The origin and ideals of the modern school / by Francisco Ferrer ; translated by Joseph McCabe.
- Ferrer Guardia, Francisco, 1859-1909.
- Date:
- 1913
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The origin and ideals of the modern school / by Francisco Ferrer ; translated by Joseph McCabe. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![ment—a reform which should go to the roots of dis- order and afford some security of a perfect social regeneration. The experience I acquired during my fifteen years’ residence at Paris, in which I witnessed the crises of Boulangism, Dreyfusism, and Nationalism, and the menace they offered to the Republic, convinced me that the problem of popular education was not solved ; and, if it were not solved in France, there was little hope of Spanish republicanism settling it, especially as the party had always betrayed a lamentable inap- preciation of the need of a system of general educa- tion. Consider what the condition of the present genera- tion would be if the Spanish republican party had, after the banishment of Ruiz Zorrilla [1885], devoted itself to the establishment of Rationalist schools in connection with each committee, each group of Free- thinkers, or each Masonic lodge; if, instead of the presidents, secretaries, and members of the committees thinking only of the office they were to hold in the future republic, they had entered upon a vigorous campaign for the instruction of the people. In the thirty years that have elapsed considerable progress would have been made in founding day-schools for children and night-schools for adults. Would the general public, educated in this way, be content to send members to Parliament who would accept an Associations Law presented by the monarchists? Would the people confine itself to holding meetings to demand a reduction of the price](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b32758443_0022.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
