) THE RELIGIOUS
DIFFICULTY.
(a) Law as to Religious Instruction.
If anyone were able to lay down, precisely and authori-
tatively, the law of each State upon the subject of religious
teaching in school, it is probable that there would be a great
future saving of work for American lawyers and jurists. Up
to a certain point, and covering a large practical field of
operations, judicial opinions are very much in harmony;
beyond it, and still embracing a wide range of controversy,
very opposite views prevail. In the absence of a federal law
upon the subject a conflict of opinion would appear to be
inevitable.
In the case of "Minor et als. v. Cincinnati Board of Educa-
tion," the Superior Court of Cincinnati was called upon to
decide whether the Bible might be lawfully excluded from the
common schools under the law of Ohio. The arguments in this
145
case have been published, and occupy a closely-printed octavo
volume of some five hundred pages. A very large share of
attention is devoted to the legal question, respecting which,
in the end, there was a difference of opinion amongst the
judges. I cannot attempt to lead English readers through
the maze of statutes, judgments, and authorities, bearing
both on matters of law and of fact, which were adduced in this
case. It will be quite sufficient to indicate the general policy
of legislation, showing how far there is concurrence of
opinion, and where the points of difference arise.
In a work regarded as of much weight in the United
States-" Cooley's Constitutional Limitations "—the author
includes as one of "those things which are not lawful under
any of the American Constitutions," the "compulsory sup-
port, by taxation or otherwise, of religious instruction." If
by "religious instruction" is meant the teaching of the
distinctive theology of any particular sect, then this view of
the law harmonises with the public sentiment and practice in
most of the States. If, on the other hand, under the term
"religious instruction" is included general Christian culture
-the reading of the Bible, the repetition of the Lord's
Prayer, and the singing of religious hymns-then the law, if
this be law, is habitually violated, not by any means in every
school district, but certainly in every State of the Union.
From the context, however, it appears to be clear that Judge
Cooley intends the words "religious instruction" in their
most comprehensive sense. "Not only is no one denomina-
tion to be favoured at the expense of the rest, but all support
of religious instruction must be entirely voluntary." Again:
"Whatever establishes a distinction against one class or sect
is, to the extent to which the distinction operates unfavour-
ably, a persecution; and if based on religious grounds is
religious persecution."
But the view apparently held by Judge Cooley, that under
L
146
the State Constitutions secular instruction only can be legally
given in the common schools, although it is maintained by
more than one eminent lawyer, is not the one generally
accepted. The ideal set up by American legislators was
absolute religious equality; but that ideal is not practically
reached. By almost universal assent, distinctive denomi-
national teaching is prohibited in the public schools. This
arrangement no sect, the Roman Catholic excepted, wishes to
disturb It is also illegal to endow or subsidise out of public
funds schools under the control of any sect; and this law is
almost universally recognised and obeyed, the only exception
that I know of being in the State of New York, where from
time to time small grants have been made to Roman Catholic
schools.
To the extent above indicated, the principle of religious
equality is secured by the State Constitutions, and some-
times by additional provisions in the school laws of particular
States, although quite as often the latter are altogether
silent on the subject. But here the doctrines of perfect
religious equality and freedom of conscience meet, in practice,
their limit. The authors of the typical State Constitution
and the founders of the common school system appear to
have held that these doctrines could be consistently maintained
in conjunction with a large amount of Christian and Protestant
instruction in the schools-instruction which in England is
often depreciated as "colourless," but which, nevertheless, is
very full of colour in the eyes of a large section of the
religious world. And the conviction that this kind of teaching
is not out of harmony with absolute religious equality exists
very generally throughout the States, although, as will be
seen, it is at intervals somewhat rudely shaken.
Formerly, in the New England States, where the common
school system was originated at a time when there was little
divergence of religious belief amongst the inhabitants,
147
religious instruction occupied a much more prominent position
in the school than at present. And it is in these States still that
religious exercises in the schools, such as prayer, the reading
of the Bible, and the singing of hymns, are mostgeneral.
The chief difference in the statutory provisions of
different States, where any such provision is made, appears
to be in the amount of discretion which is vested in the
teacher or school officers. A few illustrations will enable
English readers to form their own conclusions.
In Massachusetts, Bible reading appears to be compul-
sory, it being the duty of the School Committee "to require
the daily reading of some portion of the Bible in the common
English version.” (¹)
By the law of New Jersey, it is not lawful to introduce
"in any school receiving its proportion of the public money,
any religious service, ceremony, or forms whatsoever, except
reading the Bible and repeating the Lord's Prayer.” (2) By a
later statute it is provided that no portion of the school fund
"shall be apportioned to, or be used for, the support of
sectarian schools.” (³)
In Connecticut the Bible is generally read, but it does
not appear to be compulsory-the discretion being vested in
the Board of Visitors. (4)
In New York State, the law provides that "no school
shall be entitled to, or receive, any portion of the school
moneys, in which the religious doctrines or tenets of any
particular Christian or other religious sect shall be taught,
inculcated, or practised, or in which any book or books
containing compositions favourable or prejudicial to the
particular doctrines or tenets of any particular Christian or
1 Fraser's Report, p. 24.
find that there is a Conscience
parents object to Bible reading.
3 Act of 1871, section 4.
4
On reference to the General Statutes (p. 27), I
Clause for the protection of children whose
2 New Jersey School Law, Article ix, sec. 65.
Connecticut Report, 1871, p. 180.
148
other religious sect, or which shall teach the doctrines or
tenets of any religious sect. But nothing herein contained
shall authorise the Board of Education to exclude the Holy
Scriptures, without note or comment, or any selections
therefrom, from any of the schools provided for in this Act;
but it shall not be competent for the said Board of Education
to decide what version, if any, of the Holy Scriptures,
without note or comment, shall be used in any of the
schools. Provided, that nothing herein contained shall be
so construed as to violate the rights of conscience as
secured by the Constitution of this State and of the United
States." (¹)
The law of Rhode Island appears to leave the question
to the discretion of School Boards, the practice varying in
different towns.
The school laws of Ohio contain no provision respecting
religious teaching, but the Bill of Rights embodied in the
Constitution of 1851 declares that, "religion, morality, and
knowledge, being essential to good government, it shall
be the duty of the General Assembly to pass suitable laws
to protect every religious denomination in the peaceable
enjoyment of its own mode of public worship, and to encourage
schools and the means of instruction." Under this provision
it was held, upon appeal to the Supreme Court of the State,
in the case of Minor et als. v. Cincinnati Board of Educa-
tion, that the School Board might legally prohibit the use of
the Bible.
The school law of Iowa "forbids the exclusion of the
Bible from the public schools, and, at the same time, provides
that the pupil shall not be required to read it contrary to the
wishes of his parents or guardian.” (2)
"The Bible shall not be ex-
The law of Indiana says:
1 Randall's History, p. 138.
2 Iowa Report, 1871, p. 38.
149
cluded from the public schools of the State." (¹) A note to this
section of the Act, by the Superintendent of Public Instruction,
thus interprets it: "No school authorities have the right to
prevent the teacher from using the Bible in his school, and
none have the right to compel him to use it. The privilege
of introducing the Bible into the free schools of the State is
fully secured by this section. Most Christian teachers will
be disposed to read the Scriptures daily in their schools." (2)
any
The law of Illinois permits, but does not compel, the
use of the Bible in the public schools. It authorises Boards
"to grant the temporary use of school-houses for religious
meetings and Sunday schools." (3) But School Boards "are
strictly forbidden to use, or to allow or cause to be used,
school funds or property of any description, under any
circumstances whatever, for any sectarian purpose, or to
support or help to support any school or other institution of
learning of any kind or grade whatsoever that is under the
control of any church or sectarian denomination." (4)
In Missouri “there is no statutory law either prohibiting
or requiring the introduction of religious teaching into any
school." (5) The State Constitution, Article 10, prohibits any
appropriation, payment, or grant from any. public fund
whatever, in aid of any creed, church, or sectarian purpose,
or to help, support, or sustain any sectarian denomination
or school. (6)
The law of Kentucky provides that "no books, tracts,
papers, catechisms, or other publications of a sectarian, infidel,
or denominational character shall be used or distributed in
any common school, nor shall any sectarian or infidel
doctrine be taught therein." (7)
1 Indiana School Law, 1865, sec. 167.
3 Illinois Report, 1872, p. 19.
• Missouri Report, 1873, p. 62.
7 Kentucky School Law,
2 Indiana School Law, p. 59.
4 Illinois Report, 1872, p. 129.
• Missouri Report, 1873, p. 62.
Article 10, section 8.
150
The school law of West Virginia embodies a provision
somewhat similar to that which the League has recommended
for adoption in England. The trustee of the schools may
allow the houses "to be used for the purpose of holding
religious meetings and Sunday schools, equally by the
various religious denominations that may apply for the same,
under such regulations as to the care of the same as he may
prescribe." (1)
The school laws of other States which I have examined,
such as California and Wisconsin, make no mention of Bible
reading, but prohibit the use of sectarian books in the
schools. In other States, such as Mississippi and Nebraska,
I find no provision whatever on the subject in the statutes,
though possibly the State Constitutions may contain some.
(b) Bible Reading; Moral Teaching.
The "Statement of the Theory of Education in the
United States," published by the National Bureau, contains the
following general explanation: "Sectarian instruction is not
given in the public schools. Religious, particularly sectarian,
training is accomplished mainly in families, and by the
several denominations in their Sunday schools, or in special
classes that recite their catechisms at stated intervals during
the week. It is quite a common practice to open or close the
public schools with Bible reading and prayer. Singing of
religious hymns by the entire school is still more common.” (²)
An examination of the State reports shows Bible reading
to be the rule, but subject to important exceptions.
1 West Virginia School Law, chap. 123, section 15.
2 Statement of Bureau, p. 18.
The
151
Bishop of Manchester said in his report: "It is true that
everywhere at least, I believe everywhere-under the
system, provision is made for reading the Bible." (¹) If he had
said that everywhere Bible reading was allowed, the statement
would have been more accurate. Bible reading was not
universal in the States at the time of Bishop Fraser's visit.
It is still less universal now. Perhaps in all the schools of
the New England States the Bible is read; I know of no
exception. In New York State, although the law does not
permit School Boards to exclude the Bible, yet, as a matter of
fact, it is often excluded, both in the schools of New York
city and other parts of the State. (2)
In 1872 the Bible was read in only 10,856 out of the
15,999 schools of Pennsylvania. (3)
In some of the largest cities of the West the Bible is not
read. The Superintendent of the St. Louis schools says: "I
cannot find that our schools have, ever since their foundation
in 1838, permitted so much as the reading of the Bible in
them. I believe that this perfect secularity has done much
to bring about the perfect intermingling of all denominations
in our schools which has existed for so long." (4)
Since the decision of the Supreme Court in "Minors v.
the Cincinnati Board of Education," the Bible has been
excluded from the schools of Cincinnati.
A census of the schools under this head would probably
show that there is a considerable minority of schools in every
State save, perhaps, in New England, which are purely
secular. No such census has been taken except in
Pennsylvania.
Probably in Iowa or Indiana, where the statutes say that
the Bible shall not be excluded, it is read in nearly all the
1 Fraser's Report, p. 160.
Pennsylvania Report, 1872, p. xiii.
2 Randall's History, p. 203.
4 St. Louis Report, 1872, p. 17.
152
schools. In Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and some
other Western States, there is good reason to believe that this
is not the case. Recent State reports contain very little
information on the subject, but such as they do contain
more than suggests a doubt as to the universal use of the
Bible.
The Superintendent for Antrim County, Michigan, says:
"In some of our schools the reading of Scripture was prac-
tised as an opening exercise, and in most cases where it had
not been practised, I succeeded in prevailing on the teachers
to introduce it." (1)
The Superintendent for Huron County (Michigan)
writes: "Many of the teachers asked me the question,
'Shall we read the Bible in school?' I answered that I
was no partisan in religion or politics, that I encouraged
a moral, scientific, and practicable education, and that they
could use their own discretion about the matter of reading
the Bible." (2)
The Superintendent for Washtenaw County (Michigan)
says: "During the summer term, in the rural districts, sixty-
eight teachers, or 46 per cent. of the whole number, used
singing in the opening exercises; eighty-four, or 57 per cent.
of the whole, read the Bible; thirty-three, or 22 per cent. of
the whole number, opened school with prayer. During the
winter term, forty-nine practised singing, seventy-two read
the Bible, and thirty-five opened school with prayer." (3)
The school officers of Illinois who refer to the subject
do not speak of the reading of the Bible as a matter of
course. The Superintendent for Hardin County says: "I am
glad to say that the Bible is in general use in all the schools
in our county." (4) The Superintendent for Mercer County
¹ Michigan Report, 1873, p. 102.
• Ibid, p. 195.
2 Michigan Report, 1873, p. 134.
4 Illinois Report, 1872, p. 262.
153
says:
"Most of our teachers make use of the Bible in their
schools by reading some portion every morning, and, so far as
I know, none object to its use." (¹)
In other States the practice, though general, appears to
vary as to extent and manner.
In Camden County (New Jersey) the Bible is read for
ten minutes before the roll-call, (2) thus introducing a time-
table conscience clause.
The rules of the Washington public schools require the
reading of the Bible, without note or comment, as an opening.
exercise, the use of the Lord's Prayer being left to the
discretion of the teacher. (3)
The Bible is in general use in the Rhode Island' schools,
though the regulations under which it is read vary in different
towns. In North Providence the rule is as follows: "All
the public schools may be opened in the morning by reading
a portion of the Scriptures, which may be done by the teacher
alone or in connection with the older pupils, the whole school
being required at the same time to suspend all other subjects,
and to give proper and respectful attention; and this exercise
may be followed by prayer or not, at the discretion of the
teacher." (4)
In East Providence the rule is that teachers "shall
open the morning session of each school with reading from
the Bible as a devotional exercise.”(5)
In the evening schools of Providence, in the literature
class, the Bible is read in comparison with early English
productions, to afford an insight into the etymology of the
language. (6)
In Philadelphia at least ten verses of the Bible must be
1 Illinois Report, p. 281.
2 New Jersey Report, 1872, p. 31.
8
• Washington Report, 1873, p. 202. ↑ Rhode Island Report, 1871, p. 58.
• Rhode Island Report, 1872, p. 64.
• Rhode Island Report, 1873, p. 15.
154
read, without note or comment, at the opening of the schools.
A suitable hymn may also be sung. (¹)
The correct conclusion appears to be that a very wide
discretion as to the use of the Bible is reposed in the School
Boards and in the teachers, but when it is read it is nearly
always without note or comment. The custom in regard to
requiring the attendance of pupils during the reading also
varies, but the instances in which pupils are withdrawn
appear to be few, the conscience clause, such as it is, and
where it is in use, being of very small practical use.
Besides the reading of the Bible, provision is made in
nearly every State, either by express legislative enactment,
or by the regulations of School Boards, for giving moral
instruction.
The statutes of Maine require the teacher to "impress on
the minds of the youth committed to his care and instruc-
tion the principles of morality and justice, and a sacred
regard for truth, love of country, humanity, and a universal
benevolence; sobriety, industry, and frugality; chastity,
moderation, and temperance, and all other virtues which are
the ornaments of society; and to lead those under his care,
as their ages and capacities admit, into a particular under-
standing of the tendency of such virtues to preserve and
perfect a Republican Constitution, and secure the blessings
of liberty, and promote their future happiness; and the
tendency of the opposite vices to slavery, degradation, and
ruin." (2)
In Boston, the school regulations require that "instruction
in good morals shall be daily given in each of the schools,
and the principles of truth and virtue faithfully inculcated
upon all suitable occasions." Mr. Philbrick, in his last report,
says: "In the programme of the primary schools moral
1 Philadelphia Report, 1871, p. 273. 2 Maine Report, 1872, p. 162.
155
instruction is not set down as a separate subject for
instruction, except in requiring the 'repetition of verses and
maxims,' meaning verses of poetry and moral maxims. In
the programme of the grammar schools the specific require-
ment under this head is: morals and manners, by anecdotes,
examples and precepts, and by amplifying and applying
the hints and suggestions relating to those topics contained
in the reading lessons. In the high schools moral philosophy
is a distinct branch of instruction.” (¹)
The Superintendent of the St. Louis schools says:
“Moral education is a training of the will, and not of the
intellect; consequently, it relates to the formation of habits.
The duties of (1) punctuality, (2) regularity, (3) silence, (4)
truth, (5) industry, (6) respect for the rights of others, are
enforced continually in and about the school, as indispensable
to the management of it." (2)
The regulations throughout the Union respecting the
teaching of morality are much the same in substance. The
practice, no doubt, varies widely-the instruction being more
general in some cases, more definite in others, and depending
always in an important degree upon the character and opinions
of the teacher.
It is sometimes asserted in this country that many
children are sent to private schools because the moral
discipline is better in them than in the common schools.
The allegation is twofold-first, that the children attending
common schools are often of immoral character, and, secondly,
that the tone of the schools is wanting in morality, or is
"irreligious." In answer to the first charge, it may be said.
that it would be strange if, under a system which embraces
all classes, some children were not found whose moral training
had been neglected, but, that as a class, the pupils of the
1 Boston Report, 1874, p. 348. 2 St. Louis Report, 1872, p. 16.
156
public schools are less moral than others has never been
substantiated. Isolated instances are to be found. I find a
charge of the kind admitted by the Superintendent of the
St. Joseph schools, Michigan. At the risk of having it taken
out of its setting, and widely circulated to the disadvantage
of the common school system, I quote the passage: "So far as
I have observed, there is but one valid objection urged against
the public when compared with the private schools, and that
is the charge of immorality. Such of our religious friends as
are interested in sectarian or denominational schools, together
with that portion of our community who look upon the public
school system as plebeian in character, seize this thumb-
screw and turn it with a vengeance. There is some truth in
this charge." (¹)
In the course of a long and extensive reading of
authorities on American education, this is the only instance
in which I have found the accusation admitted, that the public
schools are less moral than the private schools; although I
have met with occasional complaints that insufficient attention
is given to moral instruction. The balance of testimony is
quite the other way. Mr. Edward Shippen, formerly President
of the School Board of Philadelphia, wrote a letter to Mr.
Follett Osler, which was read at the first annual meeting of
the National Education League, in which he said, “I
candidly tell you that in placing my children at school, I
would infinitely prefer placing them in public schools than
private schools, and, in doing so, I would thus consult the
better their moral, spiritual, and scholastic welfare." (2)
The Secretary of the Connecticut Board of Education
says: "It is the testimony of one of the most eminent
educators of our State, that 'public schools are better, as well
1 Michigan Report, 1873, p. 361.
2 Report National Education League, 1869, p. 185.
157
as far cheaper, than private schools. I believe the morals of
children are better guarded in public than in private schools.
From wide observation as to the influence of the two systems
on the morals of pupils, I advocate the training of the
children of all classes together in the public school.' A
successful experience of thirty years as professor in Yale
College gives weight to this opinion.” (¹)
In reply to the kindred accusation, that the tendency of
the common schools is irreligious, the Superintendent for
Virginia says: "The infidel tendencies charged upon public
schools do not exist. Modern heresy and scepticism are
indeed found closely allied with intelligence, but it is not
with the simple intelligence of the popular mind, which is
everywhere true to the faith. The sources of infidelity are to
be found in the temples, not in the synagogues, of learning.”(2)
At the meeting of the National Teachers' Association, in
1870, the Hon. F. A. Sawyer, United States Senator said: "I
have yet to learn that the pupils of private schools in which
special moral and religious instruction is given are, on the
whole, possessed of purer morals than those who rely upon the
free common schools for their only instruction. I speak of this
subject because I know that there are many Americans who
decry our public school system, because they say it confines
the pupil's development to his intellect, and leaves unculti-
vated that more important part of his nature upon which his
value as a citizen and as a man depends, even more than it
does upon his intellectual qualities. They say ours is a
godless system; that it increases the power to do evil by
stimulating and invigorating one set of faculties while it fails
to give tone and vigour to another set, whose action and
power become even more necessary to the educated than the
uneducated man. I deny the existence of the fact. I claim
1 Connecticut Report, 1869, p. 20.
2 Virginia Report, 1871, p. 61.
158
that in general our public schools are not second, as agencies
of moral influence, to any other in use outside of the family
and the church; and I aver that the exceptions go not to
prove the defects of the system, but the want of faithfulness
on the part of those who have the appointment of teachers
and the general supervision of the schools." (¹)
The Bishop of Manchester wrote: "The intellectual tone
of the schools is high; the moral tone, though, perhaps, a
little too self-conscious, is not unhealthy; but another tone,
which can only be vaguely described in words, but of which
one feels one's self in the presence when it is really there, and
which, for want of a better name, I must call the 'religious'
tone, one misses, and misses with regret." (2)
Some readers will be tempted to ask where this latter
tone is to be found, and how it is to be supplied. Is it found
in the public elementary schools of England, or has it been
produced by the religious instruction given in our schools for
sixty years? Who that has heard the school-class gabble of
Bible and Catechism in a National school can pretend that
this is so? If anyone seeks convincing information on
this subject, let him read the reports of her Majesty's
inspectors previous to 1870, when they were at liberty to
examine and report on religious instruction. The record that
will be found, with only a partial exception, is one of care-
lessness, indifference, irreverence, and superficiality. Let
Bishop Fraser himself be the witness as to the result of the
English plan. "I do not think that it can be maintained
that the religious teaching of our schools has produced
religious intelligence or religious stability in our people; at
any rate, not in that class of our people who, in their school
days, had most of such teaching." (3)
¹ Proceedings of the National Teachers' Association, 1870, p. 208.
2 Fraser's Report, p. 179. 3 Ibid, p. 323.
159
If we have nothing to learn from Americans on this
subject, we have at least some valuable experience to place at
their disposal, but it is not of a kind flattering to the
methods we have hitherto pursued.
(c) The Religious Difficulty.
If a poll could be taken on the question, it would
probably be found that a large majority of American citizens
are perfectly satisfied with the general custom of Bible read-
ing without note or comment. Yet the hostility to the
prevailing practice cannot be described as insignificant. It
has grown amazingly during the last twenty years, and appears
to be still growing. There are two sections of educationists
who are incessantly at work against the present system.
There are the denominationalists, who desire that the public
money should be handed over to their charge, pro ratâ, and
the work of education left in their hands; and there are the
educationists proper, the advocates of State secular education,
who desire to exclude the Bible from the public schools.
Here, then, are two camps, utterly repugnant to and irrecon-
cilable with each other, who are for the present united in
opposition to the custom of Bible reading, but with wholly
different ulterior aims. It is almost needless to explain that
the secular party draws material strength from the action of
the sectarian party. It would be unjust to those who
are opposed to Bible reading to say that they are exclusively
animated by a spirit of antagonism to the denominationalists.
No doubt, as a body they advocate the exclusion of the Bible
on the ground of justice to all sects; but it is clear that every
160
fresh effort made by the priest party to secure a division
of the public funds largely recruits the ranks of those who
see in purely secular schools the only sure and unassailable
basis of a national system. The prevailing tone of the
schools at present is Christian and Protestant. This, it is
held, is unjust to the Jew and Roman Catholic. Whether
the Roman Catholics, who constitute the main force of the
sectarian malcontents, would be reconciled by a secular
system, is a point in dispute. It is, however, clear that the
ground of their objection, as understood by the community at
large, would be greatly cut away from them if the schools
were wholly secularised. To say that the teaching of
reading, writing, and arithmetic, plus the reading of the
Protestant Bible, is a Protestant, and therefore a sectarian,
proceeding, is an intelligible position. That the teaching of
reading, writing, and arithmetic alone, without any religious
instruction whatever, is an irreligious or infidel, and there-
fore sectarian action, is a conviction which ordinary minds
have hitherto been unable to comprehend or assimilate.
Therefore, a considerable portion of the community say, “Let
us have schools in no sense Protestant or sectarian. If, after
putting our system upon this broad and just basis, Roman
Catholics still refuse to come in, and insist upon having their
own parochial schools-as all admit they have a perfect right
to do that is their own look-out. We are not concerned to
meet an objection, even though it is said to be based upon
conscience, if we are wholly unable to comprehend its nature.
There is a religious equality and a religious freedom which all
can understand, and which may be interpreted by the applica-
tion of the golden rule. There are also the blind hysterics
of the Celt.' The former we are willing to embody in our
system; the latter we ought not to be asked to recognise. A
Roman Catholic ought not to be compelled to support a
system the prevailing tone of which is opposed to his
161
religion; but he might as conscientiously refuse to contribute
to the support of our Government because it is not conducted
under ecclesiastical auspices, as to refuse to support schools in
which no religious teaching is given."
This indicates accurately, I believe, the nature of the
controversy as far as it has gone. There is a very small party
in the country who, without making any change in the
administration of the schools, desires to increase the amount
of definite religious instruction in them; but it is not of
sufficient strength to form a considerable element in the
discussion. In fact, if it were not for the Roman Catholics, a
chapter on the religious difficulty in the States might be as
brief as the famous chapter on snakes in Iceland. It is
mainly due to the presence of a considerable Irish population
that it cannot be written, "There is no religious difficulty in
the United States." Not that the difficulty is wholly Irish
or Roman Catholic; but it would be a long time before
any overt manifestation of it appeared were it not for the
numbers and the energy of the Irish faction. Wherever
Roman Catholics congregate in large numbers, there is an
agitation of the public mind upon this question, and the
waters are disturbed, too often without any healing results.
Not that the discussion of the question is to be deprecated. So
long as the tone of the schools is sectarian, and antagonistic
to their faith, large numbers will sympathise with the hostility
which is displayed by Roman Catholics towards the system.
How it can be maintained that in such a city as New York
the reading of the Protestant Bible in the schools can be just
to the Roman Catholic parents and ratepayers, I for one do
not understand. The question is not now whether their
opposition to secular schools would be more or less strenuous,
or whether, as many believe, the priests by whom they are led,
object not so much to the Bible as to a liberal education.
Those are questions which may fairly be discussed by
M
162
Protestants when they have washed their hands of every
particle of injustice towards Roman Catholics, and purged
their schools of all teaching which is hostile to Roman
Catholicism. If the Roman Catholic faith and teaching are
a standing menace to civil and religious liberty everywhere,
the present practice of Bible reading in the public schools of
America is not less a badge of Protestant supremacy. I
think it is clear that Protestants should remove the latter
before they are entitled to be heard about the former. If it
be true, as it probably is, that the Roman Catholic hierarchy-
and I think an important distinction should be made between
the hierarchy and the community-would not be content with
anything short of the division of the school fund, the last
thing they would rejoice to see would be the expulsion of the
Bible from the schools. It would deprive them of their
present undoubted grievance. The locus standi from which
they demand a division of the school fund would be gone
immediately the Protestant custom of Bible reading were
surrendered. They might still talk about their conscientious
rights, and might still endeavour to keep up their parochial
schools, but the answer to them then would be clear-" Enjoy
your distinction and pay for it. Keep on your separate
schools if you think fit; no one interferes with you."
In New York city, and in parts of the State, there has
for many years been an intermittent conflict on this question.
Previous to 1842, the school funds in the city of New York
were raised by the Common Council, and by them paid to the
Public School Society, a professedly secular organisation,
having control of the public schools. In these schools the
Bible was read, and the parochial schools were excluded from
all participation in the funds. The agitation against this
system, conducted by the Roman Catholics, was very
vigorous; but it owed its partial success more to a really
weak point in the system than to the power of the Roman
163
Catholic organisation. The Public School Society was not
a representative association, and was practically irrespon-
sible, as the management of a large proportion of the
elementary schools is in England to-day. Against this
feeble place in the system the artillery of the Roman
Catholics was directed, and in 1842 an Act was passed for
the election of the Board of Education in the city. By
this and subsequent enactments the religious question was
partially settled. I have already explained the law, which
does not permit the Board of Education to exclude the Bible,
nor does it allow them "to decide what version, if any,
of the Holy Scriptures" shall be used in the schools. The
matter appears to be left very much to the discretion of the
teachers. As a matter of fact, the Protestant version is read
in most schools, though I believe that the Douay version is
read in some schools where there are large numbers of
Roman Catholic children, and in others the Bible is excluded
altogether. But the Catholics are not satisfied with the
system. To the extent of making the public schools
wholly secular, a large party are willing to accede to their
demands; and this is the case not only in New York, but
in the cities of the West, which are now manifesting a
determination to strike out their own lines in educational
matters.
It is a very significant fact that the report for the city
of Chicago, in 1869, expressed an opinion against the
advisability of reading the Bible in public schools, on the
ground that as the people represent every shade of religious
belief, and as all contribute to the support of the schools,
they should be unsectarian in all respects. Those of
us who are Protestants would resent any attempt on the
part of the authorities to require our children to listen to a
daily lesson from the Douay Scriptures. Why, then, should
we compel our Romanist neighbour to listen to the version
<<
164
of King James, or insist that the followers of Moses join in
the reading of the New Testament?" (1)
In discussing the question, the Superintendent for Iowa
refers to the "wide and unfriendly diversity of public senti-
ment." "If the Bible used is a Protestant Bible, the Catholic
children in attendance, even if excused from the exercise, are
committed to the attitude of a false and hostile system of
faith and worship; and precisely the same thing must befal
the Protestant children if the version accepted by the
Catholics is used in these opening exercises. If the New
Testament is read, the Jew is offended; if it is omitted
altogether, in accommodation to the Jew, the Christian comes
in with a most decided protest. There would seem, therefore,
to be no impartial course left but to banish the Bible
altogether from the public schools
Precisely to this conclusion have some of the most eminent
divines and educators in this country arrived, and from it
many, even after prolonged discussion of the topic, show no
disposition to recede.” (2)
The Superintendent for Missouri advocates the entire
separation of religious and secular instruction, on the plan
recommended by the National Education League and adopted
by the Nonconformist Conference, and which has now been
in use in the Birmingham Board Schools for over a year.
Mr. Monteith thus states the principle of the Constitution:
"By consulting the great charters, we find that under our
Government the matter of religion is left entirely to volun-
tary thought and effort. Church and State are organically
separate; and while it is not ignored but protected, religion is
not affirmed by the State under any of its forms. While
our civil principles distinctly affirm the doctrine of majority
1 Report of the Commissioner of Education, 1870, p. 117.
2 Iowa Report, 1871, p. 37.
165
((
rule, they do not sanction the application of this doctrine to
matters of religious opinion. On the other hand, the genius of
our institutions sacredly protects the smallest minority in the
freest exercise of religious sentiment." (1) As the following
passage bears so directly upon the controversy in England, it
will be read with more than ordinary interest in this country:
Complaint is made by some of the representatives of a
great and powerful sect, that since their religious convictions
will not permit them to send their children to schools where
religious instruction is not practised, it is unjust to tax them
to support the education that returns them no benefit. The
same objection may lie with equal force against many of the
public works and institutions that spring from public neces-
sity. The City Government lays a system of water-pipes or
gas-pipes, well supplied with their respective fluids, for public
use, and says to its taxpayers, 'These improvements are neces-
sary to the life and safety of the city. You must pay for their
support, but you are not obliged to tap these pipes; you are
at liberty to dig your own wells, build your own cisterns, and
feed your own lights if you choose.' Is this a hardship?
The State erects gaols, penitentiaries, poorhouses, and insane
asylums, and says to us, 'You must pay for them, even
though you furnish them no inmates.' Is this unjust ?"
Each year brings a new iteration of the criticism that
the public schools are godless schools; that they turn loose
upon the country a swarm of infidels, atheists, and criminals.
Thus far this criticism stands in mere assertion; no facts or
statistics are adduced to prove what is alleged. They do not
tell us whether the Tweeds, Connollys, and their ilk attended
public or sectarian schools. Until the facts and statistics are
brought forward, the friends of public schools may rest easy,
for the burden of proof is with the objectors. Observation
1 Missouri Report, 1873, p. 58.
166
produces in me impressions quite opposite to the unsupported
criticism referred to."
*
*
*
*
*
*
'All that statistics have thus far asserted is, that
ignorance and crime are everywhere closely wedded, and of
all the means of prevention which the State has yet invented
or established, the public school system is foremost and most
effective." (¹)
<<
But it is not only in the Western States that a more
liberal feeling on the subject of Bible reading is being mani-
fested. Mr. Northrop, of Connecticut, says: Our school
system should be unsectarian. Its primary purpose is intellec-
tual training. In its practical workings it has always been
essentially secular, while its moral influence has been great
and good. The Bible is generally read without objection in
our schools. Much as I value its influence and desire its con-
tinued use, I oppose coercion, and advocate full religious free-
dom and equality. Wherever there is opposition to this time-
honoured usage, I would permit the largest liberty of dissent,
and cheerfully allow parents to decide whether children shall
read or not read it, or be present or absent when the Bible is
read. Roman Catholic children may read from the Douay
version, and the Jews from the Old Testament; or, still better,
the teacher may read a brief selection; or, if it be preferred,
let the Bible reading occur at the close of the session, after the
objectors have retired. Compulsory reading will defeat its
own aim, and induce resistance and reaction." (2)
The city of Cincinnati, however, has been the seat of the
most important discussion on this subject. In November,
1869, an honest attempt was made by the Board of Education
to bring the children attending Roman Catholic schools into
the public schools, by passing the following resolutions :-
1 Missouri Report, 1873, p. 63. 2 Connecticut Report, 1870, p. 112.
167
"Resolved-That religious instruction, and the reading of
religious books, including the Holy Bible, are prohibited in
the common schools of Cincinnati, it being the true object
and intention of this rule to allow the children of the parents
of all sects and opinions in matters of faith and worship to
enjoy alike the benefit of the Common School Fund."
"Resolved-That so much of the regulations on the
course of study and text-books in the intermediate and
district schools as reads as follows: The opening exercises
in every department shall commence by reading a portion of
the Bible by or under the direction of the teacher, and
appropriate singing by the pupils,' be repealed."
Very decisive action against these resolutions was taken
by some citizens of the city, for on the day after they were
passed a petition was filed in the suit of "Minor et al., v.
Cincinnati Board of Education," in the Superior Court of
Cincinnati, to restrain the defendants from enforcing the
resolutions. The petition alleged that the entire rule cited
in the second of the foregoing resolutions was as follows:-
"The opening exercises in every department shall com-
mence by reading a portion of the Bible by or under the
direction of the teachers, and appropriate singing by the
pupils. The pupils of the common schools may read such
version of the sacred Scriptures as their parents or guardians.
may prefer, provided that such preference of any version,
except the one now in use, be communicated by the
parents and guardians to the principal teachers, and that
no notes or marginal readings be allowed in the schools,
or comments made by the teachers on the text of
any version that is or may be introduced." This rule was
adopted by the Board in 1852. The version of the Bible
generally used was that known as King James's version. It
was further alleged that the reading of the Bible without note
or comment had been practised in the schools since their first
168
establishment, and that instruction in the "elemental truths
and principles of religion" had always been given, "but no
sectarian teaching, nor any interference with the rights of
conscience, had at any time been permitted." Further, that in
1842 the School Board provided that no pupil should be
required to read the Testament or Bible if his parent or
guardian desired that he should be excused from the exercise.
