governments of law, it is undertaken at the public charge. Offences are
not individual merely; they are against society also, inasmuch as it is
the right of society that all its members shall behave themselves well.
And, if it is the right of society that its members shall behave
themselves well, is it not the duty of society to so provide for their
education that each individual part may meet the demand which the whole
body asserts? And, further, as a majority of persons cannot individually
provide for their own protection, it is the duty of society, or the
state, or the government, to furnish the needed protection in the most
economical and effective manner possible. The state has no moral right
to jeopard property, life, and reputation, when, by a different policy,
all these might be secure; nor has the state a moral right to make the
security furnished, whether perfect or not, unnecessarily expensive. It
is the dictate of reason and the experience of governments that the most
effectual method of repressing crime is to diminish the number of
criminals; and, though punitive measures may accomplish something, our
chief reliance must be upon the education and training of children and
youth. The facts drawn from the experience of England and Scotland,
which have been quoted, lead to the conclusion that schools diminish the
number of criminals, and consequently lessen the amount of crime; but I
think it proper to add some extracts from a communication made, in
August, 1856, by Mr. Dunne, chief constable of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, to
the Secretary of the National Reformatory Union.[2]
"I know, from my own personal knowledge and observation, that, since
parental responsibility has been enforced in the district, under the
direction of the Secretary of State, the number of juvenile criminals in
the custody of the police has decreased one-half. I know that many of
the parents, who were in the habit of sending their children into the
streets for the purposes of stealing, begging, and plunder, have quite
discontinued that practice, and several of the children so used, and
brought up as thieves and mendicants, are now at some of the free
schools of the town; others are at work, and thereby obtain an honest
livelihood; and, so far as I can ascertain, they seem to be thoroughly
altered, and appear likely to become good and honest members of society.
I have, for my own information, conversed with some of the boys so
altered, and, during the conversation I had with them, they declared
that they derived the greatest happiness and satisfaction from their
change in life. I don't at all doubt the truth of these statements, for
their evident improvement and individual circumstances fully bear them
out; and I believe them to be really serious in all they say, and truly
anxious to become honest and respectable. I attribute, in a great
measure, this salutary change to the effects arising in many respects
from the establishment of reformatory schools; but I have more
particularly found that greater advantages have emanated from those
institutions since the parents of the children confined in them have
been made to pay contributions to their maintenance; for it appears
beyond doubt that the effect of the latter has been to induce the
parents of other young criminals to withdraw them from the streets, and,
instead of using them for the purposes of crime, they seem to take an
interest in their welfare. And I know that many of them are now really
anxious to get such employment for their children as will enable them to
obtain a livelihood; and it is my opinion that the example thus set to
older and more desperate criminals, belonging in many instances to the
same family as the juvenile thief, has had the effect of reforming them
also; for many of them have left off their course of crime, and are now
living by honest labor. The result is that serious crime has
considerably decreased in this district, so much so that there were only
six cases for trial at the assizes, whereas, at the previous assizes,
the average number of cases was from twenty-five to thirty, which fact
was made the subject of much comment and congratulation by Mr. Justice
Willes, the presiding judge."
These remarks relate chiefly to the reformatory schools, but we know
that the prevention of crime by education is much easier than its
reformation by the same means. Indeed, it is the result of the
experience of Massachusetts that the necessity for reform schools has in
a large degree arisen from neglect of the public schools. It is stated
in the Tenth Annual Report of the Chaplain of the State Reform School
that of nineteen hundred and nine boys admitted since the establishment
of the institution, thirteen hundred and thirty-four are known to have
been truants. It is also quite probable that the number reported as
truants is really less than the facts warrant. It may not be out of
place to suggest, in this connection, that when a boy sentenced to the
Reform School is known to have been guilty of truancy, if the parents
were subjected to some additional burdens on that account, the cause of
education would be promoted, and the number of criminals in the
community would be diminished. From the views and facts presented, as
well as from the daily observation and experience of men, I assume that
ignorance is the ally of crime, and that education is favorable to
virtue. It is also the result of experience and the dictate of reason
that general taxation is the only means by which universal education can
be secured. All other plans and theories will prove partial in their
application. If, then, it is the duty of the state to protect itself
against crime, and of course to diminish the number of criminals; if
education is the most efficient means for securing these results; if
this education must be universal in order to be thoroughly effective; if
the state is the only agent or instrumentality of sufficient power to
establish schools and furnish education for all; and if general taxation
is the only means which the state itself can command, is not every
inhabitant justly required and morally bound to contribute to the
support of a system of public instruction?
