Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1897-06-14
EDUCATION VS.. IGNORANCE.

Mr.. Andrew D. White. our new ambas-
sador TO Germany, takes prompt and ef-
fective issue with Mr.. Henry Childs Mer-
wins article in the Atlantic Monthly, in
which that writer seeks 70 maintain that
a popular government would be impossible
in a nation where all the people were clev-
er and well educated. Mr.. Merwin based
his conclusion upon the premise that ex-
tensive education would destroy cohesive
ness and divide the body polite into as
many struggling factors as there are In
divfdualS.
Mr.. White takes exactly the opposite
ground and declares tina no popular gov
eminent can live unless sustained by an
enlightened body OF citizens. II have"
says he, "~speculated somewhat in politics
In my ~day-have had a little TO do with
them sometimes-and I am profoundly OF
the impression that on the education In
this country must rest the continuance
Of the republic. The republican form of
government Is by no means a new thing
In this world. A number Of great republics,
Differed by great men, have existed in the
world. Their history has been very brill
lant. ana YET OF lltul dAAs OAiAg WV tiAA~A
only two can be said TO have lasted.
Naturally 1 do not count France, which
exists simply because there is no head Of
any other party which is strong enough to
marshal q party: therefore 1t remains a
republic for the time being. I am speaking
OF Switzerland and the United States.
These two republics differ from all others
only in one particular. Other republics
have been deeply religious. The republic
at Florence was as deeply religious as any
community that ever existed. They have
all had every virtue except an enlightened
body OF men. Switzerland and the United
States have that. They stand some chance
Of continuance"
Proceeding further into Mr.. Whites ad-
dress-he was talking to the National Edu-
cational Association-we find that by edu-
cation he did not mean alone the educa-
ton received in schools. He referred more
particularly to that broad enlightenment
which comes TO men and women in mature
years from an intelligent, patriotic and re-
spectacle press, from the church pulpit
and from other sources. and he was care
full to draw a distinction between the de-
velopment Of purely intellectual faculties
and the moral ones. 1T is, after ALL" says
he, 'the simple great principles of moral
ity that we must depend upon for a fut-
ure proper development of our institutions
and our national life.'
But. after eliminating the detail upon
which these. two writers appear TO agree
both being suspicious of a high intellectual
energy as a factor in popular government
we have the result that one is afraid of
a wide education while the other regards
It as indispensable. This brings us to the
contemplation Of a sociological condition
that has puzzled many a student. namely,
that high education and ignorance often
arrive together at a conclusion that Is re-
jected by all between. In other words high
education and ignorance are often found
working hand in hand to the same end and
both. therefore, are TO be regarded as in
imical by the vast intermediate body. Thus
we find socialists made up of two distinct
types. the unprecedented and those with
little or no education. In many other
phases OF economics we find the same
phenomenon. The very lowest order OF
Americas civilization is a unit for free
trade. and the next most conspicuous ele-
ment in that direction are the college pro-
fessors. Is It because of a revolt Of the
over-stlmulated intellect back to primeval
impulses. or is It a demonstration Of the
correctness Of these impulses by a high
philosophy which finds no clientage among
the intermediate classes? II IL Is the first
we must admit that conservatism can ap.
ply u~sefully TO education as well as to ev
erything else in the realm OF human af