HOW LEADING ARTICLES ARE MANUFACTURED. Chambers's Journal, New Zealand Herald, March 14, 1868. June 13, 1868.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXIV, Issue 3406, 16 June 1868, Page 3

HOW LEADING ARTICLES ARE MANUFACTURED. Chambers's Journal, New Zealand Herald, March 14, 1868. June 13, 1868.

COMPULSORY EDUOATIo> T. Asa consequence, we h.Tegr..wing up around us a mass of ignorance which ought in nowise to exist in a well-ordered community. The late t-xtensiou of the franchise adds to this melancholy stateof things an eagros3ing importance. Many thoughtful'men consider compulsory education «s the only remedy, They tell v* that, with our voluntary Bystam, we fall little short of the per - centage found in Prussia, where the compulsory system has been in operation many yeats. But, in the opiuion of others, and no iinall number, this [compulsion] is too much opposed to British ideas of freedom, So that the question in this case is not one of kind, but simply of degree. In a family suppos* Master Tom does not see the importance of going to school, and besides is under the impi essii»n that he will lose so much of play, parental authority ateps in and judges otherwise. * * Let then the Legislature step in, and, asaparent, determine, &c. Will the parents who now see that education is a tiUl necessity for their children, and therefore now send them to school —will such parents feel it a grievance t Ask the honest man if he feels the laws of the land against theft a wrong done to him, or an improper restraint on his actions. We know well that the law u regarded as an enemy by the thief, but not so by the nation at large. Those who now act rightly to their children and their country * * * will feel the law as no burden to them. But to the thoughtless and ignorant parent, whose systematic neglect of duty will be certainly interfered with by this new law, this compulsory measure will undoubtedly be unwelcome. In the Times of February 4, 1868, we read this statement, which is made by the superintendent of schools in Penniylvania : " The aggregate amount of money paid for school purposes in all the cities «nd counties of Pennsylvania during 1867 was 11,034,072 dollars."

THE QUtOTION OF EDUCATION". Wjs have neglected legislationin this nutter, aad, as a consequence, we have growing up amongst «s a mass of ignorance which, consi i*ring the great political privileges the conßtitutton of the colony grants to erery householder, threatens our future well-being as a nation. Whether, after all, the adoption of a system of compulsory education is not the euly remedy for such a state of things. And, a* to the matter of compulsory education, it « beinp seriously discussed at the present moment at h me whether the Prussian sjbtem should not be adopted. There is something that goea against the grain with Englishmen when compulsion is spoken ©f. It is too much opposed to British ideas of freedom. So that the question in this case becomes one not of kind, but simply of degree. J usfc as a wise parent insistß on his idly-div posed child attending jschool although it wishe* not, so a wise government —acting as parent—compels the apathetic neglectful father to send his children to tchool. That this would be no irksome rule may be fairly argued, inasmuch as those parents who acknowledge the necessity for education for their children would certainly not complain of it as a grievance. The honest man does not feel the law against theft a grievauce. The thief may do so, but the nation at large does not. Those only who would neglect the education of their children would feel a Compulsory Educatiou Law to be » grievance, The following statement, which we take from the Times of the 4th of February las', and whi-'h was made on the return of the superintendent <f schools in Pennsylvania, may serve to show the v*lue Americans set upon educ»tinn:~ " The aggre gate »mouoc of mout-y paid for Boh ol purposes in all the cities aud counties «f Pennsylvania during 1867 was 11,034,072 dollars "