Moreover, it was alleged that a majority of the pupils received
no religious instruction except that given in the schools, and
that the enforcement of the resolutions would leave those
children without any religious instruction whatever. The
petition also asserted that the resolutions were contrary to
law, and against public policy and morality, and that their
enforcement would have the effect of making the schools
deistical and infidel both in their purpose and tendency.
The answer of the Board asserted that the rules said to
have been adopted in 1842 had long since ceased to be acted
upon or to be recognised as of binding force, the same not
being found amongst the rules published by the Board during
the previous twenty-five years; and that the sole version of
the Bible which had been read in the common schools at any
time was King James's version. It was admitted by the
defendants that numbers educated in the common schools
received no religious instruction except that communicated
in the schools; and while they acknowledged the necessity for
such instruction, they denied that it ought to be imparted
by the State.
Upon the pleadings of which I have stated the substance,
the cause was argued, and every authority and argument on
the subject was exhaustively discussed. The decision of
the Court was that the resolutions were in violation of the
law of Ohio, two of the judges being of that opinion and
one dissenting. Judge Hagans said: "Our common schools.
cannot be secularised under the Constitution of Ohio. It is
169
a serious question whether, as a matter of policy merely, it
would not be better that they were, rather than offend
conscience. With this, however, we have now nothing to
do." (¹)
The decision of the first Court was reversed on appeal
to the Supreme Court of the State, since when the schools
have been wholly secular.
In this case the important question was raised whether
the secularisation of the schools would bring in the Roman
Catholics. It was admitted that their ulterior object was to
secure a division of the school fund. On these resolutions of
the Cincinnati Board, the Tablet said: "The School Board of
Cincinnati have voted, we see from the papers, to exclude the
Bible and all religious instruction from the public schools of
the city. If this has been done with a view to reconciling
Catholics to the common school system, its purpose will not
be realised. It does not meet, or in any degree lessen, our
objection to the public school system, and only proves the
impracticability of that system in a mixed community of
Catholics and Protestants; for it proves that the schools
must, to be sustained, become thoroughly godless. But to
us godless schools are still less acceptable than sectarian
schools, and we object less to the reading of King James's
Bible, even in the schools, than we do to the exclusion of
all religious instruction. American Protestantism of the
orthodox stamp is far less evil than German infidelity."
This is doubtless in accordance with the instructions of
the hierarchy, but it is satisfactory to reflect that its potency
to secure obedience to its commands has not increased of late
years. Recent discussions in England demonstrate that there
is an appeal from the Romish priesthood to the members of
the communion, and that even amongst the clergy of that
1 Report of Trial, p. 370.
170
church, there are Catholics and Catholics. As a matter of
fact, the public schools in America, even with Bible reading,
are denounced as godless and irreligious; yet there are always
large numbers of Catholics in them. Catholic parents, like
other parents, are very much attracted by good schools.
"The best method of counteracting sectarian efforts is to make
our free schools better than any others; parents will not long
consent to deprive their children of superior advantages to
gratify denominational pride or bigotry." (¹)
The Secretary of the Connecticut Board says: "The Irish
and Germans evince commendable interest in our schools.
Said a parent to me, I attended Church schools without
learning enough to tell O from a cart wheel. I mean to give
my children an education, for I have sadly felt the need of it.'
At a late anniversary of one of the best high schools in
Connecticut, the valedictorian was a Catholic Irish pupil.
This honour was awarded her on the ground of scholarship,
and for the last year the higher position of assistant-teacher
in the same high school has been worthily filled by her." (2)
From a previous Connecticut report I extract the
following:-" Strong testimony as to the good effects of free
schools is given in an interesting letter, recently published,
from the Rev. Sylvester Malone, a Catholic priest, of Williams-
burg, New York, who visited schools in several Southern
States, and whose letter evinces fairness and culture. After
strongly commending schools for coloured children, supported
by Northern benevolence, he speaks of a large free school in
Charleston, which is in the hands of the city authorities, and
is supported by them. There is a good staff of teachers, and,
what is a very hopeful sign, they are all from the State
of South Carolina. Over 800 children are instructed in the
various branches-reading, writing, arithmetic, &c. The
1 New Jersey Report, 1872, p. 43.
2 Connecticut Report, 1870, p. 113.
171
teachers assured us they were pleased with the progress,
attendance, and obedience of the children of this school.'" (¹)
The following remarks, published in the New York
Independent, are made by the Hon. A. M. Keily, Mayor of
Richmond, Virginia, himself a Catholic:-"I assure my
Protestant fellow-citizens that in what I have to say I
express the convictions of hundreds of thousands of my
fellow-Catholics, who gratefully remember the public schools
as the source of whatever education they or their children
possess, and who know that among the most distinguished
laymen, and the most pious and learned and useful priests
of the Catholic Church in America, are those whose only
early secular training was in the public school. I formulate
their opinion and my own when I say that the imparting of
sound, useful, and exclusively secular knowledge, by teachers
of suitable acquirements, skill, and character, chosen mediately
by the people, and paid for out of the public treasury, is, under
the conditions prevailing in the United States, a wise,
beneficent, and just system, and impugns no rights of
conscience." (2)
We know that Bishop Fraser found purely secular
schools in New York under the control of Catholics. He says:
"There appears to be no difficulty experienced in assembling
children of all denominations in the same school-room;
though here again, as before noticed in regard to social status,
a sort of attraction by affinity seems to prevail, and you find
in one school quite a cluster of Jews, another almost
possessed by Roman Catholics. This is particularly observable
in New York, where some quarters of the city are almost
exclusively occupied by an Irish population. The effect in
some schools has been rather curious. Under the influence
of Roman Catholic trustees, there has not been any intro-
1 Connecticut Report, 1869, p. 22. 2 Missouri Report, 1873, p. 64.
172
duction of Roman Catholic teaching, but there has been an
exclusion of the Bible." (¹)
The commands of the "Sovereign Pontiff," no doubt,
have great weight with Catholics; but it will relieve many of
them from a difficulty to learn, on high authority, that his
utterances respecting mixed education are not made in the
exercise of his infallibility. "And again, his infallibility, in
consequence, is not called into exercise, unless he speaks to
the whole world; for if his precepts, in order to be dogmatic,
must enjoin what is necessary to salvation, they must be
necessary for all men. Accordingly, orders which issue from
him for the observance of particular countries, or political or
religious classes, have no claim to be the utterances of his
infallibility. If he enjoins upon the hierarchy of Ireland to
withstand mixed education, this is no exercise of his infalli-
bility." (2)
To conclude, the question resolves itself into this: As
long as the public schools retain their distinctively Protestant
tone and spirit, the Roman Catholic population will have a
just ground of complaint, and will be shut out in large
numbers from the benefits of the system. That ground of
objection once removed-an objection which just men of all
religious opinions can comprehend and appreciate-can the
obstructive policy of the Romish Church withstand the all-
absorbing power of the common school system over American
citizens ? This is a question which the future can alone
answer; but it is clear that large numbers of Americans are
anxious that the schools shall be made purely secular, both on
the ground of justice to all sects, and also to relieve the
system from a peril which now besets it.
((
Whenever a contest is made which involves the prin-
ciple underlying this matter, those who insist upon religious
1 Fraser's Report, p. 165.
2 Dr. Newman's Reply to Mr. Gladstone, p. 120.
173
instruction or religious ceremonies in the schools must give
way, or the destruction of the free school system is simply a
question of time. Insist upon such instruction or cere-
monies, and one sect after another will strive for the control
of the schools, and, failing in securing it, will demand, in tones
that will be heard and obeyed, a division of the funds consti-
tuted by the State. The result will be several systems of
schools instead of one, and no one of them will be efficient
for the purpose which our school system now so well accom-
plishes in those States where it has had a fair development.
Finally, the free common schools will disappear, and each
religious sect will have its own schools in their place. This
is the result sure, sooner or later, to come about, if the just
demand that all religious education shall be excluded from
the schools be refused, or if the public funds raised to support
free common schools be divided and placed under the control
of different sects. The schools will no longer, in fact, be free
or common. The American school system will have been
wrecked on the same breakers which have been fatal to so
many good institutions in times past.” (¹)
The apprehension that the common school system will
some day give place to the parochial system, which has failed
in every country on the earth, may not be altogether ground-
less, but the contingency is a remote one. Not until the
Conservative reaction, which its admirers claim is going on
all over the world, becomes much more vigorous—not until
the social forces which now operate in the Union are changed
in their very nature--not until Western civilisation loses its
power of assimilation-not until life and progress give place
to decay and stagnation-not until America is reduced to
wear the fetters which Italy has thrown off, will the parochial
1
¹ Speech of the Hon. F. A. Sawyer. Proceedings of National Teachers'
Association, 1870, p. 209.
174
system become the school system of the United States. But
an increasing number of Americans gravitate towards the
conviction that, in order to place the common school system
beyond all danger from ecclesiastical factions, and also as an
act of justice which ought not to be delayed, it will be
necessary to confine public instruction to secular elements
only, leaving to the churches, the Sunday schools, and other
religious agencies, which are not dormant in the States, the
work of religious education.
175
V
√.
TEACHERS.
(a) TRAINING-(6) EXAMINATION; QUALIFICATIONS—
(c) SALARIES AND SOCIAL STATUS.
(a) Training.
There is no part of the American school problem more
beset by difficulties than that which relates to the supply
of competent and trained teachers. It is out of the question
to strike a balance between the extremes which exist, and to
give a fair description of the average American teacher. If
anyone wished to find the best teacher in the world he might
reasonably prosecute his search in the United States, and
while upon the spot it might be very possible to discover the
worst. In the process of settlement which goes on in the
Union, all phases and conditions of life find a representation
-from the highest cultivation and refinement, to the rudest
and roughest struggle for existence. The nation is but
a hundred years old, and even in some of the oldest States
the wilderness, is not wholly conquered; so that within
a comparatively circumscribed area there are great diver-
176
sities of social condition.
In one place all the comforts.
and luxuries of an apparently old civilisation may be
found, and not far off all the shifts and expedients of the
backwoodsman's life are resorted to. The teacher penetrates
everywhere, and his profession is marked by the varying
shades which colour other features of American life. The
cities and large towns possess a class of teachers not to be
surpassed in the world. In the rural districts the teachers
are often improvised, rough and ready, without experience,
without training, and with little to recommend them except
an unlimited fund of good intentions. The best teachers
flock to the best markets-the cities and large towns-leaving
the incompetent and inexperienced to be absorbed by the
requirements of the sparsely-settled districts, where teachers
who are unfitted for the work are often licensed of necessity
-no others being available.
There are several conditions of the American system as
it exists at present, and apparently almost inseparable from
it, which have combined to prevent the profession from
attaining the highest degree of usefulness. One of these
conditions, which operates in a very injurious manner, is the
shortness of the school term. Even in those States where the
terms now extend to eight and ten months, they were originally
much shorter, and the profession of the teacher was shaped
under the influences of the former system, which commonly
left him half a year without occupation and without
salary. This state of affairs still continues in a large part of
the Union. Moreover, it is an evil for which no summary
remedy can be found. It is customary in this country to
ascribe the brief school term to the fact that the schools are
free, the theory being that only a certain sum is available for
school purposes, and that when it is exhausted the school
must be closed. There is no foundation for this belief.
The length of the school term is not a question of money;
177
if it were it could be easily rearranged. No other people
respond so readily as Americans to pecuniary demands for
education. The school term is regulated by climate, by the
labour market, and by the development and needs of
particular States. The tendency throughout the States is to
lengthen the terms, but this necessarily is a work of time.
How directly the length of the school term bears
upon the occupation of teaching will be seen. During
the vacations the temptation to seek other employment
is threefold. In the first place, the teacher is generally
poor, and can ill afford to take a long holiday. Again, if
good for much, either for teaching or anything else, work
will be one of his first necessities. Add to this that the
avenue to a more remunerative career is always open, and
it is clearly seen that the better the teacher the stronger are
the inducements to change his profession. As a matter of fact,
the frequent change of teachers is the most serious drawback
attending the common school system.
Another drag upon teachers, as a class, has been the
very inadequate payment they have received. The demand
for teachers has been very great, but instead of operating
to secure fair salaries, it has produced a class of make-shift
teachers, who use the profession as a stepping-stone
to something else. The office of schoolmaster standing
socially high, offers excellent opportunities for introduction to
desirable employment. This may be good for enterprising
young men, but it is bad for education, and it largely explains
the want of permanency and stability which has attached to
the schoolmaster's profession in the States.
The large preponderance of female teachers in the States
will always render the occupation of teacher more or less a
temporary one. As a matter quite of course, women do not
look to teaching as a lifelong career. In England scarcely one
in twenty of the female teachers reaches her tenth year of
N
178
service. Of the female teachers trained at Bishop's Stortford,
it has been ascertained that their average school life was
under five years. The proportion of female teachers in
America is ten times greater than in England. Female
teachers may have other advantages over males, and in
the United States are generally conceded to have, but the
length of their school life is not one of them.
To all these adverse influences it must be added that
only of late years has teaching been recognised as a profession
for which preliminary training is necessary, either in England
or America. While from time out of mind all mechanical
employments have required apprenticeship previous to
practice, the highest and most responsible of all occupations
has been left to the ignorance, the conceit, the dullness, or
the inexperience of the chance comer and amateur-the man
who is waiting for a wind. This is as true of England as of
the United States. It is only during the past generation that
normal training has been regarded as necessary. Dr. Hodgson,
in his report to the Duke of Newcastle's Commission, said:
"In the appendix will be found notes sufficient, I think, to
justify the assertion that none are too old, too poor, too
ignorant, too feeble, too sickly, too unqualified in any or every
way, to regard themselves, and to be regarded by others, as
unfit for school-keeping. Nay, there are few, if any,
occupations regarded as incompatible with school-keeping, if
not as simultaneous, at least as preparatory employments.
Domestic servants out of place, discharged barmaids, vendors
of toys or lollipops; keepers of small eating-houses, of
mangles, or of small lodging-houses; needlewomen, who take
in plain or slop work; milliners; consumptive patients in an
advanced stage; cripples almost bedridden; persons of at
least doubtful temperance; outdoor paupers; men and women
of seventy and even eighty years of age; persons who spell
badly (mostly women, I grieve to say), who can scarcely
179
write, and who cannot cipher at all-such are some of the
teachers, not in remote rural districts, but in the heart of
London, the capital of the world, as it is said to be, whose
schools go to make up two thirds of English schools, and
whose pupils swell the muster-roll that some statistical
philanthropists rejoice to contemplate, and to inscribe with
the cheering figures 1 in 8." (¹)
1
If the minutes of the London School Board could show
no other record of useful work, the Board would still deserve
public gratitude for the clean sweep it is making of such
teachers as these. But this extract shows the state of public
sentiment on the subject only ten years ago.
The first normal school was established in England about
1812-the first normal school in America was established in
Massachusetts, in 1839. In England we should probably
have been without normal schools to this day, had not the
Church seen a sectarian advantage in founding them. It is
a lamentable confession that the country is still content to
rely upon institutions which, although they receive public
money, give no sufficient guarantee that they are performing
public work efficiently.
.
It has taken something like thirty years to obtain a
recognition of the necessity of training. It is only now that
people are beginning to see that the training of a teacher
requires as much public vigilance and wise legislation as the
training of a soldier or sailor or important civil officer. Dr.
Channing said that it required more wisdom to educate a child
perfectly than to govern a state. Normal colleges are as
necessary as medical colleges. The injury to the mind of a
child caused by the stupidity of an ignorant teacher may
not be as apparent, but is just as real, as the maiming of the
body by the unskilful use of a surgical instrument; and the
1 Report of Duke of Newcastle's Commission, vol. iii, p. 483.
180
want of skill in the first instance is of far more serious.
consequence than in the other, because large numbers are
subject to it. The medical tyro does not get his chance.
every day; the incompetent teacher may work for months
before he is discovered, and when known he is often tolerated.
It has been a favourite saying that the teacher, like the
poet or the orator, is born and not made. At the most this
must be taken to mean that some persons are better endowed
by nature than others with the qualities requisite for teaching
and governing a school. Granting that it is so, it is necessary
that some process should be used to discover and select
the natural teachers, and to weed out the incapables. It is
only by the test of experience that the true teacher can
be found. The use of a normal school, then, is evident; it
is the touchstone which will declare the gifted teachers and
detect the pretenders, instead of leaving the latter to prove
their incompetency at the cost of the children's intellectual
welfare.
The truth, probably, is that the vast proportion of those
who undertake the work have the requisite natural capacity
in a greater or less degree. This natural capacity, be it much
or little, it is the office of the normal school to train, develop,
strengthen, and stimulate.
In the true normal school, theory and practice are
supposed to go hand in hand. The drill pursued affords
students an opportunity of obtaining in a short time an
amount of information and practical skill which even the
best of them could only acquire by an experience of years in
the duties of teaching.
The conversion to these views in the States, slow at first,
is now practically complete, and the question is-How can the
want be supplied? It is not a problem of ordinary magni-
tude. Indeed, there are numbers who assert that only
dreamers can contemplate the ultimate establishment of a
181
sufficient number of normal schools to supply the common
schools with teachers. Let us see what has to be done.
As
The number of teachers required to instruct the children
between six and sixteen is estimated by the Commissioner for
Education to be 260,000. (¹) In 1873 there were 113
normal schools in the States, having an enrolment of 16,620
students. The full course of a normal school is generally
three years; therefore, assuming that the students attended
the full course, the present normal schools would turn out
about 5,500 annually. Very few, however, do attend the full
course. Taking the school life of a teacher under a thoroughly
organised system at twenty years, the annual waste in a
supply of 260,000 teachers would be about 13,000.
only a small proportion of the students go through the
whole course, it may be taken that 120 normal colleges
would be able to turn out annually at least 7,000 teachers.
Therefore, given an average school career of twenty years-
which, however, I do not think is practically realised any-
where the number of normal colleges in America would
only have to be doubled in order to make up the required
number of teachers annually. At the present rate of pro-
gress, it seems that this may be actually done in about
five years.
But the great difficulty lies in the length
of the school teacher's career in America. At present it
is estimated that teachers in the States do not continue
in service on the average more than three years. (2) It is
clear that the State Legislatures would never undertake to
supply facilities for normal training on the basis of a three
years' professional career for the students; neither would
students be found for the normal schools, if they were truly
training schools, and not merely a superior kind of academies,
1 Commissioner's Report, 1873, p. xxxiii.
2 Report of Commissioner of Education, 1872, p. xxix.
182
on such an assumption. If State normal schools of the same
standard and character as those which now exist are to be
multiplied sufficiently to train the whole staff of teachers
required in the future, one of the first conditions must be that
the professional career of the teacher is put upon a much
more permanent footing. But it cannot be expected that,
for many years to come, the occupation of the teacher
in the United States will be of the same duration as in
England. A large proportion of the teachers are women,
with whom, in the opinion of Mr. Philbrick, late superinten-
dent of the Boston schools, teaching must always remain
substantially a temporary occupation. (¹) An average school
life of five years would be high for American teachers.
This would require an annual supply of 52,000 teachers, to
meet which about 1,000 normal training colleges would be
necessary. At the rate of progress in America, even such
a supply as this does not seem improbable; but in the
meantime population is increasing, with population the
number of scholars, and with them the number of teachers
required. The normal school provision is not abreast of the
organisation in other particulars, and while it is making
up lost ground the whole system is at the same time making
rapid headway. It therefore seeins impossible to estimate a
time within which normal schools, on the scale of those now
existing, can be multiplied sufficiently to overtake the wants
of the country. There are no sects in the States who are willing
to come forward and undertake to train teachers in the interests
of proselytism, and if there were, the nation would be unwill-
ing to abdicate its functions in their behalf. At a meeting of
the American Normal School Association, in 1870, the
question of the supply of normal schools was discussed.
Professor White, principal of the Normal School, Peoria,
1 Proceedings of National Educational Association, 1871, p. 219.
183
Illinois, said: " Allowing that after States have become
settled and their communities established, not more than 30
per cent. of the teachers change to other employments
annually, the State of Illinois would need 24 such schools;
Michigan, 12; Pennsylvania, 20; Massachusetts, 10. The
annual expense of these schools would be, to Illinois, not less
than 360,000 dollars; to Michigan, 180,000 dollars; to
Pennsylvania, 300,000 dollars; to Massachusetts, 150,000
dollars. However profitable such an investment might be
to these States, it would be impossible now, or at any time
in the near future, to persuade the people to make so large
appropriations for this purpose." (¹)
In this view of the situation, the most eminent
educators of the States appear to coincide. At the meeting
of the Education Association held in 1871, the Hon. J. D.
Philbrick, of Boston, speaking of the question as it concerned
Massachusetts, said that it was not practicable to increase
the number of schools of the existing pattern sufficiently to
meet the requirements of the public schools unsupplied with
trained teachers. The expenditure of time and money to
complete the prescribed course in the existing normal insti-
tutions, is too great to be undertaken by teachers looking
for remuneration to employment in the schools of the rural
districts, with their present short terms and low salaries.
Again, it would be impracticable in view of the large
expenditure from the public treasury which it would
require. (2)
The solution of the difficulty for the present, in the
opinion of those best qualified to judge, lies in the establish-
ment of a system of graded normal schools in each State.
This was the suggestion made by Professor S. H. White, of
¹ Proceedings of National Educational Association, 1870, p. 29.
2 Proceedings of National Educational Association, 1871, p. 216.
184
Illinois, in his paper, read at the Normal School Association
in 1870. It was enforced by Mr. Philbrick, at the meeting of
the same Association in 1871; and the committee appointed
to consider the question reported in its favour in 1872. The
specific recommendations of the committee were :—
"That in every State there should be established,
according to its population and resources, one or more normal
schools or colleges of a high order, for the special training of
teachers for high schools, for the elementary normal schools.
hereinafter named, and for the preparation of superintendents
of schools for counties and cities."
"That these higher normal schools should be supple-
mented in each county, where practicable, by an elementary
normal school supported by the county, with State aid if such
can be secured, for the training of those teachers who are to
be employed in the primary and intermediate grades of
instruction, and in the mixed schools of the rural districts.” (¹)
The State of Illinois has already authorised the
establishment of county normal schools.
Some plan of this kind seems to be the only present
mode of dealing with the difficulty. That the needs of
the common schools are too urgent to be postponed is
admitted on all hands, and it is not believed that the
expense, however large, will be permitted to stand in the
way. That would be, as the Superintendent for Virginia
expresses it, "to work with dull tools in order to save the
cost of a grindstone." General Eaton, the Commissioner for
Education, advocates free tuition in normal schools: "Few,
not intending to teach, would seek this kind of training, and
diplomas or certificates should not be given, except on
condition that the recipient bind himself or herself to render
appropriate service in the schools of the commonwealth.” (2)
1 Proceedings of National Educational Association, 1872, p. 37.
2 Report of Commissioner of Education, 1873, p. xxxiii.
185
The number of normal schools reported as in operation
in the principal States in 1873 was as follows:-Pennsyl-
vania, 10; Ohio, 10; (¹) New York, 9; Illinois, 8; Missouri, 8;
Massachusetts, 6; West Virginia, 5; Wisconsin, 4; Iowa,
Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Tennessee, and Vermont, 3
each; Alabama, California, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana,
Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, Virginia, and
District of Columbia, 2 each; Arkansas, Connecticut,
Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode
Island, and South Carolina, 1 each. (²)
Of the work which is at present done in these schools it
is impossible, in my limited space, to give any account. The
State Boards of Education and Superintendents who are best
informed speak of the results in terms of the highest praise.
These institutions chiefly supply teachers for the graded and
high schools. The instruction in some of them is almost purely
technical; in others it is of a more academic character.
Sixty-eight of the 119 reported have model or practice schools
attached; 90 provide instruction in drawing; 39 have models,
charts, &c., for freehand drawing; vocal music is taught
in 96, instrumental music in 60; 68 possess chemical labora-
tories and apparatus; 81 possess cabinets and apparatus for
illustrating the laws of physics; and 45 have cabinets of
natural history.
American normal schools are generally of an unsectarian
character, having voluntary religious classes in connection
with them. Their efforts are concentrated upon the production
of good teachers, instead of being wasted in acquiring the art
of proselytism. In this respect, amongst others, they have an
advantage over the ecclesiastical nurseries upon which England
still relies for her teachers, and in which public money is
1 Seven of these appear to be private.
2 Report of Commissioner of Education, 1873, p. xxxi.
186
devoted to securing a thorough knowledge of the Book of
Common Prayer, the thirty-nine Articles, and the Catechism.
The work of the normal schools in the United States is
supplemented by several other agencies. While it is admitted
that no other means yet discovered can compete with a well-
organised normal school in the training of teachers, yet the
other appliances in use in America form, in the aggregate, a
powerful auxiliary in the work of preparation.
Large numbers of the private colleges have normal depart-
ments attached to them. There are between thirty and forty
such colleges in the State of Ohio. Of these, the State Com-
missioner says that a commendable feature in them is the
attention given to normal instruction. They are chiefly, no
doubt, of an academic character. "Still, a limited amount of
really valuable professional training is provided for, not only
in these schools, but in a large number of seminaries and
academies, especially in such as are dependent for their
support upon the patronage of those who intend to teach
a portion of each year, while preparing for college or pursuing
a course of academic studies." (1)
The Superintendent for Indiana says of the higher
institutions for learning, not under the control of the State,
that they have greatly aided in the free school work by
furnishing many excellent teachers for the schools. (2)
In the State of New York the work of the training
schools is supplemented by normal instruction in academies
and Union schools. The law provides that the sum of ten
dollars shall be paid to each pupil, not exceeding twenty
to an academy, instructed under a course prescribed by
the Regents of the University, during at least one third of the
academic year, in the science of common school teaching.
The number of classes in which teachers' academies were
1 Ohio Report, 1873, p. 26.
2 Indiana Report, 1872, p. 147.
187
maintained in 1873 was ninety, and the number of pupils
instructed was 1,589. (1)
Many of the high schools throughout the States also have
training classes, the object of which is to fit teachers for work
in the common schools.
The State Board of Massachusetts employs special agents
to visit schools and give teaching exercises.
But the most important auxiliary in the work of training
are the Teachers' Institutes, which have become a prominent
and universal feature of the American school system. These
are meetings of teachers for the purpose of discussing
methods and taking part in training exercises. They are, in
fact, ambulatory normal schools, and are held in most counties
once and sometimes twice a year. In some of the States
they are compulsory, in others they are authorised by the
Legislature, and appropriations are made for the expenses
attending them. So far as I know, the Teachers' Institute is
exclusively an American institution, but if the high value
placed upon it by American educators is well grounded it
ought not to remain so.
General Eaton, in his report for 1870, says: "Teachers'
Institutes furnish a powerful and efficient means for instructing
and inspiring teachers. They may be considered as normal
schools of the lowest grade, affording the only means by
which the great mass of teachers can, at present, be reached,
and some better ideas of school instruction and school manage-
ment can be imparted. If these are well conducted-if the
plan is devised beforehand-if the work is done by skilled
teachers who have given special attention to it, and in such a
way as to elicit active thought and work from the institute, it
is doubtful whether an equal amount of expense and labour
to the same end will accomplish so valuable results.” (2)
1 New York State Report, 1873, p. 56. 2 Commissioner's Report, 1870, p. 398.
188
The Superintendent for Iowa says: "The value of these
institutes can hardly be overstated. Year by year they are
becoming more valuable as their legitimate work is better
understood, and as the number of teachers qualified to give
thorough and practical instruction in them increases. The
best educational talent of the State is now everywhere brought
into requisition in these institutes.” (¹)
The Commissioner for Ohio reports: "Institutes have long
been regarded by teachers as very important educational
helps. They are most largely attended, and their advantages
best improved by the most intelligent teachers
The acknowledged fact that schools are best taught and
school affairs best administered in those counties where
teachers take the most interest in institutes, is a sure test of
their value and efficiency.” (²)
The Commissioner for Rhode Island writes: "The associa-
tion of teachers in institutes and conventions has been found
to be a very important auxiliary in the work of public
education. Even in those States where good normal schools
exist, the institute has been established and successfully
maintained to supplement the work of the training school,
and to refresh and stimulate the minds of teachers by the new
methods of instruction and discipline which are so frequently
adopted." (3)
The Superintendent for Michigan says: "The uniformly
good effects of these institutes in the past, have made them a
prominent and interesting feature of our school system. They
are a great auxiliary. No more powerful agency can be had
to awaken an interest in the public mind, to assist in
elevating the profession of the teacher, and to increase the
efficiency and worth of our schools." (*)
1 Iowa Report, 1873, p. 64.
3 Rhode Island Report, 1871, p. 25.
2 Ohio Report, 1871, p. 41.
* Michigan Report, 1873, p. 10.
189
In contradistinction to Teachers' Institutes, what are
called Normal Institutes are held in some States. These
assemble for longer periods, and the instruction given in
them is more exclusively technical. (¹)
It is admitted, however, on all hands, that whatever
value the institutes may have as aids, they cannot adequately
supply the place of regularly organised normal schools. At
best the instruction given in them must be very brief, and on
that account imperfect. That normal schools will be estab-
lished in sufficient numbers to meet the wants of the country
appears to be certain. The present aims of those who have
at heart the improvement of the public school system are
chiefly directed towards this end. It is a question of time.
The appreciation of training by teachers as a class, and
the extraordinary efforts and sacrifices made by large numbers
of them to obtain its advantages, merit a word of recognition.
The reports of the normal school directors and the other
officials cite constant instances of teachers who teach school
for one term in order that they may obtain the means for
passing another term at a normal school. By thousands of
American teachers the work of qualification for their profes-
sion is carried on under sacrifices and discouragements of no
ordinary kind, and subject to the primal necessity of earning
their own living at the same time.
It is noteworthy that the English pupil teacher system
has no advocates amongst the school officials of the States.
The tendency is to raise rather than lower the age at which
the work of teaching may begin. Already it is admitted
many American teachers are too young for their work. The
idea that anyone can teach the youngest children is rapidly
going out of fashion. The Prussian method of placing the
most mature and experienced instructors over the primary
1 Iowa Report, 1873, p. 68.
190
classes is being adopted. "It is a regulation of the School
Board of St. Louis, in assigning teachers, to place the very
best ones in the lowest room of the school, and to pay them
better than those teaching the next higher grades. The child
is initiated at the start into the best department, and habits
of diligence and attention." (¹) 'We need the best trained
and most practically experienced teachers in our most ele-
mentary schools." (2) "The Germans are wise in putting the
work of primary instruction into the hands of those who have
been liberally educated as well as specially trained for their
work." (3) These extracts show the spirit which animates the
discussions upon this question. To subject the plastic mind
of childhood to the barbarous experiments of boys and girls,
is to create a wholesale destruction of material in the effort
to produce good tools. Americans are in the advantageous.
position of not having to unlearn so injurious a practice.
(b) Examination; Qualifications.
Every teacher is required to undergo an examination,
and to produce testimonials as to moral character. No one
may teach without a license or certificate.
The practice respecting certificates varies in different
States. In New York, teachers must be licensed by the State
Superintendent or local officers appointed for that purpose, or
must hold a normal college diploma. In Iowa, no person is
authorised to teach without a certificate signed by the County
Superintendent. In New Jersey, the State Board of Educa-
¹ Proceedings of National Educational Association, 1871, p. 114.
2 Ibid, 1872, p. 134. 3 Ibid, page 167.
191
tion and the County Boards of Examiners issue licenses. In
Connecticut, teachers are licensed by Township School Boards;
in Ohio, by County Examiners; in Rhode Island, by District
Trustees; in Indiana, by County Examiners; in Missouri, by
County Superintendents.
In most States diplomas are issued by State Boards of
Education or State Superintendents. Normal school certifi-
cates also qualify for teaching.
There are several grades of certificates, available for
different periods. The certificate in most general use autho-
rises the teacher to follow his calling for a year only. This
is the case in Iowa. In New Jersey, certificates are issued for
three years, two years, and one year. In Ohio they are
limited to two years.
In Indiana the licenses are for two
years, eighteen months, twelve months, and six months. In
Missouri the time varies in different counties. In several
States life diplomas are issued by Boards of Education.
The methods and standards of examination in the
different States are multiform. In some States the Board of
Education or the State Superintendents draw up the questions.
and determine the scale; in others, each body of examiners
adopt their own standard. The former method prevails
in New Jersey, Indiana, and other States; the latter is in use
in Ohio, Missouri, and elsewhere. The regulations respecting
the examinations of teachers appear to be responsible, to
some extent, for the frequent changes which occur, and which
form a special blot upon the American system. When
a teacher is only engaged for a year, and at the expiration of
that time has to undergo another examination, he must lack
the sense of security which is partly necessary for successful
work. To one who intends to follow the profession of
teaching for life, an annual examination must be insufferable.
That teachers do find these frequent examinations both expen-
sive and embarrassing is clear from the reports. More than
192
one Superintendent urges that justice to teachers requires that
longer certificates should be granted.
The fact that the examiners are not in all cases teachers
causes a good deal of friction at times. In Ohio, out of 264
County Examiners, only 136 are teachers, 45 being attorneys,
23 ministers, 20 farmers, 8 physicians, and the remainder of
various employments. Although as a class they have the
reputation of being "competent, just, prudent, and fearless,"
yet teachers reluctantly submit to their decisions, and are
even too apt to believe that the leading object of the
examination is to give the examiners a chance of showing off
their own attainments. (¹)
The want of uniformity must work prejudicially.
Teachers who are rejected by one set of examiners are passed
by another. In Knox County, Ohio, 97 per cent. of those.
examined passed and received certificates; in Muskingum,
55 per cent. of the candidates were rejected. This instance
alone is sufficient to prove the necessity for some definite
standard of qualification and uniform method of examination.
Still it must be remembered that the examiners have
frequently a very limited choice, and must either close the
schools for lack of teachers, or accept the services of those
who are, at the best, poorly qualified. The Superintendent
for Missouri says that no uniform standard is at present
possible in that State.