It will not necessarily happen that public schools will furnish to every
child and youth the desired amount of education. Professional schools,
classical schools, and academies of various grades, will be continued;
but there is an amount of intellectual and moral training needed by
every child which can be best given in the public school. This training
in the public schools ought to be carried much further than it usually
is. In the city of Newburyport, as I have been informed, there are no
exceptions to the custom of educating all the children of the town in
the public schools up to the moment when young men enter college. In
large towns and cities there is no excuse for the existence of private
schools to do the work now done in such schools as those of Newburyport
and other places where equal educational privileges exist.
The chief objection brought against the public school, touching its
morality, is derived from the fact that children who are subject to
proper moral influences at home are brought in contact with others who
are already practised in juvenile vices, if they have not been guilty of
petty crimes. I am happy to believe that this statement is not true of
many New England communities. The objection was considered in the last
Annual Report,--it has been often considered elsewhere; and I do not
propose to repeat at length the views which are entertained by the
friends of public education.
I have, however, to suggest that while this objection applies with some
force to the public school, it applies also to every other school, and
that the evil is the least dangerous when the pupil is intrusted to the
care of a qualified teacher, who is personally responsible to the public
for his conduct, and when the child is also subject to the restraints,
and influenced by the daily example and teachings, of the parents.
Moreover, it is to be remembered that the great value of education, in a
moral aspect, is the development of the power to resist temptation. This
power is not the growth of seclusion; and while neither the teacher nor
the parent ought wantonly to expose the child to vicious influences, the
school may be even a better preparation for the world from the fact that
temptation has there been met, resisted, and overcome. It is also to be
remembered that the judgment of parents in a matter so difficult and
delicate as a comparison between their own children and other children
would not always prove trustworthy nor just; and that a judgment of
parties not interested would prove eminently fruitful of dissatisfaction
and bitterness.
If all are to be educated, it only remains, then, that they be educated
together, subject to the general rule of society, that when a member is
dangerous to the safety or peace of his associates, he is to be excluded
or restrained. Nor is this necessity of association destitute of moral
advantages. If the comparatively good were separated from the relatively
vicious, it is not improbable that the latter would soon fall into a
state of barbarity. It seems to be the law of the school and of the
world that the most rapid progress is made when the weight of public
sentiment is on the side of improvement and virtue. It is not necessary
for me to remark that such a public sentiment exists in every town and
school district of the state; but who would take the responsibility in
any of these communities, great or small, of separating the virtuous
classes from the dangerous classes? Parents, from the force of their
affections, are manifestly incompetent to do this; and those who are not
parents are probably equally incompetent. But, if it were honestly
accomplished, who would be responsible for the crushing effects of the
measure upon those who were thus excluded from the presence and
companionship of the comparatively virtuous? These, often the victims of
vicious homes, need more than others the influence and example of the
good; and it should be among the chief satisfactions of those who are
able to train their own children in the ways of virtue, that thereby a
healthful influence is exerted upon the less fortunate of their race.
