The Winslow mail., 1897-11-13
FOR MORE COLLEGES.
Secretary Wilson Favors Smaller
Institutions

AASOh aBOTS
institutions.
TT never occurred to me that there
were too many colleges" said Secre
tary Wilson the other day. 81 ALWAYS
thought there were not enough 1 have
heard of men being educated beyond
their capacity and women beyond theiI
sphere, but 1 am very sure that the
learning they acquired must have con.
trlDuted to their happiness as well as
to their usefulness. l have heard OF
men being spoiled by education, but
have never seen such a thing, and il
seems to me that a man who Is foo
with an education would be a bigger
fool without one. A man who is spoiled
by education, if such a thing is possi.
bic, must have ben made of very poor
stuff to begin with. You canot make q
silk purse out of a sow's ear. That has
been demonstrated by the experience
OF centuries, but in all my career as an
educator have never found a boy or
a girl who wasn't the better for learn
Ing something, and the nearer you get
the colleges to the people the more
people you will get into the colleges. /
don't believe in the big institutions. l
don't believe in the Capitalization of
educational facilities. l think that
they do more good if they are scatter
ed. The fewer the pupils a professor
has, the more attention he can give
them, and while, of course, he ought to
nave enough to provide him a decent
compensation he ought not to have
more than he can handle. There are
1orty colleges in Iowa already, and
they are multiplying all the time. /
nope to see the day when there Is n
college IN every county and 500 stu
uents IN every college. These local col
leges may not afford the same priyil-
eges Tor scientific education that
young man can obtain at Yale or Har-
Vard or Princeton, but you must re-
member that comparatively few famil-
les are able to send their sons to such
institutions, or any considerable dis
tance from home. The most useful col
lege for the Western States is one
which lets the students go to their
homes every Friday night and stay
O'>A Will OAOhudy AluS. OOluG Ol
the institutions out West are very poor,
but they are not too poor to give boy
an education, and they can teach him
lessons in economy in addition to the
other sciences.
Another thing l object to-" contin-
ued the Secretary, 'is the talk 1 hear
about the extravagances of the farm
ers. A farmer has the right to live as
well as anybody, provided he can af-
ford the expense, and I never yet have
known man to mortgage his farm to
pay household expenses. The condi-
ton of our farmers is growing better
and better all the time, and like to
see it. Formerly they used to have a
homemade rag carpet in the parlor
and bare floors over the rest Of the
house. Now they have pretty Brussels
carpets and have sent the rag carpets
to the chambers. Formerly people went
to church and to town in lumber wag-
ons, and if they were pretty well off
they had spring seats. Now nearly ev-
cry farmer out In my country has a
carriage, and handsome set of har-
ness. Formerly it used to be the
height Of a woman's ambition to have
a melodeOn or cabinet organ. Now she
must have piano. Formerly the girls
made their own clothes; now they have
their Sunday gowns cut out by the
dressmaker in the nearest town, al
though they still do the stitching them
selves. And they are all the better for
it. This advance has harmed nobody
and has brought great deal of happi-
ness 1t is the result of education and
refinement and the elevation of the
taste, and l do not think those quail
ties are any more out of place in q
farmhouse than In brown stone pal
ace in the city.
"While these advantages and enjoy
ments have added to the cost of living.
nobody has gone to the pOorhouse on
that account. The same degree of In
telligence is just as valuable on a farm
as in q counting house or manufac-
tory, and the mortgages that lie upon
the farms of Iowa are not due to ex-
travagance, but to improvements. They
represent more land and improved i'm
plements and fine cattle and horses.
The farmer gets a better crop and
more of it, and he keeps adding to his
own wealth as well as to the wealth of
the nation"