Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1891-04-22
SOMETHING PRACTICAL

From time immemorial fault has
been found with elementary schools,
and the fault-fndiug has probably had
a great deal to do with their wonder
full improvement Even yet there is
a general feeling abroad in the land
that the best results are not being OBJ
tanned from the public schools. Lately
in Philadelphia a test was made as to
manual training, and the result has
been set forth in a neat monograph
which every teacher everywhere should
read. The branches Of industrial art
undertaken includes clay moulding,
paper cutting and folding as well as
the more practical arts Of sewing and
cooking. 1t would appear that this
introduction of manual training is in
distinct harmony with the spirit and
tendency Of the time. This is an age
Of industrialism when science and its
application TO the arts and industries
Of life reign supreme.
men and TOOLS" not linen and
arms" are the rule Of the day We
want our children turned out Of school
practical in what ever is required and
not with their heads crammed with
useless knowledge.
What the workingman is seeking is
a larger participation in the fruits of
his industry; but this can only be ac-
complished by the laborer putting
more skill and intelligence into the
work Of his hands. The problem Of
every civilized nation today is how the
largest amount Of intellectual deyel-
| Opment can be given to its industrial
population. There will be no peace
between labor and capital until labor
has recognized the necessity for
Intelligence, and capital has rec
ognized the just rights of
labor, enlightened and ennobled by
knowledge. What is needed is tC
bring thought and labor together; tC
make every worker a thinker and
every thinker a worker; and there is
no place where this can be done SOwel
as in the school. 1t is here that en-
during principles and habits can best
be formed. We talk a good deal OF
the public schools as the nurseries OF
good citizenship. We shall have bet
ter right TO make this claim for then
when they undertake TO fit theil
pupils for the actual conditions Of ex
istencc; for the world as they will fine
tia world in which it is a privilege
as well as a necessity to work; and in
which work, animated and directed by
the power which comes from vel
trained mind, cannot fail Of its just
appreciation and reward.
The place which sewing now occu
pies in the Philadelphia public schools
was reached after considerable discus
sion and opposition.
The testimony, however, after a
thorough trial is in favor of retaining
il. The report says it breaks up the
monotOny Of the school, afTording a
pleasant relief from the pressure of
the purely intellectual studies while
cultivatiug respect for the work of
the hands.
In regard to cooking, il certainly is
enough to say that political philoso-
pliers have demonstrated the import
aut bearing which a sufficient supply
Of wholesome food has upon the physi-
cal, moral and economic conditions Of
a community; yet IL is a well known
fact that ignorance and wastefulness
in the preparation of food prevails in
the moral and economic conditions Of
the poor.
The poor patronize the public
schools or go untaught--hence the i'm
pOrtance, it would seem, OF making
their time spent educationally of as
much profit as possible.