Part 14 (1/2)
That education increases the productiveness of labor has been already conclusively established It has also been incidentally shown that e, valuable as it is to the laborer, is not the only advantage derived froood common school education, but that the better educated, as a class, possess a higher and better state of morals, and are more orderly and respectful in their deportment than the uninstructed; and that for those who possess the greatest share in the stock of worldly goods, theinsurance on their property would be, to contribute froh to sustain an efficient syste the wholeit a police more effective than peace officers or prisons If, then, _poverty is at once a cause and an effect of crime_, as is stated by a late writer,[44] who has made an extended survey of the relative state of instruction and social welfare in the leading nations of the world, it is directly inferable that education will, and, from the nature of the case, _ both pauperism and crime
[43] Quoted from the Report to the Secretary of State for the Ho of Pauper Children, London, 1841
[44] Fred Hill, author of National Education, whose testimony is quoted at the head of this article
This proposition is not received by a few individuals merely in coenerally adopted by enlightened practical educators and by liberal-minded capitalists of both hemispheres The views of several of our principal American manufacturers have been already presented Let us now direct our attention to the testi in some of the transatlantic states
William Fairbrain, Esq, the sole proprietor of a manufactory in Manchester, and part owner of another establishment in London, and who has between eleven and twelve hundred persons in his employ, remarks in relation to the habits of the educated and uneducated as follows: There is no doubt that the educated arethe hours of recreation, the younger portion of the educated work and -rooms, and avail themselves of the facilities afforded by libraries, by scientific lectures, and by lyceums The older of the more educated work and walking out with them The time of the uneducated classes is spent very differently, _and chiefly in the grosser sensual indulgences_ Mr Fairbrain has given his own ti classes, which furnishes the , and mensuration, and by lectures In these institutions liberal provision is very properly made, not only for the occupation of the leisure hours of the laborers themselves, and for their intellectual and social improvement, but for that of their wives and families, in order ”to make the home comfortable, and to minister to the household recreation and amusement: this is a point of viehich the education of the wives of laboring reat importance, that they may be rational companions for men”[45]
[45] See evidence taken by Edwin Chadwick, Esq, Secretary to the Poor-Law Commissioners, a quotation from whose report heads this article
Albert G Escher, Esq, one of the firm of Escher, Wyss, and Co, of Zurich, Switzerland, reht hundredestablishment at Zurich: we also employ about two hundred men in our cotton-mills there, and about five hundred men in our cotton manufactories in the Tyrol and in Italy I have occasionally had the control of fro operations as builders, land
After giving a list of the different countries fro the workence as ence i in relation to the influence of education upon the value of labor--where his testiland, already quoted--the saentleman makes a statement which is applicable to the subject under consideration
”_The better educated workuished by superior moral habits in every respect_ In the first place, they are entirely sober; they are discreet in their enjoyments, which are of a more rational and refined kind; they are more refined themselves, and they have a taste for much better society, which they approach respectfully, and consequently find much readier admittance to it; they cultivate music; they read; they enjoy the pleasures of scenery, and make parties for excursions into the country; they are economical, and their economy extends beyond their own purse to the stock of their master; they are consequently honest and trustworthy”
Scotland affords a very striking illustration of the power of education in di thethe wealth of a country Indeed, it would be difficult to find another instance in the history of nations of a country which has ress in the diminution of crime, the increase of public wealth, and the diffusion of coe--this re, has been concurrent with increased and increasing attention to the education of the people
At the beginning of the last century, Scotland swarabonds, who lived chiefly by stealing, and who often committed violent robberies and murders Of these pests to society it was estimated that there were not less than two hundred thousand Besides these, there were the h less tolerable robbers, such as the notorious Rob Roy, who razier does of driving from market a drove of oxen for which he has paid every shi+lling de aside of a sum sufficient for the education of his children is an object which a Scotch and settling in life, and at every future period; and it is to this habit, handed down from father to son, that the Scotch owe their morality One of their oriters says, ”we have scarcely any rural population who are not perfectly aware of the i toseen so the social andpauperis those who beco power, let us, for the purpose of beco more alive to its importance, consider the condition of a people where the n influence
