, 1873-03-09
TIE CONTROVERSY ON COLLEGIATE DIS
- GIPIIEE. 49,.

| 1t WILL be rememGefed that pre61dent E1lCt,
Of Harvard, recommended, in his last report,
tlat the practicea Of American college discipline
should DO considerably modified. Among tho
changes whicl, he favored Was the abolition Of
compulsory attendance at chepel-servico and
class-recita:ions. Ho has found, upon e1amina-
tion, TINT tho average age OF admission into
I Harvard Coursu IL uo" aoove lo-ye..s, ~...
he holds that the echool-boy discipline should be
discontinued, allowing more Of the freedom and
fixing more Of theresponHibility OF manhood upon
| the students. The arguments Of the Harvard
President hive been SGT forth in TIE TRIBUNE
already. Since then, Dr.. McCosh, of Princeton,
| has published letter, in which he protests
| against the changes recommended By Prcnidont
Eliot, and adheres 10 the established practices
Of the American college systcm. This has
esting at all events, and which will probably re-
suit in the trial Of the European university
practices in some Of our American colleges.
DR.. McCosh, in opposing the change, insists
that the discipline of the colleges Of Great
Britain is just es strict as that which
prevails among American colleges This,
he holds, is secured through the syetcm
of tutors who aro employed. Dr.. Nc
Gosh ignores the fact, however, that the
employment OF tutors ia matter Of personal:
choice, and that they are employed only to the
extent to which each student cares to go. Tutors
are frequently retained for tho boneat of one |
student generally divide their time among = |
very few, giving an hour to cnch alore; and !
rarely have classes that amount to half-a-dozcn !
in numbers. Tho practice OF American colleges
collcgo is obliged to submit himself to q certain
established curriculum, whether it is suited to
his taste or not. He finds himself one Of large
class Of thirty, forty, or fifty others, keep
ing them back by hia disiuclina:ion
to :certnin studies, and kept bnck by them in
other studies for which ho has fondncss.
being compulsory, ho wastes
sevcral hours dny to get smattering of Ger
tain things which he will speedily forget, that
might hare been proftably employed in studies +
Il which ho could excel. This distinction batueen
;eaching by tutors aud the claas-aiacplino Of
American colleges seems to have escaped Dr. Nc
Josh. In reference to the Continental university
;stem, DR.. McCosh maintains TINT the Gsn.nu-
len and Realschule--the preparatory academies {
lay the foundation Of German education, and {
dds, with truth, that largo portion Of
lie students at the German universities "take ;
deeper interest in becr-drinking, Bursc1p,, 4
ongs, and sword-due1s, than In careful tead- Il
49," AL this furnishes no argument against t
he greater freedom which President Eliot pro- s
oses that American students shall have. The
ractices which Dr.. McCosh mentions are pecu-
arities Of German student-li1e, university tra- y
itions, which could never DO t1ansplantcd to ii
lis country. Nor ia it likely that other prac- ii
cea, equally Objectionable, would take their E
ace., Harvard College or Princeton. College o
'u1d exercise as strict discipline o:or its stu
,nts as it might desire, without compelling -
lem to go to morning prayers, or to be present #
every characterization. It's examinations which So
ould be 1ikeIy to be more thorough than now, o.
ould determine the standard Of scholarship,
d good scholarship in early lite rarely accom- -
nios bad habits. dr
President Eliott's idea Of the new departure hi
American collegiate :edneaton is evidently Il
ggested by desire to elevate tho standing Of ad
nerican colleges, to LIT them ont OF the pri- ~ ~
~ features Of the school, and place them In AZ
. hi2hsr ualka at university life. The most y.