The record-union., 1898-11-26
likely to be witnesses Of such dreadful

likely to be witnesses Of such dreadful
events. j q
powers of observation, his keenness of
intellect and his sagacity of mind, did
not seem to appreciate the marvellous
influence and the tremendous force of
popular education.
He judged America largely by the
conditions surrounding him in Great
Britain. He knew that the possible
ties were serious in his country OF an
overcrowded population and exhausted
resources. He knew that Great Brit
ain, cut off from the rest of the world,
must die from hunger. He knew that
a great mass of the men and women
In Great Britain We're illiterate and un-
thinking, and hence, could easily be
stirred, by want and suffering, to riot
and revolution.
But he had no conception of the un-
bounded resources of this nation. He
little dreamed of the vast nndeveloped
possibilities that, in his time, still lay
undiscovered and untouched in cur
great prairies, our magnificent valleys,
our wonderful mountains and our ex-
haustless mines.
He seemed to have no conception of
the vast educational and intellectual
strides going on among the great body
of our people, and of the fact that.
while we have fewer gre at scholars than
most other great nations, we have less
ignorance, stupidity and illiteracy than
any other great nation.
'Macaulay was probably not alive to
the facts recently brought out by
careful student of economics, who
shows that the United States is the
only great nation of the world which
expends more for education than for
war; that France spends, annually 81
per capita on her army and 20 cents aer
capita on education; England 1912 for
her army and 62 cents for education:
for education; Austria $1.36 for her
army and cents for education; the
United States 80 cents for her army
and $1.35 for education. The United
States spends more per capita, ,annu-
ally, for education, than England,
France and Russia combined Macaulay
did not seem to appreciate the marvel
Gus inventive genius Of our people,
their power to create something out of
almost nothing, their skill in utilizing
apparent waste forces, and the fact
that We are thinking as we'll as
calculating people. Nor did he seem
to understand that, while few can he
more wasteful and extravagant than
the American people, few, when need
be, can be more prudent or economic.''
He thought the predictions that
America would fall as Rome fell were
pessimistic. Rome had no army OF
well-paid teachers, but it was a small
country Of corrupt officials Had Rome
possessed our common schools instead
of those where tutors were the chief
instructors, our public press and our
Libraries, the story would have been
far different. Becoming biographical,
Mr. Weinstock said:
"At the age of twelve I was obliged
to leave the public school and so out
into the world as bread-winner The
possibility of intellectual growth and
mental development did not seern prom
ising. What progress / might have
made in these directions, had I lived
under other conditions or in any other
country, is not easy to say. But there
came to my aid the public library,
which opened out to me a new world
and new possibilities. Books were
thus placed in mS hands which I
should have had no other means of
reaching; and though had no guild
ance in the selection of reading mat
ter suited to my years and conditions,
and though, from lack of Judgment, I
doubtless read much that was Ioor
and unfit. the fact remains that my
love for reading was cultivated until
it has become one Of the great pleasures
of my Hfe''
In conclusion the sneaker said he
believed in libraries as a means of ed
ucation, saying.
Who then, shall say that public
library should not be a part Of the ed
sucational system of every city and
command hearty and generous support.
In fact the State, the very existence of
which depends so largely, in this re-
public, upon the intelligence ard well
being of it's citizens, should hasten to
the support of the excellent plan for
the promotion of the free travelling IL
brary, so that the best thoughts of the
worlds best minds may be placed,
without cost, within the reach of those
living in the smallest and dullest ham,
let.
'The men and women whose lives
are devoted to the work of caring for
and maintaining these admirable insti-
tutions, and who, by their very voca-
ton, have such excellent opportunities
to note the educational value of the
public library must be the leaders in
the movement of spreading the good
work and securing for it the necessary
support"