The times., 1899-01-12
THE POWER OF EDUCATION.
DIR. William Il. Harris Addresses the
Industrial CommissiOn.

One of the best witnesses, from the
standpoint Of suggestion and information.
who has thus far appeared before the In
dustrial Commission, was DR.. " illam T.
| Harris. the head OF the National Educa-
tional Bureau who testified yesterday. He
| had been invited to address the commits
| sion upon the subject OF education as 1t
| relates to the several topics under conSid-
| eratiou.
| DR. Harris presented interesting data,
showing the growth of public interest
| throughout the world in the public schools.
| The school year he said varies from 2J0
| days in the municipal districts 10 40 and 30
| days in the rural districts. Taking the
municipal school year of 200 days as
basis. he stated that the statistics OF his
| department showed that. on an average,
| the people Of the United States had at
| tended school for three and half years
| mp to 1870. and that the duration of GIeir
| attendance had grown in 1897 to nearly
| five years. As between the sections, the
| North Atlantic States show an average
OF six and half years school application:
| the South Atlantic has grown froEi one
and one-fifth years in 1870 to three ani
eight-tenths now: the Western division
| States have reached an average Of five ard
! a half years. Meanwhile, the growth o:
| the public school has been attended by
| decline in the number OF private schools
and the attendance at them. At one time
one-sixth of the schools were private
now only : or per ce.t are private.
Speaking of the benefits that have been
derived from the educational growth OF
the country. DR.. Harris said that the first
| advantage has come from the fact that the
| ability of the citizens to read and write
| has enabled the newspapers to create a
| public sentiment through which the COM
munity could be swayed because of their
| judgment and sense rather than through
| its old police system. The newspapers
| bring the information of the world before
| every reader and place him In contact with
the best thought on every important topic.
| Education tends to make man versatile.
| 1t fits him to take himself out of the old
| methods and adjust himself to the new
methods of work and to employ mod
ern devices that replace the old ones. This
is very important consideration from DIR.
Harriss standpoint. He stated that one
of the results of the improvement in ma
chinery is that England has felt it incum-
bent on her for fifty years to take care
OF from 100000 to I.4G0.00 paupers-nOt
adaptable people-who were not able to
keep abreast with the progress OF their
times.
Incidentally he stated that in times Gi
distress. when provisions were high. the
poor houses of England GiIed up, while
when work was plenty and supplies were
cheap, SO that the size OF the pauper pop
ulation of England has come to be recog-
nized all over the world as a sort OF ba-
rnmeter on the point of general prosper
,ty. -
Another interesting incident brought out
by the professor talk was the growth of
the sentiment in Europe for wider educa-
tion that followed the FrancO-Prussian
war. The experience OF Europe with the
German army convinced The nations of the
Continent that If they were to compete
with Germany on the field of Mars they
must send better educated men into the
ranks. Russia has not yet, apparently,
caught the inspiration. But other nations
show advancement.
Another advantage derived from the
spread OF education is the ability of the
workers to earn better wages. In Great
Britain he noted that thirty families out
of one hundred have $1,000 Il year: in
France "a per cent have sl,4O0; in Italy,
where the educational standard is low. only
three out Of every one hundred families
have $1,000 a year.