The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-05-21
TER.EDUCATIoN.

w EH-EOOO Il LAONs
Coils P, Huntington, president OF the
Southern Pacific railroad. lately achieV-
ed notoriety by telling his colleagues
and employees that generalization OF
the masses is the cause of much dis
tress in this country" He finds that
the young are filled with knowledge
that is of no service to them and I'M
fits them for the sober work of life
There is growing up strong wall OF
caste" he says, with good, honest Ia
Dor on one side and frivolous gentility
on the other" Mr.. Huntington may
know something about this wall OF
caste but it is not so certain that he
realizes what is building it. Is it edu-
cation?
There is much nonsensical and insln-
cere talk about education, but none is
more foolish than the dogmatic utter
ances of a certain class of rich men
who have been able to acquire mil
lions without the aid of the scholar
ship, culture, mental equipment and
training that education is designed to
give These. men deserve credit fol-
what they may have accomplished by
dint of industry, honesty and ability
but they have no more attained the
sum total of human wisdom than col
lege president, though they not infre-
quently speak with more positiveness
IN ortnn' g re-
marks are of no possible consequence
except as coming from a man who Is
typical of his class.
Good, honest labor" is one of the
things for which an education is especi-
ally adapted to fit man, and more
over to qualify him to perform intelli-
gently and effectively. The frivolous
gentility' of which Mr.. Huntington
speaks is not the child of education
Laziness and snobbishness are not its
products. Mr. Huntington will be more
apt to find his frivolous gentility' in
culcated by the example of those who
have acquired immense wealth rapidly
by other means than the good, hon
est labor" which he eulogizes. Theil
example excites the emulation of the
young, who naturally see no reason
why they themselves should not get
rich just as rapidly and with no great
er exertion, whether in the stock mar
ket or on the race course.
Mr.. Huntington loses sight of the fact
that for quarter of century a quiet
industrial revolution has been going on
and the conditions of life have become
distinctly altered Time is required for
the people to. get used to changes that
have been unprecedented in the history
of the world Thousands have been
thrown out of work in a single year
through no fault of their own, and ii
is not easy for them to turn their hands
Immediately to a new occupation. The
ranks Of uneducated labor are thus vir-
tually reinforced. Systems of educa-
ton have been changed also. and will
continue to change to meet the re-
quirements of the era. Perfection has
not been and can never be reached, but
that is wholly different from saying
that present ills are due to the over
education of the masses"
1t is not quite clear whether Mr.
Huntington would close some of the
colleges and technical schools and re-
strict the membership in those which
remain, or would cut short the public
schools, or would deny both the ele-
mentary and the higher education tc
large fraction of the people. But
however his words may be interpreted
they are nothing more than an echo
of the theory of oldworld despotism
that the beople are either dolts or rob.
bers and must be kept down"