There is also in this course a wise selfishness; for, although
_children_ may be separated from each other, the circumstances of
maturer years will often make the virtuous subject to the influence of
the vicious. The safety of society, considered individually or
collectively, is not in the virtuous training of any part, however large
the proportion, but in the virtuous training of all. I cannot deem it
wise policy, whether parental or public, that takes the child from the
school on account of the immoral associations that are ordinarily found
there, or, on the other hand, that drives the vicious or unfortunate
from the presence of those who are comparatively pure. When it is
considered that the school is often the only refuge of the unhappy
subject of orphanage, or the victim of evil family influences, it seems
an unnecessary cruelty to withhold the protection, encouragement, and
support, which may be so easily and profitably furnished. It is said
that a sparrow pursued by a hawk took refuge in the bosom of a member of
the sovereign assembly of Athens, and that the harsh Areopagite threw
the trembling bird from him with such violence that it was killed on the
spot. The assembly was filled with indignation at the cruelty of the
deed; the author of it was arraigned as an alien to that sentiment of
mercy so necessary to the administration of justice, and by the
unanimous suffrages of his colleagues was degraded from the senatorial
dignity which he had so much dishonored.
It does not seem necessary to offer an argument in support of the
position that the public school is not unfavorably affected, morally, by
the fact that it is subject to the popular judgment. This judgment can
be rendered only at stated times, and under the forms and solemnities of
law. The history of public schools would probably furnish but few
instances of wrong in this respect. The people are usually sensitive in
regard to the moral character of teachers; they contribute liberally for
the support of the schools, are anxious for their improvement, and there
is no safer depositary of a trust that is essential to a nation in which
is the hope of freedom and free institutions.
And, last, a school cannot be truly said to be destitute of moral
character and influence in which the sacred Scriptures are daily read.
The observance of this requirement is a recognition of the existence of
the Supreme Being, of the Bible as containing a record of his will
concerning men, and of the common duty of rational creatures to live in
obedience to the obligations of morality and religion.
It has been no part of my purpose, in this discussion of the public
school as an institution fitted to promote morality, to deny the
existence of serious defects, or to screen them from the eyes of men.
The public school needs a more thorough discipline, a purer morality, a
clearer conception and a more practical recognition of the truths of
Christianity. But, viewed as a human institution, it claims the general
gratitude for the good it has already accomplished. The public school
was established in Massachusetts that "learning might not be buried in
the graves of our forefathers, in church and commonwealth;" and, in some
measure, at least, the early expectation thus quaintly expressed has
been realized. Learning has ever been cherished and honored among us.
The means of education have been the possession of all; and the
enjoyment of these means, often inadequate and humble, has developed a
taste for learning, which has been gratified in higher institutions;
and thus continually have the resources of the state been magnified, and
its influence in the land has been efficient in all that concerns the
welfare of the human race on the American continent.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The Repression of Crime. By M. D. Hill.
[2] The Repression of Crime, pp. 358, 359.
REFORMATION OF CHILDREN.
[Address at the Inauguration of WILLIAM E. STARR, Superintendent of the
State Reform School at Westborough.]
Neither the invitation of the Trustees nor my own convenience will
permit a detailed examination of the topics which the occasion suggests;
and it is my purpose to address myself to those who are assembled to
participate in the exercises of the day, trusting to familiar and
unobserved visits for other and better opportunities for conference with
the inmates of the institution.
As the mariner, though cheered by genial winds and canopied by cloudless
skies, tests and marks his position and course by repeated observations,
so we now desire to note the progress of this humanity-freighted vessel
in its voyage over an uncertain sea, yet, as we trust, toward lands of
perpetual security and peace. All are voyagers on the sea of life. Some,
with the knowledge of ancient days only, grope their way by headlands,
or trust themselves occasionally to the guidance of the sun or the
stars; while others, with the chart and compass of the Christian era,
move confidently on their course, attracted by the Source and Centre of
all good. And it is a blessing of this state of existence, though it may
sometimes seem to be a curse, that the choice between good and evil yet
remains. The wisdom of a right choice is here manifested in the
benevolence of this foundation.
