Omaha daily bee., 1881-06-25
PRACTICAL EDUCATION.

| SYSTEM Oh euuCaJlOn HAS kept pace
with the progress of the age and the
changed conditions under which mer
and women are now forced to compete
for livelihood. Commencement ex
hibitions, gotten up like Barnum''
show, regardless of expense, afford ne
insight into the efficiency of teach.
ers, the thoroughness of their
method of instruction or the
utility of the branches taught
A young man after going through
months of training may declaim from
the stage with as much grace as n
trained orator, and yet he may be un.
able to measure d stack of lumber, as
certain the dimensions of a cistern.
write plain receipt or give a correct
outline of the mechanism of steam
engine.
A girl may read her commencement
essay with the most dramatic effect,
and yet be unable to tell whether
Alaska is located near the
equator or the Suez canal
connects the Atlantic with the Pacific
ocean. Out Of the 5000 pupils en-
rolled in the public schools of Omaha
only eight have completed the high
school course tins year, and it is taken
for granted that they are fitted to en-
ter upon any vocation, either profes-
sional, mechanical or mercantile, they
may elect to follow. What vocation
are they fit forl That is the problem
which educators, and especially our
board of education, should endeavor
to solve.
Before steam and electricity came
into general use the educational prob
lem was very simple. Schooling was
arranged for two classes. The chill
dren Of tho poor and middle classes
were taught the three ''r's, reading,
ritin' and rithmetik, 20 which, in some
instances, was added local geography.
That supplied all their wants of an
education, Boys of thirteen and even
at an earlier age, were bound APP
prentices for from three to five years
to some mechanic or to merchant.
They were placed under the absolute
control of masters, and beginning with
the coarsest of manual labor had to
work their way up.
Each trade was complete within it.
self, and the boy who finished his
trade was master of every part of it.
SO with the merchants apprentice who
commenced with sweeping the store
and braying the mortar, and ended
with becoming confidential clerk or
manager. tt
The wealthier class that aspired to
professional honors were trained in
colleges and universities. Their edu-
cation in any of the professions was
complete when they received their
university diploma.
These conditions no longer exist.
The introduction of steam and cleo
tricity, with their marvellous mechani-
cal appliances, have done away with
the apprentice system.
A mechanic without an education is
mere machine. He may stand at
drill, trip hammer, or lathe from
day to day and year to year and he
knows no more at the end of that
time than when he began. He merely
becomes proficient in handling one
part of machine. but has little or
no chance of ever becoming independ-
ent.
1t is 80 with the boy that desires to
follow mercantile life. There are no
merchants apprentices now, and each
clerk is merely machine required to
measure up 30 many yards or weigh
80 many pounds of goods.
To great extent professional
training is also radically changed. A
sheepskin from one of the thousands
of American universities or colleges is
no longer q passport over the highway
to professional success.
II is self-evident that the whole
system of eduction must be directed
to practical ends. If we want our
boys to become masters Of any trade
or profession, they must have train
ing that will acquaint them with tho
elementary principles Of all the natu-
raj forces now utilized by man. They
must know the principles of
air, steam, caloric electricity and
magnetism. They must know the
rudiments of chemistry and
should be thoroughly familiar with the
higher mathematics and other branches
of learning Indispensable in practical
life to a successful artizan, thorough
business man or finished professional.
Our public schools should aim to
instruct as far as possible the tech
nical and industrial branches, leaving
dead languages and theoretical stud
les to people who have ample means
and time to crafty heir--tastes in that
direction. ''A'''