The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-02-22

higher grade teachers, but this demand would have to be supplied from insti- l tutions of higher education. Let it not
 be conceived that by the above words we mean to cast any slur upon the work done by our public school teachers. We mean only to answer the spacious objections on the part of some who clamor for the lower as against the higher education. We believe our teachers are doing a splen- did work but that they need reinforcing as to numbers-and that every college | founded by church, or State, or commit nity helps to do this.
 The Value of the College. It must not be forgotten, too, that a part of all educational work is the ere ation of high ideals of culture for the general public. This the college under takes to do-and every educated man who goes from its walls, polished and fitted for his place in life, is a constant in- | spiration to all educational work Edu- cation is not indigenous to any soil. In- terest in education is for the most part
 something which must be cultivated in
 any person. We are not born with 1t, and we do not come upon 1t all at once. | It grows up within us in our experiences | of life and our association with, and ap | preciation of the things of educational
 work. Every Hberally educated man Is
 seed that bears fruit for educational
 progress. Every institution of higher
 learning is a sun. radiating light to the
 minds within the far reaches of It's kindly | beams, and by its warm nurture bringing | them to their flower and fruit | All progress Is in this wise. The stand
 ards are raised up by few. The general growth follows. Particularly is this true
 of educa tional progress. It is not suffi- cient that schools be established by the
 State. The people must appreciate the value of education. No better means to
 have them do so can be employed than | to bring them into close touch with truly | educated men, in relation to centers of 1 educational work.
 l Our Synod sees the burden of illiteracy
 which rests upon our State. It laments
 the fact that in 1900 there were 14O00
 more native white men over A years old. | who can not read nor write, than there | were in 1870. This Synod Is interested in | these men-and their children. It believes | ins the efficiency of a college, and con- | cedes to it an important place in true
 educational scheme.
 Recently Chancellor Smith, of Ram
 dolph- Macon College at Lnchburg, Va, | has been making some investigations | which bear directly upon this subject.
 He has taken the second edition of the
 book Who is Who in America, which con-
 tains brief biographies of 1852 persons
 of more than local note in this land and
 has sought to ascertain how far college
 education was possessed by these per- | sons.
 | He also uses the census returns, and | finds that there are in the United States | 40. FOOT persons over A years of age | He divides these into four classes: Class | l. includes those without school training,
 and it numbers 4.6S2, 49S Class Il. takes
 in those with only a common school
 training. and it has the large number of
 32, ,S62, ,951 in 1t. Class III. embraces those with common and high school training,
 and 1t has 2,165,357 in its ranks. Class ". | takes in only those who have college | training, and 1t has only 1,0n,20l. 1 Then Dr. Smith seeks to find out how | many of each of these classes Is mention
 ed in the list of nearly 5000 persons of
 note in this country, and the result is as
 follows: Class l. gives only 31, the large | Class II. only rises to sos, and Class III.
 has 1,245, while the small Class W. gives
 6,76s, or far more than half of the whole
 number Of this number 4,S10 are full col
 lege graduates.
 "Dr. Smith makes the four following
 general inferences. all of which seem
 justified by the. statistics given:
 First, that an uneducated child has l only one chance in 000O of attaining dis
 tlnction as a factor in the progress of | the age.
 Secondly, that common school edu- | cation will increase his chances nearly
 four times.
 Thirdly, that a high school training | will increase the chances of the common
 school boy twenty three times, giving
 him eighty-seven times the chance of
 the uneducated.
 "Fourthly, that a college education in
 creases the chance of the high school boy
 nine times, giving him 219 times the chance of the common school boy, and
 more than 800 times the chance of the un- | trained"
 And believing that a college for our | sons will be a great power for their good,
 Synod has decided to enter the whitening | harvest fields of our own and native pop | ulation.
 The Synod does not find 1t necessary to Justify its action by attacking any exist | ing institution or system of education either to charge them with inefficiency or as being either irreligious or non-religious. It enters this great field not to antag- onize, but to help.
 It recognizes the training of our sons as the concern of all the people. It be- | lieves it will be best done when all the people are interested in 1t. It rejoices at the good being done already. It claims | the privilege of doing its part in the mo- ble work.
 The Efficiency of the Small College. If 1t be objected that the college we propose is to be Il small one, 1t Is per- haps sufficient to say that while the small college has the disadvantage of a smaller equipment, yet 1t has distinct advantage over the larger institution in some im- portant respects. Some of which are that the student is called upon oftener to re- cite that he Is given more personal in- struction. that he comes to know his fellow students more intimately; that he is given every possible advantage as to schedules of recitation. so that although uneven in his preparation he can take the full course, etc. The teaching is di- rect and positive. The relation between tea cher and student is close, and often intimate, to the lasting good of the stu dent. These advantages are real and not fancied, and are freely admitted by edu- cators of every rank. The statement is made and passes unchallenged that 60 per cent. of the useful and noted men of today were educated in small colleges Prominent educators freely endorse the small college as highly efficient in mental training and character building.
 Also in the matter of our ministerial supply We may remind our people that 1t Is the small college-and the Chris tian College which furnishes the ministers of any church We do not attempt to ex- nlain all the reasons why this Is so but