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system in force. The fact is, that the arguments in favor of 

 compulsion are overwhelming, and Parliament should now 

 make compulsion universal. It is admitted, you cannot extend 

 compulsion without producing some hardship, and bringing a 

 bitter pinch to some poor widow who depended on her chil- 

 dren's labor. No great reform can be effected without cases of 

 individual hardship, but in the long run these alterations would 

 be productive of magnificent results for the whole population." 



In Connecticut, the State Board of Education invite the 

 cooperation of all parents and school officers in their efforts 

 to promote the observance of the law for obligatory educa- 

 tion. The gain in school attendance since the adoption of our 

 compulsory law shows the wisdom and value of the enactment. 

 This law has met the sanction of the people, irrespective of 

 party or sect. The Labor Unions, convinced that it is spe- 

 cially fitted to promote the interests of the working classes, have 

 repeatedly passed resolutions in favor of its rigid enforcement. 

 Many poor parents have learned that their ignorance is one 

 cause of their poverty and that, as education is essential to 

 thrift and prosperity, ignorance should not be allowed to per- 

 petuate indigence. We use the right to enforce mainly as an 

 argument to persuade — an authoritative appeal to parental 

 pride and foresight. We so press the advantages of education 

 that attendance may be held a privilege rather than a legal ne- 

 cessity. 



But when reason and persuasion fail, coercion stands in their 

 stead. The law protects helpless childhood whose rights are 

 sacred. It recognizes the claims of the humblest child to an 

 education, as that which the State cannot neglect without det- 

 riment to itself and harm to a human soul. 'Not even by 

 omission may the State doom a single child to ignorance and 

 its manifold evils. The temporary hardships to families by 

 loss of children's wages, occasionally incident to the observance 

 of this law, will be counterbalanced a thousand fold by the 

 permanent benefit of both parents and children, while its neg- 

 lect would inflict lasting evil upon them and the whole com- 

 munity. 



Attendance upon an evening school merely, or irregular in- 

 struction at home does not meet the demands of the law, which 



