Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1902-01-31
$vasi1ingtuu STANDARD
OLYMPIA, WASH.
FRIDAY EVENING. JANUARY 81. 1902.
The Peoples College.


\ German educator and man who
is also prominent authority on all
that apportains to the principles OF
political economy, writes across the
water to warn our government against
accepting the Carnegie offer for the
establishment. of 100000 univer.
sity at Washington. He asserts that
Germany is hide bound and overridden
with just such colossal institutions of
learning to the neglect and positive
injury of the common schools in the
rural districts.
A candid consideration OF all the
points at issue will show that the Ger
man letter-writer is quite correct in
his conclusions.
The Smithsonian Institution, estab-
lished years ago by legacy left to our
government, on plan similar to that
proposed by Mr.. Carnegie, has done
little more in half century than to
foster successfully as the years went
by a corps of high-salaried professors
in the obstruse fields of bootless re-
search. 1t is true that, year by year,
the board OF directors have managed
to publish at the expense OF the gene.
raj government tons OF so-called
transactions" of the institution; but
this is no more than what the Patent
Office has done and is doing every
year. 1t is still fresh in the minds of
disgruntled Congressman that only a
couple of years ago our government
appropriated $4,000, to be used in
carte blanche fashion, by that visionary
dreamer, Professor Langley, Secretary
of the Smithsonian Institution, in
making sundry improvements and al
terations in his much talked-of flying
machine, the aroplane."
Every dollar of that appropriation
was frittered away in experiments and
when the day came upon which the
machine was to astonish the world by
its aerial performances, it went up
like rocket and came down like q
stick, and so far as known it is still
sticking in the mud on the banks OF
the Potomac. While the Smithsonian
is only white elephant, the $40 OOO,.
700 university will be full dozen
white elephants with an army of
titled keepers to maintain.
Chicago university and its twin.
mate, Stanford university, are the
freak offspring of men who had
money to burn which they made off
tho people; and now neither one of
those princely institutions is doing so
much in the work of raising up true
American citizenship as many high
school in our cities and villages with.
out dollar to their credit as an en-
dowment fund. The common school
j. the peoples college, and from its
benches come the rank and file of our
solid citizenship.
Now let Congress say to Mr.. Carne-
gle "Yes, sir; we will take your So
100000 and utilize it in the promotion
of public education of the masses.
With your generous gift we will es-
tablish thousand graded schools in
as many rural hamlets at a cost of
$4,000 each, where the poorest bare
footed boy or girl can 60 and receive
free instruction in all that is neces.
sary for their present or eternal we'll.
being and happiness" Harvard and
Yale colleges are doing good work,
because they were planted in poverty
and reared by the Drawn and muscle
Of New England yeomanry.
On the contrary, the principal work
done at those schools planted and fos-
tered by multi.millionaires, is, in the
main, to make educated fools of rich
mems sons and daughters.
DUBOIs WANTS CONGREss "PRo.