The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1902-04-11

ana lnVeSt1gat1On tor imagination.
1t might be that we are losing some
of riches fruits in education and
culture but such is the drift of Gen.
tury. We are now having the prac-
tical application of what few
years ago were the dreams of in
ventors and philosophers. We are
enjoying the products of their
minds and labor. We are merely
beginning to appreciate what the
self-education of these men have
done for US and the coming stu
dent. This is wonderful age. One
author defines it as the age of syn
thesis. The putting of things to-
gether which in other centuries
were kept apart. No combination
of interests SCENE too large for the
financiers of this country. 1t takes
men with strong minds and great
executive ability to carry on these
colossal affairs. Institution are be-
ing called upon for young men
who are equipped for such work.
The nation has entered upon a few
fields of aggression. We are not a
nation of one part of a he misphere
but the nation leading and directing
the affairs of the world. But with all
this knowledge, what has the edu-
cation of a pupil to do with the
state? What is the position of the
pupil to the state? Will it make
him better citizen7 Let us exam
inc tile conditions. The child in his
relation to the state is citizen in
embryo. He is the citizen of the
future. The school is the place
where the child is prepared to full
fill his duties as a citizen. It is the
first institution outside of the home
that exercises a controlling power
upon him. It is the first foreign
power that demands obedience of
him. 1t is the first social commun-
ity that demands certain duties and
obligations of him. It is the place
where his habits of future living
are to be so ground into his char
acter that they will ever reflect
themselves.
If these conditions are true, be-
lieve that every child can be made
to BEST serve MS State by being
compelled to honor and respect the
laws and rules of the public system
of this grand state. I believe that
every child should be made to do
all his school work accurately, neat
1y and mechanically, even if it does
not understand all the why's and
wherefors. I believe that the
schools of this country should first
train the children to become law
abiding citizens, and then give
them the necessary attributes to se
cure the honest dollar. The sch ool
should not do this but more. The
time has arrived when educators
of this country should understa n d
and teach the art of doing thin 6 8
as we'll as the art of knowing thing 3.
Let the boys and girls go for II,
skilled in the practical application
many of trades. and not merely as 80
walking encyclopedias waiting
for some one to ask them to demon
strate theory in geometry or to
translate certain passage of latin.
Let the eye, the hand and the body
of the pupil be educated as we'll as
the intellect. Let the young farmer
be so educated that he may enrich
the state by producing the greatest
possible amount of products from
the soil he tills with the least loss
of labor. Let him have as thorough
an education in farming as the law
yer has in law. Give the mechanic,
miner and the merchant an educa-
tion best fitted for their particular
line. Let them have an opportun-
ity while in school to test their
skill in these lines before they go
out to face the world. The point ie
this, let US educate the rising gen.
GRAFTON SO that when they lay aside
their books upon the completion
of high school or college course
they will not lay aside their educa-
tion as we'll. We all know that the
educational standard of the state
depends upon what the schools
were in the past, and the future
conditions of the state depends up-
on what the school schools are to-
day. The idea taught in the schools
at the present time will reflect
themselves in the future standards
| of the state. No state can expect to
rise any higher than the intellect
ual and moral standards of it's citi
zens. The patriotism displayed by
the people of any nation is fair
criterion of the standard of that ma
ton. And if the schools do not in
culcate patriotism in the minds and
hearts of the pupils, will we expect
A~NA L.