The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-01-05

I found much to interest me in . re- gent visit to the Alabama Polytechnic bama can observe without . sense of genuine gratitude, the great work which has been accomplished by pr. Broun and his associates.
 ured not only by its results, but by its sisniicance~ Auburn is really standing for an idea. It represents the incorpor- ation of the industrial clements in ed- directed work, it Is frankly and squarely suoordtnating the vanities to the effi-
 Industrial Education.
 do not mean to say, that the so- called ''ciasslc education" is necessarily means work. and all honest and real work involves the discipline of char acter and the development of capacity. tween the "S claims s'1A of the sV Classic and the industrial elements in education. Each must have its place in the equipment of the future adult population of a great every woman have something of both. But where there must be q choice. we may we'll put the greater measure of time and labor upon the fulfillment and the
 While a classic education, as I have said. is not necessarily a thing of van- ity. any education is confessedly and certainly vain which twists human and its opportunities. It is in this same sense that an industrial education itself If too long and too vigorously followed may become perilous to the man who statesman. The discipline of manual work may at length become nrofitless to the man who chiefly needs the discip- line of enquiry. of ideas. of beauty Of Of structive forces of such mind. And yet, our danger, just at present, lies In our temptation to assume that the pop ghlation of the scnolars: the artists aHa Wa are tempted to ignore the larger popu- lation of those whose greater aptitudes are not aesthetic, scholastic. or political, In every neiEhborhood we meet the ed. ucational misfit. The result Is sometimes disastrous from a mental as well as an economic standpoint. President Alder the tae southern lou Educstion Board. has wit tily stated that many of our negroes who started with the three R's (readin. 'ritin and 'rithmetic') have ended only three P's tpohtics. the pulpit, or the pen itentiarv0
 And the educational misfit does not al- ways wear a black skin: It is idle to the distinction of the negro. If educa- tional failures could be fairly taken as an argument against educational ef- fort. we should have abandoned white have taught us something. The average output of the general educational sys- tenn of the world Is greater and better cade. Is being more closely adapted to the actual needs of our people and to the definite, urgent, practical demands of life. Industrial training is simply one liability of education to experience Is be- ing maintained. It is just one of the forms through which our educational system is touehing life more directly Y has taken 1t up. There is something in 1t. Whatever there Is in it, we must understand and seize upon and use-for the South and for our children.
 A Striking Comparison.
 quarters to discredit industrial education for our white people. This has been due partly to ignorance, partly to that eX- | altation of the professional career which partly to the impression that the thing is fad" and partly to the association of this form of education with the ne- gro: But such errors have oained only formed as to the facts know we'll enough. that for every such negro institution in this country there are five hundred such training places for white pupils; The Southern hope and Southern thought are calling us to compare our conditions not primarily with the institutions for the negro but with the striking provision for the country at large. I quote from a man whose life strikes its roots far back in the life of the South. pr. George T. Winston, President of the North Car olina College of Agriculture and Me chanic Arts. Says Dr. Winston:
 We are so unfamiliar with machinery. skilled labor and technical knowledge that many of our leading men. even our leading educators, regard industrial cd ucation as a fad or a sham. Let them open thtir eyes and contemplate the present and the future instead of gazing forever at the past; let them behold the little State of Massachusetts. with more institutions for industrial education than the entire South. let them see her tex tile schools, her schools of design. schools of art, schools of technology manual training institutes, trade schools poly technio institutes. schools of applied sci ence and institutes of technology: let her city high schools. and her entire public school system made strong, prac- tical and profitable by industrial in- struction alongside of literary; let them edge and industrial proficiency cannot be acquired by accident, by instinct or by borrowing but must be wrought out by the same systematic, persistent and intelligent education as Is requisite for literary skill. scientific knowledge and mental proficiency"
 What the South May Do.
 We cannot expect at the South soon to rival the conditions at the North, and vet tho South can well do more than has thus far been accomplished. The encouragement and support of such in- stitutions as Auburn should become the duty not of the State alone. but of those citizens of Alabama whom the State has rewarded with the capacities of wealth and influence. The largest equipment of such schools should present to our men of substance an occasion. not of char lty'' in its narrow sense but of patriot ism in its highest form. There should be no abatement of our interest in our scholastic or literary training. Our in- stitutions which are fostering education work which is of cardinal importance. Auburn ia maintaining this work: as well. Other institutions are doing 1t ex. clusively, and arc doing it with honor and distinction. have spoken, this week, of the value of industrial educa- we need to lay the emphasis
 A Practical Consideration.
 The need of which have been speak ing is recognised throughout the South. It has been strongly stated by MT. Rich ard H. Edmunds, Editor of The Manu- recent paper before the Southern Cotton Spinners' Association. It is in this pa- per that have noted the quotation from pr. Winston. and that I find also this striking statement from the Board of These gentlemen declare:
 Investigation shows that of the en- ployes in responsible positions where any