There is a general disposition on the part of officials to
make the examinations more rigorous. In New Jersey, the
Superintendent reports that about one fifth of the applicants
fail. Every year more care is exercised in the selection of
teachers. The object is to make the examinations more and
more rigid every year, and thus continually to raise the
standard of the teacher's profession in the State. The returns
¹ Proceedings of National Educational Association, 1872, p. SO.
193
bear evidence that the examinations are conducted with this
view.
In Ohio, too, the County Boards of Examiners are raising
the standard: "The indolent and incompetent have been
compelled to prepare themselves by study for the business of
teaching, or to seek some other employment." (¹) In New
York the standards have also been considerably raised within
recent years.
Boston is the only large city of the Union where the
provisions for examining teachers appear to be inadequate.
Mr. Philbrick, the late Superintendent, constantly urged
reform in this matter. In his last report he returns to the
subject: "Where we ought to have examinations they are
dispensed with; and where we ought not to have them they
are sometimes insisted on, and probably it would not be far
from the fact to say that as a rule they are not of the right
sort." (2)
The most important alterations respecting examination
at which American educators are now aiming, are :
1. A comprehensive system of State, City, County,
and Town Boards of Examination.
2. These Boards to be comprised of School Superin-
tendents and professional teachers.
3. A graded series of certificates from life diplomas
down to annual certificates to be granted upon
4
actual examination.
4. Legal recognition by each State of professional cer-
tificates and normal school diplomas issued in
other States. (³)
Leaving their youth out of the account, the general
testimony as to the worth of American teachers is very high.
1 Ohio Report, 1873, p. 29. 2 Boston Report, 1874, p. 345.
3 Proceedings of National Educational Association, 1872, p. 80.
194
Energy and enthusiasm are their predominant characteristics;
what they lack in training and in scholastic attainments,
they endeavour to make up by zeal and devotion to their
work. No higher praise can be given to them than that of
the Bishop of Manchester: "All sorts of plans are adopted in
the different States to improve the quality and increase the
quantity of the teaching power, but hitherto, it must be
confessed, with very limited success; and more complete
appliances for training teachers is still one of the things
wanting to the perfection of the American system of public
schools. At the same time, I must allow that the deficiency
is very much less striking to the outward eye of a casual
observer, than would be the case under similar circumstances
in England, on account of the much greater natural aptitude
for the work of a teacher possessed, as it appeared to me to
be, by Americans generally, and particularly by American
women. They certainly have the gift of turning what they
do know to the best account; they are self-possessed,
energetic, fearless; they are admirable disciplinarians, firm
without severity, patient without weakness; their manner
of teaching is lively and fertile in illustration; classes are
not likely to fall asleep in their hands. They are proud of
their position, and fired with a laudable ambition to maintain
the credit of their school; a little too anxious, perhaps, to
parade its best side, and screen its defects; a little too
sensitive of blame, a little too greedy of praise; but still, as
I judged them from the samples which I saw, and in spite of
numerous instances to the contrary which I read of but did
not see, a very fine and capable body of workers in a noble
Apart from the question
of adequate training, I know not the country in which the
natural material out of which to shape the very best of
teachers is produced in such abundance as in the United
States. That, with the shaping process so very imperfectly
cause.
195
performed, the results are what they are is sufficient proof of
the quality of the material.” (¹)
Salaries and Social Status.
If, however, America has some reason to be proud of
her teachers, she has cause to be ashamed of the salaries paid
to them. The stipends of male teachers are generally not
much better than those of English curates, and frequently
they are worse.
Of Maine, where the salaries of women are
lower than in any other State, the Superintendent says:
"The female teacher in Maine cannot earn her living by
teaching." (2)
The State Board of Maryland refer to counties "where
teachers' salaries are so low that somebody must inevitably be
cheated—the teacher if he is competent, and the public if he
is not." (3)
The following table shows the salaries of teachers per
month in the most important States:- (*)
No. of
Months
Males.
Females.
STATES.
School.
$ c.
$ c.
Massachusetts
9
93.65
34.14
District of Columbia
10
91.66
62.50
California
6 / 3-
84.28
•
Rhode Island ………..
Connecticut...
New Jersey.....
со
HN
HA HA
8 3
со
∞
8/1/2
75.72
67.01
65.92
:
.
Illinois
Michigan
7
:
712
52.92
51.94
63.37
41.97
34.09
36.61
40.51
27.13
:
1 Fraser's Report, p. 73. 2 Maine Report, 1872, p. 33.
3
› Maryland Report, 1873, p. 10.
4 See Commissioner's Report, 1872, p. 609. Ibid, 1873, p. 511.
196
No. of
Months
Males.
STATES.
School.
$ c.
Females.
$ c.
Mississippi
New York
Wisconsin
Pennsylvania
5/31/1
51.32
81
49.53
7
43.66
6
:
Missouri
41
Ohio.....
7
New Hampshire ...
4
:
:
:
42.69
42.43
41.00
:
:
:
51.32
49.53
27.34
34.92
31.43
Iowa.....
6/1/2/
Maine
LO
5
:
West Virginia……….
Virginia
4
5/1/
:
29.00
40.78
...
23.84
36.28
27.68
34.28
15.16
34.00
28.89
32.00
32.00
These figures will enable the reader to make his own
calculations.
In Massachusetts, the average annual salary of masters is
about 850 dollars; of mistresses, about 290 dollars. District
of Columbia, masters, 916 dollars; mistresses, 625 dollars.
California, masters, 530 dollars; mistresses, 400 dollars. New
York, both sexes, 430 dollars. As the old custom of boarding
around is now almost out of use, these figures represent the
actual compensation which teachers receive. No one will be
surprised that, under such a scale of remuneration, teachers
are driven into other employments. In the great State of
New York the average pay of teachers, male and female, is
not more than £80 per annum.
It is encouraging to find, however, that salaries are going
up. Many of the Superintendents of the best States refer to
this fact with gratification. In Connecticut teachers' wages
doubled between 1863 and 1870. The statement issued by
the National Bureau says: "For some years there has been a
steady increase in salaries.” (¹)
1 Statement of Bureau, p. 19.
197
But if the teachers of the United States receive a very
inadequate recompense for their services, they have some
consolations which are denied to the masters of public
elementary schools in England. They do not stand on the
social level of the servants' hall. They are not expected to
join with the occupation of teaching, that of beadle, parish
clerk, verger, or sexton. If they are often compelled to resort
to hard and sometimes menial work to eke out their scanty
means of subsistence, the fact does not entail upon them the
social ostracism which attends the schoolmaster's calling in
this country. The Bishop of Manchester says: "As to the
character and repute of the teacher's profession in America,
it certainly stands very high. I do not suppose that
there are any teachers of common schools or of high schools
in America who mix as freely in the highest class of society
as do the masters of the great public schools among
ourselves; but that is chiefly owing to the slenderness of their
income not enabling them to afford to do so; and, on the other
hand, the teacher of the humblest district school occupies a far
higher social position than the teacher of an elementary
school in England." Again: "All hangs upon the teacher's
personal character and qualifications; as far as his profession
is concerned he is on a level with anybody. I was occasionally
invited to visit teachers at their homes. They appeared to
me to live in a sort of cheerful and refined frugality; able to
exercise a hearty but inexpensive hospitality; often relieving
the monotony of daily toil by the cultivation of some recrea-
tive, but not uncongenial, study or accomplishment—a social
position not altogether dissimilar to that so happily enjoyed
by many an Englishmen clergyman.” (¹)
In America the schoolmaster is a civil officer, and hist
profession is attended by the highest honour and respect. In
1 Fraser's Report, p. 84.
198
England he has long been a Church official of the lower
grade. As the parochial system never aimed at raising the
children very high, it was the reverse of necessary that the
schoolmaster should be a man of cultivation and refinement,
and he has not been encouraged to seek superfluous learning
or to aim at social distinction. The teachers of America and
England have one bond of fellowship-they have been
equally badly paid.
199
((a)
VI.
GRADES RESULTS.
GRADING (b) COURSE OF STUDY (c) PRACTICAL
OUTCOME.
(a) Grading.
Grading, as understood in America, is the arrangement
of children of about the same age, and of as nearly as may
be similar attainments, in separate schools or departments,
under separate teachers, so that the kind of instruction and
discipline suited to individual scholars may be adapted to the
whole class or grade. The advantages of such a division are
that time is saved, distraction is avoided, and, by the intro-
duction of a greater degree of method, efficiency is secured.
The extent to which the system of grading can be carried
with advantage depends upon circumstances-very much upon
the size of the school, and much also upon the adaptability
of school-houses.
Some of the benefits which the application of the prin-
ciple secures are obvious. Under a system which aims to
give something beyond the merest elements of instruction
200
there are certain broad and natural lines where grading may
be advantageously adopted. Studies adapted to the capacity
of more advanced pupils cannot be successfully pursued
where primary classes are under instruction. There are
different methods of discipline and teaching suited to
children of different ages and developments. The quietness
and attention necessary to the progress of an advanced
school, if enforced amongst primary scholars, would be
injurious to them, mentally and physically; and, conversely,
the change of attitude and the noise attendant upon primary
instruction cannot be permitted in more advanced classes
without an amount of distraction, and a relaxation of
discipline detrimental to progress.
In most States the instruction of the youngest children
is principally oral. The objective method is in very general
use, and the mode of teaching is entertaining and varied.
The restraints of discipline are gradually applied and
frequently relaxed. The learning of letters and of numbers
is relieved by alternate singing, marching, and playing.
"The proper teaching of little children is a busy and rather a
noisy affair, because little children are busy, noisy creatures;
and when a class is under appropriate instruction, there can
be no studying in that room by other children. It is out and
in, up and down, saying and singing." (¹) The necessity for
the separation of these scholars is at once apparent, and
experience has shown that the further the principle is carried
and the more perfect the classification of scholars on the
basis of age and attainments, the more appropriate may be
the instruction given, and the more thorough and efficient
will be the success of the system. The wide recognition of
this fact has resulted, in the United States, in the adoption of
the graded system wherever practicable.
1 Virginia Report, 1872, p. 51.
201
The economy of the graded plan is also another strong
recommendation, enabling, as it does, a specified number of
teachers to superintend a larger number of schools. This is
most evident in large cities, where, in proportion to the
numbers educated, the cost is diminished. To give one
illustration: “In Richmond (Virginia) it costs $43.29 cents.
on an average to send a child to an ordinary school for nine
months. The cost in the public schools, which are all graded,
is $13.41 cents. for the same length of time. To educate the
4,600 which were taught last year in this city would have
cost, at private rates, 199,134 dollars. The actual cost was
61,686 dollars, an annual saving to the city of 137,448
dollars. The sum thus saved is sufficient to educate all the
children of the city on the public graded system." (¹)
But the economy of time is even more apparent. On
the graded system, not only can one teacher do the work
of two, but the pupils of similar studies and acquirements
can be gathered into classes of such numbers that a much
longer time can be spent in drilling and explanation at
each recitation. The teacher's labour is simplified, the
classes are diminished, and there is much greater regularity
and thoroughness of labour, and freedom from confusion
and friction. Time is again saved in organising classes
and adjusting studies and recitations, and the number of
separate schools is reduced, while their worth and efficiency
are increased.
A very healthy effect of distinct grading is that the
emulation of the pupils is excited, and effort is created. The
higher grades draw up the lower ones. The scholars are
stimulated to greater diligence, which only requires to be
wisely directed to produce most valuable results. When,
however, it is not judiciously controlled, it culminates in
1 Virginia Report, 1872, p. 57.
202
what is known as "high pressure" or over-study-an evil
of which we seldom hear in the elementary schools of
England.
The system of grading is also advantageous to the
teacher. In a badly classified school is found every
abuse; teachers hurried and fretted beyond measure; some
pupils shuffling from one thing to another with such haste
and irregularity as to occasion bewilderment; others, having
excess of time to prepare for lessons, inclining them to
listlessness or mischief. (1) Each teacher's work being laid out
for the year, the comparative merits of teachers come out more
decidedly under the graded system.
On the other hand, too strict grading has its drawbacks,
The class is everything; the individual scholar is merged.
Herein lies a danger of diminished individual development.
When pupils are advanced by classes from one grade to
another in regular order, there is a lack of flexibility or
adaptation to individual requirements. Some pupils are
likely to be advanced too fast, others to be kept back too long,
and some to be cramped and hindered by the course of study.
This is especially the case where promotions are made only
at stated intervals-in some cities once, in others twice a
year. Scholars who do not pass are kept back, sometimes
too long, and there is loss of time as well as discouragement.
This is guarded against in many cities by having frequent
examinations for promotion. To promote the advancement
of all, to force none beyond their capacity, to encourage the
best scholars, to meet the case of irregular attendants, grades
should be near together, and promotions frequent. While
no pupil should be permitted to enter on higher work until
the lower grade is completed, none ought to be compelled to
wait for others. It is maintained that graded systems,
1 Virginia Report, 1872, p. 44.
203
properly arranged, are capable of sufficient flexibility to meet
all cases.
The larger the school the more perfectly can the system
be carried out. It follows that the principle of grading is best
adapted to large towns. The rural schools in the United
States commonly consist of less than fifty pupils. A high
degree of organisation under such circumstances is not
possible. Yet, by means of "union" schools, the graded
system is being gradually introduced in towns formerly under
the district system, and having numerous small district
schools. Large buildings, capable of holding all the children
of the township, are now erected. The plans of American
school architects are commonly adapted for a high school
and schools of a lower grade in the same building. These
"union school-houses" are now amongst the most familiar
objects of the country.
It is, however, in the large cities that the practice
of grading is most perfectly developed. "Six hundred
elementary pupils of both sexes in one building, divided into
ten grades, with a teacher and a room for each grade, now
constitute the preferred type of a public school." (¹)
(
Bishop Fraser says: "The 'grades' correspond somewhat
to our standards' of examination under the revised code-
promotion from one grade to another taking place at fixed
periods, seldom oftener than twice a year, and always as the
result of examination." (2)
The plan of teaching classes or grades in separate school-
rooms has been adopted in some of the Birmingham Board
schools, and also in London, I believe, and has given great
satisfaction.
In New York city the elementary course is divided into
primary and grammar departments. The primary schools
1
Virginia Report, 1872, p. 60.
2 Fraser's Report, p. 87.
204
are subdivided into six distinct grades, the grammar schools
into eight grades. In the male grammar schools there are on
the average thirty-five pupils, in the primary schools forty-eight
pupils to a teacher.
The schools of Philadelphia are divided into four grades
or departments-viz., primary, secondary, grammar, and high.
“Each one of these grades is valuable both in itself and as an
essential part of the system. Each one of the lower grades
educates a large number of children who, from various causes,
never advance beyond it. Each higher one carries to a more
advanced stage the education of those who are sent up to it
from the schools below." (1) The course of study in the high
school is divided into eight classes, or grades lettered from A
to H. The grammar, secondary, and primary schools are
separated into sub-grades or divisions by a committee
appointed by the Board. The number of these divisions
appears to vary in different sections of the city. The course
of study for each department (grammar, secondary, and
primary) is laid down by the Board, and the studies are
then apportioned among the several divisions in such
manner as the principals of the schools think best. (2) Six
months must be devoted to the instruction of each divi-
sion in the studies allotted to it. Each division of grammar
and secondary schools contains an average of forty pupils to
each teacher; the average attendance in the primary schools
is not less than forty-five to each teacher. Promotions from
primary to secondary, and secondary into grammar schools are
made half-yearly. Promotions from one division of a school
to a higher division are made whenever the principal thinks
the pupils require it.
In Boston the departments of the schools are (1) high,
(2) grammar, (3) primary. Pupils are admitted to the
1 Philadelphia Report, 1871, p. 7.
2 Ibid, p. 82.
205
This course is arranged
The grammar
primary grade at five years of age.
for six classes (or grades) and three years.
schools are designed to receive pupils from the primary
schools at eight years and upwards, and carry them on
through a thorough course of practical elementary instruction.
This course is arranged for six classes and "is intended
to comprise about six years." (¹) The Superintendent, in
his last report says: "The primary schools, from the time
of their establishment in 1818 down to 1856, had been
conducted on what we call the ungraded plan;' that
is, the school taught by each teacher was a separate and
independent organisation. The course of instruction was
divided into six steps or classes, but each teacher had all the
six classes in her room at the same time. She was fitting a
class for the grammar school, teaching a class of a-b-c-darians,
and carrying on the intermediate stages of the course simul-
taneously. This arrangement necessitated a great waste of
teaching power. It was gradually changed by the substitu-
tion of what is known as the 'graded plan,' which assigns to
each teacher, so far as circumstances will permit, only one
class or grade of pupils. This arrangement requires the pro-
motion of pupils every six months, from one primary teacher
to another." (2)
The primary schools are now built, as a rule, to
contain six school-rooms. A building of this description
accommodates six schools, forming what is described as
a group.
teacher. (3)
About forty-five scholars are assigned to each
The Cleveland public schools are classed as high,
grammar, and primary. Each of these departments is sub-
divided into four grades; those of the high school being
1 Boston Report, 1874, p. 383.
2 Ibid, p. 296. 3 Ibid, p. 321.
206
numbered one to four, and those of the grammar and primary.
one to eight. (¹) The average number of scholars to a teacher is
forty-six. When the course first went into effect it was
arranged that promotions from class to class should be made
annually. There were several practical objections to this
method, and the more liberal plan has been adopted of
advancing the lower classes as soon as they are prepared.
Whenever pupils give promise of ability to do the work of
the higher class, they are permitted to go forward for trial. (²)
In Cincinnati the schools are known as high, inter-
mediate, and district. There are eight grades in the inter-
mediate and district schools, lettered from A to H. The
average number of pupils to a teacher is forty-one. The
annual examination for transfer is held at the end of the
school year, but classes may be transferred specially, if
necessary. (³).
There are three grades of day-schools in St. Louis-high,
normal, and district. The latter include grammar, inter-
mediate, and primary departments in the same building. (4)
They are also sub-divided into seven grades. The schools are
generally held in school-houses containing twelve rooms,
having between fifty and sixty pupils in a room, and assigned
to one teacher. The system of grading in operation at St.
Louis is one of the most flexible in the States. Great care is
taken that pupils may be advanced from grade to grade as
they are prepared.
In Chicago, the first division of the schools is into high,
grammar, and primary departments. The two latter depart-
ments or grades are sub-divided into ten other grades. Each
teacher in the highest five grades is responsible for the
instruction and discipline of forty-eight pupils; in the lowest
1 Cleveland Report, 1873, p. 38.
3 Cincinnati Report, 1874, pp. 47, 220.
2 Cleveland Report, 1872, p. 44.
4 St. Louis Report, 1872, p. 161.
207
five grades, of sixty pupils. Classes are examined for pro-
motion whenever they are ready. (¹)
It will be seen that in the Eastern cities the classes
are generally examined and promoted at stated intervals.
In the West, the hard and fast line, which is one of the
dangers of the graded system, is broken through, and
individual promotion is more frequent.
Upon one or other of the models described, the systems
of other large towns are based. In the smaller towns,
wherever practicable, grading has been adopted. In 1872
there were three hundred and ninety-two cities in the
United States having populations varying from one thousand
upwards. In over three hundred of these "cities," the
schools were graded. (2) The value attached to grading is
shown by the fact that aid from the Peabody Fund is given
only to graded schools.
(b) Course of Study.
Although, for the sake of convenience, the American
schools are arranged under three heads-high, grammar,
and primary-there are in reality but two courses of
instruction, the higher course pursued in the high schools,
and the elementary course carried on in the grammar and
primary schools. It must not be supposed that the grammar
grade answers to the grammar schools in England. On the
contrary, the grammar grades are merely the higher elementary
grades, and although the studies pursued in them range much
higher than the standards of the English code, they still
1 Chicago Report, 1873, pp. 105, 107.
2 Report of Commissioner of Education, 1872, Table III.
208
comprise only the amount of instruction which, according to
American views, should be given in an elementary school.
It is important to bear this distinction in mind. The
primary schools and the grammar schools are but one course,
and all children are expected to pass from the primary schools
into the grammar schools. That the expectation is not always
realised is too true, though in the vast majority of cases it is.
The Superintendent for Boston thus explains the working of
the elementary course in that city: "Our system of public
schools nominally comprises three grades of instruction, but
in reality only two-the elementary grade, including both
the primary and grammar schools, and the higher or
secondary grade, embracing all the different high schools. The
line of demarcation between the primary and grammar schools
is an arbitrary one, which was adopted merely for the sake of
convenience in the organisation and management of the
schools. It is not known to the law, and has no important
significance in respect to the age, instruction, or destination
of pupils. All the pupils of the primary schools are expected
to pass into the grammar schools, and this expectation is
practically realised.” (¹)
The same description of the course is almost as true of
New York. The Superintendent for that city says: "The
distinction between primary and grammar school pupils is
to a certain extent arbitrary. There is, in fact, but one
course of instruction, extending from the lowest or alphabet
grade to the highest in the grammar schools." (2)
In Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Louis, and Cleveland the
elementary course, comprising primary and grammar schools,
or "district" and "intermediate" schools, is divided into ten,
eight, or seven grades. A child enters the primary school at
the age of five or six, and continues in it for three or four
¹ Massachusetts Report, 1873, p. 183. 2 New York City Report, 1874, p. 9.
209
years, at the end of that time passing into the grammar
school, the grades of which extend over another four, five
or sometimes, as in Boston, six years.
The course of study in the several departments and
grades varies in the different cities, according to the views
of the educational authorities. It is very difficult to institute
any comparison between the grades in American schools and
the standards of our English code. While the primary grades
are often below our standards (especially in arithmetic), the
grammar grades generally go far beyond our highest standards.
An English child is introduced to the first standard at the age
of seven, having had, it is presumed, some preliminary
instruction in the infant school. Six years are assigned to
the six standards, each standard being supposed to embrace a
year's work. The American pupil enters school at five or six
years of age, without any preliminary teaching. He com-
mences, therefore, at the very bottom of the ladder. The first
grade of the primary school is occupied in learning letters and
numbers. The primary course generally comprises six grades
as in New York and Boston; or five grades, as in Cincinnati
and Chicago. In point of time, it is supposed to occupy
sometimes three years, as in Boston; sometimes four, as in
New York; sometimes five, as in Cincinnati. The aim in
Boston is to pass all children into the grammar schools at
eight years of age. In age, therefore, the lowest grade of the
Boston grammar schools would be on a level with our
Standard II.; the lowest grade of the New York grammar
school would correspond with our Standard III. or IV. In
America the pupils commence later, they move up by more
gradual steps, and the grades cover a longer time than the
English standards. Thus the elementary course in Boston com-
mences at five, and extends through twelve grades and nine
years. In New York it generally commences at six, and com-
prises fourteen grades, extending over eight years. In Cincinnati
P
210
it is eight years in length; in Chicago it is ten. If the time
spent in our infant schools (from three to seven) is taken into
account, our elementary course is generally longer than the
American; and yet ours is nothing like so ambitious a
course. There is another difference between the two courses.
In England our attention is pretty much confined to the
"three R's;" in America, what we call "special subjects" are
taught all along the line. A foreign language is often com-
menced in the lowest grade of the primary school; and the
reports of Cleveland and Cincinnati prove with what success.
the plan is attended. Grammar, geography, and natural
science are commenced at very early ages. I remember when
the study of physiology was introduced into the rural schools
of New York State. In fact, nearly twenty years ago the
programme of some district schools in Chemung County (New
York) was more comprehensive than in any public elementary
school in England which I have ever seen.
But the materials for a close comparison between the
studies and results of English and American schools are
wanting. The decentralization of the American system
effectually prevents the collection of any reliable data.
There is no prescribed course of study in any State, and
although examinations are everywhere held, there is no
uniformity of method or test. By studying the admirable
reports published by the Boards of the large cities, one may
form a pretty correct idea of their comparative progress, and
may also learn in what respect their systems are essentially
different from that in operation in the large towns of
England. But outside the cities the American reports furnish
no information by means of which the attainments of the
scholars can be measured.
It is worthy of remark that American educationists do not
appear to recognize that the absence of uniformity in study
and examination weakens their system. The nearest approach
Carnot/1
211
to a uniform course of study which has ever been attempted
by any State is to prescribe the text-books which shall be
used, and where this has been done it has been sometimes
resented, and the cry of centralization has been raised. It is
obvious that it would be a great advantage to statesmen and
statisticians, and to the nation at large, if there were some
test by which the progress of scholars in each State could be
definitely ascertained. But the municipalities are loth to
surrender any part of their discretion, and it is certainly better
that each district should be able to fix its own standard of
education than that the State should have power to prescribe
a low standard for the whole country. The results of the
exercise of such a power are manifest in England to-day.
Experience has proved that elementary education flourishes
most where the provision for higher education is most ample.
If the elementary schools of Germany are the best in the
world, it is owing in a great measure to the fact that the
higher schools are accessible to all classes. In England not
only have the aims of the elementary schools been educa-
tionally low and narrow, but an impassable gulf has
separated the people's schools from the higher schools of the
country. In the United States the common schools have
always produced the best results where the means of higher
education have been most plentiful. The common school is
always feeble and inefficient where high schools, academies,
and colleges are wanting. Educational science teaches that
educational improvement works from the top downward, and
not from the bottom upward. It was, therefore, with the
wisest foresight that the Prussian Government, in undertaking
the regeneration of the State through education, after the
crushing defeat of Jena, began by the establishment of the
great Frederick William University at Berlin. Since Sadowa,
Austria is following this example of developing, strengthening,
and liberalizing the higher education, not only for its own
212
sake, but as a means of promoting general intelligence
through the common schools. Our own history affords a
striking illustration of this principle. Harvard College was,
for a long period, the mainspring of the success of the com-
mon schools of Massachusetts." (1)
The step from the common school to the high school or
academy, and thence to the college or university, is generally
an easy one in the States. The programme of the elementary
school is usually framed in anticipation that scholars in
considerable numbers will pass on to the high school.
The cardinal studies of the common school are reading
and writing, grammar, arithmetic, and geography. Drawing
and vocal music are also generally taught. (2) In the upper
grades, history, book-keeping, natural science, and composition
form part of the usual course.
In the Western schools, notably in those of Cincinnati,
Cleveland, St. Louis, and Chicago, the teaching of German
forms a prominent feature of the elementary course. In New
York, also, German is taught in all grades of the grammar
schools. The study of a foreign language promises to become
much more general in the elementary course. Experience
teaches that it facilitates advancement in English branches.
The reports of the St. Louis, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and New
York schools contain very valuable information under this
head.
To obtain a complete view of the course of study in the
chief cities, the reader must refer to the reports themselves;
but as few will have that opportunity I have thought it
desirable to print in Appendix B the Grammar course in New
York and Boston, and the complete course (district and
intermediate) in Cincinnati.
The schools of Boston have long been famous, not only
1 Boston Report, 1874, p. 398.
2 Statement of Theory, p. 15.
213
in America, but throughout the world. There are signs that
the supremacy of this city in educational matters is to be
disputed by some of the Western cities, but for the present, at
any rate, it is entitled to the first place. It has been already
explained that the grammar schools are intended to complete
the elementary course, begun in the primary schools. Of the
new programme of study, Mr. Philbrick, the late superinten-
dent, writes: "Since the adoption of this programme, I have
studied the most approved courses of study in foreign
countries, where the science is vastly more advanced than it
is in this country, and I am gratified to find that our pro-
gramme for elementary instruction is so nearly up to the
standard of best existing models, both in respect to the
subjects of study and the aims proposed in each.” (¹)
The complete Grammar course will be found in
Appendix B. The average age in the lowest class is nine or
ten, and each class is supposed to require a year's study.
Let the reader compare this course with the code
which up to the present has been in use in English
schools. Of course, without the text-books before one,
it is impossible to estimate exactly the range of the
grade, but the attainments of the scholars may be partly
measured by what they do in the primary schools. Even in
the third class," says the Superintendent, "it is not uncommon
to find fluent reading, with distinct articulation, and a
pleasant modulation of the voice." (2) The class referred to is
in the primary schools, and would comprise the scholars in
the first half of the second year of their attendance at school.
An important matter to consider is the gradation of the
scholars according to age and acquirements.
In the Boston primary schools in 1874, the classes stood
as follows:-
1 Boston Report, 1874, p. 293. 2 Ibid, p. 379.
214
No. of Scholars.
Per Cent.
First Class
2,985
16
Second Class
2,942
15
Third Class
2,949
15
Fourth Class
2,763
15
Fifth Class
3,293
17
Sixth Class
4,176
22 (¹)
"This table," says the Superintendent (referring to the
report for 1873), " contains the most important information.
respecting the condition of these schools that can be presented
in one statistical view. The eye of the expert will at once
perceive its significance. It shows how well the pupils are
advanced from class to class. The point to be arrived at is
to make the percentage in the three upper classes equal that
of the three lower classes." (2)
In his Report for 1869 the Superintendent says: "The
number promoted was 29.6 per cent. of the average whole
number belonging. This is a high percentage; higher, I
think, than has heretofore been obtained. If the promotions
during the year amount to 33.3 per cent. of the number
belonging, it is evident the pupils will average only three
years in the primary school course, which is the time assigned
in the programme. (3) So near an approach in practice to the
theory of the system must be gratifying to its administrators.
That the system of grading adopted works well is apparent.
The Superintendent says: "If a child of the proper age enters
the primary school at the right time, the chances are fifty to
one that if his health is good and his attendance is regular he
will get through the course and enter a grammar school in
three years." (4) Under our English system the chances are
reversed, and the odds are fifty to one against a child getting
through the earlier standards in the proper time.
1 Boston Report, 1874, p. 380.
Boston Report, 1869, p. 225.
2 Boston Report, 1873, p. 120.
4 Ibid, p. 209.
215
The ages of the pupils in the primary classes in 1873 were
as follows:-Five, 17 per cent.; six, 23 per cent.; seven,
20 per cent.; eight, 20 per cent.; nine, 17 per cent. As
the pupils are supposed to have finished the primary classes
at eight, here are 17 per cent. out of their proper grade-far
too many, according to the opinion of the Boston school
authorities. (¹) How does this compare with the standing of
English scholars?
In 1873 for England and Wales there were present
at inspection 1,847,216 scholars. Out of this number
only 752,268 were presented in standards at all, leaving
over a million of whose standing or attainments no
account was taken. Of the 752,268 selected scholars,
the Education Department estimate that the number
who ought, according to their ages, to have been examined
in the first three standards was 388,178. The number
actually examined in these standards was 621,172, of whom
233,535 were over ten years of age. Taking the whole
number present at inspection, no enquiry is made respecting
the progress of 59 per cent. of them. Of the remainder
it is ascertained that 37 per cent. over ten years of
age are still in standards suited for children of seven, eight,
and nine years.
2
Of the rank of the Boston primary schools, Mr. Philbrick
says "In my address to the Committee on Teachers, last
autumn, on foreign education, I was made, by some of the
newspaper reports to say that our primary schools were
very inferior to what was found abroad. I meant to say no
such thing. I have never seen a better set of primary
schools, take them together. What I did mean to say was,
that I saw a trained master instruct a class of young children
in a model school in Vienna more skilfully than I had ever
1 Boston Report, 1873, p. 121.
216
seen any other teacher handle one. But, as a whole, the
primary classes of pupils there, cannot bear a comparison with
our own." (¹)
The gradation of the grammar schools is not so regular as
that of the primary schools, the withdrawal of scholars
beginning to tell after the third year. Of the grammar schools
the Superintendent says: "There is now generally a fair
gradation in respect both to the age and attainments of the
pupils from the lowest class to the highest."(2)
The following table shows the numbers in the different
classes in July, 1874:-
Classes.
No. of Pupils.
Per Cent.
First Class
1,532
7
Second Class
2,365
10
Third Class
3,084
14
Fourth Class....
3,941
18
Fifth Class
5,077
23
Sixth Class
6,181
28 (3)
Dividing the elementary course into three periods of
three years each, we have the following results:-
No. of Pupils.
First three years
19,108
Second three years...
15,199
Third three years.....
6,981
Per Cent.
46.2
.36.8
16.9
Considering that the schools embrace all classes, this
must be acknowledged to be a very admirable result, although
the Superintendent complains of the unequal numbers in the
last six grades. There are too few pupils in the upper classes,
and too many in the lower. For many years, however, the
1 Boston Report, 1874, p. 380.
3 Ibid, p. 390.
2 Ibid, p. 386.
217
percentage of scholars in the upper grades has been steadily
increasing, and at the same time the standard of instruction
has been greatly raised. During the administration of Mr.
Philbrick, extending over eighteen years, the proportion of
increase in the high schools was 300 per cent.; in the
grammar schools, 123 per cent.; and in the primary schools,
50 per cent. (¹)
In the elementary schools of New York city, the average
attendance in the primary grades in 1874 was 61,016; in the
grammar grades, 35,233. (²) The difference between this
showing and that of Boston is more apparent than real, since
the primary grades in New York are supposed to embrace four
years, while in Boston they only cover three years. The
percentage of pupils in each grade was as follows :—
Grammar Schools (Male.)
1st grade ... 4.8 per cent.
Primary Schools.
1st grade ... 11.8 per cent.
2nd
13.4
2nd
6.8
""
""
"
""
3rd
14.7
3rd
9.0
""
""
>>
>>
4th
16.7
4th
11.4
""
33
""
A
""
5th
17.6
5th
10.7
""
""
""
>>
6th
25.8
6th
15.3
...
""
>>
">
>>
7th
20.0
>>
">
8th
>>
22·0 (3) »
The percentage of scholars in attendance during the first
four years was 63.3; in the second four years, 36·6.
The Superintendent says: "All the classes in every
school under the care of the Board have been examined at
least once during the past year, and many of them several
times, so that the work of every teacher employed in the
schools has been brought under the minute supervision of the
1 Boston Report, 1874, p. 278.
2 New York Report, 1874, p. 4. 3 Ibid, p. 30.
218
Superintendent's department and its character carefully
ascertained and recorded."
"Of 2,112
classes thus examined, the instruction in 1,041 was found to
have been excellent, in 901 good, 149 fair, in 20 indifferent,
and in 1 bad.” (¹)
"Both as to instruction
and discipline these results are exceedingly creditable to the
schools in general, inasmuch as in more than 90 per cent. of
all the classes examined the results were found to be
deserving of commendation.” (2)
Comparing the course of instruction in the six primary
grades in New York, extending over four years, with our
English standards, taking arithmetic as the test subject, the
complete primary course answers very nearly
very nearly to our
Standards I-IV. The arithmetic of the last year in the
primary course is much on a par with that of our fourth
standard.
