THE ETHICAL PROBLEM OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 18 



iiiillit)ii childreu? These are the questions that serious and 

 earnest people are asking. There is a striking similarity be- 

 tween the excellencies in our national life and the excellencies 

 in our public school system. There is also a striking simi- 

 larity between the evils in both. Can it not then be said that 

 the eradication of the evils in the public schools will have 

 very much to do with their eradication in the life of the state? 

 To touch the springs of action in these pupils is to touch 

 the very sources of power in the national life; and there is 

 no opportunity to be compared with that olfered by the public 

 schools. The institution is so sacred, so far-reaching in its 

 influence, that it must be rescued from political strife and 

 partisan narrowness. 



