Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-11-08

| means, enlrdp HIN lut0 al al Sulucnt upOn
some question which is not railroad" not
only are his ideas hazy and feeting in
themselves, but he seems to become in
capable of the simplest process of ratiocina-
ton. To sum up, the unhappy victim of
exclusively servile education has grown
] up unable to think or feel as man and
citizen. If he be naturally good and pure
his feelings must be those of good child.
| Unfit to be husband or father, he has
no moral right to a wife or children. In
capable of forming Judgment upon any
but railroad and, probably, financial ques
| tions, he has no moral right to vote upon
any other. Granted that this is an ex-
IRENE case, there can be no question that
| such extreme cases exist, and the cases
which diffet only in degree from what we
have described may be counted by hun
dreds of thousands throughout the length
and breadth of these United States.
1t has been so universally the rule for
| the Greek and Latin classics to form the
| chief factors in the process of liberal edu-
| cation, that Classical" has become to be
regarded as synonymous in this connection
with ''liberal" The limits of space al
lowed US forbid any inquiry as to why the
study of the ancient languages and litera-
lures has fallen SO much Into disllse J;
neither is it our present purpose to advo-
cate reaction in their favor. i may he
assumed that no c,llssssiicai training likely
TO produce sn a..ostantial results in the sense
VI iip raj education can be accomplished,
'..nder the most favorable conditions, in less
than six years, and most parents, In these
days of hurry, will steadfastly oppose the
devotion of so much of their chlldrens
time to pursuit the advantages of which
can, in any case, be appreciated only by
those who have themselves enjoyed wide
opportunities for mental culture. The
problem for our consideration is to find
some other more expeditions and more
generally practicable means of attaining
at least partially-the same humanizing
results.
! Such an instrument of liberal education
is suggested by the very symptoms OF Its
absence in the case we just now described.
If the defects of his education are charge
able to the citizens Indifference to all that
concerns him as a citizen of free and
civilized Republic, the shortest and most
| direct way to amend these defects In the
I system nuSL DS W dtlIdSI Vic SliAAb . oNsSh
| ton to these wider interests from the be-
! ginning. Left to himself he will be IN
terested, first in himself-his food, its
quantity and the proportion of sweet in it;
his clothes and their quality as compared
with other children's clothes; his little
| toys and their efficiency, not only to amuse
himself, but also to excite the wonder OF
his companions. Next, he will be in
terested in his parents, as well as from the
natural instinct which is common to
children and calves as from the conscious
ness that his parents reputation reflects,
for better or worse, upon himself. And
here his sympathies and interests will end
for the present. Let the course be con-
tinued, and, by degrees, the child, if he
grows into an intelligent boy, will appre-
bend the importance of such profound
studies as bookkeeping and stenography,
because, as he says, there's dollars in it, y
and "dollars" means plenty of "unspeak-
able viands," dazzling raiment, the envy of
his associates and a good time generally.
Given physical vigor, with certain de-
gree of mental power, and the craving for
dollars will, in due time, make its subject
something like the disastrous failure we
| nave lTl6u W DdoiACoo Alal2 LII otf
last and always.
But let the attention Of the same child
be early accustomed to dwell upon sub
jects distinct from the circle of his own
| immediate affairs, though at first nearly
connected with his natural interests, and
he will, by degrees, become interested in a
wider and overwhelming circle of men
and things. If it is impossible to engross
his mind with the "godlIke wrath" of
Achilles, whose exploits were the wonder
of other children separated from him by
thousands of leagues in space and thou
sands of years in time, at least he can be
induced to take an interest in the heroism
| of the local fire-engine company. If the
rush and hurry of modern life preclude,
for most of US, the possibility of thor
oughly comprehending the thoughts and
lives of past ages. compensation may
we'll be found in the very symbols of our
breathless haste-the electric wire. the
railroad, the press-which bring US hourly
fresh matter of interest, fresh food for
| thought, fresh argument for sympathy,
] from the remotest abodes of mortal men.
[ And if, instead of the wearisome platitudes
and stale descriptions which have served
generations as themes for school compost
tions, boys and girls were encouraged to
write about what they hear discussed on
every side, it might fairly be hoped that
Young America, on his attainment OF
manhood and the suffrage, instead of the
self-centered curmudgeon he SO often is,
would be, at least in mind and heart,
something like the "four-square" man OF
the Athenian ideal, with the Attic sense
| and the humane sentiment of Atheniaa
Chremes,
| Homo sum; humani nihil me alienum puto. y
| COLLEGE COURSE PREPARATORY TO BUsI-
NESS.
The higher education of our business
classes is absolutely essential to our perma-
nent welfare, said Professor Edmund j.
James of the University of Pennsylvania
in an address before the Bankers Associa-
ton, at Saratoga, September 8, 1890.
Whether for good or i'll, the control of our
modern life, the school, society, politics,
the Church-in a word, of our civilization
itself-is slipping into the hands Of our
business classes. The professional world is
losing the business world is gaining. 1t
| is no longer the great lawyer, statesman, or
clergyman, but the great banker, manu-
facturer, railroad manager who speaks the
decisive word in many matters of public
Importance The higher education of
these classes is, therefore, of fundamental
Importance to our social and political ex-
istence. Existing facilities are made
quate.
The literary college in its present form
| is as unable to meet the necessities of the
case as is the so-called business or COM
mercial college. The former gives higher
training of kind unsuited to the wants of
modern business men; the latter does not
give any higher education at all. The
| problem is to be solved by the addition to
our existing college curricula of courses
which have direct relation to the wants
of educated business men in some such
/ .,s,cAir,cr onr,rcax cnrrasrAOnd To tn o