propogated by a virtuous education of the rising
generation."
What said the father of his country, (Washington,)
in his Farewell Address. "We should
promote as an object of primary importance, institutions
for the diffusion of general knowledge."
Listen to the language of John Adams. "The
wisdom of the Legislature in making liberal ap-
propriations for the benefit of public schools,
is portentious of great and lasting good." What
said Jefferson? "That education is mostly to be
relied on for promoting the virtue, wisdom, and
happiness of the people." Chief Justice Marshall
said; "Intelligence is the basis of our indepen-
dence."
If these positions be true, and who can doubt,
is it not our imperative duty to carry out the
suggestions, and provide in our organic law for
the general culture of the mind? We feel the
greatest necessity of a different system from the
present in our country, and if the Convention
and Legislature refuse to remedy the defect, and
hope the people will take up the subject. We
have some three or four thousand dollars distrib-
uted annually by our commissioners throughout
our county for educational purposes, and I fear
but little good results therefrom. Mr. President,
upon the subsequent section of the bill, I will
give, my views more fully. I hope this section
Will pass without serious opposition.
Mr. DAVIS said:
That he would avail himself of the opportuni-
ty, to offer a few facts on this subject, in addition
to what had been just said by his friend, (Mr.
Smith,) from Allegany, for the serious consideration
of this Convention. He desired, in the first
place, to call the attention of the Convention to
the fact, that they had now acknowledged, for
the first time, that the people were sovereign.
and by their action, had said, that they were bet-
ter judges of the qualification for all civil officers
of the State, than either the Governor or Legis-
ture. It would appear by the last census, there
were fifteen thousand person, above the age of
twenty, who could neither read nor write. In
addition to this, there were almost as large a
number who could read, but could not write, and
a very large number who could read and write
but imperfectly. These were considerations he
thought worthy of the attention of every gentle-
man who valued the stability of our political institutions.
But there was still a higher consideration
which should control our action. It was
the duty of the Government to protect the chil-
dren of the State from vice and immorality. Infanticide
was punished with death, and yet they
suffered what was almost equivalent, and in some
instances worse than infanticide! They suffered
children to grow up in ignorance, poverty and
crime. The best and cheapest prevention for this
state of things, as shown elsewhere, was general
education diffused among the people. He refer-
red to what Pennsylvania had done. She had pro-
vide in her Constitution that "it should be the
duty of the Legislature to educate every poor
child in the State gratuitously," and he referred
to this State, because she had been slow to adopt |
a system of common school education. In 1835,
when the system of the State of Pennsylvania
first went into operation, there were in that
State, but 808 both male and female com-
mon school teachers, and 32,544 children who
attended them. It had been progressing year by
year until 1847, a period of only twelve years,
at which time the report he had terminated.
When the number of teachers had increased to
8,674, and the total number of scholars male and
female, was 331,967. The statistics of the city
of Philadelphia, which was not included in the
above, showed that since the adoption of this
system, the proportion of persons who had pass-
ed through her common schools, and had never
been inmates of either her jails, penitentiaris and
almshouses were very small, less than ten per
cent. He would not take up the time of the House
in multiplying these statistics. These facts
would be confirmed, had he time to refer to them
from every other portion of the world, where a
liberal system of education had been introduced.
One objection urged, was the expense of the
system. This is greatly magnified; but as the
gentleman from Queen Anne's (Mr. Grason,) very
properly stated, the other day, what good insti-
tutions could they have without expense; and is
not the general education and improvement of
the people worth some expense ? The States
north of us had instituted what they considered
essential to their system, and which had proved a
blessing rather than a burthen; namely, education
—Normal schools—which is provided for in
this bill, and which is to quality persons in the
State for the profession of teachers. They pro-
perly considered leaching as much a profession,
and requiring as thorough a training and preparation
as that of law or medicine, and thought it
their duty to provide for it. In Massachusetts,
three Normal schools cost the State but $6500,
but the State, or its citizens, were more than
trebly reimbursed by the sale of school books
alone, furnished by these teachers to the Southern
States, New York and Connecticut also have
each a Normal school, in growing and successful
operation. France has seventy-three.
One proposition of the committee was to have
a general superintendant of education. He
considered this as the foundation of the system,
and necessary lo place it in general and success-
ful operation. It had been said by some gentle-
men, that they had a good system in their counties;
other gentlemen had said that they had none, or
worse than none at all. In his own county he
knew it was a wretched system. Now, he de-
sired a common head, a general superintendant,
who would study the subject, and understand it,
and who would visit every part of the State, and
visit those counties which, as gentlemen had said,
have a perfect system, and carry the information
thus acquired into counties which had none, or
worse than none. This officer would thus make
up a general sentiment and feeling among the
people on the subject—it would then cease to be
looked upon as a burden. They had now no
system of books, no system of discipline all was
left to the whim and caprice of the schoolmaster |
