The record-union., 1899-08-28
VOICE OF The PRESS.
EXTRACTS FROM EDITORIAL
EXPRESSIONS.
State and Coast Opinions on SUBJ
jects of Living News
Interest.

Fresno Republican: In lecture at
! Worcester, Mass. the Rev. Or. Hall
advocated the relaxation of the rules
against fighting by schoolboys. Il be-
| lieve in working off some effects of an
ger by well-reguFated fighting among
boys" said he. ITO teach children not
| to fight is to train them to be moral
| towards" This pedagogical movement
which is making fetish of the things
that are natural to children is going
a great deal too far. There is evidence
that stealing and lying are natural 10
children in certain periods of their de-
Eelopment. Cruelty is a natural quail
1ty OF childhood. Pretty soon we shall
have some pedagogical expert who will
advocate full freedom of lying, stealing,
and torture, SO that each child may
! outgrow them by his own personal ex-
perience of their unworth and danger.
The old notion of repression as the
chief aim Of school government is of
course all wrong. Children must be
taught to express as we'll as to repress
themselves. But life is not all free
expression. 1t is a strenuous thing. and
|
sion. A school life which is all instruct
i've play is poor preparation for an
adult life which must be mostly work
and endurance.
WHAT THEN?
Vacaville Reporter: Some of our con-
temporaries are against the cession Of
any lands to the States, to be used as
sites for reservoirs for the storage Of
water. They see in it lots of opportuni-
/ ty for spectators and capitalists. Pos
sibly, but not necessarily. But sup
pose it appears that the government
will not undertake the work, what
] then? Are we to waste years in in
effectual labors to secure benefits which
! the States may obtain by their own
| individual efforts? No one objects to
! the nation building reservoirs. We
! have wished for decade that work of
that kind might be begun and prosecut-
ed until every available site was util-
lied in all the Western States and Ter
ritories But we are of the opinion
that National legislation cannot. be Sc
cured, hence we believe the people of
California should try and do for them
selves what they have been asking
Congress to do for them.
ELECTRICAL ADVANCE.
Stockton Independent: What might
Franklin think were he only permitted
to return to this earth and view the
marvels accomplished through that
subtle agency to which he devoted so
much thought? His slender knowledge
of electrical science would not qualify
him for admission to a grammar school.
AM lar hn
study by which the single element of
aluminium that affords the medium to
this energy has been evolved from nat
ure's great chemical laboratory to be-
come the handmade of modern industry,
we are still more impressed with the
wonderful progress that has carried the
present era way beyond even it's own
comprehension.
FOUND IT OUT.
! Humboldt Standard: The Populsts
| have at last discovered that Bryan is a
Democrat-one of those Democrats they
have so long and loudly demanded-and
at the next National Populist Conven-
tion Bryan, though protesting to love
the Populists and agree with them in
many things, will be turned down. The
Populists wrecked their party by in
dorsing Bryan. They could not win
alone; they did not win with Bryan,
but they lost their independence and
almost ruined their organization. When
the children Of Israel went off after
strange gods they always got into
| trouble and repentance in sack-cloth
and ashes was the only alternative. The
| Populists have probably learned les
son along the same lines.
A NOTE OF WARNING.
Los Angeles Express: Bishop Mitch
inson, the recently elected master OF
Pembroke College, oxford, has created
a sensation throughout England by en-
| tering a vigorous protest against the
! modern craze of athletics "A college,
says the reverend gentleman, is more
| proud of a man who rows in the uni
| versity eight than of one who gets a
double first. The censure applies not
to any particular college or university,
it is generally true throughout Eng
| land. A first-class match at cricket or
| football, the boat race or any athletic
display, draws larger and larger crowds
| every year, and the accounts occupy
| more and more space in the newspa-
| pers.''
As exactly a similar development is
| going on in the United States, Dr.
| Mitchinson'S opinions are Of as much
interest to Americans as to English
| men, He says that while athletics
should not be undervalued. as they
have their place in education, their ilu-
| portance has been exaggerated by the
| present idolatry. They develop the
! muscles, increase physical strength,
bring out number of valuable quail
| ties, and they have also moral value
| To be able to fight losing battle, to
curb vexation at being worsted in an
| honorable contest, is worth learning
but they sometimes do more than this
| A life of training is one of self-re-
1 straint and has helped to keep many a
young man from vicious practices. But
! Dr. Mitchinson'S contention is that in
| the work of life the brain is needed
| even more than the muscles As he
! truly says, muscles never ruled the
| world, but mind did and always would
| and when a nation placed physical Ell
| joyments before culture of mind it has
| started on the down grade. He boldly
| declares that this is the case at OK
ford and the same holds good as to
| most of the other great colleges of
Great Britain and this country