The record-union., 1891-07-13
THE SHEEPSKIN SEASON
They Are Supposed to Represent Fit
ness for the Duties of Life.

ness for the Duties of Life.
At this time, as usual, the higher in
stitutions of learning are engaged in their
annual paStiIne of presenting diplomas to
graduates, and certifying that the persons
SO honored are qualified to go forth and
take trained and effective part in the
| promotion OF the interests OF truth, cult
ure and progress. The familiar sheep
skins are supposed to represent superior
! fitness for the duties and responsibilities
of life. But is this view always the true
one? Education is desirable, of course:
we can not have too much oft, provided
| that it furnishes us with well-euuipped
men, and not merely technical and i'm
practicable theorists. There never was
| time when we were more in need of col
| legiate knowledge of sound and useful
! sort. The situation in politics, litera-
| ture, society and religion is one that calls
| peculiarly for well-disciplined thought
and well-digested information; but it has
| to be confessed that the leading sources
of instruction are not yielding as much
in that relation as we have a right to ex-
! pect from them. Their products are
large, but defective. They do not pro-
vide sufficient proportion Of scholars
upon whom we can rely for exceptional
! and advantageous service. Their lists of
! graduates are only fair to middling when
| they should be first class. A few are
| noted for surprising attainments in par
ticular lines, but the large majority do
not come UP to the proper standard of
proficiency.
The thing to be desired is not collec-
ton of specialists, but body of all
around men, prepared to assume posi-
| tions Of general influence and importance.
! We are not suffering for a yearly
! influx of botanists, entomologists and
ethnologists; the supply is always equal
TO the public demand so far as such
I i 4.
! lies in other directions. 1t is possible TO
! get along very well with small additions
TO the number of those who are scholars
| in only one channel or for only one pur-
pose. But there is constant pressure
for more collegians of broad intelligence,
of sound inspirations, and of true sym
| pathy with the daily interests OF civiliza-
| ton. A system Of education that does no
more than to pass the student through a
| fixed and formal course of teaching
which has little or no application to the
| ordinary affairs of the world is apt to do
more harm than good. 1t encourages the
! development of traits and habits that are
detrimental to anybody. Instead of
! stimulating the best that Is in a man, it
1 tends TO make him narrow, arrogant and
supercilious. He does not mingle with
! the people and adapt himself TO their
| conditions and tendencies; he stands
/ apart from them, and lives an isolated
| and unproductive life. His diploma be-
comes a badge of exclusiveness to him.
when it should send him into the thick of
| the fray where substantial and beneficent
! results are being accomplished by men
who have never been inside of college
walls, but who know how to bring things
! to pass.
1t is a notorious fact that the uneducated
element, as it is called by those who as
sumo airs by reason of their sheepskin
proofs of higher learning, has control of
| most of the agencies of Improvement and
/ prosperity In this country. The college
/ graduates, numerous as they are, do not
succeed in making good their boasts Of
superior knowledge and trained capacity
| They do not shape our legislation, they
do not control our commercial enter
prises, they do not regulate our social
methods and operations. Here and there
| one becomes a force in his community or
in larger sphere; but, as class, they do
not make any perceptible impression
upon public opinion, or any of the yari-
Gus activities of the period. This ia not
as il should be. The colleges are old
| enough and strong enough to direct the
| currents of popular thought and conduct.
and it must be their own fault that they
! fail to do so. They have abundant facili-
/ ties, and the material sent to them is as
good as could be desired. Why is it. then.
| that they fall so far short in the matter of
causing the diplomas that they bestow to
represent pronounced and potent de-
| gree of practical ability? TheonIy reason
! able answer is that they are somehow
| lacking in their theory of what constitutes
education, and so do not correctly grasp
the issue of developing in the wisest and
best way. Their processes of instruction
are manifestly cramped and inadequate
and accordingly the lesson of the sheep
skin season is that they should be search
ing for means o reform in a case where
there is no room for pleading the right of
indulgence and extenuation.-St. Louis
Globe-Democrat.