The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1902-06-05
VALUE OF AN EDUCATION.

question, Does higher education fit it's
possesor for more successful life?
In 1896 q prominent divine endeavored
to explain the opposition to the gold
standard on the theory that farmers
sons were being educated too much,
and thus made dissatisfied with the
position God intended them to fill"
The remark called forth great deal
OF criticism, because it betrayed an
Indifference to the welfare of the peo-
pie as well as ignorance in regard to
the money question. About year ago
Mr.. Schwag, president of the steel
trust, made speech before New York
school q which he declared that very
few of the prominent business men
had received collegiate education,
and he insisted that a boy who left
school at sixteen or seventeen and
went to work would get such a start
that the boy who went to college until
he was twenty or twenty-one could
never overtake him. Reference is made
to the views expressed by these two
men, one conspicuous in the ministry
and the other known as the highest
salaried business man in the United
States, because they present the two
arguments usually made against col
legiate training, first, that it makes
a person dissatisfied with his condi-
ton, and, second, that it is waste of
time.
Neither argument is sound. Con-
tentment with ones lot is only virtue
when the person has done all within
his power to improve his condition.
To say that contentment regardless Of
ones situation is to be commended, is
to bring an indictment against all pro-
gress. All development of body, of
mind and of heart comes from the fact
thar one is dissatisfied with his pres
eA! development. Contentment, as it
is preached by some, would have left
the farmer ploughing with crooked
stick, if, in fact, it would not have
stopped him before he began to plough
at all. The desire for more knowledge
is the beginning of progress.
One defect in the doctrine of those
wt.o condemn higher education-and it
is fatal one-is that they never APP
ply it to themselves or to those imme-
Gialely related to them. The man who
would curtail the educational oppor-
tunities of people generally would. as
a rule, make an exception in regard
to his own children, and those IN whom
he feels an especial interest. But no
one is wise enough to decide in adj
vance which child oug,>t to be edu-
Gated. The great men of one genera
ton sometimes, yes, usually, come up
from the ranks, not from the leaders
CT the former generation. And the ma
/, tt: n must educate all of it's people in
order that it may have the largest pos
s;ble number to draw from.
If person regards his education as
a Liece of jewelry to be worn as an
ornament, or as thing to be used for
his personal pleasure, it will be of linn
tied service to him; if. however, he
regards it as means of making him
nS re useful and finds his pleasure
IN the utilization of his education fol
possibly have too much of mental dis
cipline and instruction.
A successful life might we'll be de-
scribed as fountain spring that con-
tinually gives forth that which re-
freshes and invigorates. A spring can
not be too large, neither can it's wa
tiers be too pure. And life that con-
tinually overflows with helpfulness is
refined and purified by the influence
of higher education.
The second objection rests upon a
fallacy that ought to be detected by
any practical man. The time spent
in school is economically spent. A
workman does not lose the time spent
in sharpening his tools, for his in
creased efficiency far more than COM
pensates for the time spent in prep
aration. AS well might one object to
eating, on the ground that it takes
time from work; without eating he
would soon be unable to work. As
we'll might one criticise the time spent
in sleeping, omit ground that it les
sens the working hours; without the
rest and recupention which sleep gives
it would be impossible to work at all
And so the stud.nt without discipline
would work clumily and ineffectively
He is short-sighed who envies the
man who accumuates a few dollars
during the years tlat ought to be spent
in school; he who tores his mind with
useful knowledge md fits himself to
grasp and deal witt the problems OF
life has capital ar more valuable
and far more securethan any that can
be measured by laIls, or houses, or
bank account.
But even if an ednation did not fit
one for money-makirg it ought to fit
him to measure life bsa higher stand
ard than that applied " the miser and
the monopolist. The nan who applies
the Golden Rule to lii lives upon a
higher plane than the mn who applies
the Rule of Gold. Nc one is quite
above the level of the butte who con-
siders mere wealth in esimating sue
/ cess in individual or natonal life. If
| food and physical develolnent are all
that one wants the beastspf tSe fields
may surpass him; if fint apparel is
mans chief desire the fioysrs and the
birds outstrip him; if his oily thought
is Of himself and if he ony labors to
crafty himself, he puts himself in the
class with the vulture and tie glutton
He only values life as he sould who
recognizes it as a responsibility no less
than privilege and strives o meas
ute up to his opportunities. If his
ileals are lofty enough to keerhis face
turned upward to the very en- of life
Ind his principles are strong enough
to keep him always moving frward