New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-06-15
KISNIR GR4nEATES

|
the recent exercises at Vassar is of KIND to
make one doubt whether progress is really ap-
preciated. Years ago, when popular education
was in n far cruder state than now, the remark
was made: at is true that our girls are very
badly educated; but our boys will never find It
ont" Perhaps the sarcasm was deserved at that
| time. but certainly energetic efforts have been
| made since TO do away with such reproach.
Yet when our girls graduate at Nassar and
choose for their graduating essays subjects OF
pOrtentous gravity, cynical and ungallaut Jour-
nalists intimate cautiously that a knowledge OF
cookery would be infinitely more useful to
these graduates than a knowledge Of history, or
philosophy, or physical science, or any OF the
| intellectual pursuits which have occupied their
! time during the college terms. Now cookery Is
undeniabIy an important and necessary art, and
no woman is the worse off for knowing some
| thing about it. But it does not follow that the
kitchen is a better training ground for girls
than Vassar College, and the criticism which
| implies so much is false and foolish.
| There is an old fashioned school which used
to hold that women had no business in the
world but to suckle fools and chronicle small
| beer; and which held further that women
would somehow jeOpardize the success OF their
| proper roles if they received more than rudl-
mentary education. 1t might have been hoped
| that modern ideas had eXtinguished that old
school, but it takes long time to Kill even
the stupidest of human beliefs, and here and
there the old barbarous notions crop up uncon-
sciOusIy. The bent of modern progress Is I'M
questiOnably toward the equalization Of educa-
tionn opportunities for both sexes. Expert
ment has indicated the wisdom OF Il course
which custom revolted from as wildly rcvOlu-
tionary at first 1t has been found that women
may be well educated and yet make good wives
and mothers. 1t has been found that knowl-
edge of what has been thought and taught and
done IN the past by no means necessarily units
the student for the performance OF household
duties and that acquaintance even with phllOs-
ophy and science is not incompatible with skill
in the preparation of dinners. Men have
learned, in short, that when wOman's intellect
is developed she may even be more agreeable
companion. more useful counsellor, more
valuable friend and a more lOvable wife.
But there are other considerations. Not all
the Vassar graduates are destined to be wives
and mothers, perhaps. In these days many young
girls have to make careers tor themselves.
That necessity existed previously; but previ-
ously how narrow was the field open to women.
Then, they could hardly hope to win a cOmpe-
tence by any means, nor could they, save in
literature conquer an honorable place in society.
To-day all that is changed. There are almost
as many careers open to girls as to boys, and
promotion Is no longer refused to the former.
Many Of the Vassar graduates will doubtless go
out INTO the world resOlute to make their way
and achieve independence with the help OF the
equipment the college has given them. They
may never be called on to cook, or to supervise
the kitchen or the household, but their knowl-
edge, such as it is, will stand them in good
stead, and they will be able to hold their own in
the struggle for existence.
Truly this is matter for cOngratulatiOn, not
for chaff" and ilippant criticism. Yassar is
improving feminine standards i'll all things,
we may be certain, and it cannot be lowering
them as regards domestic relations. The Man
of the Period does not want wife who Is ga
little better than his dog. little dearer than
his horse" He prefers an educated girl, as a
rule, and most men are coming to think that
education is a good thing OH both sides of the
family. And seeing that the entire tendencies
of the times are in the direction of better and
fuller intellectual development for both sexes,
it seems rather obsolete and behind the age to
find fault with a wOman's college because it
does not confne itself to the evolution of cooks
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