Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-11-13
TRAINING AND TRADE SCHOOLS.

The sentiment OF the people IS con-
stantly growing stronger in favor of tech
biological, trade and manual training
schools. Many successful schools of the
first class, and several of the latter order,
are now commanding attention in the
United States, notable are the manual
training schools at New York and in Chi
cago, and that very peculiar and excellent
charity founded by Felix Adler. The
public mind is becoming clearer upon the
proposition that, admirable as are our COM
mon school and high school systems, they
turn the pupil out without that practical
knowledge of mechanical and business af
fairs essential in the start in life. As a re-
suit, a great many schemes have been
preached of recent date, for supplying the
want within" the common schools.
We have in mind one city that has
added manual training in small way, to
the grammar school grades. Whatever
may be the apparent success of that plan,
there is not much reliance to be placed
upon it. All these attachments of carpen-
try, joinery, sewing, designing and cook
ing, etc, to the common school system,
simply overload it, and weaken it intel
lectually. In the vast majority of cases
the schools give the pupils enough to do
without adding housewifely arts, the car
penter's bench or the joiner's tools.
Preferable to all such schemes is the fam
more practical and sensible one proposed
some years ago by the distinguished educa-
tor, Edward Everett Hale. He would settle
the difficulty by the adoption of the half
term system. That is, boys and girls,
when of age to enter the gram
mar grades, or before, if ca
pacitated, should be sent to their classes
only on alternate terms. or by half years
the alternating period being devoted to the
teaching OF the useful arts. Thus he
would have the lad for six months in the
year in school and six months learning 10
handle tools, or to farm, or to collect bills,
or to sell goods or to care for stock, or to
acquire trade; engaged in such things.
indeed, as he ought to know to equip him,
somewhat, for active life when he finally
leaves school.
For the girl, she should have six months
of study, and six months of duty in learn
ing housewifely arts or in acquiring
suitable trade. He claims, and backs it by
strong proofs, that in the earlier periods
men and women who were forced to serve
and labor in one season in order to study
and learn in another, gave the best results
TO society on both sides.
The manual training schools attain the
same end by a different and more system
attic process. Instead of dividing the
time by in and out of school periods they
divide it within the school between the
training of the hands and the development
of the intellect, and of course considerably
extend the school period-that is, as Gov
ernor Stanford once so aptly expressed it
when he was formulating the.plans for his
great educational scheme would have |
the boys hands and head trained stimuli |
taneously." But these schools cannot be /
conducted to success, and still retain the |
system of the public or common schools,
which is not to say, however, that the COM
mon schools may not be converted into
training-schools in communities of suf-
fcient size. To do this, however, they
must be equipped with either q different !
or an additional class of teachers.
A writer in the Century for November
advocates the general establishment of
trade schools, because the educa-
tional systems that have come down
to US DO not meet the wants Of
this day. The parent now earlier de-
mands the aid of his children to maintain
the household, but he finds the avenues to
the trades so full of obstacles that it is
more than difficult to secure for his boy
place in the ranks OF skilled labor. He
meets, besides, the growing discomfort of
youth to engage in the trades. The drift,
therefore, is to what, for want OF truer
ern, called business" and so we have
90 many youths precariously preparing
or life's struggle by service in the bust
less shop, while not one in a thousand of
hese can become merchant or an indie