The mental arithmetic and drawing, and the object
lessons, embracing instruction upon all common objects, such
as colour, the human body, and familiar animals, parts and
uses of limbs, geometric forms, plants, qualities in physical
and natural science, &c., which are pursued through the whole
of the primary grades, and which act as a powerful influence
in stimulating the minds of children and inducing them to
think, are almost wholly foreign to our ordinary English
elementary schools.
The seventh grade of the grammar schools, which in point
of time occupies the last half of the fifth year in the elementary
course, is rather beyond our fifth standard, but not quite
equal to our sixth. Above this there are six grades in the
elementary (grammar) course. Through all of them pupils
are instructed in reading, spelling, definitions, penmanship,
arithmetic, mental and written. Geography, local and
1 New York Report, 1874, p. 12.
2 Ibid, p. 14.
219
descriptive, is taught in the five lowest grammar grades. It
is omitted in the third and first, but the outlines of physical
geography are taught in the second. Great attention is given
to physical science. Oral instruction in elementary science
is given through the five lowest grammar grades. By this
means the pupil is instructed in the outlines of zoology,
botany, mineralogy, physiology, and hygiene. In the third
grade natural philosophy is taught, and continued through the
course, with the outlines of astronomy and chemistry in the
two highest grades. The history of the United States is taught
in the fourth, third, and second grades. In the highest
grade, ancient is added to modern history. Grammar, with
the analysis, parsing, and construction of simple sentences,
commences with the fourth grade, and continues and
enlarges through the following grades to the highest, in
which the pupil is practised in composition and impromptu
exercises. Etymology, including the analysis and formation
of words, receives special attention in the two highest grades.
In the highest grade, algebra through simple equations, and
the first book of geometry are taught. Some instruction in
the principles of the Constitution of the United States is also
given in the last grade. Phonography and book-keeping,
architectural and mechanical drawing and designing are
permissory in the highest grades of the course.
also about twenty thousand pupils in the German classes of
the Grammar schools. For the complete course in the Gram-
mar schools see Appendix.
There are
Leaving the comparatively long-established systems of
New York and Boston, we come to the cities of the West,
whose schools have developed with marvellous rapidity,
although they do not yet approach the standard which it is
the ambition of their citizens to reach.
The elementary schools of Cleveland (Ohio) show the
following percentages of pupils in each grade:—
220
Grammar.
Per cent.
Primary.
Per Cent.
1st grade A
2nd
311
... 2·1 ... 5th grade A 1,628 ... 10′9
B
576 ... 3·9 ... 6th
>>
""
B 2,495 ... 16.9
C
937 ... 63 ... 7th
C 3,070 ... 20-8
>>
3rd
4th
""
>>
D 1,271 ... 8'6 ... 8th
Total Grammar... 20·9
D 4,393 ... 29.9
Total Primary... 78·5(¹)
As each of these grades is arranged for a year, we are
able to compare the numbers under instruction at different
stages with the Boston schools, with this result
First three years.
67.6 per cent.
25.8
Second three years
Last two years…………….
">
6.0
>>
A careful examination of the course of study leads to the
conclusion that after the fifth grade ("A" Primary) all are
higher than the English sixth standard. The written arith-
metic in the primary grades does not, however, ascend so
rapidly as under our code.
The questions submitted to Class C in the grammar
grade (the third grade from the top and the sixth from the
bottom, containing pupils in the sixth year of the course) at
the examination in June, 1873, were as follow:—
"Arithmetic.-1. What is the cost of 372 pounds of prunes, at 37 cents
a pound?
"2. If I spend $45.52 for cocoa nuts, at 74 cents a-piece, how many do
I buy?
"3. Reduce of to a simple fraction, and analyse the process.
credit given without analysis.)
(No
4. Multiply by %, and give complete analysis. (No credit given
without analysis).
"6. Reduce 14 bushels, 3 pecks, 3 quarts to pints, and give complete
analysis.
(No credit given without analysis.)
"7. Find the g.c.d. of 362, 296, 312.
5
"8. Divide of of by ff.
"9. How much cotton, at 15 cents a pound, can be bought for $133 ?
1 Cleveland Report, 1873, p. 38.
221
"10. A merchant owns of a stock of goods. If he sell of his
share what part of the whole stock will he retain ?
“11. If from a cask containing 31½ gallons, ₺ of a gallon leak out per
day, in how many days will one half the cask be lost?
"12. How does it affect the value of a fraction to divide the denominator.
by a whole number? Why? (No credit if the reason be not given.)
"13. From the sum of 21, 7%, 2%, take the sum of 11, 54, 23.
"14. Define subtrahend, minuend.
"15. How far will a locomotive run in 11 hours, at the rate of 16 miles,
25 rods, 2 yards an hour?
"16. How many cords of wood in a lumber yard, there being 17 piles,
each of which is 11 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 6 feet high ?
"17. If 47 yards of calico cost 5
"18. A grocer bought 194 cwt.
shillings, what is the price per yard?
of sugar at 5 cents a pound, and sold
the whole for $156.75; how much did he gain by the sale?
"
19. A friend has 15 bushels of choice apples, and offers of them to
me for 11 dollars. How much is that per bushel?
"20. What is meant by the least common multiple of two or more
numbers ?
"21. Reduce 5 yards, 2 feet, 3 inches to inches, and give complete
analysis.
"22. If I have in different banks $141, $467%, $417, and $348 fr, how
many dollars have I in all the banks ?"
"Grammar.-1. Write the plural of chief, shelf, pony, monkey,
molasses.
"2. Compare gentle, skilful, conscientious.
"3. Write the opposite gender of nephew, aunt, lad, belle, bride.
"4. Write five sentences, each one containing an irregular verb.
"5. Write five sentences, each one containing a transitive verb.
"6. Write sentences containing the possessive plural of I, he, she.
7. Write two sentences, each of which shall contain the word
'mountain' as the subject. In the first sentence represent the subject
as being acted upon, in the other as acting.
"8. Write a letter to your teacher, telling her what you think of
the examination; whether you expect to pass or not; whether you wish
to go to the higher grade next year, and if you have been in this grade more
than a year you may urge that as a consideration. Make out as good a
case for yourself as you can.
"9. Name two or three books you have read this year; or, if you
have not read any, you may give the names of two of your school books,
and state what part of each you have studied.
10. When is a noun in the nominative case? Objective case?
Geography.-Locate the following: 1, Caspian; 2, Tigris; 3, Mont
Blanc; 4, Rhine; 5, Teneriffe; 6, Siam; 7, Ceylon; 8, Sahara; 9,
Tahiti; 10, Metz; 11, Liverpool; 12, Munich; 13, Bombay.
"14. What are the three principal rivers in France? 17. In South
America. 20. In Africa. State in what general direction and into what
does each one flow?
222
"23. What states or countries border on the Mediterranean Sea ?
"24. What rivers flow into the Black Sea?
"25. In what longitude would a man be who had travelled 200°
directly east from Greenwich?
"26. How many miles would he travel in going 180° on the Equator?
"27. Draw an outline sketch of the State of Texas.
28. Describe the surface of Europe.
"29. What important city of the Atlantic plain a little further north
than San Francisco ?
66
30. Through what countries of South America does the tropic of Capri-
corn pass?
"31. If you were to go directly north from Charleston, South Carolina,
what great lake would you reach ?
"32. What do the tropics mark?
“33. Through what countries, seas, and large islands does the Equator
pass?"
'Physics.-1. What is the direction of the force of gravity? How may
this direction be shown ?
"2. What is meant by specific gravity? When does a body float on
water?
"3. What is the direction of magnetic force? What magnetic instrument
is based on this direction ?
"4. How many kinds of electricity are there? How do the two kinds
behave towards each other?
"5. What force is it that causes a body to appear as ice, or as water, or
as steam ?
Give two examples of
"6. What is adhesion? What is capillary attraction?
"7. Give two examples of malleable bodies.
ductile bodies. Give two examples of brittle bodies.
"8. How would you prove that air is elastic?
"9. What is a lever? The long arm of a lever is two feet, the short
arm is one foot, at the end of the short arm is a weight of 100 pounds, what
power must be applied at the end of the long arm in order to lift that
weight?
"10. Explain how it is that water-pipes carry water to the upper storeys
of houses in our city. What causes the water in a common pump to rise?
Spelling.-Inaudible, Physician, Bureau, Precious, Vehicle, Subtile,
Electrical, Strewn, Granaries, Roseate, Maniac, Labyrinth, Avalanche,
Revenues, Soliloquies, Peril, Thraldom, Sceptre, Penitentiary, Annihilated,
Inadequate, Presumptuous, Germinate, Balance, Separate." (1)
In addition to the foregoing examples are the questions
in German. Over a third of all the pupils in the public
schools studied German in 1873, or a monthly average of
3,572.
1 Cleveland Report, 1873, pp. 177, 180.
223
The per cent. promoted to the next higher grade at the
annual examination in 1872 was as follows:-
Grammar Grades.
Primary Grades.
1st A.
92.2
5th
A.
84.2
2nd B.
82.5
6th B.
80.8
3rd C.
80.9
7th C.
78.6
4th D.
75.2
8th
D.
50-1 (¹)
The average ages of children in the respective grades
was as follows:-
:0
Primary A.
Grammar A.
14.4
B.
13.7
""
C.
دو
D.
12.9
12.2
""
B.
10.9
... 10.1
دو
C.
8.4
""
D..
""
6·7 (²)
The reports of Mr. Rickoff, the Superintendent of the
Cleveland Schools, would amply repay a careful study by
English school officers; I regret that I cannot give them
more attention.
The course of study in the famous schools of St. Louis
is divided into seven grades, each grade including as near as
may be an average year's work. The following was the
classification of pupils in 1872:—
Normal
High School ..
1st grade (7th year)
39 per cent.
2.60
2.65
>>
(6th )
4.10
وو
دو
(5th
>>
)
6.83
>>
11.45
>>
>
19.98
18.66
33.32
>>
2nd
3rd
دو
4th
>>
5th
6th
(3) 7th
or,
""
>>
"}
(4th,,)
(3rd
(2nd,,)
(1st
>>
1 Cleveland Report, 1872, p. 43.
2 Ibid, Table vii., 1873.
3 St. Louis Report, 1872, p. 25.
224
First three years
Second three years
71.96 per cent.
22.38
>>
Last period
5.64
The elementary grades are intended to comprise a
thorough course in "reading, spelling, writing, vocal music,
geography, mental and written arithmetic, English grammar,
history and Constitution of the United States, composition,
and outlines of physics and natural history." (¹)
German is taught in all the grades. In 1872 there were
10,244 pupils in German. Of these 7,827 were in the three
lowest grades. (2)
The Cincinnati elementary schools, dividedin to "district"
and “intermediate" departments, comprise eight grades, each
grade arranged for a year. The classification of scholars in
1872 was as follows:-
Intermediate grades A.
3.0 per cent.
B.
5.5
>>
C.
7.3
>>
>>
District grades
D.
11.1
E.
12.8
>>
>>
F.
15.1
>>
>>
G.
15.4
>>
"
H.
29.8
>>
Reduced to periods of three years we have-
First three years.....
Second three years.
Last two years
60.3 per cent.
31.2
8.5
>>
1 St. Louis Report, 1872, p. L.
2 Ibid, 1872, p. 28.
225
The average ages of scholars in the different grades is as
follows:-
Grade A.
13.7 ... Grade E. ... 105
B.
13.1
F.
9.4
"
""
C.
12.3
G.
8.3
""
""
D. ... 11·4
H.
6.7
"
""
Seventy-five per cent. of the whole number were under
twelve, and twenty-five per cent. over twelve years of age.
This estimate does not include the pupils of the high
school.
Upon the examinations for promotion in the district
schools—that is, the five lower grades-the per cent. of passes
was as follows:-
For promotion to
intermediate grade }....
Grade D.
90.2 per cent.
E. ...
""
For promotion to D. ...... 916
""
F.
E.
87.4
:
">
>>
G.
F.
77.3
""
H.
::
>>
G....... 68·1
""
""
""
Out of the twenty-two thousand pupils in the district
schools only 166 were in the same grade two years, and only
twelve in the same grade three years.
The report issued by the Board for 1873 contains the
examination questions set at the annual examinations for
that year in grades A to G. Grade G corresponds in respect
to age with our Standard I, grade F with Standard II, and
so upwards.
The written arithmetic in grade G is about equal to that
set in Standard II. In grade F the written arithmetic is
nearly equal to our Standard III, the money sums not being
quite so difficult. In grade E the written arithmetic is about.
Q
226
on a par with our Standard III. In grade D the written
arithmetic partly answers to that of Standard V, and partly to
that of Standard IV. In grade C the sums are more nearly
equal to our Standard VI as far as the fractions go; the other
sums equal our Standard V. In grade B the arithmetical
questions are harder than those set in Standard VI. Upon
the whole, the conclusion is, that, so far as written arithmetic
is concerned, our standards are a little above the corresponding
grades, age for age, of the Cincinnati schools; but, taken as a
whole, our arithmetic is not anything like so exacting. In
American schools the chief attention is given to mental
arithmetic, and in these examinations the children are called
upon to answer questions and solve mental problems which
are not often attempted in English schools.
It is only in respect to arithmetic that any comparison
is possible between the Cincinnati grades and our standards.
In all other respects their course of study outruns ours.
Commencing with grade G, grammar, object lessons, and
German are taught over and above the ordinary require-
ments of our code; in the next grade (F) music is added;
in grade E, geography is taken up; and in grade C, physics
becomes a part of the course. We thus have in the ele-
mentary grades as ordinary parts of the course, besides
reading, writing, and arithmetic-grammar, history, geography,
physics, mental arithmetic, music, object lessons, spelling,
and German. For the complete elementary course
Appendix B.
see
The Chicago schools, which have been rebuilt since
the great fire, are divided into ten elementary grades-the
first five (from one to five) constituting the grammar depart-
ment, and the remaining five grades (from six to ten) the
primary department.
The proportion of pupils in each grade, in 1873, was as
follows:-
227
Per Cent.
1st grade 431 or 1·63
Per Cent.
6th grade 2,401 or 9.1
2nd
733
2.72
7th
""
""
>>
3,512 13.3
3rd
"
1,137
4.27
8th
""
""
""
4,236, 16.06
4th
""
1,752,
6.59
9th
4,187 15.9
""
""
5th
2,324 8.75
10th
""
""
""
""
5,649 21.43 (¹)
Supposing each grade to represent a year, the proportion
of scholars at different periods would be as follows:-
First three years
Second three years
Last four years.
53.39 per cent.
31.15
""
15.21
">
Of these scholars, about 73 per cent. were under twelve,
and about 27 per cent. over twelve years of age.
The percentage of promotions in the various grades was
according to the following table:-
Grammar Grades.
Primary Grades.
1st........
94.6
6th.........
85.5
2nd
76.9
7th......
89.1
3rd
75.2
8th......
77.02
4th
78.2
9th.........
91.1
5th
72.07
10th ...
81·7 (2)
In arithmetic, the grades below the third are not equal
to those of Cincinnati, or to our English standards. In other
respects the grades below the sixth are about on a par with
our standards. The studies in the remaining grades are
higher than our standards, those studies which are "special
subjects" in our schools, being taught as part of the ordinary
course in the upper grades of the elementary schools of
Chicago.
In 1873, 5,152 scholars were promoted in grades higher
Chicago Report, 1873, p. 243. 2 Ibid, p. 59.
228
than our Standard VI; more than half the number who
passed the sixth standard in England and Wales during the
same year. (¹)
In 1873 there were 3,724 pupils in the German
classes in the Chicago district schools.
Of these 1,525
were of German parentage, and 2,199 the children of
Americans.
A passing word must be said of the night schools in the
large cities, which are on a scale of real magnificence.
New York city has thirty-seven night schools, thirty-
six of which are elementary and one is a high school. The
average attendance in 1874 was 10,162. (2) The branches
taught are English grammar and composition, arithmetic,
book-keeping, penmanship, drawing, and German.
There are seventeen night schools in St. Louis, having
over 4,000 pupils, whose average age is sixteen. A special
feature of these schools is that one room in each school is
set apart for the instruction of foreigners in English. (3)
In Boston there are eleven evening elementary schools,
one evening high school, and four evening drawing schools.
The average attendance in 1874 was 1658. (4)
The average attendance in the Cincinnati night schools in
1872 was 1,686. Besides the elementary night schools there
is a high school, and a night school of arts and sciences. (5)
The report of the Superintendent refers in high terms to the
thorough organisation and unusual excellence of these schools.
In Philadelphia there are twenty-nine night schools,
having over 8,000 scholars. (")
Besides these large cities there are many others with
famous night schools, amongst them being Baltimore, Lowell
(Massachusetts), Lynn (Massachusetts), Jersey City, Newark
1 Chicago Report, 1873, p. 59.
3 St. Louis Report, 1872, p. 101.
5 Cincinnati Report, 1873, p. 51.
2 New York Report, 1874, p. 4.
4 Boston Report, 1874, p. 360.
" Philadelphia Report, 1872, p. 11.
229
(New Jersey), Buffalo and Cohoes (New York), Pittsburg
(Pennsylvania), and Providence (Rhode Island).
(c) Practical Outcome.
The precise product of the common school is not to be
learnt from the State reports, nor perhaps from any source;
but respecting the general result, guides are accessible
which, if not altogether unerring, are sufficient for practical
purposes.
By some means the natives of those States where the
free school is well established have got the reputation of being
a fairly-educated people. Either they have received a decent
modicum of instruction, or they have a remarkable facility of
concealing their ignorance, which is not written in characters
that all who run may read; nor patent to the most
casual observer, like that of the English labourer. Either,
then, the American system has produced a satisfactory result,
or else a conspiracy on a grand scale has been entered into
by travellers from all nations, including such observers as
De Tocqueville and Fraser, to deceive the world as to the
measure of intelligence and information in the United
States.
The simple ability to read and write, and that perhaps
not well, is a very inadequate test of the acquirements of any
people; yet it is often the best to be had. In this country
the number of signatures to "marriage lines" supplies the
only guide as to the proportion of illiterates. In the United
States an attempt is made in taking the census to obtain
precise information on the subject. This is not the kind of
proof which one would choose if a choice were to be had.
Though one appears sometimes to detect a modest pride in
the declaration of the English peasant that he is "no
230
scholard," yet it seems certain that most persons would
hesitate to write themselves down" as illiterate if they
could help it. As a matter of fact, the returns of illiteracy
in the census taken in 1850 and 1860 in the United States
are said to be considerably under the mark. The accuracy
of the returns for 1870 has not been, so far as I am aware,
impugned. However this may be, no other information
than that contained in the periodical census is supplied
from official sources, and it must be taken for what it is
worth.
Moreover, the figures from the census have been appealed
to, though never actually adduced, to prove that the common
school is a failure. It has actually been alleged that the
census returns for 1840, 1850, and 1860 show a gradual
increase in the proportion of "home-born white Americans"
who are unable to read or write. Since there are vast
numbers of children who are natives of the United States,
but of foreign and illiterate parentage, and who do not
inherit a love for education, even if this charge were true
it would not amount to crushing evidence against the
efficiency of the free school system. But it is easy to show
that there is no atom of truth in the charge.
The census returns for 1840 do not distinguish between
natives and foreigners. They give but one result-the
number of adult white illiterates. (¹) There is no basis, there-
fore, for a comparison between these and the later returns, in
order to show either an increase or decrease in the proportion
of illiterate natives.
In the census for 1850, and again in that for 1860,
natives and foreigners were separated. The following table
shows the comparative percentage of white native illiterate
adults ("aged twenty and over") in 1850 and 1860 :-
1 Commissioner's Report, 1870, p. 470.
231

Increase
STATE.
Per cent.
1850.
Per cent.
1860.
of Native
Illiterates.
Decrease
of Native
Illiterates.
Alabama
20.35
17.73
2.62
Arkansas
27.77
18.93
8.84
California
3.55
6.76
3.21
Connecticut
•41
•28
•13
Delaware
13.91
13.42
*49
Florida
19.13
16.19
2.94
Georgia
20.08
17.97
2.11
Illinois
11.89
6.66
5.23
Indiana
18.70
10.81
7.89
Iowa
10.79
5.61
5.18
Kansas
6.32
Kentucky
21.60
17.60
4.00
Louisiana
17.05
11.46
5.59
Maine
•77
⚫78
•01
Maryland
10.19
5.97
4.22
Massachusetts
•24
*26
*02
Michigan.....
3.40
2.73
·67
Minnesota
12.57
2.26
10.31
Mississippi
11.67
10.44
1.23
Missouri
17.20
13.67
3.53
New Hampshire
•54
•61
*07
New Jersey
4.42
3.63
New York
2.01
1.45
North Carolina
30.68
24-29
| | |
•79
*56
6.39
Ohio.....
7.19
4.89
I
2:30
Oregon....
1.70
5.59
3.89
Pennsylvania
...
4.82
3.26
1.56
Rhode Island...
1.53
1.30
•23
South Carolina
13.62
11.50
2.12
Tennessee
Texas
Vermont....
Virginia
Wisconsin
25.92
20.05
5.87
14.74
7.65
7.09
•40
•60
•20
19.91
15.84
4.07
1.86
1.35
•51
[For verification of Table, see p. 474 of Commissioner's Report, 1870.]
232
But not only was there a relative decrease in the
propor-
tion of native white illiterates between 1850 and 1860, but in
many of the States there was an actual decrease in the num-
bers of native illiterates, including both white and coloured.
In Connecticut they decreased from 1,293 to 925, in
Indiana from 69,445 to 55,903, in New York from 30,670
to 26,163, in Ohio from 56,958 to 48,015, in Pennsylvania
from 51,283 to 44,930, and in Rhode Island from 1,248 to
1,202. (¹) Therefore, whatever increase there was in the
number of illiterates in these States during this period-and
there was an increase in most of them-it must have been
owing to immigration.
While there was the large decrease which has been noted
in the proportion of native white illiterates between 1860 and
1870, there was, on the other hand, an increase during the
same period in the proportion of foreign illiterates in the fol-
lowing States: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa,
Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New
Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin. (2)
By this means the general percentage of illiteracy was kept
up. The total illiteracy of the white population (native and
foreign) is given as 9 per cent. in 1840, 11 per cent. in 1850,
and 9 per cent. in 1860. Including the coloured population,
it was in 1850, 23 per cent., and in 1860, 20 per cent.
re
<<
Comparing the returns of 1840, 1850, and 1860, illus-
trated by maps or
views," the report of the Commissioner
for 1870 says:
View 10 shows us that the per cent. of
illiteracy increased from 1840 to 1850, not only in the whole
country, but especially in New England (chiefly from foreign
sources), and in some of the Western and Southern States.
View 11, on the contrary, shows how it was diminished in
1 Report of Commissioner, 1870, p. 472. 2 Ibid, p. 474.
233
the next decade, not only in the whole country, but in most
of the Southern and Western States, though still increasing in
New England, in Mississippi, and on the Pacific slope. View
12 shows that during the whole twenty years there was some
improvement in respect to the per cent. of total illiteracy in
the whole country, and in what States and parts of the
country it was most marked. But a great increase of the evil
is seen in New England and the Middle States, as also in
Michigan and in one or two other States, for the main causes
of which we need not go beyond the fact of ignorant
immigration from Canada and Europe, and of slave
migration towards the extreme south and south-west." (¹)
And, again, in reference to the causes of illiteracy: “But
already the maps we have been looking at and studying, point
to several important causes-the influx of ignorance from
Canada, and through Canada and to the great Atlantic ports,
by immigration; the influence of slavery in the plantation
States, and even more among the poorer farming population
flowing westward from the older and wealthier portions of
Virginia and North Carolina to the mountain valleys and to
the newly-settled parts of those States, and of Kentucky and
Tennessee, and even beyond the northern banks of the Ohio;
the peonage and other adverse causes bearing upon the
untaught population of New Mexico; the influences which
have come down from some of the early settlers and immi-
grants of New York, Pennsylvania, and some other States, as
compared with the school influences inherited in New
England; and unfavourable circumstances and difficulties
in new and sparse settlements in the pioneer Western
States." (2)
The census returns for 1870, so far as they are given in
the latest reports of the Commissioner, do not enable us to
1 Commissioner's Report, 1870, p. 501. 2 Ibid, p. 502.
234
make a comparison with the results of 1850 and 1860, since
the figures and calculations do not refer to the same ages.
The lessons of the last census are anything but cheering
to patriotic Americans. The per cent. of adult illiterates for
the whole country (States and Territories), including the
native and foreign, white and coloured population, is
enormously high-17 per cent. for males, and 23 per cent. for
women. This is nearly as high as the English percentage,
which, according to the report of the Registrar-General in
1872, stood at 19 for males, and 26 for women. (¹)
But this sad condition cannot be justly laid at the door
of the free school system. In those States where the free
school has penetrated, and had time for development, very
different results are found.
The following table shows the percentage of adult illite-
rates, native and foreign, white and coloured, in the principal
free school States:
Percentage of Illiteracy.
STATE.
Male Adult.
Female Adult.
Connecticut
6.40
9.12
California
6.70
11.14
Illinois
7.16
11.16
Indiana
10.09
...
:
16.77
...
Iowa.....
5.30
8.37
...
Maine
3.38
3.91
:
Massachusetts
7.97
12.27
Michigan......
6.04
7.22
New Hampshire….....
3.73
4.29
:.
New Jersey.....
7.50
10.70
...
New York
6.91
10.18
Ohio.........
7.64
12.10
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Vermont
Wisconsin
7.75
14.26
:
...
10.58
...
7.61
16.13
7.03
:
7.01
10.17 (2)
1 35th Report of Registrar-General, p. XIV.
2 Commissioner's Report, 1872, p. 962.
235
It is sometimes said that immigration is an insignificant
element in the production of illiteracy. The reverse is
capable of the most complete demonstration.
If Indiana is excepted from the States named in the
preceding table, the actual numbers of foreign illiterates (ten
years old and over) are greater than the numbers of native
illiterates (white and coloured) of the same age.
The figures are as follow:-
STATE.
Native.
Foreign.
Connecticut
5,678
California
9,520
Illinois
90,595
Iowa
24,979
:
:
:
23,938
22,196
Maine
7,986
:
:
:
:
42,989
20,692
11,066
Massachusetts
7,912
89,830
Michigan
22,547
30,580
New Hampshire
1,992
7,934
New Jersey
29,726
24,961
New York
70,702
168,569
Ohio
134,102
39,070
Pennsylvania.
126,803
...
95,553
Rhode Island ……..
4,444
17,477
Vermont.
3,902
:
13,804
Wisconsin
14,113
...
41,328
Total
555,001
649,887 (¹)
Going a step further, it will be found that in these States
the proportion of illiterates amongst foreigners enormously
exceeds the proportion of native illiterates.
The next table shows the proportion of native illiterates,
ten years old and over, to the whole native population in
the States named, in comparison with the proportion of
1 Commissioner's Report, 1872, p. 956.
236
foreign illiterates, of the same age, to the whole foreign
population :-

STATES.
Proportion of
Native Illiterates.
Connecticut
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Maine
Proportion of
Foreign Illiterates.
1.33
4.47
:
:
21.06
...
8.34
7.35
9.85
2.52
10.10
...
1.38
22.63
0.71
25.42
...
2.46
0.69
4.14
2.17
5.84
...
4.25
:
:
:
:
11.41
...
:
:
26.76
13.21
2.74
14.80
10.48
17.52
...
31.54
...
Massachusetts..
Michigan....
New Hampshire
New Jersey.
New York
Ohio.....
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Vermont
Wisconsin
1.37
2.04
:
:
29.27
...
11.33 (1)
But these figures do not fully explain the whole extent
of the obstruction caused by immigration, since amongst
those who are classed as native illiterates are large numbers
of children of foreign parentage, who do not immediately
come under free school influences.
It has been alleged that the foreign population in the
States is drawn from countries where more attention is
devoted to popular education than in America. This is only
partially true. The last census shows that of the foreign
population 3,115,583 (including only 140,835 Scotchmen)
were born in Great Britain, Ireland, and British America, as
¹ NOTE.—The above percentages are calculated from statistics contained
in the Commissioner's Report for 1872, pp. 942, 956.
237
against 1,690,533 born in the German Empire, and 316,219
in Austria, Bohemia, Hungary, Denmark, Norway, and
Sweden. (¹)
The truth, then, is that the free school system has had a
double mill-stone round its neck, and it may be taken as
proof of its vitality that the combined influence of slavery
and illiterate immigration has not been able to destroy it.
How greatly its efforts have been paralysed by these opposing
forces history will show; but, notwithstanding the incubus
it has been forced to carry, it has still kept the percentage of
illiteracy lower in the States than it is in England, where
the State Church has taken education under her wing.
But it is well for America that her educationists are not
content to glorify themselves for what has been done. One
of the healthiest signs in the country is the apprehension and
alarm which the census statistics of illiteracy have caused,
and the widespread conviction that the common school must
not only be extended, but must be made more efficient than
it has been. There is no blinking, on the part of statesmen
or school officials, of the task which lies before the nation-a
task which must strain to the utmost the capacity and
efficiency of the common school system. But if the work to
be done is mighty, there is a mighty energy at the heart of
the system, as those who love America best are glad to know.
The results of the common school are apparent to every
traveller in the free States. No one ventures to deny that the
Americans of the North and North-West are an educated
people. But it is said that their intelligence and education
are due to other agencies-the press, for example. No doubt,
the press exercises a most powerful influence in stimulating
intelligence, but it must have a basis of instruction for its
work. Have we not a press in England as powerful and as
1 Commissioner's Report, 1872, p. vi.
238
intelligent as the press of the United States? The churches
then, it is said, do the work. But we also have churches,
which, alas! for education, have taken it under their protec-
tion
Englishmen are not likely to be led off the trail by such
controversial subterfuges as these. In whatever land they
find schools in abundance, full of energy and enthusiasm,
even if frequently rude in organisation and imperfect in
detail, and find also an instructed population, they will be
pretty sure to connect the education with the schools. For
the share of the common school in the work of national
education, I refer, in conclusion, to the report of Bishop
Fraser, to whose work I have been greatly indebted. He says
of the system, that, "if not accomplishing all of which it is
theoretically capable, if lacking some elements which we
justly deem primary, and of which Americans themselves feel
and regret the loss, it is still contributing powerfully to the
development of a nation of which it is no flattery or exaggera-
tion to say that it is, if not the most highly educated, yet
certainly the most generally educated and intelligent people
on the earth.” (¹)
With this testimony Americans may well be content.
1 Fraser's Report, p. 203.
239
VIL
REVIEW.
To sum up, it is not pretended by Americans—it never
has been advanced by the section of Englishmen who are
attracted by American institutions, and especially by the
common school—that their system is even theoretically
perfect, much less that it produces in practice the utmost
measure of success. It is the habit of American educa-
tionists, ungrudgingly, and with sincere admiration, to give
the palm to Germany. Nor is this a mere complimentary
recognition of excellence. It is shown to be genuine
by the manner in which they are accepting from Germany,
not only lessons in the details of educational science, but
vital principles like compulsion.
But while the German system is mature, and has
probably reached, or nearly reached, the highest point of
excellence, that of the United States is still in its infancy.
Therefore, the most important consideration for Americans is
whether they have started upon the right lines. The process
of undoing, as we find in England, is sometimes more
difficult and laborious than that of constructing.
That which impresses us most in regard to America is
the grasp which the schools have upon the sympathy and
240
intelligence of the people. Those of the cities are the lions
of America. The intelligent foreigner, and also, as it
would appear from some recent criticisms, the unintelligent
foreigner who visits the States, into whatever town he goes,
is taken to the schools as the first objects of interest. Amongst
public questions education occupies the foremost place, and of
all topics it is that upon which the American speaker is most
ready and most willing to enlarge. Public intelligence has
recognised the fact that the highest and best interests of the
nation are indissolubly bound up with the question. Thus
every American feels not only a personal but a patriotic
interest in the welfare of the schools. Owing to this popular
feeling their organisation possesses a spring and force and
energy which are in strong contrast with the sluggish instincts
of the parochial system.
This widespread popular regard which constitutes the
propelling power, appears to be chiefly due to two features—
government by the people, and ownership by the people. It
is a vast proprietary scheme, in which every citizen has a
share. While it is undoubtedly true that all do not set the
same value on school rights, it is also certain that their
existence immensely stimulates public interest and diffuses a
sense of responsibility through the entire community.
For no reason is the principle of local government
more dearly prized, than because of the control which it
gives the people over the schools. They would be as ready
to surrender all municipal powers and privileges as to transfer
their management to a sect or to any other private
organisation. This recognition of responsibility is the
mainspring of the system, and the cause of its best
results. In another generation the same feeling will prevail
in England. It would undoubtedly create surprise and
opposition if, in this country, an unrepresentative body
were to claim the right to control the municipal govern-
241
ment of a town. Yet such a city as Gloucester still
acquiesces in the important work of education being
transacted by voluntary societies. It might with equal or
even greater discretion, transfer to the Dean and Chapter
the functions of the Corporation.
That the decentralisation of the American system is
excessive, and leads to inefficiency in certain cases, has
already been explained. That any radical change will be
made is highly improbable. The advocates of a federal law
under which large powers would be vested in the National
Bureau of Education, are at present in a hopeless minority.
The principle of State sovereignty is too firmly rooted in
the public mind, and has worked too well, to be easily shaken.
Of late years, however, a disposition has been manifested
to increase the powers of State Superintendents and State
Boards of Education; and, in the view of Englishmen, this
is a movement in the right direction. The principle of
local government should be supplemented by adequate
power in the Executive of the State to meet those cases
in which, from public apathy or other causes, the local
authorities fail to perform their duties. It is also worthy
of the consideration of American educationists whether
the State taxes, which now provide a very considerable
portion of the school income, could not be administered by a
State department under some such scheme as our English plan
of "payment by results." Under such an arrangement a
minimum standard might be fixed for each State, which would
ensure the performance of certain definite work in a year.
The danger that School Boards would limit their efforts to
earning the State grant would not be great in a country
where public emulation is so general. New York would still
compete with Boston, and Chicago with Cincinnati, in the
development of the best methods and the attainment of the
highest results; and the example of all the great cities would
R
242
still have its due effect upon the country towns and districts.
The powers of the State Executive would then, as now, be
subject to the will of the people, whose voice would determine
the general policy of education. It appears to be extremely
improbable that, in a country where the best intelligence
circulates so commonly through all ranks of society, the
schools would fall into a narrow groove, or lose the energy
and independence which now characterise them. While
such a scheme would incalculably benefit the backward
districts, it need not, in any appreciable degree, hamper the
more advanced and energetic localities.
A Ministerial department at the head of the school
system in each State need not be inconsistent with the most
ample exercise of local discretion; and there would be no
reason to fear that in America such a department would be
permitted to usurp the functions of School Boards. It is
difficult to see how compulsion can be effectively carried out
otherwise.
