USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Acton > Town annual reports of Acton, Massachusetts 1879-1894 > Part 5
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Abel Cole, breaking roads, 1881, 134 75
James Kinsley, for use of highway for James Hurley, 8 00
Chas. D. Greggs, by order of the town for schools, 25 00
Treasurer of Littleton, for schooling children of Mr. Bulette and Mr. Littlefield, 34 10
Chas. Wheeler, breaking roads, 1881, 143 87
E. B. Forbush, 66 19 21
A. H. Kimball, road scraper, 170 00
Seth Clapp, for town pump, 10 00
Chas. W. Parker, for Decoration, 50 00
A. C. Handley, council fees on boun- ty question, 100 00
A. C. Handley, witness fees on boun- ty question, 63 40
I. W. Flagg, for tile for West Acton. sluice, 30 78
J. E. Cutter, abatement of taxes, 1880, 88 56 A. L. Tuttle, in part, for building road, 50 00
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Paid Luke Tuttle, journey to Winchester to procure fish, 5 00
A. H. Jones, labor, lumber and spikes Powder Mill bridge, 95 70
A. H. Jones, railing roads, lumber and iron, 52 92
E. F. Conant, land in South Acton, 15 00
Jerome Sawyer, reward, 100 00
A. H. Jones. laying wall in S. Acton, 7 25
Reuben L. Reed, decorating Town Hall. 11 17
J. E. Cutter. tax book,
2 00
advice,
2 00
66 66 posting warrants, 1880, 5 00
66
66 notifying town officers take the oath, 2 00
66 discount on taxes, 658 40
Julian Tuttle, care Town House and cellar, 43 31
66 care clock. 10 00
66
repairs on clock, 2 33
Phineas Wetherbee, committing An- drew Brella to asylum,
10 00
Wm. D. Tuttle, recording births, mar-
riages and deaths. 22 95
6
postage and returns, 3 12
express on documents, 1 40
66
66
journey to Boston, 1 50
66
6: surveying A. L Tut- tle's road. 4 75
66
6:
laying out lots in Woodlawn Cemetery, 3 50
66
journey to Boston re- specting record of soldiers, 1 20
$ 2,036 23
10
Receipts from February 26, 1881, to February 26, 1882.
Unexpended balance as per report of Feb. 26. 1881,
$ 3.680 10
Appropriations and receipts,
16 055 40
$19,735 50
Expenditures.
Support of Schools,
$3.340 00
Repairs on Town buildings,
150 75
Regular Highway work,
1.585 83
Support of Poor,
1.153 77
Town Debt,
5,999 43
Soldiers' Aid.
438 00
Interest on Notes,
478 60
Town Officers,
434 00
Printing,
84 25
Cemetery Expenses,
116 59
Miscellaneous,
2,036 23
State Tax,
1.080 00
County Tax,
542 70
$17.440 15
Bal. in Col. & Treas. hands, Feb. 26, 1882.
$2,295 35
Town Debt. Notes.
J. A. Piper, estate of,
$205 00
Mrs. J. K. Putney,
686 94
Luther Billings,
203 00
Luther Conant,
773 62
Frederick Rouillard,
2,101 16
D. J. Wetherbee,
595 41
$4,565 13
Amount due from Soldiers' Aid.
219 00
66
Collector & Treas. 2.295 35
$ 2.514 35
Balance against the town,
$ 2,050 78
D. J. WETHERBEE, JOHN WHITE, PHINEAS WETHERBEE
Selectmen of Acton.
ACTON, Feb. 26, 1882.
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TOWN CLERK'S REPORT FOR 1881.1
BIRTHS IN ACTON IN 1881.
No. Date of birth. Name of child. Names of parents.
