Part 11 (1/2)

In January, 1833, the House of Representatives, under an order introduced by Mr Marsh, of Dalton, appointed a co a portion of the proceeds of the sales of the lands of this commonwealth in a permanent fund, the interest of which should be annually applied, as the Legislature should froement of common schools” The adoption of this order was the incipient measure that led to the establishment of the Massachusetts School Fund On the twenty-third of the same month, Mr Marsh submitted the report of the committee The committee acted upon the expectation that all moneys then in the treasury derived from the sale of public lands, and the entire proceeds of all subsequent sales, were to be set apart as a fund for the encouragement of common schools; but, as blanks were left in the bill reported, they seeislature The cash and notes on hand amounted to 234,41832, and three and a half millions of acres of land unsold amounted, at the estimated price of forty cents per acre, to 1,400,000 ether a fund with a capital of 1,634,41832 The income was estimated at 98,06509 It was also stated that there were 140,000 children in the state between the ages of five and fifteen years, and it was therefore expected that the income of the fund would permit a distribution to the towns of seventy cents for each child between the afore-naes This certainly was a liberal expectation, compared with the results that have been attained The distributive share of each child has amounted to only about one-third of the sum then contemplated The committee were careful to say, ”It is not intended, in establishi+ng a school fund, to relieve towns and parents from the principal expense of education; but to y, and stability to, institutions essential to individual happiness and the public welfare” In conclusion, the coestions:

”Should not our couardians? Shall we not adopt rateful alliance, the youth to the governors of the commonwealth? We consider the application, annually, of the interest of the proposed fund, as the establishislature and the schools; as each representative can carry ho back froratitude and proficiency They will then cheerfully render all such inforislature may desire A new spirit would aniht hope the ive the schools consequence and character, and would correct and elevate the standard of education

”Therefore, to preserve the purity, extend the usefulness, and perpetuate the benefits of intelligence, we recommend that a fund be constituted, and the distribution of the income so ordered as to open a direct andthat by this measure their wants would be better understood and supplied, the advantages of education s of wisdoe, carried home to the fireside of every family, to the bosom of every child” The bill reported by this committee was read twice, and then, upon Mr Marsh's islature

In 1834, the bill from the files of the last General Court to establish the Massachusetts School Fund, and so much of the petition of the inhabitants of Seekonk as related to the same subject, were referred to the Committee on Education

In the month of February, Hon A D Foster, of Worcester, chairman of the committee, made a report, and submitted a bill which was the basis of the law of March 31, 1834 The co a fund for the encourageuishi+ng for support, and in a great degree destitute of the public syovernment and the schools, and in some sections towns and districts had set theainst all interference by the state In 1832, an effort was made to ascertain the amount raised for the support of schools Returns were received froe expenditure of one dollar and ninety-eight cents for each pupil

The interest in this subject does not seeislature, nor even to have originated there The report of the committee contains an extract froe, then editor of the _American Annals of Education and Instruction_ His vieere adopted by the committee, and they corresponded with those which have been already quoted The dangers of a large fund were presented, and the example of Connecticut, and some states of the West, where school funds had diminished rather than increased the public interest in education, was tendered as a warning against a too liberal appropriation of public e claie efforts rather than supply all wants, and, without sustaining the schools, give aid to the people in proportion to their own contributions, was a measure indispensable to the cause of education He also referred to the experience of New Jersey, which had eneral appropriation to be paid to those towns that should contribute for the support of their own schools; but, such was the public indifference, that after many years the money was still in the treasury Hence it was inferred that all these measures were ineffectual, and that mere taxation was, upon the whole, to be preferred to any imperfect system

But the example of New York was approved, where the distribution of a small sum, equal to about twenty cents for each pupil, had increased the public interest, and wrought what then seemed to be an effectual and permanent revolution in educational affairs These facts and reasonings, say the committee, seem to be important and sound, and to result in this,--that no provision ought to be made which shall diminish the present amount of money raised by taxes for the schools, or the interest felt by the people in their prosperity; that a fund may be so used as satisfactorily to increase both--and that further inforard to our schools is requisite to deter this

These opinions are supported generally by the judgeneration Yet it is to be remarked, by way of partial dissent, that the public apathy in Connecticut and the states of the West was not in a great degree the effect of the funds, but was rather a coexisting, independent fact It ought not, therefore, to have been expected that the mere offer of money for educational purposes, while the people had no just idea of the importance of education or of the means by which it could be acquired, would lead them even to accept the proffered boon; and it certainly, in their judgment, furnished no reason for self-taxation It is, however, no doubt true that the power of local taxation for the support of schools is in its exercise ainterest in education; and it is reasonable to assuorous and efficient at all tiht of local taxation does not exist or is not exercised When the entire expenditure is derived from the income of public funds, or obtained by a universal tax, and the proceeds distributed aeneral conditions of public sentiment unfavorable, if not hostile, to schools; and, there will always be found in any state, however sifts, donations, and distributions, comparatively valueless The subject of self-taxation annually is important in connection with a system of free education It is the experience of the states of this country that the people theenerous in the use of this power than are their representatives; and it is also true that when the power has been exercised by the people, there is usually ard toadequate returns The private conversations and public debates often arouse an interest which would never have been manifested had the means of education been furnished by a fund, or been distributed as the proceeds of a general tax assessed by the government of the state

