Show EDUCATION free schools barn long been considered an essential feature osgood government and the peace and dig anity of society it ii held from a logical standpoint that it is easier to pay for educating a child by which he may become a law citizen than to rear ainu in ignorance which latter results in his becoming most frequently a desperate character in society in short it is held that education lessens crime while illiteracy produces crime these being facts they are in themselves strong arguments in favor of not only a free school but ako compulsory education baates in the east which have long had free school are now adopting a of compulsory education uca tion it is found that a certain class of society will not seed their children to school unless compelled to and it is held to bo essential to the order of society that they be compelled to have their children educated statistics show that such parsons are not few in a lotrn community chicago has had the corn in successful operation for about a year the number of children in attendance in public schools before the present law was the lat year there have been in attendance the lav may therefore be said to have brought children into the lic schools who were before growing up in ignorance the total cost for the past year to enforce the compulsory system has been only 87 or 1 07 per capita this is but a very little more than what it cost before the law went into effect as they were paying for schools be not run to their full capacity reasoning from these exceedingly moderate figures which the statistics of chicago show it would not cost as much for the total expense of compelling a child to go to school the ten years of his school life aa it would to keep him one month in jail in case he should grow up without an education and become a violator of the law it can therefore bo seen compulsory education looked at from the standpoint in which we have treated it is good political economy to say nothing of its other advantages to society |