1. Jan. 6, Walter B., son of Edwin C. and Hannah H. Parker.
2. Jan. 19, Jennie Purner, daughter of Aaron J. and Mary Eliza Fletcher.
3. Feb. 25, Ethel Louise, daughter of Chas. H. and Fannie A. Taylor.
4. Mar. 4, Daniel, son of Michael and Sarah McCarthy.
5. Mar. 6, Annie Louise, daughter of Jeremiah and Louise Lucius.
6. Mar. 23, Chas. Horace, son of Horace P. and Charlotte A. Potter.
7. April 2, Carrie Adelia. daughter of Hanson A. and Florence M. Littlefield.
8. April 7, Minnie Ethel, daughter of Willis L. and Julia A. Mead.
9. April 29. Ellen, daughter of Michael and Katie Des- mond.
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10. May 1, Mary Haskell, daughter of Frank B. and Anna E. Lothrop.
11. May 5, Sarah Ingham. daughter of Frank D. and Eliza- beth I. Rand.
12. May 19, Howard Lewis, son of Samuel, Jr .. and Emma E. Jones.
13. June 1, William Wilbur, son of George S. and Emma F. Jacobs.
14. June 13, Chas. Walton, son of George W. and Angie H Knowlton.
15. June 20, Nellie, daughter of John and Julia May.
16. July 2, Frederic William, son of George William and Alice R. Hunt.
j7. July 9 Hannah, daughter of Dennis and Hannah Bradley. 18. July 18, Harry Earle, son of Lorenzo U. and Clara E. Holt.
19. July 21, Walter, son of Michael and Frances R. Dono- van.
10. July 30, Massillon Warren, son of Cyrus L. and Mag- gie A. Angier.
21. Aug. 23, Harriet Barker, daughter of John and Elizabeth B. Davis.
22. Aug. 26, Mary Elizabeth daughter of Orenzo W. and Olive L. Penniman.
23. Sept. 8, Dennis Joseph, son of Dennis and Mary O'Con- nell.
24. Sept. 10, Hermon Lenzor, son of George and Abbie J. Hoar.
25. Sept. 28, Otis, son of Otis S. and Edith F. Small.
26. Oct. 21. Elaine Climena, daughter of James A. and Flora C. Symonds.
27. Oct. 22, Nettie Louise, daughter of George M. and Lucy N. Parker.
28. Nov. 5, George Henry, son of George and Mary A. Sears.
29. Nov. 9, William, son of John and Julia Quinlan.
30. Nov. 25, Samuel Elmore, son of Charles I. and Lucy E. Miller.
-31. Nov. 26, Jennie Etta, daughter of Moses A and Ellen A. Reed.
32. Dec. 23, Clarence Bernard, son of Thomas P. and Eliza J. Owens.
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MARRIAGES RECORDED IN ACTON IN 1881.
No. Date of Marriage.
Names and residences of parties.