The advantages of the establishment of the National
Bureau of Education cannot be over-estimated. By bringing
together the results in each State educational thought and
enterprise have been greatly quickened. Even with its
present limited powers, the action of the Bureau is full of
promise for the future.
The means provided for local inspection or supervision
are very ample, the rule, subject to a few exceptions,
being an inspector or superintendent for each county.
The benefits of the plan are apparent from the State reports
The duties of the County Superintendent are largely
consultative; he is more the friend and adviser of the local
school managers than their superior officer.
In some
respects he possesses advantages over English inspectors.
The latter is an officer whose visits are generally looked
forward to with apprehension, and back upon with relief.
243
The unexpressed but well-understood rule is, that he is not
to be afforded too much insight into the exact condition of
the schools. The most popular inspector is the one whose
duties sit most easily upon his shoulders, and who is content
with the most brief and cursory inspection.
In some of the States it is the duty of the County
Superintendents to examine the scholars. The State Reports
give very little information respecting the examinations in
the country districts, but in the towns they appear to
be of the most thorough and searching description.
The popularity of the schools is attested by the large
aggregate attendance. It is evident from the number of
scholars enrolled annually, that, practically, all American
children, and a large percentage of the children of foreign
parentage, attend school at some period. In the cities a large
number attend with great regularity, but a very considerable
percentage are also very irregular in their attendance. In
the country districts irregular attendance is the greatest bane
of the schools. For this there is but one remedy-compul-
sion.
It cannot be denied that compulsion of any kind is
repugnant to American ideas of government. In a country
where individual freedom is a passion, to force children into
school, even for their own good, appears at first sight to be an
arbitrary proceeding, and opposed to popular government.
Nevertheless, so strong is the determination to have efficient
schools, that Americans have, to a large extent, overcome
their natural repugnance to compulsory school laws, and in
every State the question is being urged upon the con-
sideration of the several Legislatures.
Indirect compulsion, in various forms, has been tried,
and has failed under circumstances which afforded the most
favourable conditions for the experiment. The co-operation
of employers in Connecticut and Rhode Island, and other
244
States to carry out the law, afforded an excellent opportunity
for testing its value. The result of the experiment has
proved that there is a class of parents who cannot be reached
except by direct compulsion. The experience of England
and the United States on this subject points to exactly the
same conclusion.
The laws providing for direct compulsion which have
been passed in seven or eight States are regarded as tentative.
The evidence as to their operation is at present incomplete.
In Michigan, it must be admitted that the result has not
been satisfactory. That is owing, however, not to any
strenuous opposition to the law, but to the want of proper
means of administration. It only indicates the necessity of
a vigorous State department to superintend the action of the
local authorities.
The period of school attendance is being gradually
lengthened throughout the Union. In this respect the laws
are behind the spirit of the people. The school terms in
many of the States are considerably longer than the periods
required by law. The present compulsory laws only aim at
securing from 200 to 140 attendances during the year, half of
which must be consecutive. With the gradual increase of
the school term, and as the idea of compulsion becomes
familiar, it will no doubt be possible to increase the
number of compulsory attendances.
Hitherto the work of American educationists has not,
except in some of the large cities, been greatly obstructed by
a "religious difficulty." The first aim of the schools has
been to provide a good secular education, leaving religious
instruction mainly to the Churches and the Sunday schools.
The schools have generally been opened by some short
religious exercise-the reading of the Bible, prayer, or singing
of a hymn. A very large measure of success has attended
this practice. With it the great majority of Americans
245
are well content, and were it not for the Catholic element
in the population the custom would probably continue
unchallenged, at any rate for the present.
As it is,
however, there are indications that the peace which has
hitherto so generally prevailed is about to be disturbed.
The conflicts which have already taken place in New York,
Cincinnati, and other cities, afford sufficient evidence that
the common school will not be permitted to continue on
its present basis without a contest. Either it must be
abandoned, and the parochial school substituted for it, or
the teaching given in it must be purely secular. Of these
alternatives, there can be little doubt that the overwhelming
majority of Americans would prefer the latter. The parochial
or denominational system is opposed to the whole current
of American feeling. The sentiment of the country must
undergo the most radical change before it will be possible
for it to obtain national recognition. No such revolution is
probable. The Roman Catholic element consists chiefly of
the Irish population. The American is not readily inoculated
with Irish ideas. On the contrary, the Irishman who seeks
a home in the United States becomes an American. The
conversion of the Roman Catholics to the common school, as
a national institution, is more likely than the conversion
of Americans to a denominational system.
And the
But it does appear probable that the common school
will, in time, be made purely secular. Large numbers of
schools, including all those of such cities as Cincinnati
and St. Louis, are wholly secular already.
same movement has commenced in Chicago. The idea
that the secular school is godless or infidel does not exist
outside the Roman Catholic communion. There is nothing
horrifying to the Protestant American in teaching secular
subjects at one time and place, and leaving religion to
be taught at another time and place. The fact that these
216
secular schools do exist and find favour with the American
people is noteworthy, especially when it is remembered
that religious feeling is much more general, and has taken
a far stronger hold upon the masses, than in this country.
It has been seen that the profession of teaching in
America labours under some serious disadvantages. The
want of a sufficient number of normal training schools to
supply the requisite staff of trained teachers is the most
marked deficiency. How to surmount this obstacle is one of
the most important problems of discussion at the present time.
The energy and resources of American educationists will be
severely tasked in providing adequate means of training, and
it must necessarily be a work of considerable time. In the
interval, the deficiency of training is much less observable
than in other countries, on account of the great natural
aptitude of Americans, and especially of American women,
for the work of teaching.
The shortness of the school term and the low rate of
salaries also combine to keep the profession of the teacher
below its proper level. In both these particulars considerable
progress has been made within the last few years, and the
improvement still continues.
As a set-off to the disadvantages which have been noted,
the standing of the teachers is socially high. In this respect
the contrast with England is remarkable.
The extensive employment of women as teachers has
been due partly to natural causes, but more to the con-
viction, which experience has confirmed, that women are
better qualified for the work of elementary teaching than
men.
In all the discussions upon the means of supplying
trained teachers, the English method of employing pupil
teachers finds no support. The universal opinion is that the
age when teaching may begin must be raised rather than
247
lowered. The example of Germany in regard to this point is
accepted as of higher authority than that of England.
The reports issued by the School Boards of the great
cities-Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, St. Louis,
Chicago, Cleveland, Washington, and many others—afford the
fullest information respecting the studies of the schools, the
ages of the scholars, and the results attained. A study of
these reports, which American officials are always glad to
supply, will satisfy any English reader how far the elementary
schools of the cities of the United States are in advance of
our own. If the elementary schools of England were free,
and the course of study were raised above its present pauper
level, a large proportion of the middle classes would be glad
to send their children to them, in preference to inefficient
private schools. There would then be no reason why the
elementary schools of our large towns should not rival those
of the great American cities, the results of which, in
the absence of compulsion, must be regarded as very
admirable.
Outside the larger cities it is not possible to ascertain the
definite results of the schools. Much depends upon their size,
much upon the public spirit of each locality, and much more
upon the skill and energy of the teacher. There may be
a great want of thoroughness, but there is sufficient evidence
that these schools supply to the children generally, that
invaluable and indispensable primary instruction which gives
the start, and places the tools in the hand of every child, to be
used afterwards as capacity or opportunity may determine.
To use Mr. Morley's words, they are "not so absolutely
illusory as to turn out the majority of their workers in the
numb ignorance of an English boy to whom the Third
Standard is an impassable bridge." (1) This is faint praise. To
1
"The Struggle for National Education," p. 105.
248
those who have observed the working of hundreds of district
schools in the small towns of Massachusetts, New York,
Pennsylvania, and Ohio, it will seem to be absolute
injustice.
The great popularity of the American system, which is
manifest from the large enrolment and the amount of taxation
contributed for its support, and which indeed no one disputes,
is due mainly to one cause-that the schools are free. In
sending a child to school no leave has to be asked, no patron
has to be consulted, no charity has to be sued for or accepted.
The schools belong to the people. They are proprietary
schools.
Hundreds of parents in the school districts visit the
schools every year-and not only the schools of the great
cities, which have been called "show" schools.
In 1872, in Southbridge (Mass.), the registers recorded
907 visits, an average of over 47 to a school. As the schools
averaged about 300 sessions annually, the visitors averaged
one to every six sessions. (1) The visits to the schools of Port
Huron (Mich.), in 1872, numbered 734. (2) These were the
visits of parents and others interested in the work, and do
not include those of superintendents or officials.
The amount which is expended upon public education in
the United States is greater than in any European nation,
except, perhaps, Portugal. In his work upon popular edu-
cation, M. Emile de Laveleye tabulated the amount of public
school expenditure in different countries. In Upper Canada
it amounted, in 1863, to 4 francs 16 centimes per head of the
population; in Lower Canada (1863) it was 4fr. 40c.; in
Denmark (1867), 5fr. 28c.; Saxony (1867), 2fr. 17c.; Sweden
(1867), 1fr. 23c.; Norway (1863), 1fr. 50c.; Luxembourg
(1867), 3fr. 10c.; Netherlands (1868), 2fr. 72c.; Bavaria
1
¹ Mass. Report, 1873, p. 212. 2 Mich. Report, 1873, p. 355.
249
(1864), 1fr. 50c.; Belgium (1869), 2fr. 60c.; France (1864),
1fr. 56c.; England (1870), 2fr.; Spain (1866), 1fr.; Por-
tugal (1864), 32fr. (¹) In the Cantons of Switzerland, the
expenditure varied considerably. In Neuchatel it was 4fr.
62c.; in Zurich, 5fr. 37c.; in Lucerne, 2fr. 60c.; in Basle
(Ville), 7fr. 50c.; in Geneva, 2fr. 30c. (2)
The above figures include the total expenditure upon
public education. A reference to the table on page 71 ante,
will show that the amount raised by taxation only, for public
education in twenty-six of the United States, averages six
shillings and ninepence, or eight francs, per head of the
population.
And yet the most intelligent Americans consider that
their system is cheap, and all look upon the free schools as a
good investment. The reasons for this are not far to seek.
The prosperity of a district is often determined by the
character of its schools. The reports show that the rapidity
with which a district is settled is frequently decided by
their reputation. (3)
Again, it is well known that an average of the estimates
made by many large manufacturers, employing many
thousands of hands, gives, as a result, that a knowledge of
the elements of a primary education, reading and writing
only, adds 25 per cent. to the value of a simple labourer. (*)
The wealth of a State is found to be in proportion to
the amount of education within its borders, and it will
generally be seen that the average wealth per head of
the population is in the inverse ratio to its illiteracy. In
Connecticut, the average wealth is $1,141 per capita; in
Illinois, $835; in Massachusetts, $1,463; in New Jersey,
$1,038; in New York, $1,483; in Ohio, $838; in Pennsyl-
L'Instruction du Peuple," p. 483. 2 Ibid, p. 334.
* See New York Report, 1872, p. 62; West Virginia Report, 1872, p. 76.
+ Commissioner's Report, 1871.
250
}
vania, $1,081; in Rhode Island, $1,366. In States where
the free school system has not been in operation it sinks
to between $200 and $400 per capita. And this notwith-
standing that they may be States of superior natural
resources. (¹)
On the other hand, it is not difficult to show that
ignorance and crime, and ignorance and pauperism, are
intimately allied. The proportion of criminals totally
illiterate varies, in the different countries of Europe, from
35 to 95 per cent. In the United States the percentage
of prisoners "totally ignorant" or "very deficient" varies,
in New York and Pennsylvania, from 33 to 60 per cent.;
in the Central North-West, from 46 to 75 per cent.; in
the West and Pacific, from 31 to 50 per cent.; and in
the South from 60 to 85 per cent. (2) Ignorance amongst
criminals is the rule, and education the exception.
In Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois, the proportion of
paupers among the illiterates is sixteen times as great as
among those of common education. "Although the effect of
ignorance in producing crime is very great, yet its effect in
producing pauperism is greater. If, then, society has to pay
so heavily for keeping a part of its people in ignorance, would
it not be wise and prudent to educate them?" (3)
The last extract sums up the whole matter. The people
of the United States have come to the conclusion that it is
cheaper to pay for schools than gaols and poorhouses. Public
intelligence has accepted the fact that education is the best
investment for the community; therefore it is that education
taxes are paid cheerfully. What is spent in this direction
returns many fold in increased national power and wealth.
The people seem to have taken to heart the wise words
1 Commissioner's Report, 1872, p. 945.
3 Ibid, p. 601.
2 Ibid, p. 589.
251
of Wm. Penn respecting the education of his children:
"Let their learning be liberal; spare no cost, for by much
parsimony all is lost that is saved."
For the benefit of some timid people in this country, it
may be well to remark that free schools have not yet sapped
the independence of the American character. Mr. Dawson
found in Ohio that the man who looked after the buggy
would do so on no other condition than that he should sit
down at his master's table. The truth is that the free school
encourages and stimulates independence. Mr. Mill said:
"Instruction does not enervate, but strengthens and enlarges
the active faculties; in whatever manner acquired,
its effect on the mind is favourable to the spirit of inde-
pendence. Help in this form has the opposite tendency
to that which, in so many other cases, makes it objectionable;
it is help towards doing without help." If it may be said
without offence; the majority of the persons who urge that
the independence of the working classes would be destroyed
by free schools are not anxious to promote the kind of in-
dependence which education encourages. It clashes with the
Catechism, or with that part of it which teaches a child to
"order himself reverently and lowly to all his betters."
Another cry against free schools has been provided by
Professor Fawcett, who expressed an opinion in the House of
Commons, that if the "demand for free education were not
resisted, encouragement would be given to socialism in its
most baneful form."
Men who regard Professor Fawcett himself as a
revolutionist, are grateful to him for this warning. They
have taken up his cry, and free education has been
denounced as the first step towards communism. In this
light it is important to consider what has been its effect
in the United States. There for a hundred years the
free school has been growing in power, and obtaining
252
.
a stronger and stronger hold upon the people. Can it
be said, even by those who hold American institutions in
most horror, that socialism has been developed to an alarming
extent ?
The advocates of free schools have had no arrière
pensée-the demand for free food has not followed the
cession of free education. The theory of communism has
had attractions for a few enthusiasts, amongst them
some of the best intellects of America. But the attempt
to reduce the theory to practice has had no success. The
communistic societies of the United States no more
represent the American people, than the New Forest
Shakers represent England. This is the best practical
reply to Professor Fawcett's dismal apprehensions.
The free school controversy in the States is at an end,
and reformers and educationists are now united in devoting
their attention to points of detail in which imperfections are
admitted. That there is room for improvement no one denies,
but there is nothing sluggish in action, nothing retrogressive
in principle. Every movement is forward. In the ultimate
accomplishment of the destiny of the Republic, the usefulness
and success of its education system and its influence as a
first measure in the development of national power and
prosperity are unlimited.
APPENDIX.
>
255
APPENDIX
A.
That a considerable amount of misconception respecting popular
education in our own and other countries should exist in the public mind is
not astonishing. At first sight, the education of the people would appear to
be a question about which there could be no great difference of sentiment,
at all events as to principle. This is the view which strikes the mind of the
layman. But then steps in the priest, bringing confusion with him; and
education becomes good so far only as it can be cast in a Roman Catholic,
or Episcopal, or Methodist mould. Thus it is made a
Thus it is made a "burning" question,
and all sorts of prejudices and passions are enlisted. The road, apparently
free enough at first, becomes blocked. In the struggle of rival creeds and
factions, facts become distorted, and different views are often taken of
precisely the same phenomena. This is the reason that there has been and is
a great deal of loose writing and more loose talk respecting educational
systems.
The Rev. Dr. Rigg, who has laid a heavy indictment against the
American system, complains that this has been the case, especially respecting
education in the United States. As to the main fact, I am inclined to think
that he is right, but I cannot admit that the misrepresentation has proceeded
from the League side of the controversy. In the end that will be determined
by public judgment. That much error and misconception have gone abroad
no one doubts. Consequently, the most opposite views of the educational
experiment in the United States are now held by different sections of the
English public.
To put the people right, "to set forth the general outline of the case
truly," "to dissipate radical and altogether misleading misconceptions," is a
task to which Dr. Rigg felt himself called. Accordingly, he devoted a
chapter of his book on National Education to "School Education in the
United States." He has since contributed an article on the same subject to
the Quarterly Review, and has addressed a series of letters to one of the daily
papers on the question. I have no special authority for stating that he is the
256
author of the article in the April number of the Quarterly, but the style, and
certain peculiar methods of dealing with evidence, stamp it as his work
unmistakably. The reviewer confirms the opinions of Dr. Rigg, and Dr. Rigg,
in his letters to the Hour, endorses those of the reviewer. Not only
so, but, like the gentleman in "Pelham" who sent billets-doux to himself,
Dr. Rigg, under his own sign-manual, quotes the reviewer as an authority.
In this manner it is sought to give cumulative force to very scanty and
untrustworthy evidence.
As, upon Dr. Rigg's own showing, his great object in writing is to correct
the errors and misrepresentation which he says have been diligently propagated,
the public has a right to expect that he himself will be accurate. As he
strongly condemns certain methods of deduction in other people, he cannot
be excused if he follows the same methods himself.
There are two charges to which Dr. Rigg has laid himself open. In the
first place, he has not taken sufficient pains to see that his "facts'
are facts.
Wherever he makes a particular statement, the chances are that he is mistaken.
Wherever he speaks generally-"generally and broadly," as he phrases it—he
is almost certain to be wrong. And secondly, he has drawn wholesale in-
ferences, most unfairly, from particular cases which are altogether insufficient
to establish a general conclusion.
He complains that—
It has been customary for persons to take the model schools of Boston,
or of New York, as examples of the United States' National system; whereas
they are quite exceptional, and only serve to illustrate the enlightenment and
liberality of public educationists in these two cities." (P. 100, "National
Education.")
Also that-
"The ideas and projects of Massachusetts theorists have been accepted
as if they were the facts of universal American law and life; whereas they
have never become realities even in New England, and have found no place
whatever in the States generally." (P. 459, Quarterly.)
Dr. Rigg does not tell us by whom and when these mistakes have been
made, and I do not know where to look for the particulars. It would certainly
be a grave mistake, and one which no person having American experience
would make, to assume that Slabtown can compete with Boston, or Texas
with Massachusetts, in the matter of public education. Massachusetts has
set the pattern which other States have tried, with more or less success,
to imitate, and Boston and New York have supplied the types for other
cities.
The advocates of free common schools for England have done precisely
what the States severally have done they have chosen for their example the
State where the system has been most highly developed and produced the
best results. It is a very different thing to say that the pattern represents
the condition of affairs throughout the Union. It is probable that speakers
and writers for the League have more often referred to the schools of Boston
than those of any other city. The reason for this has been that in this city
only have been found in practice three of the most essential features of the
257
scheme advocated by the League-representative government, free admission,
and compulsory school attendance. But I am not aware that anyone has
said that the Boston type was universal.
Dr. Rigg has fallen into just the opposite error. He has selected the
schools of some of the smallest and most primitive States in the Union, and
presented them as affording a favourable comparison with the more populous
and advanced free school States. Thus he instances Vermont “as affording
a favourable sample of what is done in the way both of teaching and
training, when compared with the generality of States, especially North-
Western and Western.' (P. 111.) An old report of Vermont supplies
the stock on which he chiefly trades, both in his book and the Quarterly.
Again, from such facts as he has collected he draws most unwarrantable
inferences. He enlarges, for example, upon the admitted deficiency of normal
training in the States, and he says that this means that the teachers
"have received, for the most part, no thorough instruction at all, even as
scholars."
But Dr. Rigg will probably admit that in making deductions it is first of
all desirable to be sure about your premises.
I propose to make some extracts from his articles, and by a reference to
authentic reports to show how far his work can be accepted as a true statement
of the case.
It will be quite impossible for me, in the space at my disposal, to
indicate all his errors or to trace their source; I shall content myself with
correcting some of his principal mistakes. So much I feel called upon to do as
a duty to the system to which I am not without obligations.
The italics throughout are my own.
The following extracts explain Dr. Rigg's ideas of the manner in which
the funds to support the free schools are provided.
On page 93 he says:-
These
"Nor is the common school' the creation of the several States.
States, as well as Congress, do indeed in many instances require the
township, or district, or county to provide a requisite supply of common
schools, and also furnish some quota of aid, chiefly, I believe, from the
revenue of land appropriations, towards the support of the schools.
>
And in another place—
<< An easy and costless method of maintaining the school and the teacher
was also plain enough to all; it was to assign land out of the common
possessions of the town or township for such maintenance." (P. 95.)
A reference to the table on page 62 ante, will show how erroneous is the
idea that the revenue derived from land appropriations constitutes a large
proportion of the school moneys. The revenue arising from permanent funds
is there compared with the income raised by taxation.
Respecting the relative proportion of the State tax and the income derived
from endowments, the following figures will be instructive. The first column
represents the interest on the permanent school fund (chiefly, but by no means
wholly, accumulated from land grants), and the second the amount of the
State tax (corresponding to our Government grant).
S
258

STATE.
Interest on
Endowment.
State Tax.
Report.
$
$
Maine
19,558
386,166
1874, p. 9
Rhode Island
28,89.9
90,000
1874, p. 49
Connecticut
132,848
199,272
1874, p. 24
Massachusetts
87,356
nil.
1873, p. 151
New Jersey....
35,363
1,307,331
1873, p. 8
New York
335,000
2,500,032
1874, p. 21
Pennsylvania
nil.
700,000
1873, p. xlvi.
Ohio.......
231,276
1,486,793
1873, p. 4
Michigan
Indiana
Illinois
Iowa
194,479
465,912
1873, p. 59
420,519
1,190,626
1874, p. 4
528,811
900,000
1872, p. 13
275,789
605,353
1873, p. 11
Again, referring to the power of the State, Dr. Rigg says: "Its grants of
money are altogether trivial." (P. 99.) And also:
(P. 99.) And also: "The large State grant
would be the lever, the only possible lever, by means of which any such
change in the actual condition of the schools, and of school administration
in the States, might be brought about. Of such a consummation there would
seem to be no prospect whatever at present." (P. 131.)
These extracts reveal the most complete ignorance of the finances of the
American system. By comparing the annual State tax, as given in the last
table, with the average attendance, we can get at the precise amount of the
State grant per child in average attendance in each State. The following
table explains itself. The State tax is taken from the reports of each State,
and the average attendance from the Commissioner's Report, 1873 (p. 511).
STATE.
State Tax.
Average
Attendance.
Amount
per Scholar.
$
$ ct.
Maine
386,166
103,548
3.75
Rhode Island..
90,000
22,435
4.00
Connecticut
199,272
67,599
2.94
New Jersey
...
1,307,331
87,840
14.89
New York
2,500,032
503,240
4.96
Pennsylvania
700,000
511,418
1.36
Ohio
1,486,793
407,917
3.64
Michigan....
465,912
170,000
2.75
Indiana
1,190,626
286,301
4.15
Illinois
900,000
329,799
2.72
Iowa
605,353
204,204
2.96
259
From this table it will be seen that in the free school States, the State
tax, or Government grant, is often larger than in England.
One extract from the Quarterly Review will show how extremely incorrect
are Dr. Rigg's ideas respecting American currency.
He says-
"In New York the requisite funds are derived from (1) a State school
tax of one and a quarter million on the taxable value of real and personal
property; (2) an equal amount from the city and county; (3) one twentieth
of one per cent. on the taxable property of the city and county of New
York; (4) the balance derived from the municipal taxes and revenue of the
city of New York, but not to exceed $10 per capita on the whole number of
children taught. The total cost last year was not less than $2,800,000, the
entire average number of children taught being not quite 108,000; that is to
say, the cost per head for each scholar was $26." (P. 458, Quarterly.)
The items numbered 1 and 2 would give Dr. Rigg two and a half
million dollars. He has estimated the rest, and put the whole cost for last
year at "not less" than $2,800,000. But in 1872 the expenditure was
$3,196,117, and in 1873 it had risen to $3,537,730. Last year, I have no
doubt it was more. Dr. Rigg evidently does not comprehend the terms of
the United States currency. The State raises a tax of one and a quarter
mills on the value of real and personal property, and out of this the city
receives a share, and the city and county furnishes an equal amount.
Dr. Rigg has taken mills to be a contraction for millions!
Upon the subject of free schools Dr. Rigg, writing in 1873, more than
two years after the entire disuse of rate-bills, says: "It is a mistake to
suppose that the American common schools are universally free. In a
considerable number of the States 'rate-bills' are still in general use." (P. 95.)
The dates of the abolition of rate-bills will be found on page 75 antc.
Respecting graded schools, Dr. Rigg makes the following statement :—
"Graded schools are not the rule in the States; they are the rare excep-
tion. They are far from universal even in Massachusetts, although they may
be nearly so in the city of Boston. Such schools, indeed, could hardly be
the prevalent type of public elementary schools, except for large towns.
(P. 100.)
""
Let us see. In the school statistics contained in the Commissioner's
Report for 1872, the cities are classed under three heads-class A, containing
10,000 inhabitants or more; class B, containing over 5,000 and less than
10,000 inhabitants; and class C, containing less than 5,000 inhabitants.
There were 153 cities in class A, 108 in class B, and 131 in class C. Reports
had been received from 141 in class A, 82 in class B, and 103 in class C.
Of those cities from which reports had been received, it appears that 130 in
class A, 81 in class B, and 97 in class C reported that their schools were
graded. (See p. 614-683, Commissioner's Report, 1872.)
Again, he says, of high schools—
Very few of the towns of the States indeed, outside of Massachusetts,
except the very largest, have 'high schools,' a sort of school which
corresponds with our superior grammar school, organised on a comprehensive
260
modern basis. Many have not even a grammar school in addition to the
primary school." (P. 102.)
Of the cities above referred to, 123 in class A, 77 in class B, and 88 in
class C report high schools (v. Commissioner's Report, 1872, p. 624). In
Illinois there were, in 1872, 34 towns having high schools; in Indiana, 24;
in Iowa, 22; in Maine, 10; in Massachusetts, 15; in Michigan, 23; in
New York, 16; in Ohio, 29; in Pennsylvania, 17; and in Wisconsin, 15.
These were the numbers three years ago. Without doubt they have largely
multiplied in the interval.
Of the scholars in the Boston schools Dr. Rigg makes the following
evidently random statement :—
"Even in Boston, undoubtedly the best educated city in the Union, the
number who never pass beyond the primary stage-that is, who leave school
at eight or nine is very considerable, amounting, indeed, to one fifth of the
whole number year by year, only four out of five passing forward into the
grammar school.” (P. 103.)
The complete answer is contained in the Superintendent's Report for 1871,
p. 132.
He says: "All the pupils of the primary schools are expected to
pass into the grammar schools, and this expectation is practically realised."
Mr. Philbrick also says, in the Boston Report for 1872 (p. 229), that the
primary schools "during the year receive upwards of 4,000 new pupils, who
enter school for the first time, and transfer about the same number to the
grammar schools."
On page 102 Dr. Rigg says-
''Nor even in New York and Boston do more than a small fraction of the
children pass onward through the grammar and high schools, or even through
the grammar school.'
11
One is led to wonder what Dr. Rigg considers a small fraction. In
Boston, it appears from the Superintendent's Report for 1874 (p. 189), that the
returns (which, however, were admitted to contain some slight inaccuracies)
show that forty-two per cent. of the pupils go into the highest class of the
grammar schools.
The Boston school officials do not think so highly of this
result, but when in England we are able to pass forty-two per cent. of the
pupils into even the sixth standard, we shall not call it a small fraction.
Dr. Rigg, writing in 1873, gives the training colleges in the chief States as
follows:-
"Massachusetts is the best supplied; it has four training colleges.
Pennsylvania has three. New York State, with four or five millions of
population, and some 17,000 teachers, had, till lately, only one training
college; within the last three years a second, for the city and county of New
York, has been established. The great State of Ohio has no training college."
(P. 113.)
The Commissioner's Report for 1873 contains a list of training colleges in
the States, from which it appears that Massachusetts had six, Pennsylvania
ten, New York nine, and Ohio ten. (See p. xxxi.)
Dr. Rigg impeaches the public spirit and educational zeal of the citizens
of Maine.
He says-
261
"It is evident that some of the Maine schools cannot be open more than
three or four weeks in the year-just so long, probably, as the 'district' share in
the State school fund will serve, without any local tax, to pay an amateur
teacher who happens to be out of a situation." (P. 118.)
The best answer to this may be given by quoting an extract from a recent
report. The State Superintendent for Maine says, in his report for 1872
(p. 30) :-
"The sixth source of school revenue consists in the voluntary contributions
by towns, voted in the annual town meeting, additional to the amount
required by law; also additional surns voted by school districts to prolong the
regular term. As these additional sums are merely voluntary, their amount
will depend upon various conditions-the general educational interest, the
activity of one or two individual citizens, the good or poor school work, the
enthusiasm awakened by teachers, &c. This revenue has generally been from
twenty to thirty per cent. of the amount required by law. The total excess
reported this year is $232, 406."
On the subject of compulsion Dr. Rigg assumes that he is exceptionally
well informed, and he proceeds, according to his lights, to instruct the
English Public, but he makes blunders at every step.
He says (we quote from his "National Education,” p. 117)—
"It is often said that school attendance in the States is compulsory.
This is so, as respects the letter of the law, in some few of the States, chiefly
the New England States and New York; and some attempt is made in Rhode
Island, and also, I believe, though not so strenuously, in Boston, and one or
two other towns of Massachusetts, to carry out the law."
When this was written there was no compulsory law in the State of New
York, the truant law in Rhode Island had never been put in operation, and
Boston was the only city in the Union in which compulsion was thoroughly
enforced. In the article in the Quarterly he contradicts his book, so far as
New York is concerned. "The first legislative attempt in the State of New
York to carry out compulsory education' was passed into law on the 11th
of last May" (p. 424). In Rhode Island, he says, a law of compulsion
has of late been enforced with some strictness " (p. 438, Quarterly). The
facts in regard to Rhode Island are these: Previous to 1870, Town Councils
were authorised "to make all needful provisions and arrangements concerning
habitual truants" (School Laws, chap. 70, sec. 1). In his report for
the year ending April 30, 1871, the School Commissioner says: "Chapter
70, relating to truant children and absentees from school, is wholly ineffective,
inasmuch as no penalty follows a neglect to fulfil its requirements.
Not a city or town in the State has taken action as authorised and required
by this section ' (Report, 1872, p. 27). Upon the recommendation of
the Board of Education, the Act was amended, by making it obligatory upon
the towns to take action under the section here referred to. The first section
of the amended law runs as follows: "Town Councils shall make needful
provisions and arrangements concerning habitual truants and children not
attending school, or without any regular and lawful occupation, or growing up
in ignorance, between the ages of 6 and 16 years" (p. 129 of Report for
1874). I have read the reports from 1870 to the end of 1873, and I cannot
find that a single town had carried out the law up to that date. The Town
Council of North Providence passed an ordinance in accordance with the
262
requirement of the Act, and it was sent to the State Commissioner for approval
in 1873. While his sympathies were in favour of the regulations, he was
unable to approve them, as being legally invalid. (1) The reports of the Town
Superintendents abound with complaints of the evils arising from irregular
attendance. The law prohibiting the employment of children in factories,
has long been wholly inoperative (vide p. xiii, Rhode Island Report, 1872).
In a note on page 425, Quarterly Review, Dr. Rigg discusses with an air
of much legal learning, the difference between English and American com-
pulsion. He says-
"But direct compulsion in the United States assumes a totally different
form from what is found in any other country, and such as would by no means
agree either with the ideas or the needs of this country. The truant officer is
a kind of educational policeman, and is not an officer of the School Board, but
of the State. He is appointed to deal directly with the boy as an offender
against the State law, being neither at school nor at work. The offender is
sent, on a sentence of a magistrate, to a penal school, sometimes called a
truant school, sometimes a house of industry or a place of detention,
sometimes a reformatory school. The parent is not proceeded against, and no
account is taken of mere irregularity of school attendance as such."
This Dr. Rigg considers of so much importance that he quotes it in the
Hour. He evidently confounds compulsory laws and truant laws-between
which, as so great an authority ought to have known, there is a wide dis-
tinction. Nearly every State which has a direct compulsory school law
makes provision to enforce the law against the parent. By the law of
Massachusetts parents are required to send their children to school under
a penalty of $20 for each offence against the law (Fraser's Report, p. 36).
In Texas parents are liable to a penalty of $25 for not sending children
to school (sec. 6, Free School Law, 1871). By the law of Michigan parents
are liable to a fine of not less than $5 nor more than $10 for the first offence,
and not less than $10 nor more than $20 for every subsequent offence (sec. 3,
Compulsory School Law). By the law of New Hampshire parents are liable
to a penalty of $10 for first offence, and $20 for second and every subsequent
offence. (2) The compulsory law for the district of Columbia, passed in
1864, requires parents to send their children to school under a penalty of
$20 (Washington Report, 1872-3, p. 137). By section 4 of the compulsory
law of Connecticut it is provided that parents and others violating the Act
may be punished by a fine of $5 for every week during which they fail to
comply with its provisions.
Dr. Rigg appears to be quite ignorant that compulsory laws have been
passed in Connecticut, New Hampshire, Texas, Nevada, district of Columbia,
and Michigan.
In dealing with statistics Dr. Rigg displays a carelessness, to say the
least of it, highly censurable. On page 440 (Quarterly) he gives the
following statistics, taken from the Report of the Commissioner, 1872 :—
"In the State of New York the population which is regarded as of school
age is returned as 1,502,684, the number enrolled' as 1,028,110, the
1 R. I. Report, 1874, p. 95.
2 See 3, Compulsory School Law, New Hampshire.
263
In
'average attendance' as 493,648, the 'average absence' as 534,462.
Massachusetts the returns are as follow: School population, 282,485;
enrolled, 276,602; average attendance, 205, 252; average absence, 71,350. In
Pennsylvania the returns are: School population, 975,753; enrolled, 834,313;
average attendance, 536,221; average absence, 298,092. In Illinois: School
population, 882,693; enrolled, 662,049; average attendance, 329,799;
average absence, 332,250. In Indiana: School population, 631,549; enrolled,
459,451; average attendance, 286,301; average absence, 173,150. In
Connecticut (one of the best educated States in the Union): School popula-
tion, 128,468; enrolled, 113,588; average attendance, 79,511; average
absence, 34, 077. In Ohio: School population, 1,073,274; enrolled,
1,028,110; average attendance, 493,648; average absence, 534, 462.”
