Omaha daily bee., 1902-11-16
Non-College Mans Chances in Life

England's great schools appear to be awak-
ening slowly to the necessity of furnishing
their students with practical training, but
they have made little Roadway as yet, and
British educational authorities say il will
take years for the schools of their country
to catch up in the race. There is an inn
portant element i'm Great Britain, and a
smaller one. relatively, in this country,
which objects to the "practicalization" OF
the colleges and universities, but the moye>
ment, born of necessity, has got too good
a start to be retarded materially.
Undoubtedly, in my view, the present
tendency is light in tn" main. 1t does not
lessen the facilities offered to students
who wish to acquire the classical educa-
ton; it simply gives the student who from
necessity or inclination requires training
that will help him to make his way in
practical life an opportunity to get it in
the years of his schooling, instead OF
waiting until his graduation day has been
passed.
There is one serious defect in the educa-
tion of a large proportion of those who
make up the rising generation whether they
are intended for college or not. This de-
feet is so radical and so easily overcome,
if measures to tina end are taken early
enough, that its existence is both %surpris-
ing and humiliating. | refer to the notori-
ously lax training so many receive in the
elementary branches-the three RS"
have explained my views on this subject
before, and judging from the many com,
mandatory letters that | have received
from all parts of the United States, there
is very general agreement with my conten.
ton that a large proportion of our elemcn
tary schools are inadequate.
Graduates of the public schools ar,
turned out into the world incapable of per
forming the simple arithmetical compute,
lions needed in the ordinary transaction
Of business life. They do not know how t.
express themselves clearly and directly il
their mother tongue, either by word o
mouth or in writing. Most preparation!
schools give more attention to Latin ant
Greek, admittedly studied chiefly for thei
disciplinary value, than they do to English
which is the living tongue, the medium o
practically all communication between maj
and man in this country.
Every employer of clerks will verif
what / say on this point. The majority @
the applicants for situations in the banks
the offices of the big transportation com
panies, the mecantile houses and othe
: business concerns are unable to writ
proper letters of application. Their hand
writing is bad; often they cannot spell
: The old t|horoughness of elementary train
ing, the hard digging at the work of layin
; the foundation of education, in the master
of English and arithmetic and the acquis
ton of a clear legible handwriting has bee
r abandoned in too many schools.
: There are exceptions, for which the cOur
try should be thankful, and a surprising
| large number Of these exceptions are foun
T among the elementary schools conducte
: under the auspices of the Catholic churcl
5 In them the former thorough teaching
? the three RS" seems to have persisted
) and while no one can be more sensible
the great work that the public schools al
, doing than myself, I must commend III
elementary methods Of the Catholic school
to the public school authorities in man
cities.
1t was his mastery Of the English Lar
guage and his thorough mental trainin
. that enabled Horace Greeley. innocent