The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1893-10-16
AMERICAN CHILDREN.
THEIR EDUCATIONAL TRAIN
ING IS DEFECTIVE.

"A 8UOVkC l
lion" and education" Is admirably
lrawn by that people most highly en-
with a strong analytical faculty.
the French. with the habit Of keen scru-
tiny, thorough investigation and just de-
duction usual with them. The difference
existing between acquired knowledge on
the one hand and inculcated virtues on
the other has been embodied In these
separate a~ppellations. which carry with
them two distinct meanings. Both may
be largely possessed apart from the 9th
q.
But when both are combined In q
individuality the highest degree Of ex-
cellence has been obtained OF which the
human race Is capable.
With us in America II Is fair to state
that instruction from books, In school and
college, where the aim must OF necessity
be only the development of the mind and
intellect. in conjunction with religious
teachings from the pulpit and at the
areside, sums up the education generally
given to the youth of the country, even
among the prosperous and the wealthy.
But between these two lines of educa-
tior. both admirable and necessary,
stands Q more subtle and intangible form
of mental and moral training which
embraces the development of the finer
chords Of both the intellect and the
sentiments having for effect not only
to instill a desire for knowledge and
virtue and a reproval Of vice, but to ed
ucate as to the desirability Of that su-
perior excellence which enables the pos
SCISSOR to strive for the ideal graces and
beauties, which, when understood and
practiced. produce a perfect civiliza-
ton.
That religion alone cannot give this
result is shown by the fact that the ex-
IRENE and beautiful polish to character
and the broad aesthetics it evolves have
been possessed by men and women who
have acknowledged no attachment to re-
ligious creeds and again by members of
Christianity and paganism alike, while
the bookworm and the savant, whose
mind is the crowded receptacle of q mar
velous agglomeration of knowledge, may
be absolutely lacking in this particular
phase of culture.
It is this education. which does not ap-
ply exclusively to the intellectually MOI
to the moral sense, but envelops the
whole being through a cultivation OF the
receptive faculties and finer instincts,
which il denominated education" by
| the French, and which should be applied
with greater care in America to the
training Of youth. for a. q factor in en-
l~ightenment and progress its value 10
enormous. With the many splendid
qualifications given by nature to the
American citizen, and which the polit-
ical institutions under which he lives
has fostered. his sturdy self dependence,
spirit of inquiry, his energy and natural
intelligence, il aided by q strong de.
yelopment in this direction, would pro.
duce remarkable results both in the in.
diyidual and for the masses.
For it is evident that from a cultiva'
ton of this phase of the human mind
springs the conception and execution OF
all that pertains to the arts, fine and in
dustrial, they being the tangible ex
pressions Of the aspirations and genius
Of those from whom they have emanated
Unless the trend of a people be toward
an ideal existence, stretching beyond ths
ABSORPTION of effort merely to supply
the wants of mans physical life, neither
poet. sculptor nor painter nor the arts
tic and accomplished artisan will emerge
to adorn and testify to their civilization
and their superiority. Indeed expan
sion in this direction proves the condi
- --1,a1 1;ea with n c,1rQ nm
true precision.
The time has come when an education
tending toward similar results SHOULD
occupy public thought in this country
heretofore too exclusively engrossed II
solving the problem of national exist
ence. It is just to say. however. tina
there has been an advance, noticeable Il
large centers, which has been brough
, about by friction and competition an
the contact with our nationalities, vary
, ing opinions and antagonistic creeds
, But the general improvement has no
;. been in accord with the capabilities i
that direction of the American people
nor proportionate with the increase
. wealth, for outside of Dur large cities, i
, the interior portions Of the country, lit
! il still unjustiiably primitive, an
! those living on plain and frontier, /
, mountain and forest, are uncultured b
yond what their isolation would justif,
!. Again it is noticeable that the educs
!, ton of the children of those classes POI
|, sessed Of ample means is in these Uni
ed States generally superficial. II
American early youth among the edit
Gated classes, which are those exertin
the most influence on the destinies OF
people, 10 not subjected to that sobt
. discipline deemed necessary by the olds
. nations Of Europe AZ being . protectio
I TO them, against their " ~irrepleti'
+ impulses. through mental habits thus el
= forced, and as constituting q desirab
: sutelage in preparation for the later Q
we're struggles Of life. The oyerindu
3 esnce generally accorded the America
. child and youth Is the cause of a gener'
q disregard Of authority and careless at
. tuds toward obligations, q distinct,
fsature Of the American youth. On Il
n - -.~ - n~Hho~sku thA nFn