, 1881-07-10
"EX-PEDAG0G ON EDUCATIONAL Re-
T1pnT

| " Lilt Iltj Wv I'll ItllIicNlsi
| .-..@ .....-.x...-.A.-..s.E.as.E..@
"EX-PEDAG0G ON EDUCATIONAL Re
F0RM.
Some weeks ago one " Ped A. Cog" I'M.
der tile gnisc of pretended friendship, yio-
lently attacked The TRIBUNE proposition
that it is feasible to attach to the public edu
cati0nal system! Il mechanical department Of
instruction. s' Ped 4. Cog" adopted the
interrogative or Socyatic method, but lie was
hot, like the great philosopher, In pursuit
Of truth; his questions Were facetious. sar-
castle, scornful.. THE TRIBUNE. however,
answered "pcd Il. Cog" III good faith, and
he has remained silent. Now "Ex-Petiagog y
appears as all antagonist OF manual training
In the public schools. 1t IS II noticeable CO.
incidence that both " Ped 4. Cog" and
Ex-petlagoy profess to have ttken a
| deep interest i'll the articles which have ap-
| pearcd in THE TRIBUNE on the subject of
reform in educational methods; anu it is
equally noticeable that both correspondents
are almost utterly ignorant OF the real
purport Of tile articles they claim to have
read with absorbing attention. Ped 4. Cog -
asked questions that had been repeatedly
answered iii the articles and correspondence
to which l1e referred, and Ex-PetlngOg -
entirely miscolrc,ye5 nle SCOPE and purpose
OF the manual trai,ling-sehool at ST. L''i1is,
l. whose exact character has been repeatedly
described. This fact constitutes either an i'm
parchment Of the Intelligence or the good
| faith of these correspondents, who put theul-
selves forward as champions of Inertia in
educational matters.
| EN-p,dagog" admits away his whole
| case aud then says, with tho obstinacy Of a
ciou which refuses to illake way for Il solid
| pavement, 8 | object to the remedy" He
| admits that ''llore Of our youth should be
| led to seek protitabl: fields OF labor III the
! direction IF Industrial occupations; that "a
love OF labor should be instilled into their
lnnds''; that "such II habit Of work, Of
| trained manual skill, sloultt be secured for
them is to cause ideness to be d!stasteful I'd
then." And then this representative of the
! principle Of visi'lcrtitr, Of resistance to edu-
catiulIl reform, eSclailns: s. 1t is only when
you come to apply the remedy that objcct"!
1t Is ut this point that Ex-pedagog'; shows
| that ne knows nothing about the articles he
claims to have pondered deeply. lie assumes
! that It is proposed to teach boys specific
trades III the common schools,-tanning,
! horseshoeing, shoenlaking, etc., etc. lie
| says:
Yon say, "Tcach the Use Of tools in our COM
| mon Schools. Very well: hut the use Ut whit
| tools. pray: Whit trAdcs snn4l tie tunght In our
t common schODls! Upon whit ptlucipit shall
the Selection he ulMle? Shntl we train cArpcH-
tiers aud refuse 10 preparc hurseshotrs: Sinil
we admit into the schools cabinetsnuklne, hut
sh,1t out tunuiug? Are the lathe, the plane, the
SAW. the ehlsel. ~ be- preferred IT, the steam
trip-hem1ner, the gri'ny stntay, the rcsuunl1ng
tt,5fr .tJYYF3 iI,fFft fr1-t
ii ST. Upon what grounds? 1t vii! not do TO
| Object to the noise. tio dirt, 1he 'lsaGreeable
ants of sna,ly ol the trades. Neither vii! it do
to select ftH u1lr schnnl thosc tr:tdcS which are
considered light. Gls.;n and agreeable, for thnr
is just what you are charging the youth with
What trldcs then. shall be at!nitteds fAnsl,
il you nauc two or three, or ruore, MS was eone
III the report the Industrial Schou VI 1t Louis,
by what rr.'ceSs arr the 0nes to he taught ST.
lcctel, and sh,sc moi to s'e taught rejncte1i:I
The indnSl rial occupations Ut 4 people cannut
be counted upon the fingers Of ones hand. They
number hundreds Gnt even thousands.
If Ex-Pttagog" had real the articles lie
refers to with any care he would have learned
trlt the industrial Sc!lool Of ST. Louis
not only does mt teach 1.-TWO or three or
more tr;l,les; it does not teach any specific
trades. 1t lie ll,,tl read the articles in Qurs
ton with the care Of honest inquiry he would
have learned the eNaet theory of Prof. Wond-
ward, the Director cf the s;'1lool, in Ills own
laug.asc-naney: "SIsuulti we not abb
stract NIL the mechanical processes, and NAH
1lal arts. and typical t,ols ut the trades and
occupations Of men, and arrange Il systematic
course of instruction in the same, and tllen
incorporate it into our SYSTEM Of education?
Thus, 1cit|oM tcnchinU any one trade, lcc |
tcuch the esscntiuI mechanical principles 9f
ati. The thousands of tools USED in tile arts |
are bat notifications OF Il few simple clc- |
nents. The universal tools are sc;rce- |
ly more than a half dozen III number" It !
will BIZ nbseryed that the QUoted remarks Of |
'Ex-Petlagog" have III application whatever |
to the subject atterof the discussion. for tile |
simple reason that he entirely misapprelends |
ii. In familiar phrase, he don't know what |
he is talking ;,!,ont.'" lie tIenoulccs US 'ut-
terly impractical and absurd" a scheme of /
education which it is not proposed to intro
duce.
"Ex-pedagog" commits himself to this
propositions:
Of the cUmnnn-schoul system Is NOT, primarily, /
to enable people IL make living, or IT, acculnu-
lutc money. IT is not needed for this purpose
4 luHn who cIn neither read nor write can mike
runcy,-cal even bccomo wealthy. may even,
par.,tuxical rs it 1nay seeul, be Ill. educated
man.
\ brief analysis will show, we Think that
this is, to say the least, al extraordinary
proposition. 1t will be conceded that prime
object Of any system OF public education i'll a
free and equal government is to make good
aud useful citiZcns; and it will not be denied
that, us Il rule, it is easier for AL educated
than al ,tncuucated nan to 'lnnke a liying.'
The man who cannot 'make & living" be-
comes Il tramp, a vasrant or 4 criminal. 1t
would therefore seem to be prime object of
all educational systems to enable people to
''make 4 living. Ex-Petngog'' will probably
concede tEatonc object of tile corullon-school
system is to deter men fruln crime. But Of
4S7 c0nvic1s consigned to the State penite1l-
tiary for the Eastern District of Pcnnsylya-
lila III 1870, fiye-siStl.s had attended public
school, and 4 greater proportion were with
out trades. Indeed, the report states that not
five mechanics were received into the i.lstitll-
tfon during the year. In 1878, of the 1,1G7