Spain, which has been already referred to in illustration of the evils of ignorance, affords a striking illustration for our present purpose
Until after the lapse of one third of the present century, there was but ONE newspaper published in this country! ”Yes, one h which twelve or fourteen millions of people, spread over a vast territory, were to be supplied with information on the momentous affairs of their own country, and of the whole external world”--_National Education_, vol ii, p 136
”Theeducation in Spain was made in the year 1803, and it is believed that but little change has taken place since that ti education, exclusive of those brought up in convents and monasteries, was only one in every three hundred and forty-six of the population! M Jonnes estimates the population at about fourteen , as he does, that about the sa education as in 1803, he estimates the present number of children in school in the whole of Spain at nothis calculations, he shows that, if his data be correct, not oes to school He further states that the children thus favored are exclusively from the middle and upper classes”[46]--_National Education_, vol ii, p 130-1
[46] The writer would here remark, in reference to extracts , he has often, as in this case, left out parts of a paragraph, but never so as toSome ideas, not connected with the subject in hand, are oiven to the favored few is of a practical and useful kind,extract fro of the es, and universities, the creation of past times, but which still exist, he remarks, that ”these institutions were intended for a state of society which had nothing in common with that of the present day The kind of instruction afforded in they, has no connection with the interests and wants of the existing generation
”What every enlightened ratuitous education, extending to all classes, as well in the towns as in the rural districts Up to the present time, the people have received no other instruction than that offered by the clergy, which has had scarcely any other object than the perforious ceremonies”
In addition to what has been already stated, it may be remarked, that even with those who kno to read, ”books and study are almost out of the question, because, unless in the principal cities, public libraries are nowhere to be found, and private libraries are luxuries that few possess”
If education is conducive to virtue, and ignorance fosters crime, what norance is so prevalent! ”The a We have before us a return of convictions for the year 1826, fro this year is simply because we are unable to procure any return for a later one The nuland and Wales in the year 1826 was thirteen, and the nu, etc, with intent to kill, was fourteen
These nue That the horrible crime of murder should ever be perpetrated is a most melancholy fact; and that so many as thirteen murders should be committed in one year must fill the rief and shareat as this nunificance when compared with the number of murders perpetrated in Spain; for in that unhappy country, in the single year of 1826, the nuht of TWELVE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-THREE! in addition to which, there were seventeen hundred and seventy-three convictions on charges ofwith intent to kill, and sixteen hundred and twenty persons were convicted of robbery under aggravated circumstances We doubt not for an instant THIS Mass OF CRIME IS THE OFFSPRING OF IGNORANCE”--_National Education_, vol ii, p 144
It has been well reovernanized government is to be found in the strict execution of these laws ”Judging the Spanish governovernether Justice of no kind has any existence; there is the most lamentable insecurity of person and property; redress is never certain, because both judgment and the execution of the laws are left to men so inadequately paid that theyis so difficult as to bring ahim to execution: this, unless in Madrid and Catalonia, is impossible, for _money will always buy indemnity_
”I can state, upon certain inforences pay black ement was at first entered into with soentleman as present at the intervieeen the person eences and the representative of the banditti, I learned a few particulars The diligences in question were those between Madrid and Seville, and the sum offered for their protection was not objected to, but another difficulty was started 'I have nothing to say against the terotiator for the banditti, 'and I will at once insure you against being molested by robbers of consequence! but as for the _se like honor aences, however, were satisfied with the assurance of protection against the great robbers, and the treaty was concluded; but not long afterward one of the coaches was stopped and rifled by the petty thieves: this led to an arrangement which has ever since proved effectual; one of the chiefs accompanies the coach on its journey, and overawes, by his naree”--_Spain in_ 1830, vol i, p 2
A volureat insecurity of person and property in various parts of this unhappy country Even ”a woman who dares prosecute the murderer of her husband speedily receives a private intimation that effectually silences her; and it has not been uncommon for money to be put into the hands of an escrivano[47] previous to the commission of a murder, in order to insure the services and protection of a person so necessary to one who ure so largely in Spain, are the representatives of the lowest class of attorneys Nothing can be done without them, and they are not unfrequently al and writing Notwithstanding the miserable state of the rural districts, they contrive to make money, and her places in the state