It is a small matter that for the correct Ohio figures he substitutes, no
doubt by accident, the " enrolment," " average attendance," and "average
absence" in New York State. What follows, however, strikes me as of some
consequence. He says-
"These statistics show that, even during the brief school year, which,
except in cities, varies from three or four months to six or seven, the
attendance is very unsatisfactory. It must be remembered, too, that this is the
return for the school population of all classes.'
""
It is hardly credible that Dr. Rigg should omit to include the column
showing the attendance at private schools; but it is nevertheless true. He
thus leaves out nearly a quarter of a million scholars for these seven States,
while he represents that they are included. This is a fair illustration of his
ordinary habit of writing. To ascertain the numbers in private schools he was
not required to examine and analyse the State reports. The information was
supplied for him in the same table from which his other figures were gathered.
A correspondent of the Schoolmaster complains that Dr. Rigg's method
of dealing with these figures is not fair. He says: "The fact that the
scholars are reckoned to reach twenty-five per cent. of the population is never
brought out, but the consequent necessary fact that the attendance is irregular
is made prominent over and over again."
Upon the subject of private schools it is noticeable that Dr. Rigg is
exceedingly disingenuous. When it helps his immediate contention he
represents that the public schools include all classes of the population; in
another place, and in order to support another argument, he dwells upon the
large numbers of the higher classes educated in private schools; and, again, he
states that the very lowest classes are not found in the public schools. Here
are three statements in reference to New York city, each of which is used
in its turn to illustrate the particular point for which Dr. Rigg is immediately
contending :-
The New York schools are for all classes, and include not only 'primary'
but 'grammar' departments." (P. 441.)
This is intended to show that, the attendance at the public schools being
small, education in the city is anything but general.
"Private schools are still in use in the States, especially for the children
They abound in
of the more refined and highly educated classes
such cities as Boston, Philadelphia, and New York." (P. 444.)
264
Here he endeavours to prove that private schools are undermining public
schools.
"Such being the complete scheme and provision of public education in
New York, for all classes of its citizens, except, indeed, the very lowest, of
which the children are not found in these public schools." (P. 448.)
This is intended to convey the idea that low results cannot be accounted
for by the presence of a low class of pupils.
In reference to the decentralisation of the system Dr. Rigg says (p. 435,
Quarterly)—
•
"The entire absence of central authority appears in every part of the
Commissioner's Reports
Although the Bureau was established in
1868, the Commissioner in 1872, had to report that seven States, headed by
Kentucky, made no return of the number of scholars in the State, and that
sixteen did not give the 'enrolment' during the year, nor the average
attendance."
Then in a note he adds: "No statistical summary as to these points is
given in the report for 1873."
Dr. Rigg appears to have read the report with his usual care.
find the summary he requires on page 511.
He may
Amongst the perpetual surprises which Dr. Rigg prepares for his readers,
nothing is more startling than the following extract :—
'In the great State of Missouri, with St. Louis for its capital, the
intelligent and vigorous State Superintendent seems to have a hard fight.
There is a great, and it would seem a growing, dislike to the school tax and to
the principle of 'free schools.'"
It is not too much to say that no mind, except one warped out of all
shape by prejudice, could find colourable evidence in the recent Missouri
reports to support such a conclusion.
In the seventh report-that to which Dr. Rigg refers the Superintendent
says of the general spirit of the State-
"A desire to read and gain information has been quickened as if by some
magic inspiration; and the monthly periodical, the weekly and daily news-
papers, have been more eagerly sought for, and more widely distributed than
ever before. The miscellaneous book trade receives so powerful an impetus as
to astonish the most hopeful." (P. 10.)
The schools have shared in the general boon of progress. They have
increased in number; they have increased in power and efficiency. They
find to-day a largely increased circle of friends and supporters." (P. 10.)
Later on, the same report says—
"The public school system needs to be kept no longer on trial in
Missouri. With us it is no more an experiment. It has already demonstrated
its adaptation, efficiency, and necessity." (P. 126.)
There are complaints about taxation, it is true, both numerous and urgent;
but it is the unequal incidence and distribution of the taxes which make the
grievance. There is not a line in the report to justify the statement that there
is a growing dislike to the principle of free schools. I have read the reports
of the County Superintendents with great care, and can affirm that the evidence
of a growing feeling in favour of free schools is overwhelming. There are
265
only 16 counties that report dissatisfaction, while there are 56 that report an
increasing public sentiment in favour of the system. Even in those counties
where the enemies of free schools are found, the reports do not show that
there is a growing dislike to the principle. Reading the reports for 1872 and
1873, I have found but one county where it is distinctly stated that the free
schools are decreasing in popular favour. The evidence in the report for 1873
is even more emphatic than that in the preceding report. While only 9
counties report that there is dissatisfaction respecting the school taxes, 67
report that public sentiment increases in favour of the schools and the system.
The length of the school term and school life is another subject upon
which Dr. Rigg is habitually incorrect. In his book (p. 119) he says—
"The school age throughout the States begins several years later, and is
continued correspondingly later than in this country."
There are only three States where the school age is of the same length
(10 years) as in England-viz., Massachusetts, South Carolina, and California.
In the other States it extends over 11, 12, 15, 16, or 17 years. (See Com-
missioner's Report 1873, p. 510.)
"
In the Quarterly Review (p. 438), Dr. Rigg says the schools of Missouri
are open, on an average, four and a half months." He adds: "The schools
still further South are open, on an average, for yet a shorter time than in
Missouri."
An examination of the school terms in the States south of Missouri
shows that the average is over 4 months. (See Commissioner's Report 1873, p.
511; Commissioner's Report, 1872, p. 609.)
Florida," says Dr. Rigg, "reports 2 months 15 days" (p. 439,
Quarterly.) In the Commissioner's Report for 1872 (p. 609), the school year in
Florida is stated to be 43 months; in the Commissioner's Report for 1873
(p. 511) it is given as 102 days.
On p. 445 (Quarterly) Dr. Rigg attempts to show that the common
schools in New York are being undermined by corporate schools and
denominational schools :-
"In New York city, what are called the corporate schools, and, with
these, the denominational schools,' do no inconsiderable share of the
work of primary education. The Report of the Board of Public Instruc-
tion for 1872 shows that the percentage of increase in the average
attendance at the common schools has steadily diminished since 1862,
having been 61 per cent. increase for the period 1857 to 1862, 21 per cent.
increase from 1862 to 1867 (inclusive), and no more than 9 per cent. from
1867 to 1872; whereas during the same intervals the average attendance at
the corporate schools had increased successively 34 per cent., 47 per cent., and
36 per cent."
This statement looks alarming in its nude form. When the proper
explanation is given it is found to be without importance. Dr. Rigg omits
to state that the corporate schools are included in the New York statistics as
common schools, and that they participate in the school fund. They are in
reality children's aid societies, where young pupils are fed and clothed as well
as taught. That such schools should be found necessary in a city of the size
and character of New York is not wonderful, and the idea that they threaten
266
the public school system, of which they are a part, is simply ridiculous.
The New York Report for 1871, says that "the movement has been greatly
stimulated within the last few years by liberal donations from the State."
Dr. Rigg is also careful not to state the reason why the attendance at the
city ward schools has not of late increased in the same proportion as formerly.
During the last period to which he refers, the laws relating to the children of
non-residents have been enforced, thus preventing the children of Brooklyn,
Westchester county, and Jersey city from attending the New York city
schools. Several thousand pupils were removed from the schools in 1871
under these regulations. (New York Report, 1871, p. 14.)
Another of Dr. Rigg's "facts" which needs correcting relates to the
term for which teachers are engaged. In his book (p. 123) he refers to the
schools as taught "not often by the same teacher for two terms together,
very rarely for three, scarcely ever for all the four terms of the year."
Again, in the Quarterly (p. 422), he says—
"The teacher, throughout the States, except in a few of the largest cities,
is paid by the month and engaged by the term.
Upon this Dr. Rigg lays great stress, referring to it again and again. The
truth is bad enough, but let us have it. At the meeting of the National
Education Association held at Boston in 1872, attended by teachers and school
officials from all parts of the Union, the Hon. John Swett, of California,
formerly a New England teacher, read a paper on the engagement and
examination of teachers. In it he referred to the rule throughout the Union—
A teacher holds the office only one year. "This annual election system
was handed down to us from the primitive New England 'town meetings.'
I believe that here in Boston, and in all New England cities and villages, and,
in fact, in most parts of the United States, it is still kept up." (Proceedings
of National Education Association, 1872, p. 73.) In the discussion which
followed, a general assent was given to this statement, and it was determined
to wage a war of independence "against the outrageous system of the annual
election of teachers."
This brings me to the consideration of Dr. Rigg's strictures upon
American teachers. It is very difficult to account on any charitable supposi-
tion for the feeling he displays, especially towards women.
The animus with which he writes on this subject is one of the most
conspicuous features of his work. That he should deplore the want of
training, admitted by all Americans to be a grave defect, is natural enough;
but he goes beyond this, and speaks of them as a class in terms of contumely
and contempt-which come with a very bad grace from one who is himself a
teacher. He says their labour is not "skilled labour;" they are
more often
smart" than able; they are "teaching casuals." He even descends to
question their devotion to their duty: "Their teachers are not to be compared
to those of our own country in respect of fitness for their office and devotion
to their work" (p. 141). Their fitness being the question, why "devotion
to their work"?
Upon women he is especially severe. Referring to certain small schools
in Vermont, he says-
267
"No wonder that such schools are left in charge of women (p. 439).
"Young women may commonly be seen teaching scholars of the other sex
little younger than themselves. This has sometimes been lauded as one of the
admirable points in what is spoken of as the American school system.
simple truth, however, it is the result, not of theory or of choice, but of
necessity." (P. 426, Quarterly.)
In
The necessity he explains in three ways-first, because men are not to be
had on account of the low salaries; secondly, by reason of the excess of
females over males in the Eastern States; and, thirdly-save the mark!
because the "reputable and energetic daughters of New England freehold
farmers," who formerly devoted themselves to factory employment, have
"found school teaching to offer better and more congenial attractions to
them than the mills." (P. 428, Quarterly.)
Massachusetts is an Eastern State, having an excess of female population,
and a large excess of female teachers—the proportion being seven eighths
females, and one eighth males. Let us see how far this has been the result of
theory or necessity. The report of the Board of Education (1873, p. 14) says—
"For upwards of thirty years this process of diminution in the number
of male teachers and increase in the number of female teachers has been going
011. During past years the Board and their secretaries have frequently
referred with approbation to the substitution of female for male teachers in our
schools as a movement in the direction of progress. But the time must come,
if it has not actually arrived, when it will be necessary to consider seriously
whether the best interests of education do not require some limitation of this
movement. If it be true, as most persons will probably admit, that females
have superior aptitude for certain departments and situations in teaching and
disciplining, is it not equally true that males have superior aptitude for other
departments and situations ?"
That the excess of female population is not sufficient to explain the
preponderance of female teachers is evident from the fact that in many States
where there is an excess of males, female teachers are the more numerous. In
Ohio the excess of male population is about 10,000; in Illinois, 90,000; in
Kansas, 40,000; in Iowa, 50,000; in Missouri, 70,000. The percentage of
female teachers in these States is as follows:-Ohio, 56 per cent.; Illinois, 56
per cent.; Kansas, 54 per cent.; Iowa, 61 per cent.; Missouri, 35 per cent.
(See Missouri Report, 1873, p. 43.)
The Superintendent for Missouri says on this subject—
"The figures I have quoted demonstrate that where the public school
system is in its best estate the percentage of female teachers is greatest.
The mere fact of a preponderating female population, as we have seen,
does not account for the fact. The only conclusion is that, for the
majority of these schools, women make the best teachers. It is also true that
the same amount of money will produce better teaching talent among
women than among men. That women should receive less than men for
the same work, simply because they are women, no right-minded person
can admit.
But that women of equal qualifications with men can be
obtained for less wages may be accounted for by a reference to other
causes. The pursuits open to self-dependent women are fewer than those
which men may enter. Pre-eminently among these, and strikingly adapted
to the constitution and peculiarities of the sex, stands the business of
teaching. The market supply, therefore, of men, is not so great as that of
women; and when for any reason a good male teacher is demanded, he is
268
harder to be found than a good female teacher. Hence the higher price paid
for him. If the inferences I have drawn respecting the excellence of women
for teachers appear shadowy, let us come nearer home for our facts. The
schools of our large cities, St. Joseph, Kansas city, and St. Louis, it will be
admitted, are better schools than can be found, as a rule, elsewhere in the
State. In the schools of St. Joseph forty-one teachers are employed, of whom
seven only are males; in the schools of Kansas city thirty-five teachers, of
whom twelve only are males; and in St. Louis 613 teachers, of whom seventy-
one only are males. In the last-named city women are employed as principals
in some of the district schools-schools which contain ten or twelve rooms-
and when so engaged they receive the same salaries as would be given to men
in the same situation. (Missouri Report, 1873, p. 44.)
""
Here is another shaft which Dr. Rigg aims at female teachers :-
"It would, beyond question, be better on all accounts if the young
women were in much larger proportion destined to be given in marriage, and
to devote themselves to family cares and child-training at home, and if public
school teaching were far more largely in the hands of trained and able
masters." (P. 430, Quarterly.)
How thoroughly he misses the mark is evident when it is remembered
how brief the school life of female teachers is, and how great a difficulty it
entails upon the American system.
If this book should fall into the hands of any American teachers, they
may be consoled for Dr. Rigg's criticisms by reading, in the extract which I
have quoted from Bishop Fraser's report (ante, p. 194), the judgment of an
English gentleman upon their class, and one eminently qualified to give a
reliable opinion.
Dr. Rigg discusses the question of illiteracy at considerable length, and
besides much that he charges "generally and broadly," he makes certain
definite allegations which can be seized and examined.
On page 135 of his book he says-
Indeed, the amount of actual illiteracy in the States is far larger than
appears to be generally known in this country. As is intimated by Mr.
Barnard, the Commissioner of Education, in the extract from his report quoted
by me at the beginning of this chapter, the successive censuses of the States
in 1840, 1850, 1860, showed a gradual increase in the proportion of home-born
white Americans who can neither read nor write.
The extract from Dr. Barnard to which he calls attention, is as follows:-
Startling and humiliating statistics of the national census of 1840,
1850, and 1860, as to the number of the white adult population unable to
read and write in certain States, and for the whole country.
Readers must judge for themselves whether Dr. Barnard's reference to the
"white adult population" can be twisted into an intimation that the censuses
show a gradual increase in the proportion of "home-born white Americans"
unable to read and write.
In the article in the Quarterly Dr. Rigg slightly modifies the statement
in his book. He says (page 432)—
During the decade 1850-1860, the number of illiterates largely
increased, but the proportion appears to have diminished, especially among
the native-born illiterates."
It will be seen, however, that he still leaves on record his statement
respecting the increase of "home-born white" illiterates. The particulars
269
respecting each State will be found in the table on page 231 ante. The
proportion of native white illiterates in all the States decreased, between 1850
and 1860, from 10 per cent. to 7.57 per cent. Nor was there any large
increase in actual numbers. In 1850 they were returned as 808,024—in
1860, as 819,541; an increase of 11,517. (Commissioner's Report, 1870,
p. 478.)
In support of his charges in regard to illiteracy, Dr. Rigg quotes from a
pamphlet written by Dr. Leigh, a writer apparently after Dr. Rigg's own
heart. Dr. Rigg has succeeded in extracting from Dr. Leigh's book a paragraph
which gives colour to his statements. But Dr. Leigh is bound by the tables
and statistics which he uses, and these establish beyond question that there
was a relative decrease in native illiteracy between 1840 and 1860. Any
reader can satisfy himself by referring to the Commissioner's Report for
1870.
On page 430 (Quarterly) Dr. Rigg says—
"There is more illiteracy in the States than has generally been supposed
in England. There were altogether in the United States, according to the
census of 1870, of the population ten years old and upwards-unable to read,
4,528,084; unable to write, 5,658,144; of whom 4,880,271 were native-born
Americans."
This is an imposing array of figures. It is not strictly accurate, because
Dr. Rigg has included the Territories. Many of the illiterates are native-born
Americans in the purest sense, since the aborigines are embraced in the figures.
Nearly three millions also of these "native-born Americans" are of the
African race.
Dr. Rigg goes on to say—
"It is not surprising to find that in the Southern States illiteracy greatly
prevails; that in Alabama, for instance, more than half the population over
ten years are unable to write. But it will surprise many to learn that so large a
proportion of the population of the Northern and Central States-' enlightened
free States'-are illiterate. In Massachusetts, 8.42 per cent. are unable to
write; in Vermont, 6.84; in New York State, 7·08 per cent., being a total
of 239,271 illiterates over ten years old; in Ohio, 8.86 per cent., being a total
of 173,172 illiterates; in Indiana, 10.61 per cent., being a total of 127,124;
in Illinois, 7.38 per cent., or 133,584; in Pennsylvania, where, however,
there is a considerable sprinkling of coloured people, where, also, are the
chief seats of heavy manufacturing labour, the percentage is 8.56, and the
total number 222,356; in Rhode Island we find the high average of 12.62
per cent., or 21,921 illiterates. In these States, speaking generally, the vast
majority of the illiterates must belong to the white population."
"In New Hampshire the percentage is 3·81; in Maine, 3.86."
The above figures refer to illiterates ten years old and over, and they
include all races and colours. As the report from which they are taken
(Commissioner's Report, 1872) does not distinguish the native and foreign
population of ten years and over, we have no means of ascertaining separately
the exact proportion of native illiterates compared to native population of ten
and over.
We can, however, determine the number of native illiterates
compared to native population of all ages, and the number of foreign illiterates
compared to foreign population of all ages.
On this basis the percentages are as follow in the States which Dr. Rigg
mentions:-
270

STATE.
Native.
Foreign.
Massachusetts
0.71
25.42
Vermont
1.37
29.27
New York
2.17
14.80
Ohio.........
5.84
10.48
Indiana
7.35
9.85
Illinois
4.47
8.34
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
New Hampshire…………
Maine
4.25
17.52
2.74
31.54
0.69
26.76
1.38
22.63
Indeed, when the actual numbers of the foreign and coloured illiterates.
ten years of age and over are added together in these States, they largely
exceed in number the native white illiterates of the same ages.
The statistics which establish these conclusions Dr. Rigg has had before
him, but he does not bring them forward. His comment on the long roll of
illiteracy, which he attempts to lay at the door of the free school system, and
which is enormously augmented by blacks and foreigners, is: "This condition
of things is too manifestly a national evil. Foreign immigration scarcely enters
into it as an appreciable element.” (P. 433.)
What, then, are the appreciable elements in Dr. Rigg's estimation? He
says-
To anyone who will realise the actual situation of thousands of American
settlers, buried and sequestered many and many a mile away from any town
or any railway, in the depths of vast regions, only inhabited at very distant
intervals by lonely settlers like themselves, it will be easy to understand how
such settlers may become utterly ignorant, and almost savage.' (P. 434,
Quarterly.)
17
Having laid stress upon the illiteracy in the " enlightened free States,'
he accounts for it by going into the "desolate mountain ranges,” “between
West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky," and in Eastern Tennessee, where
common schools are few and far between, and whatever may have been
learnt at school is very likely to be lost in after life, for want of any accessible
literature."
(4
There are districts, also, in New York, "completely shut out from the
life-current of the world." "It is largely, no doubt, to this condition of
things that the illiteracy of the United States is owing." (P. 434, Quarterly.)
In his blind haste to depreciate the results of the American schools, Dr.
Rigg fixes the seat of illiteracy, not where the most ignorant population of
Europe and British America congregate, but in districts inhabited "at very
distant intervals by lonely settlers."
The last and chief topic discussed by Dr. Rigg is the standard of educa-
tion and the age of scholars in American schools. He examines with some
271
minuteness the school systems of New York, Cincinnati, and Boston, describes
the course of study, states the ages of the scholars, and makes a general com-
parison between them and the standards of education and status of children in
the schools of this country.
As the result of his enquiry, he arrives at the remarkable conclusion, re-
stated in various forms, that the public schools of America are vastly inferior
to the public elementary schools of England. (P. 447.)
"The range of education in the States, age for age, is decidedly lower
in the graded public schools than in good English schools." (P: 455,
Quarterly.)
Again: 'Enough will then have been said in regard to the public schools
of New York, to show how very low throughout is the graded instruction
given in these schools, as compared with that given, age for age, in our
English public schools, whether elementary or higher. (P. 450.)
Again, he says that it will not be allowed by any who know what a good
English elementary school is and does, that the Cincinnati district schools
are superior to our good English schools for corresponding ages." (P. 452,
Quarterly.)
•
Whether it is reasonable to compare the schools of a whole city to picked
English schools, the public must decide; but at any rate there should be no
mistake respecting the facts which form the basis of comparison. It will be
seen that, for the purpose of Dr. Rigg's contention, the ages of the scholars at
particular stages, and the length and scope of the various grades, are of the
essence of the whole controversy. If his premises are altogether wrong the
deductions he has made must be wholly fallacious.
Of New York he says-
"The legal school age in New York ranges from six to twenty-one; but
the theory here, as elsewhere in the States, is that children should enter school
late rather than early, and few enter school so young as six years." (P. 447.)
From what follows this would appear to apply to the State and not the
city, it being described as a "middle-class nation which is predominantly
agricultural, a nation of freehold farmers," &c. But, applied to either State or
city, the statement is incorrect. The legal school age in the State is from five to
twenty-one (p. 10, New York State Report, 1871). It is true that the theory
is that children should enter school late rather than early; but six is considered
late. The assertion that "few enter school so young as six years" has no
foundation in fact. The number of scholars under six years of age for the
whole State is not given in the report, but I find that in 1873 there were
under that age, in the schools of Brooklyn, 4,800 children; in Buffalo, 1,500;
in Fulton, 275; in Peekskill, 450; in Poughkeepsie, 420; in Rochester, 987;
in Syracuse, 373; in Troy, 954. (See Commissioner's Report, 1873, p. 523.)
In the city of New York the legal school age is from four to twenty-one
(Commissioner's Report, 1873, p. 523). That many children do not enter
school till six is certain; that many enter before is equally certain. The
New York City Report for 1874 (p. 83) says-
"The largest increase in the attendance is to be found in the lower classes,
which are constantly crowded with very young children, from four to six years
of age."
Dr. Rigg proceeds to describe the system in New York city :—
"The New York system of free education embraces four gradations
of school or college provision. First, there are the primary schools or
272
departments, in which the ages of the children vary in general from
seven to twelve, though sometimes, as we have ourselves learnt on the spot,
children of thirteen are found in these primary departments. These schools
include six grades, and their course for a good scholar should include three
years, although for a slow or dull scholar it may extend to four years, or even
more. Next come the grammar schools, in which the ages of the scholars
range, in general, from ten or eleven to seventeen, and which are organised
in eight grades,' implying for a good scholar a course of four years."
(P. 448, Quarterly.)
It will be seen that Dr. Rigg overstates the ages of the scholars in the
primary schools by three years, and those in the grammar school by three
years. The New York City Report, 1871 (p. 25) says—
"The average ages of those in the primary school grades range from six
years (the average of the lowest) to ten years, that of the highest grade.
Grammar school pupils average from ten and a half years in the lowest to
fourteen and a half in the highest grade."
Respecting the schools of Boston, Dr. Rigg makes the following
extraordinary statement :—
"In Boston we find the remarkable fact that the total number of
children in the primary schools is less than the number of those in the
grammar schools, although the course for each school is a three years course,
and although many of those who have been scholars in the primary schools
never pass into the grammar schools. The explanation, no doubt, is that many
of the citizens of Boston prefer to have their young children taught at home,
or to send them to private schools, rather than to send them to the common
primary schools. Boston is a refined city, and parents in Boston have often,
and naturally, the same objection to their young children attending
promiscuous public schools that is felt among parents of a similar class and
character in England. These same children, however, are very often sent to the
grammar schools, the children attending which are already disciplined, and
from which already the children of the lowest classes have been almost
entirely eliminated. (P. 443, Quarterly.)
We have already seen, on the authority of Superintendent Philbrick, that
all the children of the primary schools pass into the grammar schools. The
explanation, therefore, falls to the ground. But no explanation is needed
when the real facts are given-the truth being that the primary course is a
three years course, and the grammar course a six years course.
The Boston Report for 1873 (p. 147) says—
"Pupils are admitted to the primary grade at five years of age. The
course is arranged for six classes and three years.'
The grammar schools are designed to receive the pupils from the
primary schools at eight years of age and upwards, and carry them on through
a thorough course of practical elementary instruction. The course is arranged
for six classes and six years."
This blunder runs all through Dr. Rigg's review of the grammar course
in Boston, and makes positive nonsense of his deductions.
Again, in regard to age in the Boston schools, he is altogether abroad.
The Superintendent says that "the aim should be to transfer the pupils from
the primary to the grammar school grade at the age of eight years—that is,
before the completion of the ninth year." (Boston Report, 1872, p. 170.)
Writing of the schools in 1872, Dr. Rigg says—
"Of the scholars in the grammar schools, twenty-six per cent. are in the
lowest class (age about ten or cleven), and afterwards the numbers in the
273
different classes gradually run down, the proportions being 23 per cent., 17,
15, 12, and 7 respectively.
From which it is evident that even in Boston
many children leave school at twelve, and many more at thirteen."
(P. 443, Quarterly.)
In the year to which Dr. Rigg refers there were 5,075 pupils in the sixth
(lowest) class of the grammar schools (p. 123, Report, 1872). The average
age in this class is not given, but 4,059 pupils in the grammar schools were
nine years of age and under, and 3,419 were ten years of age (p. 252, Report,
1872). It is evident, therefore, that all, except a very small fraction of the
primary pupils, are promoted between eight and nine years of age, and the
average age of the lowest class in the grammar schools must be under ten
years.
In writing of the Cincinnati schools, Dr. Rigg is nearer the mark as to
age, though even here he is not accurate. He says:
“The average age of
the children in the first or highest grade of the district schools is twelve, in
the second eleven, and in the third ten" (p. 451, Quarterly). The
Superintendent gives the exact ages as follow: Grade D (the highest in the
district schools), 11·4; grade E, 10·5; grade F, 9'4; grade G, 8.3; grade H,
6.7. (See Cincinnati Report, 1874, p. 99.)
This mistake of Dr. Rigg's would make a difference of nearly a grade in
the standing of the pupils.
Having advanced the ages in the New York city schools in the manner
indicated, Dr. Rigg proceeds to discuss the course. Of this he gives a most
garbled and unintelligible account, marked also by the gravest mistakes. In
order to place the matter in the clearest light before the English public, I
have appended the complete course in the New York and Boston grammar
schools and in the Cincinnati district and intermediate schools; adding,
for purposes of comparison, our English standards.
Respecting the studies in the New York grammar schools Dr. Rigg says-
"It will be noted that no foreign language is included; indeed, the
rudiments of English grammar and composition have scarcely been mastered."
(P. 449, Quarterly.)
Two things call for attention here. First, German was included in the
grammar course at least five years ago (see the complete course, Appendix B).
Last year there were in the grammar schools 19,842 pupils in German (see
New York Report, 1874, p. 26 and 115). Secondly, Dr. Rigg, who writes
glibly of educational science, seems to be ignorant of the fact that in American
schools foreign languages are taught all along the course.
By a reference to the course it will also be seen that he is mistaken as to
the arithmetic taught in the first year, and as to the time when grammar is
commenced.
The mistake which Dr. Rigg makes as to the length of the Boston grammar
school course is against his own contention that, age for age, the standards of
our English elementary schools are more exacting than the requirements of
American schools. On the other hand his summary or description of the
subjects taught in the grades is most incomplete, and wholly fails to convey
any adequate idea of the thoroughness of the programme. He, moreover,
assigns to the first or highest class subjects which are taught in the third class,
and omits from the course of the first class other subjects which are taught.
T
274
For instance, he says the oral instruction prescribed for the first class
recognises, for the first time, some slight elements of science, under the
heads of air, water, respiration" (p. 454). By a reference to the course
itself it will be found that these studies are introduced in the third class. He
omits from the list of subjects in the first class, "natural philosophy,"
"physiology," and "book-keeping."
As far as it goes, his description of the Cincinnati course appears to be
correct, but when he says that it "presents a theory, an ideal standard, not a
legal minimum examination standard," a wholly wrong impression is conveyed.
The course represents the standard actually required at the examinations, as a
comparison with the examination questions conclusively proves.
Of the specific subjects in our English schools Dr. Rigg says that they
"may be regarded as representing not only the aspirations, but, in a fair
measure, also the actual achievements and performances of English teachers
in spite of difficulty and discouragement" (p. 450, Quarterly). Of the
difficulty and discouragement no one will entertain the slightest doubt, but
that the list of specific subjects represents "in a fair measure the achievements
and performances of English teachers" is at least questionable.
In the year ending August, 1873, 131,096 children were presented in
standards IV-VI. Of these, 77,896 were examined in one or more specific
subjects. Of this number 55,941 passed successfully, 23,488 of them in two
subjects. 61,361 children were examined in geography; 20,388 in grammar;
19,817 in English literature; 16,762 in history; 3,681 in algebra; 725 in
physiology; 658 in physical geography (which Dr. Rigg says is always taught
in good inspected elementary schools); 600 in domestic economy; 174 in
French; 46 in Latin; 62 in natural science; 53 in mensuration; 17 in
mental arithmetic; 14 in chemistry; 8 in electricity; and 7 in telegraphy.
(See p. 15, Appendix, Report of Committee of Council, 1873-74.)
Dr. Rigg is much given to patronising American educational officials.
One is "candid and well-informed," another "intelligent and vigorous,'
another "very competent," another of " grave responsibility" and "long
and intimate acquaintance with facts." If he can find a sentence in a report
which can be used to support his indictment against the American system,
he proceeds to eulogise the author. I regret being precluded from giving
the public the benefit of American opinion upon Dr. Rigg's work, conveyed to
me in letters from several State Superintendents; but there is one official
who has published his view of Dr. Rigg's book-whose competence has been
thoroughly proved, whose acquaintance with American education has been
long and intimate, whose candour Dr. Rigg will not impeach. I refer to
Mr. Philbrick, who retired last year from the office of Superintendent of
the Boston Schools, a post which he occupied for eighteen years.
He says of
the reverend and learned author's chapter on education in the United States,
that it "is made up, for the most part, of a wonderful conglomeration of
erroneous statements and wrong inferences." (1) I venture to add that
every person acquainted with the American system, who examines his
work, will be compelled to arrive at the same conclusion.
1 Boston Report, 1874, p. 355.
275
APPENDIX B.
COURSE OF
OF
NEW YORK.
INSTRUCTION PRESCRIBED FOR
INSTRUCTION
GRAMMAR SCHOOLS.
EIGHTH GRADE.
Reading. Of the grade of a Third Reader (first half), with a review of
punctuation, Roman numbers, and elementary sounds; and with exercises on
the subject-matter of the lessons.
Spelling. From the reading lessons, with miscellaneous words, and
words derived therefrom; also exercises in writing words and short sentences
from dictation. Particular attention to be given to the use of capitals.
Definitions.-From the reading lessons, to teach the meaning of the
words, with illustrations by forming sentences; in no case to be committed to
memory and mechanically recited.
Mental Arithmetic.-As far as in written arithmetic, to include exercises
in the analysis of operations and examples, and in rapid calculation without
analysis.
Written Arithmetic.-Through the simple rules and Federal money, with
practical examples.
Tables of weights, measures, &c., reviewed, with practical illustrations
and simple applications.
Geography.-Primary geography, including the general outlines, with
definitions and illustrations, by means of the globe, of the form, magnitude,
and motions of the earth, zones, &c.
Elementary Science.-By oral instruction in the qualities and uses of
familiar objects, such as articles of clothing, food, materials for building, &c. ;
276
also a knowledge of geometrical forms, with illustrations on the blackboard
and by models.
SEVENTH GRADE.
Reading. Of the grade of a Third Reader (latter half), with exercises as
in the eighth grade.
Spelling and Definitions.—From the reading lessons, with exercises in
miscellaneous words and sentences, as in the previous grade.
Mental Arithmetic.-As far as in written arithmetic, with exercises in
analysis and calculation.
Written Arithmetic.-A review of Federal money; common fractions
commenced; simple operations to be taught, with practical applications,
avoiding difficult or complex examples.
Tables of weights and measures reviewed and applied.
Geography.—Outlines of North America, including the United States and
West Indies, with the descriptive geography of those countries; only con-
spicuous or important localities to be taught; elementary definitions and
illustrations continued, with the addition of latitude and longitude.
Elementary Science.-By oral instruction. The qualities and uses of
familiar objects; also an outline knowledge of zoology.
SIXTH GRADE.
Reading. Of the grade of a Third Reader, with the exercises of the
preceding grade; particular attention to be given to clearness of articulation
and naturalness of intonations and general style.
Spelling.-Oral and written, as in preceding grades.
Definitions.-As in the preceding grades, with easy exercises on the
prefixes and suffixes, and their applications.
Mental Arithmetic.—As far as in written arithmetic, with exercises as in
the preceding grades; also practice in the application of the arithmetical
tables.
Written Arithmetic.-Through common fractions, with their simple
applications; including also a review of Federal money, and practice in the
simple rules to secure rapidity and accuracy.
Geography.—Of the United States in detail; localities as in the preceding
grades, with a brief description of each State and Territory.
Elementary Science.-By oral instruction.
The uses and qualities of
familiar objects continued; also an outline knowledge of botany, including
the general structure and common uses of plants.
FIFTH GRADE.
Reading. Of the grade of a Fourth Reader (first half), with the exercises
of the preceding grades.
Spelling and Definitions.-From the reading lessons, as in the preceding
grades.
Mental Arithmetic.-As far as in written arithmetic, with exercises as in
the sixth grade.
Written Arithmetic.-Through decimals, with practical applications in
both common and decimal fractions, and their conversion one into the other.
277
Geography.-Local and descriptive, through South America and Europe;
the topics of the preceding grades to be occasionally reviewed in outline.
Elementary Science.-By oral instruction. The uses and qualities of
familiar objects; also an outline of mineralogy, illustrated by specimens.
FOURTH GRADE.
Reading. Of the grade of a Fourth Reader (latter half), with particular
attention to emphasis, intonations, and naturalness of expression.
Spelling and Definitions.—As in the preceding grade.
Mental Arithmetic.-A review of the preceding grades, with exercises in
calculation and analysis.
Written Arithmetic.-Through denominate numbers and fractions, with
practical applications.