The State Reform School for Boys has now enjoyed eight full years of
life and progress; and, though we cannot estimate nor measure the good
it may have induced, or the evil it may have prevented, yet enough of
its history and results is known to justify the course of its patrons,
both public and private, and to warrant the ultimate realization of
their early cherished hopes. The state is most honored in the honor
awarded to its sons; and the name of LYMAN, now and evermore associated
with a work of benevolence and reform, will always command the
admiration of the citizens of the commonwealth, and stimulate the youth
of the school to acquire and practise those virtues which their generous
patron cherished in his own life and honored in others. Governor
Washburn, in the Dedication Address, said, "We commend this school, with
its officers and inmates, to a generous and grateful public, with the
trust that the future lives of the young, who may be sent hither for
correction and reform, may prove the crowning glory of an enterprise so
auspiciously begun." Since these words were uttered, and this hope, the
hope of many hearts, was expressed, nearly two thousand boys, charged
with various offences,--many of them petty, and others serious or even
criminal,--have been admitted to the school; and the chaplain, in his
report for the year 1854, says that "the institution will be
instrumental in saving a majority of those who come under its fostering
care." This opinion, based, no doubt, upon the experience which the
chaplain and other officers of the institution had had, is to be taken
as possessing a substantial basis of truth; and it at once suggests
important reflections.
Massachusetts is relieved of the presence of a thousand criminal, or, at
best, viciously disposed persons. A thousand active, capable,
industrious, productive, full-grown men have been created; or, rather, a
thousand consumers of the wealth of others, enemies of the public order
and peace, have been transformed into intelligent supporters of social
life, into generous, faithful guardians of public virtue and
tranquillity. Nor would the influences of this degraded population, if
unreformed, have ceased with its own existence; every succeeding
generation must have gathered somewhat of a harvest of crime and woe. A
thousand boys, hardened by neglect, educated in vice, and shunned by
the virtuous, would, as men, have been efficient missionaries of
lawlessness, wrong, and crime. And who shall estimate how much their
reform adds, in its results, to the wealth, the intellectual, moral, and
religious character, of the state? The criminal class is never a
producing class; and the labor of a thousand men here reclaimed, if
estimated for the period of twenty years only, is equal to the labor of
twenty thousand men for one year, which, at a hundred dollars each,
yields two millions of dollars. The pecuniary advantages of this school,
as of all schools, we may estimate; but there are better and higher
considerations, in the elevated intellectual, moral, and religious life
of the state, that are too pure, too ethereal, to be weighed in the
balance against the grosser possessions and acquisitions of society. We
thus get glimpses of the prophetic wisdom which led Mr. Lyman to say, "I
do not look on this school as an experiment; on the contrary, it strikes
me that it is an institution which will produce decidedly beneficial
results, not only for the present day, but for many years to come. I do
not, therefore, think that it should, even now, be treated in any
respect in the light of an experiment, to be abandoned if not
successful; for, if the school is introduced to public notice on no
better footing and with no more preparation than usually attend
trial-schemes of most kinds, the probability is that it will fail,
considering the peculiar difficulties of the case." Here is a high order
of faith in its application to human affairs; but Mr. Lyman saw, also,
that the work to be performed must encounter obstacles, and that its
progress toward a perfect result would be slow.
These obstacles have been encountered; and yet the progress has been
more rapid than the words of our founder imply. But are we not at
liberty to forget the trials, crosses, and perplexities, of this
movement, as we behold the fruits, already maturing, of the wisdom and
Christian benevolence of our honored commonwealth?
We are assembled to review the past, and to gather from it strength and
courage for the future; and we may with propriety congratulate all,
whether present or absent, who have been charged with the administration
of this school, and have contributed their share, however humble, to
promote these benign results. And we ought, also, to remember those,
whether living or dead, whose faith and labors laid the foundation on
which the state has built. Of the dead, I mention Lyman, Lamb, Denny,
Woodward, Shaw, and Greenleaf,--all of whom, with money, counsel, or
personal service, contributed to the plan, progress, and completion, of
the work.