I have no doubt that much of our success is due to the fact that in all the towns the question of taxation is annually submitted to the people

It is quite certain that the sum of our municipal appropriations never could have been increased from 387,12417, in 1837, to 1,341,25203, in 1858, without the influence of the statistical tables that are appended to the Annual Reports of the Board of Education; and it is also true that the materials for these tables could not have been secured without the agency of the school fund Our experience as a state confirms the wisdom of the reports of 1833 and 1834; and I unreservedly concur in the opinion that a fund ought not to be sufficient for the support of schools, but that such a fund is needed to give encouragement to the towns, to stimulate the people to make adequate local appropriations, to secure accurate and complete returns fro teachers, and for defraying the necessary expenses of the educational depart the school fund, was reenacted in the Revised Statutes (chap 11, sects 13 and 14) The Revised Statutes (chap 23, sects 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, and 67) also required that returns should be made, each year, from all the towns of the commonwealth, of the condition of the schools in various important particulars The inco the towns that had raised, the preceding year, the sum of one dollar by taxation for each pupil, and had complied with the laws in other respects; and it was to be distributed according to the nues of four and sixteen years These provisions have since been frequently and variously modified; but at all times the state has imposed similar conditions upon the towns By the statute of 1839, chapter 56, the inco those towns that had raised by taxation for the support of schools the sum of one dollar and twenty-five cents for each person between the ages of four and sixteen years; and, by the law of 1849, chapter 117, the inco those tohich had raised by taxation the sum of one dollar and fifty cents for the education of each person between the ages of five and fifteen years This provision is now in force By an act of the Legislature, passed April 15th, 1846, it was provided that all sums of money which should thereafter be drawn from the treasury, for educational purposes, should be considered as a charge upon the moiety of the proceeds of the sales of the public lands set apart for the purpose of constituting a school fund This provision continued in force until the reorganization of the fund, in 1854 By the law of that year (chap 300), it was provided that one half of the annual inco the towns according to the then existing provisions of law, and that the educational expenses before referred to should be chargeable to and paid from the other half of the income of said fund These provisions are now in force

The li the fund, and of the Revised Statutes, was removed by the law of 1851, chapter 112, and the amount of the fund was then fixed at one million and five hundred thousand dollars By the act of 1854 the principal was limited to two millions of dollars The Constitutional Convention of 1853 had, with great unaniislature to provide for the increase of the school fund to the suh the proposed constitution was rejected by the people, the provision concerning the fund was generally, if not universally, acceptable Under these circuislature of 1854 may be said to have acted in conformity to the known opinion and purpose of the state

On the 1st of June, 1858, the principal of the fund was 1,522,89841, including the su that date In this statehts of the school fund in the Western Railroad Loan Sinking Fund

It may be observed that the committee of 1833 contemplated the establishment of a fund, with a capital of 1,634,41832, and yet, after twenty-five years, the Massachusetts School Fund amounts to only 1,522,89841 Its present means of increase are limited to the excess of one-half of the annual income over the current educational expenses

The increase for the year 1856-7 was 4,14290; and for the year 1857-8, 1,84368 With this resource only, and at this rate of increase, about one hundred and sixty years will be required for the augmentation of the capital to thelaws But the educational wants of the state are such that even this scanty supply nitude of the proposition for the considerable and speedy increase of the school fund, that its necessity, if possible, or its utility, at least, should be satisfactorily demonstrated; and it is for this purpose that I have already presented a brief sketch of its history in connection with the legislation of the commonwealth, and that I now proceed to set forth its relations to the practical work of public instruction

When the fund was instituted, public senti The islature lent new i, inspired its advocates with additional zeal, gave efficiency to previous and subsequent legislation, and, as though there had been a new creation, evoked order out of chaos

Previous to 1834 there was no trustworthy infor the schools of the state The law of 1826, chapter 143, section 8, required each town to make a report to the Secretary of the Commonwealth, of the aate number of months that the schools of each city and toere kept, the number of male and female teachers, the whole number of pupils, the number of private schools and academies and the number of pupils therein, the amount of compensation paid to the instructors of private schools and acadees of fourteen and twenty-one years ere unable to read and write The Legislature did not provide a penalty for neglect of this provision, nor does there see obedience The Secretary of the Commonwealth sent out blank forms of returns, and replies were received froht were entirely silent

