612 



NEW JERSEY. 



2,863 enlisted men, forming 47 companies of 

 infantry and one battery of artillery. 



The public schools are in a prosperous con- 

 dition. The revenue from all sources received 

 and applied to this use has been as follows: 



Two-mill tax appropriated by the State $1,132,501 39 



Amount of State appropriation 1 X,'^ 



Township ^hool tax 24,387 00 



1 iiU'ivst of surplus revenue . rfd,auo J. 



District and city school tax for teachers' sala- 

 ries 302,630 59 



District and city school tax for building and re- 

 pairing 379,806 oo 



Total appropriations $1,972,632 45 



Total valuation of school property in the 

 State, $6,300,398. The cost of education shows 

 a marked reduction. In 1877 the cost of 

 each pupil, calculated on total school census, 

 was $5.39 ; in 1878 it was $5.14, a decrease of 

 25 cents per capita. Calculated upon the av- 

 erage attendance, the cost in 1877 was $14.61 ; 

 in 1878 it was only $13.91, a decrease of $1.42. 

 The average monthly salary of teachers has been 

 reduced from the previous year: males from 

 $63.78 to $60.50 decrease, $3.28 ; females from 

 $37.04 to $36.14 decrease, 90 cents. The total 

 school census, between five and eighteen years, 

 was 318,387 in 1877, and 322,166 in 1878, an 

 increase of 3,788. The total enrollment in the 

 public schools in 1877 was 198,709, and in 1878 

 202,634, an increase of 3,925; being greater 

 than the increase shown by the census by 137. 

 The private schools in the State will seat 181,- 

 746, being a decrease of 566 since 1877. The 

 attendance at private schools is 42,017. The 

 estimated number of children who attended no 

 schools in 1877 was 72,389, and in 1878 72,067, 

 showing a decrease of 322. The percentage of 

 average attendance at schools is '55 ; attending 

 public schools, '71 ; attending private schools, 

 10; attending no school, '19; percentage of 

 census the schools will accommodate, -67. The 

 average time the schools were kept open in 



1877 was nine months and four days, and in 



1878 nine months and fourteen days, showing 

 an average extension of the school year through- 

 out the State of ten days. The school revenue 

 has been considerably decreased since 1877, as 

 follows: Two-mill tax, $61,176.03; township 

 school tax, $5,665; interest on surplus reve- 

 nue, $584.39 ; district and city tax for building 

 Bchoolhouses, $11,947.17; making, with an in- 

 crease of $1,106.03 in district tax for teach- 

 ers' pay, a total decrease of $78,266.56. The 

 decrease in the valuation of school property in 

 1878 has been $218,600. 



The views of Governor McClellan on the sys- 

 tem of public education are important. In his 

 message to the Legislature he said : 

 As our institutions are based upon the supposition 

 11 males of mature age participate in the affairs 

 ot government, as electors at least, all will agree that 

 Government should in some way assure itself 

 ill citizens possess sufficient intelligence to en- 

 them to perform properly at least their lowest 

 duties as citizens. It is just here that opinions di- 

 verge, for some would arrest the hand of the State 

 at this point, while others would have it furnish to 



all a more or less complete and finished education. 

 As is so often the case, it is probable that the true 

 solution is to be found in adopting a medium course. 

 It will probably be conceded that it is the duty of 

 the State to insist that all children shall be thorough- 

 ly instructed in reading, writing, composition, and 

 arithmetic, with a pretty accurate knowledge of the 

 geography, constitution, and history of our own 

 country, together with a general acquaintance with 

 the history and geography of other countries. Thus 

 much, at least, in the way of preparation for their 

 political duties. But if the duty of the State termi- 

 nates here, its interests do not, and the question at 

 once arises as to how far it can safely go, or, perhaps, 

 what is the least it can properly do, in the direction 

 of preparing its youth to become useful and indus- 

 trious citizens, skilled workmen, producers of wealth. 

 This is a vast subject, of infinite importance, and so 

 much is said on both sides that our progress toward 

 its solution must be slow, cautious, and experimen- 

 tal. It would appear to be a sound proposition that, 

 having reached the limit of the subjects as to the ne- 

 cessity of which all a^ree, further progress in educa- 

 tion should, in a great measure, be regulated by the 

 probable future pursuits of the majority of the pupils 

 in the different localities. For example, in an agri- 

 cultural region, where most of the boys will probably 

 become farmers, it would seem natural to turn their 

 studies in the direction of farming pursuits. Not 

 that the public schools can furnish the means of 

 making them accomplished agriculturists, but they 

 might DC taught enough of the fundamental prin- 

 ciples of the science of agriculture to enable them 

 afterward to pursue the study of agricultural chem- 

 istry and economy, enough of the principles of me- 

 chanics to enable them to learn how to detect the 

 difference between a good and bad machine, enough 

 of the principles of engineering to enable them after- 

 ward to learn the best method of draining and the 

 use of materials in rural construction, etc. So, in 

 the large cities, where manufactures and the me- 

 chanic arts flourish, their instruction might well be 

 turned in those directions without in any case at- 

 tempting to convert the public into technical schools. 

 I can see no harm, but much good, as probably re- 

 sulting from devoting a little time in the public 

 schools to the practical instruction of the girls in 

 some of those branches of domestic industry which 

 can easily be taught, and are most certain to prove 

 useful to them in the households over which they 

 will eventually be called to preside. The purpose 

 of public-school education ought to be to furnish the 

 boys and girls with the tools of education, and teach 

 them how to use them in educating themselves for 

 their various pursuits in life. In considering the 

 subject of turning education ever so slightly in the 

 direction of the future pursuits of the pupils, we 

 should not lose sight of the elevating effect upon the 

 pursuits themselves. For instance, the farmer's 

 boy, whose ideas of farming are limited to the mere 

 manual labor of practical agriculture, will take a very 

 different view of it when he learns that there is such 

 a thing as the science of agriculture, and that many 

 sciences find wide and practical application in his 

 every-day work. When he discovers that the in- 

 telligent farmer has an ample field for study, and 

 that to obtain success Ms mind must cooperate^ with 

 his hands, he will learn to love and respect his oc- 

 cupation, and will be more contented to hold to it. 

 The same is true with regard to the mechanical arts 

 and trades. 



Those who recognize the indisposition of so many 

 young Americans to follow callings involving man- 

 ual labor, will realize the vast importance of any 

 measure tending to elevate the agricultural and me- 

 chanical vocations, to bring the educated mind to 

 bear upon the work of the hands, and to supply that 

 great lack of skillful and accomplished American 

 workingmen which has long been widely felt. It is 

 clearly good political economy in the State which 



