The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1891-03-06
ECONOMIC EDUCATION.
MRS. c. K. HUDSON.


generation are endeavoring to find the pulse
and trace to the fountain head the economic
principles underlying our social problems,
would it not be we'll to pause In this ener-
getic, but apparently unsatisfactory career.
and cultivate, for time, those rarest Of
American virtues, patience and dettberd-
tiO1l. Such course would, we doubt not,
enable them to see that there are ways other
than those pursued by the wise men Of both
the east and west whereby we may accom-
plish for pOsterity all. yes more than all that
the most phllantrOphic may have dreamed.
1t is very probable that Natures plan OF
beginning with the germ and working on
ward and upward, step by step, Is the true
thread to draw upon to unravel the tangled
skein of our human woOf. Education COM
mences with the first dawn of life as also
does the innate thirst for knowledge and as
mans future veal or woe depends upon i'll
t1uences at work at birth il would seem that
education, i'm its endless variety of forms,
should claim the attention aud interest Of
every gifted mind. Psychical research has
established the fact that the, ethical attribute
which is ours by divine Inheritance, is as
distinctly characteristic as are any OF our
physical features and from this germ the
strong and mighty oak of pure economic
life must grow. 1t becomes us then. i'm the
light Of our acknowledged desire to benefit
humanity to stand apart, on an eminence.
as 1t were, and watch the human tide go by,
noting, and, whenever possible, removing
whatever obstacles may impede the upward
tendencies of our human acorns. Our OBJ
ser vatiOns prove conclusively that schools
are the most efficient agencies in ameliOrat-
ing the condition of man, and we are pleas
ed to note that the initiatOry step in much
needed reform is already taken i'm the tardy
but now acknowledged importance of the
childhood period of life and all credit is due
Boston in being the first to recognize the ed
ucati0nal value of the Kindergarten and
adopting it, nearly three years since as q
part of her public school system. .'As the
twig is bent the trees inclined" Following
this is our bOasted system of public instruc-
ton and it's one of which we may justly be
proud, but is it perfect? DO our schools,
academies, colleges, i'm fact all places we are
pleased to designate as places of learning,
educator Real education is the develop
ment of distinct personalities" and are
these, together with that divine balance
wheel, ethical intuition, allowed their full
development? From the eminence on which
we are supposed to stand let us watch the
they are admitted to these public mills and
undergo the evolutionizing(?) process for
IL or ID years, and this too regardless of
whether tits endured in the spirit or out of
of it, no distinctions are made, no distn-
gushing traits respected, ANY rare endow-
ment of genius Is either ignored or silenccd,
all must undergo the same process and. like
the unlettered paper i'm the hands of the
printer, graduate from the printers or teach
er's hand, stamped with indelible type
compelled, as the youth of today is compell-
ed, to live principally on the preserved
fruits of former genius, with but rarely q
relish less than century old, can we won
der that whatever light that might emanate
from the original germs they possessed, is
forever Obscured under the monumental rec
ords of former philosophers? No, let us
first revolutiOnize Ourpubic school system.
That once accomplished it must, like the
leaven of old, leaven the whole lump. II
our century does not fall below proceeding
ones In its endOwmentS of future genera
tions, new departures must be made, new
theories tested, the current topics, econ
omic problems of today demand new appli-
cations Of forces already known, and allure
the student and specialist with an irresisti
be fascination. If students would adjust
themselves properly to the duties and re-
spOnsibilities Of manhood a course of in
struction including these serious public
questions must be persued. Men cannot d,
their duty and protect their rights'untll they
know both their duty and their rights; the
intellect, the imagination, the will and the
conscience must be edcuated harmOniOusly
though this oblige us to devote a portion ol
the time now spent on the dead or dyins
languages to the course prescribed. w,
feel like saying with Mark Twain ''if yor
have any good fresh cOrpses bring them on.
AS a study of fresher subjects is one of tn,
essentials necessary TO that breadth of cul
ture desired in the coming man, nor wOul(
such course diminish i'm any degree tn,
deep sense of gratitude we feel for th,
wealth of knowledge inherited as the result
of past research; indeed the worthiest &c
acknowledgement that could possibly bt
made to these ancestral guides would be {
| willing entrance into the silent, but surel,
| productive mines of knowledge of which,
through the prospects they have opened W,
catch glimpses of golden opportunities
| Educational administrators realize as nevel
| before that if satisfactory solutions are OBJ
| tanned to these latter day puzzles mOr'
| prominence must be given them, for an inde
pendence of thought and development OF
genius is eur only salvation, and in wha
better way can this be accomplished thar
for the rising generation to be thoroughly
acquainted with the social phenomena, thu
| Humbolts, BacOns and Complies of toda.
must and would come to the rescue. Th,
great need is the best teachers, those wh'
will at feast try to mete out mental food Il
the individual instead Of the mass; the up
| ward striving is set in motion by instructor
or reformers who awaken i'm their hearer
the impulses through which they hope t
see the desired results effected. That con
ventions are being held at regular and stat
ed intervals by the best talent where tn
"How to improve and revise our education
al facilities" is ably discussed; the Univcr
sity Extention. conceived and adopted fey
years ago by Oxford and Cambridge and ap
piled later to our institutions where tits TIM
early reaping golden fruit and the fact tina
| political science in all its departments nov
occupies conspicuous place In our revise'
curriculems are all significant of rapi
strides towards the perfecting of the system
Instruction In economies, literature and nat
ural sciences is also prescribed, but as yt
| in homeopathic doses; the efficacy OF tn
| medicine, however Is steadily increasing ]
demand. These new and improved feature
tend to make our institutions more and NOR