The returns received furnish a series of interesting facts for the year 1826 There were one thousand seven hundred and twenty-six district schools, supported at an expense of two hundred and twenty-six thousand two hundred and nineteen dollars and ninety cents (226,21990), while there were nine hundred and fifty-three academies and private schools maintained at a cost of 192,45510 The whole nu public schools was 117,186, and the number educated in private schools and academies was 25,083 The expense, therefore, was 767 per pupil in the private schools, and only 193 each in the public schools These facts are indicative of the condition of public sentiment About one-sixth of the children of the state were educated in academies and private schools, at a cost equal to about six-sevenths of the a five-sixths, who attended the public schools The returns also showed that there were 2,974 children between the ages of seven and fourteen years who did not attend school, and 530 persons over fourteen years of age ere unable to read and write The incompleteness of these returns detracts froreatest interest existed were islature, it is probable that the actual condition of the whole state was below that of the two hundred and eighty-eight towns The interest which the law of 1826 had called forth was temporary; and in March, 1832, the Committee on Education, to as referred an order with instructions to inquire into the expediency of providing a fund to furnish, in certain cases, common schools with apparatus, books, and such other aid as may be necessary to raise the standard of common school education, say that they desire e than could then be obtained The returns required by laere in lected, and in others they were inaccurately hty-six towns In order to obtain the desired inforislature The report of the committee was printed in all the newspapers that published the laws of the commonwealth, and the Secretary was directed to prepare and present to the Legislature an abstract of the returns which should be received from the several towns for the year 1832 The result of this extraordinary effort was seen in returns from only ninety-nine of three hundred and five towns, and even a large part of these were confessedly inaccurate or incomplete They present, however, so table, prepared fro and cost of public and private schools in a part of the principal towns It appears that the towns na rather more than two-thirds of their children in the public schools, at an expense of 288 each, and nearly one-third in private schools, at a cost of 1270 each, and that the total expenditure for public instruction was about thirty-six per cent of the outlay for educational purposes

Colu the year

B - Whole No of Pupils in the Public Schools in the course of the yr

C - Number of Academies and Private Schools

D - Number of Pupils in Acade Public Schools

E -Estimated amount of compensation of Instructors of Academies and Private Schools

==============+============+========+=====+=======+============ TOWNS | A | B | C | D | E --------------+------------+--------+-----+-------+------------ Beverly, | 1,800 00 | 580 | 28 | 490 | 2,365 33 Bradford, | 750 00 | 600 | 9 | 177 | 1,725 00 Danvers, | 2,000 00 | 873 | 6 | 150 | 1,500 00 Marblehead, | 2,200 00 | 650 | 31 | 650 | 3,800 00 Cae, | 8,600 00 | 970 | 16 | 441 | 5,782 00 Medford, | 1,200 00 | 284 | 6 | 151 | 2,372 00 Newton, | 1,600 00 | 542 | 3 | 100 | 2,975 00 Afield, | 3,600 00 | 1,957 | 4 | 800 | 2,500 00 Greenfield, | 633 75 | 216 | 2 | 65 | 1,400 00 Dorchester, | 2,599 00 | 613 | 15 | 124 | 1,800 00 Quincy, | 1,800 00 | 465 | 7 | 106 | 2,741 50 Roxbury, | 4,450 00 | 836 | 12 | 313 | 8,218 00 New Bedford, | 4,000 00 | 1,268 | 15 | 537 | 6,300 00 Hingham, | 2,144 00 | 703 | 8 | 180 | 2,625 00 Provincetown, | 584 32 | 450 | 4 | 140 | 800 00 Edgartown, | 450 00 | 350 | 10 | 100 | 2,700 00 Nantucket, | 2,633,40 | 882 | 50 | 1,084 | 10,795 00 |------------|--------|-----|-------+------------ 18 Towns, | 36,894 47 | 12,795 | 228 | 5,378 | 64,948 83 ==============+============+========+=====+=======+============

The evidence is sufficient that the public schools were in a deplorable and apparently hopeless condition

The change that has been effected in the eighteen towns na table with the one already given In 1832, 64 per cent of the amount paid for education was expended in academies and private schools, while in 1858 only 24 per cent was so expended In the same period the amount raised for public schools increased from less than thirty-seven thousand dollars to more than two hundred and fifty-nine thousand dollars At the first period, the attendance of pupils upon academies and private schools was nearly 30 per cent of the whole number, while in 1858 it was only 8 per cent The private schools of some of these toere established recently, and are sustained in a degree by pupils who are not inhabitants of the state, but who have co the culture which our teachers and schools, private as well as public, are able to furnish If, as seen pupils was less in 1832 than in 1858, the decrease of pupils in private schools would be greater than is indicated by the tables The cost of education, as it appears by this table, is rather more than thirty dollars per pupil in the private schools, and only eight dollars and forty-nine cents in the public schools In the following table, Bradford includes Groveland, Danvers includes South Danvers, Springfield includes Chicopee, and Roxbury includes West Roxbury This is rendered necessary for the purposes of comparison, as Groveland, South Danvers, Chicopee, and West Roxbury, have been incorporated since 1832

Colus: A - A tax, income of Surplus Revenue, and of State School Fund, when such income is appropriated for such schools, and exclusive of sums paid for school-houses

B - Whole No of pupils attending Public Schools in 1857-8--the largest No returned as in attendance during any one term