Geography.-Local and descriptive, through Asia, Africa and Oceanica;
localities as in the preceding grades.
English Grammar.-To include the analysis, parsing, and construction of
simple sentences, and with such definitions only as pertain to the parts of the
subject studied.
History of the United States.-The early discoveries and the outlines of
Colonial History to 1753; important events only to be taught, with such dates
as are specially requisite for a complete understanding of the subject.
Elementary Science.-By oral instruction. The topics of the preceding
grades continued, and reviewed, and, in addition, the simple outlines of
physiology and hygiene.
THIRD GRADE.
Reading. Of the grade of a Fourth Reader, continued, with exercises
as in the preceding grades.
Spelling.—From the reading lessons, with exercises in writing miscel-
laneous words and sentences, and in the analysis and construction of words,
according to the rules of spelling.
Definitions.-From the reading lessons.
Mental and Written Arithmetic.—Commercial, through percentage,
interest, profit and loss. Problems to be chiefly such as involve the ordinary
business transactions.
English Grammar.—Continued, with the analysis, parsing, and con-
struction of easy, complex, and compound sentences; also, writing short
compositions, under the inspection of the teacher.
History of the United States.—From 1753 to 1789; the outlines of the
Revolutionary War to be taught, and the events which led to the adoption
of the Constitution.
Natural Philosophy.-Including mechanics, hydrostatics, and pneumatics.
A simple text-book to be used.
SECOND GRADE.
Reading.-Of the grade of a Fifth Reader, with spelling and definitions,
as in the third grade.
roots.
Etymology. With the analysis of words and their formation from given
278
Mental and Written Arithmetic.-Through square root and its simple
applications; problems as in the preceding grade.
Outlines of Physical Geography.
English Grammar.-Continued, with analysis, parsing and construction,
and the correction of false syntax; also, composition. The exercises in
analysis to be such only as are required to show the general structure of
sentences.
History of the United States.-Outlines completed; events and dates as
in the preceding grades.
Astronomy, Elementary.—The solar system, with an explanation of the
ordinary phenomena. A simple text-book to be used.
Natural Philosophy.-Simple outlines completed, to include acoustics,
pyronomics, optics, magnetism, and electricity.
FIRST GRADE.
Reading, Spelling, and Etymology.—Continued.
Arithmetic.-Mental and written continued, with mensuration.
English Grammar.—Continued, with composition, the latter to include
impromptu exercises. Practice to be afforded in letter-writing, with instruction
as to folding, directing, &c.
Astronomy.-Outlines continued.
Algebra.-Through simple equations.
General History.-The outlines of ancient and modern.
·Book-keeping.
Constitution of the United States.
The Rudiments of Plane Geometry.-(First book of Legendre, or an
equivalent.)
Chemistry.—Elementary principles and facts, without text-book.
GENERAL DIRECTIONS.
Such pupils as are making preparation for admission into the introductory
or lowest class of the Normal College, or the College of the City of New York,
shall be permitted to pursue the first grade, with such modifications as may be
necessary for that purpose.
Penmanship and Drawing shall be taught in each grade of the above
course.
Instruction in Serving may be given to the pupils of the female schools.
Exercises in writing sentences, paragraphs, &c., from dictation, shall be
given in each grade; and the pupils in all the grades shall be trained in the
correction of language, and taught to avoid common errors of speech.
The oral lessons in the different departments of science prescribed for the
several grades shall be given with especial thoroughness and regularity, and
daily if practicable, the number of lessons in each week being in no case less
than three. These lessons shall be such as will train the pupils in habits of
observation and reflection, as well as impart useful knowledge.
COURSE OF INSTRUCTION IN THE GERMAN LANGUAGE.
The following shall be the course of instruction in the German language,
279
to be pursued in connection with the several grades of the grammar school
course, in the schools in which the study of the said language may be
introduced; and whenever said course shall be pursued, such additional
tíme shall be given to each grade as may be required to enable the pupils
thoroughly to complete the progress prescribed for that grade.
SEVENTH AND EIGHTH GRADES.
The Alphabet, both printed and script, with simple exercises in reading
and writing, by dictation and by copying; oral translation of simple sentences
in German and English, including subjects and predicates of various forms,
with instruction in the use of the article, and the present tense of regular
verbs, and of the verb sein.
Colloquial Exercises in the same.
SIXTH GRADE.
Reading and Writing, by dictation and copying, continued; oral and
written translation of simple sentences, in German and English, including
subject, predicate, object and simple adjuncts, with instruction in the gender,
number, and case of nouns and pronouns, the present and past tense of regular
verbs, and of the verbs sein and haben.
Colloquial Exercises, by the use of similar sentences.
FIFTH GRADE.
Reading and writing continued, as in the preceding grades; oral and
written translation of simple sentences in German and English, including
phrases and the use of the preposition; also of easy compound sentences,
with instruction in the declension and comparison of adjectives, the
declension of pronouns, and the conjugation of the indicative mood of
regular verbs, and of the verbs sien and haben.
Colloquial Exercises adapted to the progress of the pupil.
FOURTH GRADE.
Reading and writing continued, as before; oral and written translation
of simple and compound sentences in English and German, affording practice
in the cases of nouns and pronouns, the tenses of the indicative and imperative
moods of regular verbs in both voices, and the use of adjectives and adverbs,
with instruction in grammar, as applicable to such sentences.
Colloquial Exercises in the same.
THIRD GRADE.
Reading from a German reader, with translation into English; writing,
by copying and dictation; oral and written translation of sentences, in German
and English, affording practice in the regular and irregular verbs (indicative
mood), with instruction in grammar continued.
Colloquial Exercises.
SECOND GRADE.
Reading and translation from the German Reader continued; memorising
and recitation of select passages; writing, by dictation and copying, continued;
280
oral and written translation of sentences, in German and English, affording
practice in the indicative and subjunctive moods of regular and irregular verbs;
grammar continued; German composition commenced.
Colloquial Exercises in all the topics of the previous grades.
FIRST GRADE.
Reading and translation of select passages; elocution; oral and written
translation of miscellaneous passages in German and English; the Grammar
completed and reviewed; German composition continued, including epistolary
and business forms.
Colloquial Exercises and conversations on promiscuous topics.
BOSTON.
GRAMMAR SCHOOLS.
SIXTH CLASS.-BOOKS.
Hillard's Fourth Reader; Worcester's Spelling Book ; Payson, Dunton and
Scribner's, or A. R. Dunton's Writing Books; Warren's Primary Geography;
Eaton's Intellectual Arithmetic; Swinton's Language Lessons and Introductory
Grammar and Composition; Second National Music Reader; The American
Text-books of Art Education ; Bartholomew's Drawing Books,
series; Hooker's Child's Book of Nature, permitted as a reading or lesson book.
STUDIES.
new
Reading. The Fourth Reader, all the pieces; special attention to
fluency of utterance, distinctness of articulation, correctness of pronunciation,
and the points and marks of punctuation; practice on the exercises in the
introduction; the spelling and defining lessons to be omitted.
Spelling. Through the spelling book, omitting the exercises for writing,
each lesson being read by the class before it is given out for study; a sentence
from the reading lesson written daily from dictation.
Writing.-Three writing books-numbers one, two, and three-with
analysis of letters.
281
Arithmetic.-Written arithmetic through the operations of the ground
rules and reduction, with simple practical questions involving small numbers ;
mental arithmetic carried along in connection with written, the same topic in
both kinds being taught at the same time [sections first and second].
Geography.—Reading half through the primary text-book, with conversa-
tional illustrations; rudiments of map-drawing, showing how geographical
objects are represented by symbols, taking as subjects for practice the
schoolroom, the schoolyard, the common, the public garden, and the outline
map of the State; the globe used to illustrate the form, magnitude, and
rotation of the earth, the position of the axis, poles, zones, and principal
circles.
Grammar.--Oral instruction in distinguishing the noun, the adjective,
and articles; exercises in correcting common grammatical errors; practice in
the use of capitals.
Composition.—Letter-writing on the slate once a week.
Morals and Manners.-By anecdotes, examples, and precepts, and by
amplifying and applying the hints and suggestions relating to these topics
contained in the reading lessons.
Vocal Music.—Musical notation, singing, and exercises on the music
charts, fifteen minutes each day, under the general direction of the director
of music for the class.
Vocal and Physical Culture.-Exercises as contained in Monroe's Manual,
ten minutes each session.
Drawing.-Lines and angles, and plane geometrical figures.
Oral Instruction.-Weights and measures, and articles of clothing and
food.
Conversations on the reading lessons as follows: Lessons 7, 11, 26, 42,
43, 44, 51, 52, and 58.
FIFTH CLASS.-BOOKS.
Hillard's Intermediate Reader; Worcester's Spelling Book; Payson,
Dunton and Scribner's, or A. R. Dunton's Writing Books; Eaton's Grammar
School Arithmetic, and Eaton's Intellectual Arithmetic; Warren's Primary
Geography; Swinton's Language Lessons and Introductory Grammar and
Composition; Second National Music Reader; The American Text-books
of Art Education; Bartholomew's Drawing Books, new series;
Child's Book of Nature, as in the sixth class.
·
Hooker's
STUDIES.
Reading.-The Intermediate Reader, all the pieces; practice on the
exercises in the introduction on articulation, pronunciation, accent, emphasis,
and inflection, and attention to their application in the reading lessons; the
defining lessons to be omitted.
Spelling.-Through the spelling book, with definitions of words from page
109 to page 130, omitting the exercises for writing; a sentence from the reading
lesson written daily from dictation.
Writing.-Four writing books-numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4-with analysis of
letters.
282
Arithmetic.-Written arithmetic, vulgar fractions and decimal fractions,
with simple practical questions involving small numbers; mental arithmetic
carried along in connection with written, the same topic in both kinds being
taught at the same time [sections third and fourth.]
Geography.—Reading of the text-book, with conversational illustrations
completed; drawing of outline maps, from memory, of each of the New
England States; use of the globe continued.
Grammar.—Oral lessons on distinguishing the parts of speech, com-
pleted; correcting errors; sentence-making.
Composition.—Letter-writing on paper once in two weeks, with occasional
abstracts of geography lessons.
Morals and Manners.-As in the preceding class.
Vocal Music.-Musical notation continued, singing and exercises on the
music charts, fifteen minutes each day, as in the preceding class.
Vocal and Physical Culture.—As in the preceding class.
Drawing.-Lines and angles, and plane geometrical figures, as in Drawing
Book No. 2.
Oral Instruction.-The national flag, the national and State [Mass.] coat
of arms; the parts of a vessel, with the distinctions between the different
kinds of sailing vessels and between the different kinds of steam vessels;
biographical sketches of Washington and Franklin.
FOURTH CLASS.-BOOKS.
Hillard's Franklin Fifth Reader; Worcester's Spelling Book; Payson,
Dunton and Scribner's, or A. R. Dunton's Writing Books; Eaton's Grammar
School Arithmetic, and Eaton's Intellectual Arithmetic; Warren's Common
School Geography; Swinton's Language Lessons and Introductory Grammar
and Composition; Third Music Reader; the American Text-books for Art
Education; Bartholomew's Drawing Books, new series.
STUDIES.
Reading.-Franklin Fifth Reader, through reading lessons, Part I.,
with special reference to their meaning and the information they contain;
definition lessons at the end of the pieces, with exercises in introductory
treatise.
Spelling.—Through the spelling book; in the exercises for writing,
the words italicised to be written from dictation, the phrases and sentences
in which they occur being read by the teacher in order to indicate their
meaning and application; a sentence from the reading lesson written
daily from dictation.
Writing.-Four writing books-numbers 2, 3, 4, and 5—with analysis
of letters.
Arithmetic.-Written arithmetic, Federal money and compound num-
bers, with questions as in fifth class; mental arithmetic carried along in
connection with written, the same topic in both kinds being taught at the
same time [sections fifth and sixth].
Geography.—A general view of the geography of the world, with
Mercator's map and the globe; the oceans, seas, and principal gulfs and bays ;
283
the continents, grand divisions, and largest islands; the most important
ranges of mountains, with the plateaus and low plains; the water-sheds,
chief rivers and lakes, with their basins; map-drawing, from memory, of
the map of the United States, as a whole, by progressive steps.
Grammar.—Oral lessons on modifications of nouns, pronouns, adjectives,
verbs, and adverbs; correcting errors; sentence-making.
Composition.-On paper, once in two weeks, abstracts of oral lessons,
alternating with letter-writing.
Drawing.—The course indicated for the sixth class to be repeated.
Morals and Manners, Vocal Music, Vocal and Physical Culture.-As in
the preceding class.
Oral Instruction.—Rectangular and spherical solids; buildings, the
different kinds, and the materials used in their construction; object lessons
on ten metals, ten specimens of the most useful woods, and on ten kinds
of rocks.
THIRD CLASS.-BOOKS.
Hillard's Franklin Fifth Reader; Worcester's Spelling Book; Payson,
Dunton and Scribner's, or A. R. Dunton's Writing Books; Eaton's Grammar
School Arithmetic, and Eaton's Intellectual Arithmetic; Warren's Common
School Geography; Anderson's Grammar School History; Kerl's Common
School Grammar; Third Music Reader; the American Text-books for Art
Education; Bartholomew's Drawing Books, new series.
'
STUDIES.
Reading.-Hillard's Franklin Fifth Reader, reading lessons, Part II.,
completed in the manner prescribed for the preceding class.
Spelling.-Spelling book reviewed by selecting words to be written from
dictation twice a week, no lesson being given out for study; a sentence from
the reading lesson written daily from dictation.
Writing.— Four writing books, numbers 3, 4, 5, and 6, with analysis of
letters, and practice while sitting in three different positions, viz.: right side
at the desk, left side at the desk, and facing the desk.
Arithmetic.-Written arithmetic, percentage with its applications, the
easier practical problems being performed; mental arithmetic in connection
with written, the same topic in both kinds being taught at the same time
[sections 8 and 9].
Geography.-The United States; the climate, physical features, and
productions of the different sections; the thirty largest cities, their location,
their natural advantages and disadvantages, and the peculiar characteristics
of the business carried on in each; outline map of each State, drawn from
memory.
History.—United States; first half of the text-book read, some dates
and facts learned and recited.
Grammar.—Etymological parsing; inflections and definitions learned
from the text-book; correcting errors, especially such as are violations of
the principles of etymology; sentence-making.
Composition. Once a month, on some topic embraced in oral instruction;
284
business papers, such as letters, orders, bills of purchase, receipts, promissory
notes, drafts, advertisements, invitations, &c.
Drawing.—Drawing book; the course indicated for the fifth class to be
repeated.
Morals and Manners, Vocal Music, and Vocal and Physical Culture.—As in
the preceding class.
Oral Instruction.—Air, water, respiration; municipal and State govern-
ments; courts of justice; historical sketches of Pericles, Chatham, Jefferson,
Samuel Adams, and Lincoln.
SECOND CLASS.-BOOKS.
Hillard's Sixth Reader; Payson, Dunton and Scribner's, or A. R.
Dunton's Writing Books; Eaton's Grammar School Arithmetic, and Eaton's
Intellectual Arithmetic; Warren's Common School Geography; Kerl's
Common School Grammar; Anderson's Grammar School History; Hullah's
Adaptation of Wilhem's Method of Teaching Vocal Music, with Additions by
Sharland; the American Text-books of Art Education; Bartholomew's
Drawing Books, new series.
STUDIES.
Reading.-Sixth Reader, to p. 200, with practice on the examples in the
introduction. Expressive reading to be aimed at in connection with the study
of the thought and emotion of the pieces.
Spelling. In connection with the other studies, the new and difficult
words that occur, to cultivate the habit of observing the orthography of words;
instruction in the significance of prefixes and affixes; a weekly exercise in
writing passages dictated from the Reader.
Writing.-One writing book-No. 7 of Payson, Dunton and Scribner's,
or No. 8 of A. R. Dunton's.
Arithmetic. -Written arithmetic, proportion and square root, with a
review of all the preceding subjects, performing a few selected examples to
illustrate the principles; mental arithmetic, seventh section.
Geography.—The continents; map of each, drawn from memory, repre-
senting the boundaries of the countries; separate memory maps of the
principal countries of Europe; problems on the globe.
History.-United States, completed in the manner prescribed for the
preceding class.
Grammar.-Syntactical parsing, the rules learned in connection with
their application; exercises in correcting errors, especially such as are
violations of the principles of syntax; sentence-making.
Composition.-Once a month, the subject to be developed by conversation
in connection with oral lessons; business papers as in class three; declamation
for boys, twice each term.
Vocal Music.—To be taught one half-hour each week, by the director
of music; and ten minutes each day, except Wednesday and Saturday,
shall be devoted to musical instruction by the regular teachers.
class.
Drawing.-Simple objects in outline, and elements of perspective.
Morals and Manners, Vocal and Physical Culture.-As in the preceding
285
Oral Instruction.-The solar system, the properties of matter, the
mechanical powers; historical sketches of the Crusades, the discovery of
Amercia, the Declaration of Independence.
FIRST CLASS.—BOOKS.
Hillard's Sixth Reader; Payson, Dunton and Scribner's, or A. R.
Dunton's Writing Books; Eaton's Grammar School Arithmetic, and Eaton's
Intellectual Arithmetic; Warren's Common School Geography, Kerl's
Common School Grammar; Cooley's Elements of Natural Philosophy;
Worcester's History, Hullah's Adaptation of Wilhem's Method of Teaching
Vocal Music, with Addition by Sharland; The American Text-books of
Art Education; Bartholomew's Drawing Books, new series; Worcester's
Dictionary.
STUDIES.
Reading.—Sixth Reader, completed, as in the preceding class.
Spelling. As in the preceding class.
Writing.-One writing book, No. 11 of Payson, Dunton and Scribner's,
or No. 7 of A. R. Dunton's.
Arithmetic.-Written arithmetic, cube root; review, with special
reference to the discussion of the principles; some review of mental
arithmetic.
Geography.-A few lessons in review of the continents and the United
States, with special reference to political geography and commercial relations ;
maps of the United States as a whole and in sections, and the countries of
Europe, drawn from memory.
History.-Outline of the history of England, by topics.
Grammar.—Syntactical parsing and analysis of sentences; exercises in
correcting false syntax.
Composition.-As in the preceding class.
Declamation for Boys.-Twice each term.
Natural Philosophy.—Outlines of the properties of matter, motion,
mechanics, hydrostatics, pneumatics, sound, heat, optics, electricity and
magnetism.
Physiology.-By oral instruction; circulation, respiration, digestion, and
secretion, with practical hygiene.
Drawing.-Simple objects in outline, and elements of perspective,
continued.
Morals and Manners, Vocal Music, and Vocal and Physical Culture.—As
in the preceding class.
Book-keeping.-By single entry.
Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State read,
with conversational explanations.
286
CINCINNATI.
COURSE OF STUDY.
DISTRICT SCHOOLS.-GRADE H.
Studies.—Elements of reading, writing, arithmetic, singing, grammar,
object lessons, drawing; and German, when desired by parents.
Books. -Mason's Music Charts; Uniform Slates; Knell and Jones's
Phonic Reader. This is a grade for oral and black-board instruction; and
the teacher is expected to use the black-board and such cards for instruction in
the elements of reading, and such charts for teaching object lessons, as are
provided by the Board.
Spelling and Reading.-Pupils shall be taught to write at dictation, and
to spell by sound any sentence in their Phonic Reader, as far as p. 29; or
they may be required to write at dictation similar sentences.
Writing. They shall be taught to write in a plain, legible hand, on their
slates, any of the words which they are required to read in sentences.
Arithmetic. They shall be taught, by means of objects, to perform
mental and slate exercises in the four fundamental rules, to amounts not
exceeding ten.
Grammar.-They shall be taught to speak correctly any sentence they
may be required to use. The teacher shall converse with them frequently, in
order to correct their language, individual recitation being practised as far as
possible.
Object Lessons.-In this grade the names of objects are given, and the
ideas of some of the most prominent properties developed, and terms given.
The cultivation of the observation is the main point here.
Objects are used at first, and properties developed, but after a number of
qualities of the same class have become familiar, as colour, form, &c., these
properties may be made the subject of the lesson, and other material may be
introduced, as colour charts, artificial forms, &c.
The following list will furnish material from which the teacher may select.
Similar familiar objects may also be taken :
1. Objects in the school room-table, chair, slate, pencil, crayon, black-
board, bell, door, window.
287
2. Parts of the human body-head, face, eyes, nose, mouth, chin, cheeks,
ears, hair, trunk, arms, shoulder, upper arm, elbow, lower arm, wrist, hand,
fingers, thumb, fore finger, middle finger, ring finger, little finger, legs, hip,
thigh, knee, ankle, foot, instep, heel, sole, toes, nails.
3. Clothing-hat, bonnet, shoe, boot, apron, jacket, dress.
4. Objects from the child's home-knife, fork, spoon, tumbler, plate,
cup, ring, ball, cane, basket, bucket, broom, clock, candle, soap, sponge, coal.
5. Food-apple, peach, cherry, grape, potato, tomato, turnip, pea,
bread, meat, butter, milk, water, vinegar, sugar, salt.
6. Some familiar flowers-rose, pink, lily.
7. Some familiar plant, with roots, stem, branches, leaves.
Drawing.-Attitude of the body in general. Exercises on slates with
reference to dots and dashes in reference to position, direction, distance, and
number, now and then interspersed with simple figures, representing objects
composed of short straight lines.
The lessons in representing objects being more interesting, should be
given as a reward for good work of a previous lesson. Pupils in this grade
shall also be required to have uniform slates.
GRADE G.
Studies.—Spelling, reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar, drawing,
singing, composition, object lessons; and German, when desired by parents.
Books.-Young Singer, Part I. (for teachers only); Mason's Music Charts;
McGuffey's First Reader, or Knell and Jones's Phonic Reader; Uniform
Slates; Bartholomew's Drawing.
Spelling.—Pupils shall be taught to write at dictation, and to spell by
sound any sentence in their reading lessons, or similar familiar sentences, and
to write sentences from their object lessons.
Reading. They shall be taught to read fluently and distinctly any lesson
in their Reader, and number each page by its figures.
Writing.—They shall be taught to write on their slates, at dictation, all
the words they are required to spell.
1
Arithmetic.-They shall review the H grade course, and perform mental
exercises in the four fundamental rules, no number used or produced in
multiplication or division to exceed 20; shall count, with and without
objects, as high as 100; shall learn to understand, read, and write the fractions,
,, and, add the 1's, 2's, and 3's as high as 100, and subtract them from
100; perform slate exercises in the four fundamental rules to amounts not
exceeding 100, the divisors and multipliers being 2 and 3; and be taught,
objectively, the denominations of our paper and specie currency, and the use
of the dollar and cent marks; problems involving concrete numbers shall
contain but one arithmetical operation.
MODEL EXAMPLES IN MENTAL ARITHMETIC.
Section II., Lesson 1; Section III., Lesson 1; and Section V., Lesson
I., of Ray's Second Book.
288
t
Grammar.-They shall be taught to speak correctly any sentence they
may be required to use; particular reference shall be had to the proper use of
a and an, this and that (singular and plural forms), the pronoun I as a capital
letter; the capital letters at the commencement, and the period and question
mark at the termination, of sentences; and the singular and plural of nouns
and verbs.
Music. They shall be taught to name the music characters, and write at
dictation the exercises on p. 8 of the Young Singer.
Object Lessons.-In grade G (and also in the subsequent grades) the
exercises are to be both oral and written. Comparison as to similarity and
difference is the principal feature of the work in this grade.
I.—Besides treating more fully the objects given in H grade, the teacher
may take the following objects :-
Book, desk, school-bag, ruler, pen, ink, stove, floor, ceiling, wall.
PROPERTIES, &C., OF OBJECTS FOR GRADE G.
1. Form and direction-four corners, three corners, sides, edges, round
like a ring, round like a plate, round like a ball, round like a cane, straight,
curved, vertical, horizontal, slanting, parallel.
2. Colour-white, black, red, yellow, blue, brown.
3. Size-long and short, longer and shorter, broad, narrow, high, low,
large, small, larger, smaller.
4. Weights-heavy, light, heavier, lighter.
5. Place--position of objects in the schoolroom and of objects placed on
the table, as right, left, &c., before, between, &c.
6. Parts—name of parts, number of parts, use of parts.
7. Material-wood, iron, stone, glass, paper, cloth.
8. Use of objects.
9. Care of things in school. Do not meddle with things of others.
II. The human body; principal parts named-head, trunk, arms, and
legs.
Top of the head,
Head Back of the head,
Sides, temple, ear.
(Forehead,
Eyes,
Mouth,
Face Nose,
Chin.
Shoulder,
Upper arm,
Arms Elbows,
Lower arm,
Wrist.
289
Palm,
Hand Back,
Finger.
Thumb,
Fore finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
Knuckles,
Finger joints,
Nails.
Hip,
Thigh,
Legs Knee (knee-pan),
Lower leg (shin and calf),
Ankle.
Instep,
Heel,
Foot
Sole,
Toes.
Add lessons on health, and also add :—
Actions. Of the head: Raising, bowing, nodding, turning, shaking,
rolling.
Of the arms Hanging, bending, stretching, turning, twisting,
twirling, folding, swinging, thrusting.
Of the legs Stretching, bending, lifting, swinging, kicking,
walking, running, hopping, skipping, jumping, dancing.
III.-Clothing. Besides the articles named in grade H, cap, shawl, coat,
pants; comparison.
1. Names of articles of clothing.
2. Names of parts of garments.
3. Colour. Add here, orange, green, purple, pink, gray; for degrees of
colour use light and dark.
4. Material-wool, cotton, silk straw, leather, fur, felt, paper.
5. Uses.
6. Lessons on cleanliness, neatness, order, and taste.
IV.-Covering of animals; comparison with our clothing.
V.-Plants.
1.-Fruit
Names,
Names of parts-stem, peel, pulp, core, seeds, dimple, eye.
Colour,
Taste and other qualities, as juicy, hard, mellow, green,
ripe, tough, rich.
VI.-Flowers-name, colour, odour; flowers distinguished by odour.
U
290
VII.-Rose bush, currant, or quince bush; name of parts-roots, stem
buds, leaves, flowers, fruit, seeds.
Composition.-1. The pupils of this grade shall be required to describe
orally the pictures in their reading books.
2. They shall be required to write sentences on objects named in their
course in object lessons, and to begin every sentence with a capital letter,
and end it with its appropriate mark. These sentences, in the beginning of
the course, may be such as have been formed by the aid of the teacher, all
the pupils of the class writing the same sentences.
3. Each pupil shall be required, after an object has been discussed orally
in an object lesson, to write as many sentences about that object as he can
possibly form, and without further aid from the teacher than has been given
in the oral lesson.
4. As another step in advance, an object of marked characteristics shall
be set before the pupils, and, without any other direction from the teacher
than that they are to examine that object closely, they shall be encouraged
to write as many sentences about it as they can think of—not only about its
qualities, but its uses, where the latter are apparent.
5. Pupils studying German should have frequent exercises in trans-
lating the sentences, formed on the foregoing plan, from English into
German, and also in translating in writing the easiest sentences from their
Readers.
Drawing.—The instruction in this grade shall consist of the following
exercises Drawing of straight lines from one to two inches in length in
different directions, such as vertical, horizontal, and slanting lines; combina-
tion of such lines into figures; divisions of lines into two and four equal
parts. The terms horizontal, vertical, and slanting or oblique, in reference
to direction, and right, acute, and obtuse, in reference to angles, triangles, and
square, are to be taught.
Pupils are to be taught to make use of the inch as a unit of measure, the
inch to be marked on the slate the same as in H grade. The pupils shall
also be required to have uniform drawing slates.
GRADE F.
Studies.-Spelling, reading, punctuation, penmanship, drawing, arith-
metic, grammar, composition, music, object lessons; German, when desired by
parents.
Books.-McGuffey's Second Reader; Uniform Slates; Young Singer,
Part I.; Mason's Music Charts; Bartholomew's Drawing.
Spelling.-Pupils shall be taught to write at dictation any sentence which
may be formed from words contained in their reading lessons, and also
sentences from their object lessons.
Reading. They shall be required to give a full and intelligent explana-
A m
291
tion of the subject of the lesson, and the words used; to read the lesson with
fluency, distinctness, and suitable modulation; and to render an oral abstract
of the same as a whole.
Punctuation.-They shall be taught to name all the punctuation marks
in their reading lessons.
Penmanship.—They shall be taught to write the capitals and small
letters, in words or sentences, on slates or paper.
Drawing.-They shall practise on vertical, horizontal, and oblique lines,
and be taught to draw figures composed of squares, rectangles, parallelograms,
and triangles, and such other figures as may be found in their text-book, and
to divide lines and sides of figures into two, four, eight, sixteen, and more
equal parts.
Arithmetic.-They shall review the G grade course, shall read and write
numbers as high as 10,000, and the fractions, %, 1, 4, 4, t, t, t, †, and §.
They shall use numbers and figures as high as 5's, as follows:-
1. Mental addition and subtraction as high as 100.
2. Mental multiplication and division as high as 50.
3. Slate exercises in the four fundamental rules to amounts not exceeding
10,000.
Problems involving concrete numbers shall contain but one arithmetical
operation. Object lessons shall also be given in this grade in the weights-
ounce and pound; the measure-bushel, peck, small measure, quart, pint,
yard, foot, inch; year, month, week, day, hour, minute, second. Pupils shall
learn to use the different marks pertaining to each.
MODEL EXAMPLES IN MENTAL ARITHMETIC.
Section II., Lesson 1; Section III., Lesson 1; Section V., Lesson 1;
Section VI., Lesson 1.
Grammar.-They shall be taught to speak and write correctly any sentence
they may be required to use. They shall be given a correct idea of what a
sentence is; and of the. distinction between a statement, an enquiry, a
command, and an exclamation. Special attention shall be given to punctuation
(period, question mark, comma, and exclamation point).
They shall also be taught to distinguish nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs,
prepositions, conjunctions (as connectives of words), and interjections, by
giving the principal uses of each.
Music. They shall be taught to read and sing exercises in 2-4 time,
consisting of half and quarter notes, and their corresponding rests, in the scale
of C (G clef), embodying intervals of the 3rd and 4th.
Object Lessons.—The work in this grade has reference principally to the
essential and accidental properties of objects preparatory to classification.
I. Familiar animals.
1. Mammals-dog, cat, cattle, horse, sheep, pig, mouse.
2. Birds-hen, pigeon, goose, duck, turkey, canary.
3. Insects-fly, mosquito, bee.
Motion, food, habitation, use.
292
II. The surroundings of the house-yards, garden, street, objects
found there.
bark,
stem,
Stem,
wood,
calyx,
pith,
Name, sepals,
corolla,
1.-Plants.
2.-Flowers.'
Stalk,
mid vein,
petals,
Leaf,
veins,
Parts,
stamen,
Blade,
veinlets,
pistils,
pulp.
pollen.
III. The different trades and occupations of men. Workshop-tailor,
shoemaker, hatter, milliner, seamstress, mason, plasterer, whitewasher,
paperhanger, carpenter, glazier, painter, blacksmith, cooper, butcher, baker,
miller.
1. Name of occupation.
2. Articles produced.
3. Materials used.
4. Tools.
PROPERTIES OF OBJECTS FOR THIS GRADE.
1. Form-angular, triangular, square, oblong, circular, oval.
2. Colour-flesh colour, pale blue, indigo, buff, corn, crimson, scarlet,
lemon, lilac, violet.
3. Size-inch, foot, yard, and their halves and fourths; judging distance
and size, and measuring of objects, of room, of building, of school-yard, and
of square. Representation of these measurements, as far as practicable, on
the blackboard.
4. Weight-pound, half pound, quarter pound; two, three, &c., pounds.
The children are required to judge of the weight by lifting.
5. Less obvious qualities--acid, fragrant, porous, elastic, brittle, trans-
parent.
6. Material—lead, gold, silver, brass, steel, copper, tin, zinc, horn,
bone, tallow, wax.
Composition.-1. Pupils of this grade shall be required to join the
sentences formed from simple objects, according to the methods laid down for
grade G, into a composition.
2. Pupils shall next take two objects for a composition, tracing their
resemblances, and afterward their differences.
3. They shall write descriptions of the pictures found in their Readers,
and of those furnished by the Board.
4. They shall be taught to use the comma, where required; also to turn
declarative into interrogative sentences, and affirmative into negative ones.
5. The same rules in regard to translation are to be observed as in
grade G.
The uses of objects should engage a larger share of attention in this than
in the preceding grade.
GRADE E.
Studies.-Spelling, reading, punctuation, penmanship, drawing, arith-
293
metic, geography, composition, music, grammar, object lessons; German,
when desired by parents.
Books.-Syllabus of Geography (for teachers ouly); McGuffey's Third
Reader; Young Singer, Part I.; Bartholomew's Drawing.
Spelling.-Pupils shall be taught to write at dictation sentences formed
from words in their reading lessons, or lessons in geography; also sentences
from their object lessons.
Reading. They shall be required to give a full and intelligent explanation
of the subject of the lesson, and the words used; they shall be taught to read
the lessons with fluency, distinctness, and suitable modulation, and to
render an oral abstract of the same as a whole. Seventy selected lessons shall
be required for spelling.
Punctuation.—They shall be taught to name and give the use of all
punctuation marks in their reading lessons.
Penmanship.—They shall be taught to write with a pen all the small
letters and capitals in words and sentences.
Drawing.—They shall take the course laid down in their text-books, and
have exercises in drawing and combining straight lines into figures represent-
ing objects.
Arithmetic. They shall review F grade course, shall use numbers as
high as 10's in mental exercises in the four fundamental rules to amounts not
exceeding 100, and figures as high as 9's in slate exercises to amounts not
exceeding 100,000.
MODEL EXAMPLES IN MENTAL ARITHMETIC.
Section IV., Lesson 1; Section V., Lesson 2; Section VI., Lesson 3.
GEOGRAPHY.
Items starred (*) to be described by Teacher.
I.
ITEMS TO BE DETERMINED BEFORE USING MAPS.
4. East, West, North, South, North-east, North-west, South-east,
South-west.
B. Locate teacher's table, door, windows, ventilator, and corners of room;
St. Peter's Cathedral, Court House, Suspension Bridge, St. Mary's College,
Washington Park, Lincoln Park, First Presbyterian Church, the High School
Buildings, Public Library Building, Tyler-Davidson Fountain, Eden Park, and
ten other objects of local importance.
C. A map of the city having been placed on the board by the teacher,
the pupils shall give the names and directions of the principal streets of the
city; ditto of school districts; ditto of street and residence; location and
general course of Ohio River, Mill Creek, Miami Canal; and take walks,
mentally, from one point of the city to another, naming the streets pursued
and the directions.