1. Jan. 1, Mr. David Mason and Miss Alice M. Robbins, both of Concord.
2. Feb. 23, Mr. Chas. Barker of Acton, and Miss Clara A. Goward of Lowell.
3. Feb. 24, Mr. James M. Hendley and Mrs. Mary A. Wheeler, both of Acton.
4. Feb. 24, Mr. Stephen Waters of Harvard, and Miss Mary Berry of Acton.
5. April 17, Mr. Frank C. Robbins and Miss Hattie Young, both of Acton.
6. April 18, Mr. Otis S. Small and Miss Edith F. Reynolds, both of Acton.
7. May 18, Mr. Chas. B. Stone of Acton, and Miss Isabel D. Lewis of Stow.
8. June 7, Mr. Chas. W. Bradley and Miss Josephine E. Walker, both of Marlboro.
9. July 24, Mr. Eri S. Brooks and Miss Ada L. Barnard, both of Acton.
10. Aug. 3, Mr. William W. Davis of Acton, and Miss Abbie R. Worthley of Andover.
11. Sept. 4, Mr. William H. McGee and Miss Emma E. Moodey, both of Boston.
12. Sept. 6, Mr. Chas. P. Willis of Acton, and Miss Cora E. Willard of Nashua. N. H.
13. Sept. 24, Mr. Howard B. White of Acton, and Miss Bertha Sawtelle of West Townsend.
14. Oct. 4, Mr. John L. Wetherbee of Astoria, Oregon, and Miss Ida F. Wilder of Acton.
15. Nov. 16, Mr. George D. Conant of Acton, and Miss Margaret L. O'Neil of Concord.
16. Nov. 20, Mr. Jairus C. Wheeler of Acton, and Miss Alice M. Tibbetts of Concord.
17. Nov. 23, Mr. Osha Knowlton and Miss Nellie M. Han- dley, both of Acton.
18. Dec. 24. Mr. George Sumner Wright and Miss Emma A. Mead, both of Acton.
19. Dec. 25, Mr. George H. Smith and Miss Cora E. Dow, both of Acton.
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DEATHS REGISTERED IN ACTON IN 1881.
No. Date of Death.
Names and Ages of Deceased.
1. Jan. 3. Mrs. Susie A., wife of Eri S. Brooks, aged 20 vears, 10 months. 29 days.
> 2. Jan. 6, Mrs. Ruth C., wife of Joseph P. Reed, aged 73, years, 6 months, 17 days.
3. Jan. 20, Mrs. Betsey H Adams, aged 86 years, 9 months 11 days.
4. Feb. 10, Mrs. Elizabeth W. Blood, aged 78 years, 9 months, 22 days.
5. Feb. 18, Mrs. Sarah J., wife of Chas. D. Griggs, aged 30 years.
6. March 1, Mrs. Alice H. Munroe, aged 21 years. 7 months.
7. March 27, Miss Effie W. Allen, aged 16 years, 3 months, 16 days.
8. April 1, Mrs. Louisa R. Putnam. aged 77 years 3 months 20 days.
9. April 6, Mr. John Dakin. aged 76 years.
10 April 13, Mr. Hugh Gill. aged 47 years, 6 months.
11. April 23, Mr. Edwin Tuttle, aged 40 years, 6 months, 13 days.
12. May 8, Jacob H., son of Jacob and Martha Dockendorff, aged 2 years, 7 months, 14 days.
13. May 11, Mr. Nathan Brooks, aged 81 years, 5 months, 14 days.
14. June 12, Mr. Ashville Sears. aged 82 years.
15. July 24, Walter, son of Michael and Frances R. Dono- van, aged 3 days.
16. Aug. 4, Mr. Abel Forbush. aged 84 years, 8 months.
17. Aug. 12, Mr. Aaron Fletcher. aged 80 years, 7 months.
18. Aug. 15, Mrs. Susan. wife of Thomas P. Sawyer, aged 57 years, 11 months, 5 days.
19. Aug. 31, Mr. Benjamin F. Shattuck, aged 54 years.
20. Sept. 6, Mr. Luther H. Jones, aged 49 years.
21. Oct. 21, Mr. Michael J. Hannon, aged 21 years, 1 day.
22. Nov. 3, Mrs. Lydia Hyde, aged 79 yrs., 6 mos., 9 dys.
23. Nov. 15, Mrs. Mary Ann Sears, aged 19 yrs., 11 mos., 3 d.
24. Nov. 25, Mr. Jonathan A. Piper, aged 73 years, 6 months 27 days.
25. Dec. 2, Mrs. Bridget, wife of David Rynn, aged 62 years 3 months.
26. Dec. 31, Mr. James W. Wheeler, aged 69 yrs., 9 mos.
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NAMES OF PERSONS IN ACTON HAVING DOGS LICENSED IN 1881.
