Untitled article

Pacific Press Publishing Company · New York · August 28, 1890

FromThe American Sentinel, Vol. 5, No. 34

W. H. Chandler, Assistant State Superintendent of Public Instruction, of Wisconsin, is credited with the following, concerning the Bennett Law:—

I believe to-day as I have all along, and just as I told Governor Hoard, when the bill was passed. The Bennett Law is an injudicious piece of legislation, and one that is unnecessary in Wisconsin. I am not a compulsory educationalist; it is unnecessary, for the reason that it is the first desire of everyone to become familiar with the language of the country, and to secure an education in the English language. Of course, the advocates of the law bring forward a few persons who cannot speak English, but they are exceptional cases, and will exist, and cannot help existing, under almost any circumstances. . . . The law is objectionable not only to Democrats but to prominent Republicans also. There will be an awakening of sentiment at the State convention, that will compel a compromise and modification of the law, and it will be so fixed that all objectionable features will be eliminated. But the law was unnecessary and injudicious, and could some persons have foreseen the future, the bill would never have become a law.

We have said in substance, more than once, that a law compelling the learning of English is entirely unnecessary in this country, since self-interest leads all to desire a knowledge of the language of the country. Such measures as the Bennett Law are not only unnecessary, but they are subversive of that liberty which has always been the boast of this country.