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About The united American : a magazine of good citizenchip. (Portland, Or.) 1923-1927 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1922)
KtSttR THE WESTERN AMERICAN 18 Education and Citizenship October, 19221 gllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllltllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllffl (Continued from page 11) such gigantic problems, is any more truly tolerant than the America of 1830 which DeTocqueville scrutinized so In a word, the power of the state is like the power of the parent over the minor child; it is, if not limitless, at least paramount and practically irresist ible: and the state, like the parent, must religiously respect the individuality and personality of those over whom it rules with such predominant force. The wise and just state, like the Wise and just par ent, protects and fosters the individual ity of its members, for in the fullest realization of that individuality the state finds its owrr truest good. The state will hence reluct from force: it will never willingly use coercion except against the criminal, the traitorous, the hostile; above all, it will shrink from even the approach to coercion of men’s consciences, and will have recourse to that only in a time of great emergency, and then only after ex hausting every milder means. In any measure, then, which, in Burke’s words, “touches and grieves” any sec tion or group of' the commonwealth, the state should wisely consider and honestly decide first, whether an emergency exists which justifies so dras tic a policy; and second, whether the state has already used, and used in vain, all means of a more normal and concil iatory type; only when the proposed measure can meet both these tests should the dominant majority proceed to the use of coercion of the will and conscience of even a small body of its members. When we ask first for the number of children in private elementary schools we find that they probably constitute less than seven per. cent of . the total number, that is, over against 150,000 in the public schools, there are probably less than 10,000 in private schools. (It must be remembered that pupils beyond the eighth grade are not affected by the new measure in any way; it must be remem bered also that a small, yet definite num ber, of children are counted in the pri vate school enrollment who would not be in school at all unless the private school were onen to them.) We may ask next whether the future citizenship of the pupils in these private elementary schools is menaced; are they becoming less intelligent, less moral, less law-abiding, less loyal, less truly Amer ican, through their education in the pri vate school? In answer to this question we must not accept any mere opinion, still less can we be guided by prejudice, even though it be our'own! In simple justice facts' ftiust be put in evidence in support of so grave an indictment. If such facts exist it is the bounden duty of those who know them to see that they come to the knowledge of the electorate, who must so soon pass verdict upon this measure. Until such facts are available it would seem that we must at least sus pend our judgement. As an ardent Americanist, I must con- Place Your Orders | State Monopoly of Schools would Cost— | | In taxes— | Over $1,000,000 a year for operation I | Over $3,000,000 for buildings and grounds I npHE first cost of state monopoly of schools would be something over three million dollars for new buildings and grounds. We would have to pay a yearly tax of over one million dollars for operation in addition to what we are paying now. They propose that Oregonians pay this bill for “Real Americanism.” But it is not Americanism to take away the right of the parent to control the education of the child. They propose that we pay this bill to have “Com pulsory School.” But we actually have compulsory school right now under the present law. Be not deceived. What this burden of added taxes will go for is an experiment in education along com munistic lines — the substitution of state monopoly in education for parental guidance. Russia is trying this experiment. Let us profit by her failure. Let us maintain our democracy and save millions of dollars. | Vote NO on the | School Monopoly Bill I | Called on the Ballot COMPULSORY EDUCATION BILL | j This advertisement is paid for by the Non-Sectarian and Pro- i testant Schools Committee. iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiM With The Western American Advertisers—and Tell Them Why |