The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-08-02
AN AGE OF
Reasons Why We Should Not Boast
of Our Intelligence.
Nrou- vorl Trfh,rno
New York Tribune

New YORK Tribune.
This is said to be an age of intelligence,
and, relatively speaking, it is. There is a
widespread sentiment in favor of promot-
ing education among all classes in the COM
munity. This sentiment is not wholly al
TRUSTEE: it rests largely on the belief that
the great prizes of life to-day in nearly all
cases go TO the intelligent; and as even the
ignorant man would like to have some or
these prizes he naturally adopts the one
course that will make him a competitor for
them with some chance or success; he
ceases TO be ignorant. 1t would be I'M
gracious as well as unjust to find fault
with those who improve their minds be-
from a selfish motive. But such people are
in danger of contenting themselves with n
merely superficial culture which yields no
fruits of profitable knowledge. And this is,
perhaps. the most conspicuous defect in
the popular education of the day.
There is, however. another more prac-
much about the intelligence of this age,
and hat is the fact that the people who
are ignorant vastly outnumber the people
necessarily to those who are recognized as
ignorant and illiterate. although they are
very numerous. We include In the term
usually be classed as intelligent. but whose
knowledge is worse than ignorance be-
cause it is perverted or distorted or torn
out of it's natural relations. An excellent
illustration of this is found in the eXamina-
ton of candidates. for the police force in
this city. AS a rule the men who present
themselves for this examination would be
classed as fairly intelligent men; certainly
they do not belong to the class of Hitter
ates. And yet. though the questions which
are given them to answer are elementally
easy. only 50 per cent. of them succeed in
passing.
The answers of the Go per cent. who do
not pass show an amazing ignorance OF
everyday simple facts-an ignorance which
can only be explained by assuming either
that these men cannot think or that they
were not taught to think. In a recent ex-
animation. for instance, out of 210. forty
three could not tell in what State Chicago
is, one of them declaring that Chicago is
a State by itself" Forty could not name
one New England State. One named five
OF them as follows: 'InRlen, Irelan. Scot
ling, Wales and Cork" and another gave
the same list. EXCEPT that he substituted
Belfast for Cork. Ninety could not name
one of the Confederate States. and one
wrote down as five OF them. New York.
PENNSYLVANIA. Massachusetts. Maine and
Vermont" One hundred and twenty-six
could not name the law-making body OF
10 be martial law" Forty-ive did not
know the name of the chief executive
officer of a State.
But the letter of 125 words or less that
each candidate must write on some practi-
cal t~oDic-such as The Causes of Crime
furnishes the best proof of the mental
vacuity of many supposedly intelligent
men. One candidate contented himself
with enunciating the fact. Grimes does be
done Another gave the following mys-
pies has been drunk Grassy and almost dead
from their endurance" 1t is not necessary
to give further Illustrations OF the dense
ignorance of many who have gone TO
be intelligent. There are multitudes of
such people in the community to-day. and
instead of indulging in spread-eagle
speeche about OH intelligence 1t Is hiE