THE PUBLIC SCHOOL PROBLEM. 19 
must be taught with hardly a dollar of expenditure, and the teacher who is not 
willing to teach it in this way is promptly replaced by one who is. Is it at all 
strange, under these circumstances, that science is not appreciated ? 
Fortunately, however, one does not need an immense outlay of funds to 
possess respectable facilities for teaching nature. The material is to be found 
everywhere and costs little beside the effort to bring it together, and — an import- 
ant consideration — the ability to see instruction in it and to arrange it for the 
instruction of others. The text-book too is always open to all who can " interpret 
the mystical hand- writing there," and no book-dealer has a monopoly on it or 
can shut it from your view. In the face of these facts, it seems strange indeed 
that so few pubUc or private schools are at all adequately supplied with prepara- 
tions, systematic collections, and the like, for teaching nature in the only way 
those who know it best say it can be learned. True, some schools have a few 
appliances for illustrating natural philosophy, and a smaller number, for chemis- 
try ; but ruinously few facihties are to be found for teaching any strictly natural 
history studies, though these are most easily obtained and their acquaintance more 
sadly needed than any others. 
THE PUBLIC SCHOOL PROBLEM. 
E. R, KNOWLES. 
In this country all discussions of problems relating to government educatioi 
have unfortunately been heretofore participated in either by politicians desirous 
of turning the bigotry and ignorant prejudices of some of their fellow citizens into 
political capital for themselves, or by persons whose narrow sectarianism and 
absurd fears have led them into a one-sided view of their theme and caused them 
to flee blindly from some imaginary evil into the presence of a real danger, rather 
than considered in a truly liberal, intelligent manner with a desire to ascertain 
that solution of the problem which will be the most conducive to the welfare of 
the American people, as a whole, and which shall be founded on the basis of 
equal justice to all. 
As republicans, the citizens of the United States will not allow the public 
servants to infringe upon their rights. This is one of those recognized American 
principles that will never allow our people to tolerate a sectarian public school 
system. Our people seek " equal rights for all, favors for none." The liberty 
of conscience of Catholic, Protestant, Jew, free-thinker and infidel must, under 
the national constitution, be equally respected. Though among the "reserved" 
State powers is that of dealing with rehgion and the religious hberties of the people 
in such manner as each State shall think most expedient ; yet we find the doctrine 
fully expressed in the Constitution of thirty-five States, and implied in the Con- 
stitution of two others, that the consciences of all shall stand on the same footing, 
and that religious liberty must be secured for all the people. 