O. Ellsworth Houghton, Otis H. Forbush,
M. Augusta Hosmer, Willie F. Richardson,
Joseph Wheeler, Jona. K. W. Wetherbcc,
Theron F. Newton, Elnathan Jones, 2,
Tuttles, Jones & Wether- bee, 2,
Luther Conant,
George R. Keyes,
Daniel T. Moore,
Herman Chaplin,
Forbush & Hartwell,
Danie F. Hayward,
Francis Conant,
Chas. H. Handley,
Luke Tuttle,
Jairus C. Wheeler,
Jona. H. Barker,
Jeremy Austin,
Jerry H. McCarthy,
Chas. L. Beck, 2,
Joseph W. Wherren,
Louis E. Allen,
Chas. D. Griggs,
Daniel Harris,
Augustus Fletcher,
Cyrus Hay ward,
Lucius S. Hosmer,
Isaiah S. Leach,
Windsor Pratt,
E. F. Fuller, J. E. Harris,
Chas. Holton,
J. W. Randall, J. E. Reed,
Whitcomb & Knowlton,
Moses A. Reed,
Stephen White,
John Hanaford, Willis L. Mead,
George C. Wright,
James Baker,
Taylor Bros. & Co.,
Frank Pratt,
John R. Houghton,
Daniel McCarthy,
Francis Robbins.
82 Males, at $2.00, $164.00
7 Females, at $5.00 35.00
Total, 89
$199.00
Gustavus H. Waugh, Joseph F. Cole, George Pratt, 2, Mrs. Chas. H. Conant, Edward Wood, John Welch,
Chas. A. Harrington,
Solon A. Robbins,
James Tuttle,
Anson C. Piper,
G. H. S. Houghton, E. J. Robbins,
Henry Hanson,
Daniel Tuttle,
Henry Haynes, George H. Shapley,
John Kelley, Isaac Barker,
T. P. Owens, Constance O'Neal, Daniel Gallagher,
Lester N. Fletcher,
H. A. Littlefield,
Chas. H. Wheeler,
J. W. Aldrich,
John W. Charter, James W. Coburn, John Fletcher, George C. Conant,
A. Lucien Noyes, Moses Taylor,
WM. D. TUTTLE, Town Clerk.
ACTON, March 15, 1882.
Frank E. Harris,
George Conant, M. E. Taylor, Eri S. Brooks, Job W. Dupee,
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REPORT OF THE RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES
OF THE ALMSHOUSE IN ACTON, FOR THE YEAR ENDING APRIL 1, 1882.
ARTICLES ON HAND APRIL 1, 1882.
13 cows,
$ 585 00 | 7 lbs butter, $ 2 80
1 horse,
200 00
35 lbs. lard, 3 90
Oat fodder,
22 50
Boiled cider, 75
8 tons hay,
160 00
4 barrels Apples,
4 00
2 " shorts,
40 00
5 gallons soap,
62
2 bags grain,
2 80
2 cider barrels,
2 00
Cotton seed,
75
1-2 barrel flour,
4 12
Corn and oats,
1 50
20
2 shotes,
25 00
Rye meal,
38
Lot bags,
4 00
4 lbs. tea,
1 80
14 cords wood cut for use, 63 00
1 peck beans,
1 00
40 fowls,
20 00
17
75 barrels,
11 25
10 market boxes,
1 00
Yeast cakes,
17
1 market wagon,
112 00
Crackers,
50
33 bushels potatoes,
33 00
Soap,
35
12
66 small do.
3 00
Matches,
30
160 lbs. salt pork,
20 00
Kerosene oil,
20
75 6 ham,
10 50
40 gallons cider,
5 00
$ 1,345 13
RECEIPTS FROM TOWN FARM 1881-1882.
Received for calves,
$ 20 75 |Received for use of oxen, $ 75
cows,
118 00
old iron, 1 13
oxen,
155 00
board of Miss Carter, 26 80
old horse, 48 00
20 00
birch poles, 20 00
old wagon, milk,
902 02
pork, 33 21
poultry,
4 50
apples,
612 60
grapes,
90
$ 1,963 66
Eggs,
Salt, el
Spices,
62
17
EXPENSES.
Paid for sugar,
$ 26 10 | Paid for baskets,
56
molasses,
22 24
flour,
84 81
cheese,
11 18
tobacco,
1 50
butter,
58 15
onions,
1 10
beans,
7 20
starch,
71
neat's foot oil,
62
clothes pins,
19
yeast cakes,
49
pails,
44
salt,
2 54
room paper,
3 88
malt and hops,
70
1 keg,
1 25
soap,
8 85
rakes,
90
tea,
9 85
hoes,
96
crackers,
22 51
bean pot,
28
nutmegs,
88
rice,
90
clove.