D. Definition of river, creek, canal, pond, lako, hill, mountain,
valley, and any other geographical feature the neighbourhood may afford
294
facilities for studying. Surface elements of the earth-land and water.
Apparent form or shape of the surface.
II.
(Using the Globe.)
4. Real form of the earth, with one or more simple proofs of the same.
B. Definitions of North Pole, South Pole, Equator, Northern Hemisphere,
Southern, Eastern, and Western.
III.
(Using the Maps of the Hemisphere.)
A. Point out, number, and name the principal land and water divisions
of the globe; their relative positions, sizes, and shapes.
cape.
B. Definitions of ocean, sea, gulf, bay, sound, strait, archipelago,
C. Climate of the grand divisions, as determined simply by their position
with reference to the poles and equator; zones-general vegetation of same,
animal life of the same; distribution and leading characteristics of races.
IV.
Local Geography.-The pupils are required to locate only the most im-
portant points and places, and to study the principal physical features, such
as water-sheds, mountain ranges, valleys, plateaus, lakes, &c., of the United
States and North America.
The geographical drawing of this grade shall include the elements of map
drawing, as exhibited on p. 15 of Demcker's Course, Part IV.
Music. After reviewing the F grade course, they shall be taught the
extension of the scale to upper F, 3-4 and 4-4 time; whole note, eighth note,
and dotted half; whole rest, the repeat, the slur, and the tie. Exercises in
two-part songs involving the above shall be practised, as contained in the
Young Singer, Part I.
Grammar.—They shall be taught to speak and write correctly any
sentence they may be required to use. They shall review the work of F
grade, adding the semicolon to the punctuation marks for that grade. They
shall also be taught to distinguish the subject and the predicate of simple
sentences; the distinction between transitive and intransitive verbs; the
objects of verbs and prepositions; the kinds of nouns (common and proper);
personal pronouns; the properties of nouns and personal pronouns (person,
gender, number, and case); and the distinction of present, past, and future
time, in the use of the verb.
Object Lessons.-In this grade classification into higher and lower orders.
is principally considered.
1. Vegetable Productions.—Fruit, grain, cotton, grass, lumber—where
obtained, and for what used.
2. Animal Productions.- Wool, leather, butter, milk, cheese, lard—how
obtained, and how used.
3. Minerals.-Gold, silver, coal, limestone, marble, iron-how obtained,
and how used.
4. The City.-Manufactories, stores, buildings-name and describe
varieties; comparison of city and country.
:
295
Animals.—Mammals: Most common specimens of canines compared with
the dog; of felines compared with the cat; of gnawers compared with the rat ;
of thick-skinned animals compared with the hog; of cud-chewers compared
with the cow.
Birds.—Most common specimens of scratchers compared with the hen ;
of swimmers compared with the goose; of perchers compared with the canary.
Fishes.-A few of the most familiar, for structure and habits.
Reptiles.-Snake, frog, or lizard, for structure and habits.
Plants. Comparison of a few familiar fruit and forest trees.
Minerals.-Description of a few familiar stones and metals.
PROPERTIES OF OBJECTS FOR GRADE E.
Colour.-Standard colour, hues, tints, and shades; harmony of colours.
Natural, artificial, pulverable, granular, adhesive,
absorbent, liquid, solid, compressible, sparkling,
opaque.
General qualities.
Teachers to select the material from which to give lessons on colour and
general qualities of objects.
Composition.-1. Pupils of this grade shall continue the exercise of
comparing, in writing, different objects, both as to qualities and uses.
2. They shall take for topics the subjects printed in italics in their course
of object lessons, and such others in the same course as the teachers may
select; and after the pupils have gathered, through their own observation and
the aid of their teachers, all necessary information about these subjects, they
shall write their compositions without any assistance whatsoever.
3. Pupils of this grade shall be taught to change the form of the
sentence without changing its meaning, and to point out the change of
meaning produced by an additional word, phrase, or clause.
4. They shall continue the exercise of writing descriptions of the
pictures in their reading books, and also of the pictures furnished by the
Board.
5. They shall have exercises in translation similar to those prescribed for
pupils studying German in the two lower grades.
GRADE D.
Studies.-Spelling, reading, punctuation, penmanship, drawing, arith-
metic, geography, grammar, object lessons, composition, music; German,
when desired by parents.
Books.-McGuffey's Fourth Reader; Ray's Second and Third Part
Arithmetics; Guyot's Elementary Geography; Young Singer, Part I.;
Bartholomew's Drawing; Johnson's Physiological Chart and Handbook (for
teachers only).
DIRECTIONS TO TEACHERS.
Spelling.-Same as grade E.
Reading.-Pupils shall be required to give a full and intelligent explana-
tion of the subject of the lesson, and the words used; shall be taught to read
the lesson with fluency, distinctness, and suitable modulation, and to render
296
an oral abstract of the same as a whole. Forty selected lessons required for
spelling.
Punctuation.-They shall be taught to name and explain the punctuation
marks in their reading lessons.
Penmanship.-They shall be taught to write with a pen, neatly and
legibly, words and sentences, from copy and at dictation.
Drawing.-They shall take the course laid down in their text-book
exercises in drawing curves of different kinds-the circle, oval ellipse, spiral
or scroll, and application of these exercises in ornaments, leaves, fruit, and
other objects.
Arithmetic. They shall review E grade course, shall read and write
numbers as high as 1,000,000, and shall complete long division and United
States money. They shall have numerous practical mental exercises in the
four fundamental rules and in United States money.
Geography.-Selected portion of the text-book.
Grammar.-They shall review the work of the previous grades, adding
the quotation marks, the colon, and the dash to the punctuation marks
previously taught. They shall also be taught the comparison of adjectives,
the formation and comparison of adverbs, the distinction between regular and
irregular verbs, and all the tenses of the indicative mode, active voice.
The following prefixes shall be used in this grade: en, er, in, mis, out,
pro, re, sub, and un.
Music.-After reviewing the E grade course they shall be taught the
extension of the scale to lower and upper G, 3-8 and 6-8 time; the dotted
quarter note, dotted eighth note, and the sixteenth note; the eighth rest;
the use of the sharp and flat as accidentals; the use of the natural; the use
of p, pp, ƒ, ff, mf; and to read by letter. Exercises and songs involving the
above shall be practised, as contained in the Young Singer, Part I.
Object Lessons.-In this grade classification is carried forward, and the
pupils are taught to form definitions. Adaptation to habitation and mode of
living is principally considered.
Animals.-Mammals: 1. Two-handed-man.
2. Four-handed-ape, monkey.
3. Flesh-eaters, feline—cat, lion, leopard, tiger, panther; canine—dog,
wolf, fox, jackal. Insect-eaters-bat, mole, hedgehog.
walrus.
4. Gnawers-rat, mouse, beaver, rabbit, squirrel.
5. Solid-hoofed animals-horse, zebra.
Amphibious-seal,
6. Cud-chewers-Cow, sheep, goat, deer, reindeer, camel.
7. Thick-skinned animals-elephant, hog, rhinoceros, hippopotamus.
Birds.-1. Raveners-eagle, owl, hawk, condor.
2. Perchers canary, nightingale, skylark, humming bird, mocking bird,
swallow, crow.
3. Scratchers-hen, turkey, dove, quail, pheasant, peacock, partridge.
4. Climbers-parrot, woodpecker.
5. Runners-ostrich.
6. Waders-heron, stork, ibis.
7. Swimmers-duck, goose, swan, pelican.
297
Iluman Physiology.
Use.
-
Qualities.
Adaptation of quality to use.
Skin
Flesh
S Fat
Body,
Muscles
Blood.
Head.
Bones Trunk.
Limbs.
Nerves.
J Qualities.
Use.
Note.-Call especial attention to teeth
and spinal column. Teach how to take
care of them.
A short, concise statement of the processes of digestion, circulation, and
respiration.
body.
NOTE.-Let every opportunity be used to impress lessons on care of the
Composition.-1. Pupils of this grade shall write descriptions of some
of the animals named in their object lesson course, comparing them with
each other, giving their natural locations, and their habits and uses.
2. They shall be taught to write letters, simple forms of promissory notes,
and bills of purchase and receipts.
3. They shall write descriptions of the pictures found in their text-books,
and of those furnished by the Board, and of a series of actions performed for
the purpose in their presence.
4. They shall, as often as once a month during the last half-year of their
course, write a composition, on a subject of their own choosing, from such
topics as flowers, fruits, the seasons, animals, places, sunlight, moonlight, &c.
Subjects with which they are personally acquainted to be preferred, for the
most part, to those they know about from reading and hearing only.
DIRECTIONS TO TEACHERS.
All full rooms in grade D shall be divided into two classes for study and
recitation in arithmetic, grammar, and geography, and the time allotted for
these branches shall be equally divided between the classes.
INTERMEDIATE SCHOOLS.
GRADE C.
Intermediate schools shall be composed of pupils received, upon examina-
tion, from grade D of the district schools, and no pupil shall be admitted or
transferred into such schools unless he or she be proficient in the course of
studies prescribed for the district schools. The principal of each school shall
keep a record of all the pupils examined by him in each study, with the
results of the examination, in a separate book, provided for that purpose by
the Board.
Studies.-Spelling, reading, punctuation, penmanship, drawing, arith-
metic, geography, composition, music, grammar, physics; German, when
desired by parents or guardians.
Books.—McGuffey's Fifth Reader; Ray's Second and Third Part Arith-
metics; Guyot's Common School Geography; Young Singer, Part I.;
298
Bartholomew's Drawing; Harvey's Grammar; Hotze's First Lessons in
Physics (for teachers only).
Spelling.— Pupils shall be taught to write at dictation sentences formed
from words in their reading lessons or lessons in geography; also sentences
formed from words in their composition course.
Reading. They shall be required to give a full and intelligent
explanation of the subject of the lesson, and the words used, and shall be
taught to read the lesson with fluency, distinctness, and suitable modula-
tion, and to render an oral abstract of the same as a whole. Thirty-five
selected lessons shall be required for spelling.
Punctuation. They shall be taught to name and explain the marks of
punctuation, and the rhetorical marks which occur in their reading lessons.
Penmanship.—They shall be taught to write with a pen, neatly and
legibly, words and sentences, from copy and at dictation.
Drawing.—They shall practise as directed by the teachers of drawing.
Arithmetic. They shall review D grade course; shall take all of simple
reduction, except troy weight, apothecaries' weight, cloth measure, and
circular measure, and shall finish common fractions of simple numbers, both
mentally and on the slate; they shall solve, mentally, problems similar to
to those in the first twenty-one sections of Ray's Arithmetic, Second Book.
Geography.-Selected portions of the text-book.
Composition.-1. Pupils of this grade shall be required to describe some-
thing made of, or requiring in its manufacture, iron, gold, silver, copper,
tin, India-rubber, wood, glass, marble, leather, wool, cotton, silk, hair,
paper.
2. They shall describe some object brought from or belonging to a farm,
garden, forest, mill, store, ship, dwelling-house, school-house, river, cave,
mountain, battle-field.
3. They shall write short compositions on vapour, fog, clouds, rain, hail,
thunderstorm, dew, frost, snow, ice.
4. They shall write descriptions of pictures, and of actions performed in
their presence.
5. They shall be taught to write letters, promissory notes, bills of
purchase, and receipts.
6. They shall write short biographical and historical sketches.
7. And, in a few special exercises, the correct use in composition of
capitals and italics, by underscore or otherwise; of parenthetical clauses,
quotations, and interlincations, and the proper marks for the same; and of
paragraphs and their uses.
Music. They shall review the principles, as laid down in D grade
course, and practise two-part exercises and songs in the keys of C, G, and
F major, and A minor.
Grammar.—They shall review the work of previous grades. They shall
also be taught the properties of verbs (voice, mode, number, and person), the
relative and interrogative pronouns.
A text-book may be used in this grade; the text-book and subject to be
completed in the next two higher grades. In all the grades, both of the
299
district and intermediate schools, particular attention shall be given to the
correction of false syntax, and to the construction of written sentences.
Physics.-
Cohesion
Solids.
Liquids.
Weight of solids.
Pressure of water.
Gravitation
Attraction
Pressure of the atmosphere; suction pump;
barometer.
Heat
Light
Ascent of liquids in tubes.
Capillary Sap in growing vegetables.
Sun.
Illustrated in the sponge, lamp-wick, sugar, &c.
Sources Combustion.
Friction.
Expansibility of bodies, illustrated in solids, liquids, and the air;
Thermometer.
Change of the form of bodies by heat; solids into liquids, and
liquids into gases.
Conducting power of bodies; radiation; clothing.
Application of principles; vapour, clouds, rain, thunder-storm,
hail, fog, dew, frost, snow, and ice.
Sources
The heavenly bodies.
Combustion.
Friction.
Refraction; glass (prism), water, air.
Convex lens (burning glass); the eye; spectacles.
Reflection; looking-glass.
Necessary to the growth and health of vegetables and animals.
The lessons are to be given in the simplest form possible, and, as far as
practicable, by the object method. They are not designed to be exhaustive of
the different subjects, but to present only their most general and obvious
features.
For recorded compositions teachers are to select their own topics from any
of the above.
GRADE B.
Studies. Reading, embracing spelling, defining, vocal culture, declama-
tion, and analysis of words; object lessons; mental and written arithmetic;
geography; English grammar, with exercises in the use of language; United
States history (maps shall be drawn, either as a whole, or in groups, of the
countries studied by the pupils); drawing; physics and composition ;
music and penmanship under the teachers of those branches; German, if
desired by parents or guardians.
Books.-McGuffey's Sixth Reader and Spelling Book; Ray's Second and
Third Arithmetic; Young Singer, Part II.; Young Singer's Manual; Harvey's
Grammar; Guyot's Common School Geography and Wall Maps; Anderson's
300
Grammar School History of the United States; Wurst's German Grammar;
Bartholomew's Drawing; Hotze's First Lessons in Physics (for teachers only).
Music.-Pupils in grade B shall carefully review the course of study in
music in the district schools, and practise exercises and songs in the Young
Singer's Manual, in the keys of C, G, F, D, and B flat. Singing in three
parts shall commence in this grade.
Composition.—1. Pupils of this grade shall describe some articlo or object
brought from England, France, China, South America, Greenland, Africa, &c.
2. The teacher shall form a list of objects, and require the pupils to
describe the processes by which such objects have become what they are—such
as a silk dress, a hat, a cup of coffee, a gold dollar, a book, &c.
3. They shall write compositions on their reading lessons, and on subjects
selected from their course in physics, and in history.
4. They shall also write compositions on pictures found in their text-
books, and on actions performed for the purpose in their presence.
5. They shall write short biographical and historical sketches. Pupils
shall be taught the force and effects of particles and connectives, to state facts
or truths in various ways-as general, specific, absolute or conditional, true
or false.
6. They shall be taught to write letters, promissory notes, bills of purchase,
and receipts. Teachers in the intermediate schools are allowed the use of
Murray's Exercises, to accompany the authorised text-books on the subject of
grammar.
Physics-
I.-Attraction.
Electrical; lightning.
Magnetic; magnetic needle.
II.-Motion, action and reaction, momentum, vibrations of water, of
chords, of resonant bodies.
III.-Sound; musical sounds.
IV.-Mechanical powers
Lever, wheel and axle.
Pulley.
Inclined plane, wedge.
Screw.
V.-Properties of Matter
(Indestructibility.
Inertia.
Extension.
Impenetrability.
Divisibility.
Density.
Porosity.
Compressibility.
Elasticity.
Conditions of Transfer.-Pupils passing to grade A must pass an
examination in spelling, in orthography and etymology, in grammar; on the
history of the United States to the opening of the revolutionary war; on
geography; on mental arithmetic to section 25, and to percentage in written
arithmetic; on composition, drawing, music, and physics.
GRADE A.
Studies.-Reading, including spelling, defining, analysis of words, vocal
culture, and declamation; object lessons; mental arithmetic, completed and
301
reviewed; written arithmetic, completed and reviewed; geography, completed
and reviewed; United States history; drawing; music; composition;
German, if desired by parents or guardians.
Books.-McGuffey's Sixth Reader and Spelling Book; Ray's Second and
Third Arithmetics; Metrical System of Weights and Measures; Young Singer,
Part II.; Young Singer's Manual; Harvey's Grammar; Guyot's Common
School Geography and Wall Maps; Anderson's Grammar School History of
the United States; Quackenbos's Aid to English Composition.
Music.-Pupils in this grade shall review the course laid down in B grade;
shall also study exercises and songs in the Young Singer's Manual, in all the
keys there laid down.
Penmanship.-Principals may, at their discretion, use the time now given
to penmanship, in whole or in part, for any other branch of study needing it,
taking care, however, that all written exercises shall be executed with due
regard to improvement in this branch.
Composition.-1. Pupils of this grade shall be required to write composi-
tions from their reading lessons, and to reproduce stories read to them or
told them by the teachers.
2. They shall be required to write a sketch of what they heard, saw,
read, or did yesterday, and of what they hope to do at some future time.
3. Pupils shall be required to translate the pictures and engravings
exhibited to them, for the purpose, into a written composition.
4. Pupils shall write descriptions of actions performed in their presence;
shall turn poetry into prose; shall be taught to write business letters, also
letters descriptive of places they have visited; and they shall write short
biographical sketches of some of the eminent men of our country.
5. They shall also write on subjects selected from their course in natural
science.
Gymnastics.-Shall be optional for the girls of both grades, at the
discretion of the principal of the school.
Spelling and Definitions, as a distinct branch of study, shall be omitted
from the course.
DIRECTIONS FOR TEACHERS.
History. The course of history in grades A or B shall be connected with
the study of reading, and consist of the reading by the classes of the text-
book in history in use, not to exceed two lessons per week. At each lesson
the pupils shall be questioned in brief review of the previous lesson. Teachers
are expected to make these lessons interesting, and pupils are required to
understand thoroughly what they read. Examinations in this subject are to
be of the most general character. The other reading lessons shall be in
the regular text-books in reading, and shall not exceed two recitations per
week.
Composition.—It is not designed that pupils shall write on all the
objects named for the different grades in the foregoing course. Teachers are
expected to exercise their own discretion in making selections from them.
They will be at liberty to substitute objects outside the course for some of
those named, whenever they may deem it to the advantage of their pupils to
302
1
do so. They shall be careful to select such objects, particularly in the lower
grades, as shall be attractive to pupils, and may be easily described.
In all the exercises the greatest care shall be taken to have all the
words used correctly spelled and their meaning understood.
The correction of mistakes in orthography and syntax, in all the grades,
shall be, as far as practicable, the work of the pupils themselves.
Teachers are especially to keep in mind that they are not, in any stage of
the foregoing course, to do the work of their pupils; and that the object of
the course is to train up thinkers, having forms of expression peculiarly their
own-not mere copyists of the thoughts and language of others.
In grades D, E, F, and G, the amount of time given to instruction in
this branch shall be so much as may be assigned it in the time-table. The
time given to it in grades A, B, and C shall be at least one hour per week.
Every pupil in whose grade composition is required to be taught shall
record neatly, uncorrected by others, and preserve for inspection at the
annual examination, at least one composition for each month of the school
year.
Grammar shall be taught practically in all the grades, in connection
with composition.
Moral Instruction.—Moral instruction must be given in all the grades
by the respective teachers, in such a manner as may be prescribed by the
principals.
303
COURSE OF STUDY AND TEXT-BOOKS
IN THE
GERMAN DEPARTMENT.
DISTRICT SCHOOLS.
GRADE H.-Object lessons and exercises in language, reading by sound,
spelling, writing, singing, and drawing.
GRADE G.-Object lessons and exercises in language, reading, spelling,
writing, grammar, singing, drawing.
GRADES F AND E.-Object lessons, reading and declamation, spelling,
writing, grammar, translation, composition, singing, and drawing.
GRADE D.-Reading and declamation, spelling, writing, grammar,
translation, and composition.
BOOKS.
The Board to furnish moveable letters for grade H, pictures of animals,
of tools, &c., for instruction in object lessons, and Mason's Music Charts.
The teachers shall use the exercises in Plate's German Grammar (parts first
and second), or similar ones, The pupils shall have uniform writing-books
in each grade, and the following Readers, viz. :—
GRADE G.-Lesebuch fuer Amerikanische Volksschulen, Part First.
GRADE F.-The same, Part Second.
GRADE E.-New German Third Reader.
GRADE D.-Germanus's Third Reader.
OBJECT LESSONS.
Same as in English.
READING.
GRADE H.-Reading by sound, with moveable letters.
GRADE G.-Through the First Reader.
GRADE F.-Through the Second Reader.
GRADE E.-Thirty-six of the easiest lessons in the Third Reader
GRADE D.-Twenty-four of the most difficult lessons in the Third
Reader.
304
SPELLING.
GRADE H.-They shall be taught by sound, by letter, and at dictation,
easy words and sentences, excluding words with silent letters.
GRADES F and G.-They shall be taught to spell any word, and to write
at dictation any sentence in their Reader, and to use correctly the capitals,
the period, and interrogation points. A gradual progress from easy to more
difficult words shall be observed, and the most important rules for the use
of silent letters in the long and short syllables shall be given.
GRADES E and D.-They shall review the rules for the use of silent
letters, and they shall be taught to spell any word, and to write at dictation
any sentence in their reading and object lessons, compositions, and transla-
tions, and to spell such words as are alike or similar in sound, but different in
orthography and signification.
PENMANSHIP.
GRADES G and H.-They shall be taught to write, in neat and legible
hand, on their slates, the letters and any of the words which they are required
to spell.
The three higher grades shall be taught to write, with a pen and ink, all
the small letters and capitals, and to combine them into words and sentences.
The teachers shall rule the slates, and teach their pupils to write the letters
according to the adopted system.
GRAMMAR.
GRADE G.-Exercises on the proper use of the definite and indefinite
articles; singular and plural numbers of the nouns.
GRADE F.-Declension of nouns, with definite and indefinite articles, to
be practised chiefly, in sentences; adjectives and their comparison; numerals;
personal pronouns; conjugation of the verb in the present and imperfect
tenses.
GRADE E.-Review; declension of nouns, with adjectives; pronouns
complete; conjugation of the verb in all the tenses except pluperfect and
future perfect tenses (active voice); exercises and verbs governing dative cases,
likewise with transitive verbs governing accusative cases; all the prepositions
except those governing the genitive case.
Formation of nouns (Plate II, pp. 5-9); formation of adjectives (ibid,
pp. 15-19).
GRADE D.-Thorough review of all the parts of grammar taught in the
lower grades; all the tenses in both voices, and all the modes except the sub-
junctive mode; the participles; prepositions governing the genitive case.
Formation of words, especially of verbs (Plate II, pp. 47-50), simple
sentence, and simple sentence with its modifiers.
COMPOSITION.
GRADE F.-During the second half of the year they shall be taught to
write, in short and easy sentences, descriptions of objects spoken of in their
object lessons, and a number of short and pleasing stories told by the teacher.
GRADE E.-They shall be taught to write descriptions of things and
305
animals spoken of in their object lessons, and a number of stories told by the
teacher.
GRADE D.—They shall be taught to write a number of descriptions,
stories, and letters, and to transform poems into prose.
TRANSLATION,
Translation in all the grades of the district schools is to be in constant
connection with the course of grammar and object lessons in each grade.
A pupil cannot be expected to translate connected sentences, as has
been the practice heretofore, before he has received instruction on the gram-
matical relation in which parts of speech may occur in sentences. This
instruction is given in the lessons in grammar, and the lessons in translation
will serve to practise the rules of grammar and to impress model sentences in
the memory of the pupils.
It is most essential that the pupils should remember certain model
sentences, with their correct translation, illustrating the rules of grammar of
their course; for instance, in the use of the article (grade G): der Januar
ist der erste, der Dezember ist der lezte Monat des Jahres — January is the
first, December is the last month of the year; iron is a metal-d a s Eiſen ist
ein Metall; &c.
The sentences are chiefly to be taken from Otto's German Grammar, and
from object lessons in grades H to E inclusive.
In addition to this, the teacher will teach the pupils the correct use of
the following words, which are so frequently used improperly by German-
American children :-
GRADE G.—Nouns: Baby, barrel, brick, bottle, box, butcher, carpet,
chimney, closet, dish, drawer, examination, example, frame, gas, gate,
grocer, grocery (Krämer, Kramladen), hall, lesson, line, match, Mr., Mrs., Miss,
note, pavement, pencil, pin, pitcher, poker, pork, position, railroad, rocking-
chair, row, section, shop, slate, slipper, steam, street-car, store, string,
teacher, tin-cup, vacation, yard.
Verbs: To call (nennen, heißen, rufen), to catch, cover, dress, fetch, fight,
fix, hurt, jump, kick, like, lock, mix, pull, push, rock, rub, step, use
(gebrauchen), whip.
Adjectives: Absent, clean, late, mad, nice, perfect, present, tardy.
GRADE F.-Nouns: Alley, band, bell, blacksmith, blot, blotting-paper,
broom, brush, bucket, button, car, ceiling, change, Christmas, cistern, copy-
book, cousin, cream, curl, curtain, furniture, harness, holiday, kindling, meal
(breakfast, dinner, supper), monitor, niece, noise, pass, penholder, pig, rope,
scarf, shutters, sponge, stairs, stove-pipe, umbrella.
Verbs: To ache, ask, beat, boil, care, change, copy, cure, hitch, hurry,
load, march, pass, pinch, poke, prove, put, rest, ride, ring, rise, rule, rush,
settle, shave, skate, show, shut, start, stitch, swing, tear, tease, touch, turn,
watch, wear, whistle.
Adjectives: Crooked, cross, purple, slippery, smart, straight, tight, tough.
Grade E. —Nouns : Addition (multiplication, &c.), awning, bale, ball,
barber, barber-shop, blanket, boulder, carriage, cart, company, crossing,
cupboard, curbstone, dray, factory, fair, friends (relatives), funeral, garbage,
X
306
grate, gutter, labourer, linen, mantel-piece, mechanic, merchant, merit, picture,
pistol, printer, race, race-track, reward, sewer, shelf, show, shower, sign, sum,
suspension-bridge, warehouse.
Verbs: To add (subtract, multiply, divide), allow, cheat, coax, crush,
dare, dry, dust, elect, erase, excuse, explain, finish, fool, fry, furnish, gain,
grumble, handle, haul, hollow, hop, like, mark, match, meddle, order (out),
pledge, pound, prepare, price, prove, punish, punch, quarrel, quit, save, spite,
spread, starch, sting, stoop, store, stretch, strike, string, stumble.
Adjectives: hieſig, heutig, gestrig n. s. m., &c.—a gold ring, an iron fork.
GRADE D.-Nouns : Accident, agent, auction, auctioneer, bank, bargain,
cash, complaint, college, counterfeit, dentist, depôt, election, engine, ferry,
ferry-boat, festival, job, lease, officer, painting, partner, party, police, premium,
prescription, press, procession, relations, relatives, rent, sale, society, surgeon,
wages.
Verbs: To bail (out); to be able, aware, bound to, convinced, in a hurry,
mistaken, obliged, opposed, ready, satisfied; to be (the child is to learn Ger-
man, Otto's Grammar, p. 88), to bear in mind, beg, complain, enter, favour,
gain, get, hand, happen; to have (to), hint, lecture, let (laſſen), make (he made
me do it), mind, offer, oblige, permit, please, propose, return, stay, turn (to),
use (to).
Adjectives: Adjectives denoting nationality (Otto, pp. 73 and 108).
In each grade the list of words may be completed at the discretion of the
teacher, who is expected to leave nothing undone to restrain and check the
pernicious practice of mixing the two languages.
As the pupils will remember fixed examples of the usage of language
much easier when they are given in the shape of poetry, it is desirable that
the pupils of all grades should learn suitable pieces of poetry by heart, and
that those parts of these pieces which have reference to the grammatical task
of the respective grades should be translated, and the translation remembered
as well as the original.
COURSE OF STUDY IN GERMAN DEPARTMENT.
INTERMEDIATE SCHOOLS.
STUDIES.
GRADES B AND C.-Reading, declamation, orthography, penmanship,
grammar, composition, translation.
GRADE A.-Reading, declamation, orthography, grammar, composi
tion, translation, an abstract of the History of German Literature.
BOOKS.
GRADE C.-Uniform writing books; Pagenstecher's Fourth Reader.
307
GRADES A AND B.-Grammar, Becker's Leitfaden (for teachers); Plate's
Praktische Deutsche Sprachlehre, Part II (for pupils); Hailman's Literary
Reader, also for Anglo-American pupils; Otto's Short Course in German and
Hailman's Reader, for beginners.
DIRECTION TO TEACHERS.
GRADE C.—Composition and Object Lessons.—Pupils shall be taught to
write a number of descriptions, stories, and letters, and to transform poems
into prose.
Reading.-Twenty-four Lessons.-Pupils shall review the rules for the
use of silent letters, and they shall be taught to spell any word, and to write
at dictation any sentence in their reading and object lessons, compositions
and translations, and to spell such words as are alike or similar in sound, but
different in orthography and signification.
Grammar.—They shall review the course of the district schools, and
shall be taught to analyse simple, compound, and complex sentences, and to
parse the words therein. In their translation they shall be taught the
similarities and differences of the English and German grammar.
Translation.-Lessons from their Reader.
GRADES A AND B.-Translations shall be made, in part, from the exercises
in Plate's Grammar. After the compositions have been corrected, the model
compositions prepared by the teachers are to be translated into English. In
the same manner the English compositions, after being corrected, shall be
translated into German from the model composition furnished by the English
teachers.
308
NEW CODE (1874).
Standards of Examination in English Elementary Schools, 1874.
Standard Standard
I.
II.
Standard Standard
III.
IV.
Standard
Standard
√.
VI.
ing.
Read- A short para-
graph from
a book used
in
the
school, not
A short para-
graph from
an elemen-
tary read-
ing book.
confined to
words of
one syllable
A short para-
graph from
a
more
advanced
reading
book.
A few lines
of poetry
selected by
the
spector.
in-
Writ- Copy in A sentence A sentence A sentence
ing.
manuscript
character a
lineof print,
and write
common
words.
from the
same book.
slowly read
once, and
then dic-
tated in sin-
from dic-
tation a few
gle words.
Arith- Simple addi-
metic. tion and
subtraction
multiplica-
slowly dic-
tated once
by a few
words at a
time, from
the same
book.
slowly dic-
tated once,
by a few
words at a
time, from
a reading
book.
A short ordi- To read with
nary para-
graph in a
newspaper,
or other
modern
narrative.
para- A
A short
graph in a
newspaper,
or 10 lines
of
verse,
slowly dic-
tated once
by a few
words at a
time.
fluency and
expression.
short
theme or
letter, or
an
easy
paraphrase.
Compound
sion and
compound
rules
(money).
rules (com-
mon
Practice and
bills
parcels.
Proportion
of
weights and
measures).
(i)
of numbers
of not more
than four
figures, and
the multi-
plication
table, to 6
times 12.
Subtraction, Long divi-
tion, and
short divi-
sion.
and frac-
tions (vul-
gar and
decimal).
1 The "weights and measures" taught in public elementary schools should be only such
as are really useful;-such as Avoirdupois Weight, Long Measure, Liquid Measure, Time
Table, Square and Cubical measures, and any measure which is connected with the industrial
occupations of the district.
This note applies to the codes of 1874 and 1875.
309
NEW CODE (1875).
Standards of Examination in English Elementary Schools, 1875.

Standard Standard Standard Standard Standard
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Standard
VI.
Read- To read a
ing.
short para-
graph from
a book not
confined to
words of
one syllable
To read with To read with
intelligence intelligence
a short
paragraph
from a more
advanced
reading
book.
a short
paragraph
from an
elementary
reading
book.
To read with
intelligence
a few lines
of poetry
selected by
the inspec-
tor, and to
Improved
reading; and
recitation
of not less
than
lines
Reading with
fluency and
expression;
and recita-
75
tion of not
of
less than
poetry.
50 lines of
memory 50
lines
poetry.
of
prose, or
100
poetry.
of
recite from
Writ- Copy in
ing. manuscript
character a
line of print,
on slates,
or in copy
books,
choice of
managers;
and write
from dicta-
tion a few
common
words.
at
Arith- Simple addi-
metic.
Gram-
mar,
Geo-
gra-
phy,
and
His-
tory.
tion and
subtraction
of numbers
of not more
than four
figures, and
the multi-
plication
table, to 6
times 12.
A sentence A sentence
from the
same book.
slowly read
once, and
then dic-
tated.
Copy books
(large
half- text)
to be shown
or
the
slowly dic-
tated once
from
same book.
Copy books
to be shown
(smallhand,
capital let-
ters, and
figures).
Subtraction, Long
multiplica-
tion, and
divi-
sion and
compound
rules (mo-
ney).
short divi-
sion.
N.B.-The passages for recitation may
be taken from one or more standard
authors previously approved by the in-
spector. Meaning and allusions to be
known, and if well known to atone for
deficiencies of memory.
Eight lines | Writing from A
slowly dic-
tated once
from a read-
ing book.
Copy books
to be shown
(improved
small hand).
memory the
substance
of a short
story read
out twice;
spelling,
grammar,
and hand-
writing to
be con-
sidered.
short
theme or
letter; the
composi-
tion, spell-
ing, gram-
mar, and
handwrit-
ing to be
considered.
Compound
rules
(common
weights and
measures).
Practice, bills Proportion,
of parcels,
vulgar and
and simple
proportion.
decimal
fractions.
(1.) To point (1.) To point (1.) Parsing (1.) Parsing,(1.) Parsing
out the
out
the
nouns in
nouns,
verbs, and
adjectives.
the passage
read.
(2.) Defini- (2.) Outlines
tions, points
of compass,
form and
motions of
earth, the
meaning of
a map.
of geogra-
phy of Eng-
land, with
special
knowledge
of the
county in
which the
school is
situated.
with analy-
of a simple
sentence.
"<
(2.) Outlines
of geogra-
phy of Great
Britain, Ire-
land, and
Colonies.
(3.) Outlines |
of History
of England
to Norman
Conquest.
""
sis of a
simple
sentence.
and analy-
sis of
а
short
"complex"
sentence.
(2.) Outlines | (2.) Outlines
of geogra-
phy of Eu-
rope-
physical
and political
of geogra-
phy of The
World.
(3.) Ontlines | (3.) Outlines
of History of History
of England
from
Nor-
man Con-
quest to
accession of
Henry VII.
of England
from Hen-
of
ry VII. to
death
George III.
THE "JOURNAL
""
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