The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1894-1903, 1899-06-03

EHtuOuS YOUTH uotIuS pdTeute, dspiTd-
,ion that mistakes itself for inspiration,
buncombe nd bombast- all are catered
10 by the hypocrisy that assaults such a
wholesome truth as came from the lips
Of a man who fought the world and
conquered. The very editors who
pcnned the spread eagle flapdoodle in
Lame OF Mr.. Huntington's speech had
under their eyes, and probably in mind
abundant products of the evil that he
prcdcated For what more convincing
fiascos of misplaced education could
they demand than the hundreds of col.
l,ge graduates who fill the newspaper
Offices, fresh from calculus, classics and
Fine Arts courses, in quest Of the dried
apples that hang at the top Of journa.
ism? Can that be wholesome condi.
ton Of affairs which cozens young men
from useful and prosperous pursuits in
the field, at the anvil, on the majestic 10.
comotive, or bearing the surveyors chain,
into the back alley of letters? Is it rea.
.-sonable or sensible that man should
devote six or eight years to elaborate
and expensive preparation for post in
which he may be rivaled or surpassed
by one with no more comprehensive cd.
ucation than that cleaned in the public
schools?
Some Of the yellow journals tried to
have it appear that Mr.. Huntington had
set himself against the higher education
as represented in the two or three really
great universities in the country. But
no considerable person was taken in
by that silly pretense. Indeed, MIR.
Huntington spoke distinctly enough to
admit of no dubiety on the matter. 1t
was the effect on the masses that his
words dealt. And by the masses he
meant not merely the poor and lowly,
but the vast majority in the community,
the majority including the well-to-do and
even rich 1t was condition OF national
import, not one OF merely individual per.
thence, that he formulated. There is
growing up stronger and stronger wall
Of CASTE he said, in apt resume of the
whole question. with good, honest la.
Dor on the one side and frivolous gent,l
ity on the other"
1t is this last, the frivolous gentility'
--"genteelness' signs the sentiment
more precisely-that is chiefly RESPONSE.
BILE for the evils to which the great finan.
cier has compelled attention. The I'M
derbaked professors most OF all-tbat
abound in this country as in no other
have insidiously, even IL unwit!ingly. in.
oculated the multitude with the notion
that labor, manual labor, is undignifisd.
Possibly the fine sounding rubbish that
has been spread abroad about the bless
ings and splendors Of modern machinery
has contributed to the establishment Of
the delusion. OF course, every man
with even moderate appreciation of
beauty and sense Of art knows that,
so far from being undignified, the hsndi.
crafts are occupations inherently beau
tlful, and they reflect their quality
upon those engaged therein. The car.
penter who works nice ioinery, the
smith who fashions neat horseshoe,
the founder who casts stout anchor,
the mason who builds wall straight
and true, the ploughman who sends a
share to the right depth, the cobbler
who stitches honestly-all are gentlemen
beyond comparison with the hordes OF
quack doctors, shyster lawyers, canting
and chanting preachers and snobbish
loafers that our universities turn out