26
vinegar,
57
whip and lash,
1 00
ginger,
28
cooking soda,
1 70
liniment,
45
cream tartar,
2 37
paregoric,
20
fish,
9 37
oat meal,
18
meat,
63 88
rye meal,
33
brooms,
1 82
pepper,
16
shoes,
2 15
lamp wicks,
05
castings,
57
raisins,
34
coffee,
52
saltpetre
08
snuff,
40
stove polish,
07
axle oil,
37
lantern globes, 50
spirits turpentine,
10
filing saws,
85
sponge,
42
repairing shoes and harnesses, 1 15
oil tank,
1 50
axe,
1 25
cattle cards,
24
zinc and nails,
3 71
white washing,
4 50
candles,
15
labor, .
148 00
kerosene oil,
4 74
pasturing cows, 32 25
chimneys,
69
COWS, 178 00 ·
matches,
55
oxen, 153 55
brush,
42
fly paper,
10
horse,
175 00
garden seeds, 1
14
cloth and clothing, 14 52
scythes 1 80
barrels, 49 50
whetstones, 59
use of cart, 2 00
Paris green, 30
use of market and
express wagon, 10 50
sulpher, 30
collar & sweat pad, 7 00 shavings, 40
shotes, 43 00
coffin, robe, &c., for Henry Jones, 16 00
18
Paid for market wagon, $112 00
use of bull, 3 50
smoking hams, 1 60 Dr. Sanders' bill, 10 25 board and nursing Mrs. Small, 47 15
Dr. Sanders, do. 8 00
express, 50
making cider, 1 844
killing hogs, 2 75
repairing pump, 1 48
J. E. Cutter, 40 00
rep. rigging,
10 00
expense marketing 12 86
stove, 30 00
Receipts,
1,963 66
Income less than Expenditures,
$ 322 57
Drawn from Treasury for Small,
$ 55 15
66 66
" use on Farm,
40 00
$ 95 15
Due from Treasury to balance account, Interest on Farm,
$ 240 00
Drawn from Treasury,
322 57
$ 562 57
Victualing 47 Tramps at 40 cents,
18 80
Cost of supporting poor on Farm,
$ 543 77
Whole number of persons, exclusive of tramps, supported in Almshouse, 9 ; average number, 6 ; present number, 5.
JOHN E. CUTTER,
OTIS H. FORBUSH.
LYMAN C. TAYLOR,
Paid for blacksmith's bill, $18 65 grain, 450 61
phosphate, 16 84
plaster, 2 25
seed potatoes, 4 00
grass seed, 4 65
lumber,
18 64
rep. sled & sleigh, 3 00 services of J. Aus- tin and wife, 250 00
O. H. Forbush, 15 00
L. C. Taylor, 10 00
$ 2,286 23
$ 227 42
Overseers of Poor.
ـو
REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF THE
TOWN OF ACTON,
FOR THE
SCHOOL YEAR 1881-82.
RAFI
ONI
-1735.
ACTON
ACTON: PRINTED AT THE OFFICE OF THE PATRIOT, SOUTH ACTON. '1882.
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" A boy is better unborn than untaught."-Gascoigne.
"Education alone can conduct us to that enjoyment which is at once best in quality and infinite in quantity."-Mann.
"Education is the only interest worthy the deep, controlling anxiety of the. thoughtful man."-Phillips.
"Do not then train boys to learning by force and harshness ; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be the better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each."-Plato, 300 B. C.
.
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
That the interest of our citizens in the schools may be brought into a condition of more complete sympathy with the best educational thought of the present, we will consider, at some length, in this report, the following topics : The true Aim of the Public School, The most effective methods of education, The importance of the most efficient school management and the need of the people's co- operation and support.
THE TRUE AIM OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL.
According to Webster "a school is an educational establish- ment." The office of the public school is to educate the children of all, without any expense to the parents, or guardians, as individuals. The true aim of these institutions is to educate the young. This being so the next question which we ought to consider is, What is education ? The word is from the Latin language and is from a verb which means to draw or lead out. It indicates the process of calling out, or unfolding the powers of those who are under its influence. Says the authority, quoted above, " Education implies not so much the communication of knowledge as the discipline of the intellect, the establishment of the principles and the regulation of the heart." Another good author says "The true purpose of education is to cherish and unfold the seed of immortality, already sown within us ; to develop to their fullest extent the capacities of every kind, with which the God who made us has endowed us."
According to these authorities, it is the true aim of the schools, as educational institutions, to call out the faculties of the young and properly stimulate and to direct them in their development so that there may be in them not only a vigorous physical growth, but, at the same time, a healthy growth of mental and moral power, which,
1
at the expiration of a certain time, will make them men and women, in the highest sense, well furnished with all the resources which they will need to enable them to act well their part in life, both for them- selves, and for the public good.
This being the evident object of the schools, the next question which we ought to consider is, How may these ends be accomplished ? What must these institutions attempt practically to do for those committed to their care ?
To answer this question, we may suppose a child at the age of five years, brought to the door of a school room and given into the care of a teacher to be educated by him, until he shall be of a suit- able age to take up the serious work of life. Now how shall the teacher determine what the measure of his responsibility is, in rela - tion to that child? What must he attempt to do for his ward, so that, if he fails in his life work, or, if his career is not a happy one, he may feel that the fault is not in his education ?
It seems to us that the only way by which the teacher can reach a satisfactory solution of this problem is to consider, what the child will need, as he shall stand upon the verge of manhood, in order to be reasonably sure of a successful life, and, theu to decide what of these qualifications must come to him from without, that is, aside from a merely natural development. and this will determine the extent of his own responsibility, as an educator, and in the same way may be ascertained the proper scope and method of any school.
A person's qualifications for success in life may be embraced under four heads : (a) a good physical organism (b) a mind well furnished with the most practical and suggestive elements of knowledge, (c) a set of well disciplined mental powers which will make independent thought and investigation possible and easy, and (d) correct habits and moral principles.
The space of this report will not permit us to indicate, in detail, the processes by which a true system of education will tend to secure to the pupils all these desirable ends. In this paper, we wish to im- ply more than the space permits us to express. Of course, the little child, as he stands at the door of the school room, lacks every quality which would secure to him power and success in life, and, strange as it may seem, almost every desirable acquisition must come to him from his education. It may be said that nature will give him a physical development, if he is properly provided with food and shelter. This may be true to a degree, but still it is the fact that, in this re- gard, education may have a most important office to perform. The nation which has a population of the best physique and of the great- est endurance is Germany, in whose schools, physical culture and instruction in the laws of hygiene occupy a prominent place. In the best school, much attention must be paid to the right development of
*
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the pupils' bodily powers so that he will be erect and graceful in his movements and have a good presence in every respect. As to the second qualification for success in life, viz. : the possession of the practical and suggestive essentials of knowledge, great care should be taken not only to secure these to the pupils but to do so in the best possible way that the knowledge may be not only practical, but really suggestive and stimulating. The American schools, of the past, have not underrated the importance of instilling the largest possible amount of knowledge, but by the methods which they have practiced to secure this essential to success, they have sacrificed the third requisite named above ; they have dwarfed the reasoning powers and made of the children's minds mere pockets for certain scraps of knowledge and, in their efforts to compel them to apply themselves to their mental tasks, they have resorted to such expe- dients, in the way of incentives, that they have done little for the pupils morals, so that only a small part of the true end of education has been accomplished in many schools.
All this being true, every one having at heart the highest inter- ests of the rising generation and of the state, ought to be ready to inquire,
WHAT ARE THE MOST EFFECTIVE METHODS OF EDUCATION ?
Space does not permit us, in attempting to answer this question, to enter into details. . Briftly stated, we would say that. the best methods are those which promote in a systematic and symmetrical way all the ends of education. There are in the minds of children natural and easy avenues of access, by which, stores of most useful information may be conveyed so that they will rest where they are placed. Knowledge, thus imparted, will be retained, not simply by a sheer strain of the memory, until the examination is over and then be gone, leaving in the minds only some shreds of information and a feeling of disgust for everything that pertains to the school, but it will be a permanent acquisition. The natural agents, for the com- munication of ideas to the minds of children, are the five senses. It is the province of these, from the very commencement of human life, to test the qualities of objects and to carry the impressions of them to the seat of reason, where they are duly considered and pass- ed upon, by the mind's highest power, and these decisions, are the facts which are the first possessions of the human soul. The natural method of infancy and childhood, in the acquisition of knowledge, furnishes us the clue to the best methods of education. A school conducted upon these principles may not be so brilliant in its seeming, immediate results, but, in the end, it will prove to be the best school even as regards the communication of facts and, in relation to the grand scope of education, it will be the only truly successful school.
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In the statements which we have just made and explained is to be found the underlying principle of the most approved methods of school management, at the present time. The system which the best educationists, not only of America but of any country, which lays claim to a progressive spirit, wish to see adopted is founded upon an intelligent view of the powers of the mind and therefore is rea- sonable and must, in the end, be generally received and practiced.
In our report for 1879-80, we indicated quite fully our ideas of the best methods of teaching all the branches, required to be taught in our common schools, and we will not take the space to repeat anything that we said in that report. In most of our schools, these principles have been quite fully carried out and the result has been so pleasing, both to parents and to pupils, that anything like the old methods will fail to satisfy the popular demand. We are willing
that the merits of the system shall be determined by its results, as pronounced upon by those who are in a position to know the facts in the case. Here and there is a person who objects to the advanced methods, on the score that they' are new. But this objection is founded upon a very grave mistake ; they are not new. They are as old as the human race and in these modern times they have been practiced upon the continent of Europe, for a period of more than a hundred years and with the most completely satisfactory results.
We have in our possession extracts from a report by M. Cuvier, on the schools of Holland, made to the French government in 1812, which contains descriptions of schools whose processes were almost identical with what are termed " the advanced methods" in America, to-day. M. Cuvier in speaking of this system as he saw it in operation, throughout the Netherlands, says " It is admirable and above all praise. " This is and has been, for years, the system of Germany, which is confessedly the best educated nation in the world: and, in our own land, its most essential ideas have been practiced for such a period of time that they are no longer experimental to any degree. But without occupying more space upon this topic I proceed to con- sider
THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR SCHOOL INTERESTS, AND OF THEIR EFFICIENT MANAGEMENT, AND THE NECESSITY THAT EXISTS FOR THE COR- DIAL CO-OPERATION AND HEARTY SUPPORT OF THE PEOPLE, THAT THE WISEST MEASURES MAY BE ADOPTED AND UNINTERRUPTEDLY CONTINUED.
The public schools are the people's most valuable possession, for, while they are continued and rightly conducted, they have it within their power to secure to their children a good education, which may be to them the key to wealth, to position and to every- thing, which man considers desirable in this life. For this reason,
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the mass of the people ought to take a keen interest in these institutions and to see to it that they are not only sustained for a certain num- ber of months, during the year, but that they are so managed, as to be abreast of the most intelligent thought of the times and fully equal to the best private institutes, which are accessible only to the children of the rich. In America every man is as good as his neigh- bor, so long as he shows himself a law-abiding and useful citizen and the best schools are none to good for the children of the poorest and most unfortunate men and women in the State.
But this matter of efficient schools touches not simply the homes that have children, but it affects the good name and even the property interests of the town. Who will venture to select, as his place of residence, a community whose schools have the reputation of being far behind the times? We are sure it is apparent to almost every one that good and efficient schools are a public necessity, but it ought also to be understood they cannot be secured and continued without the co-operation and support of the people.
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