Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1903-07-02
HIGHER EDUCATION.

on "Higher Education" because they
pertain to a subject that at this time OF
lime commandments is more or less
brought to popular attention and be-
cause they discuss ii in temper and
sentiment that will find a ready re-
Spouse from many thoughtful men and
women in this state who have long
drifted toward some suen opinion as
therein expressed, but who may never
have seen it thus put into tangible
form Tor them before.
The Herald and News regards the
subject from the view point OF
the parent providing instruction
tor his child or perhaps counselling
his child in the choice OF studies and
vocation. OF course, that is the phase
of the subject that appeals first OF all
to the average reader. When he mas
read the contemporaries thoughtful re-
view of the matter, however, he may
be moved to consider that the state
also has a very important part in this
business and perhaps TO enquire
whether 1t is possible that, under the
present high-pressure demand for ad-
vanced education, the state has not un-
Idertaken to DO too much. 10 give more
of an education than it is its duty to
give, and, perhaps, in some instances
more than is good for those who re-
ceiye il.
The New England mind is so thor
oughly saturated with reverence for
the idea of free popular education, and
the intense conviction that il Is the
birthright of every boy and girl has
been so long inherent in our race that
II is a somewhat delicate matter TO
undertake to suggest certain limits to
what shall be considered the states
duty to provide public instruction 70
all who shall seek it, lest n be un-
Justly understood to be antag0nistic 10
the system OF tree education in gener-
lal. But, nevertheless. il has long
seemed 70 The Messenger that at the
present pace at which public schools
are expanding their currlculums and
GOmprehending more and more OF
those advanced studies that never
used 70 be considered a part OF an ele-
meutary education, is presented n Of
the problems of our American life that
sooner or later viii have TO be faced.
The primary aim OF the common school
education Is q noble one il is 10 teach
the minds of all the children of this
great country the rudiments OF a prac-
tical education the better 10 tit them 10
earn a livelihood, TO prepare them for
the intelligent discharge of the duties
of citizenship in a country where the
people are self-governing, and TO put
them in the way of enjoying the pleas
ures OF literature and the arts. The
aim is to start them all off together.
high and low, rich and poor, black and
white, if not with an equal education,
at least with en- equal opportunity TO
obtain one, so far as the essentials OF
common knowledge are concerned.
This equal opportunity at the start is
the grand central thought. the truly
American aspect, OF the idea, but II
ends with the equal opportunity and
must inevitably end there, no matter
to what stages OF advancement the
philosophy of free popular education
may ultimately develop. We may
start the two boys together on an
equality 10 learn the A b G that is as
much unknown 10 the n as 10 the
other. and after that the result lies,
not in the keeping OF the common
school. but in the quality OF each brain
and the capacity and character of each
boy. One will 60 from \ b G to Ii.
ID. with apparent ease, while the other
barely forces his way through the sim
plest elementals OF familiar knowl-
edge. After all, the relative progress
these two boys shall make depends up
on their natural abilities and not up
on their school.
Now practically the same question
comes TO the state that comes 10 the
parent, although in somewhat inverted
form. and that is whether it is wise 10
force a child through grades of learn
ing that ii can never really assimilate
and. therefore, will never use, simply
because the state feels itself under OBJ
legation 10 do the best il a by them
all, or whether the free common school
education should stop at the essentials
and require those whose natural quail
fi%cations and ambitions sought further
schooling to provide ii at their own ex-
pense.
1t must be apparent to the thought
ful observer that the great body OF
graduates from the high schools of the
country have but a superficial knowl-
edge OF the comprehensive course OF
studies through which they have been
conducted with such pains and ex-
pense. IL must be apparent that far
more than halt of them 90 through the
whole course to graduation. not be-
cause they are impelled thereto by any
ambition OF learning, but because, as
the contemporary says. their parents
( want them to have the best there is. or
because it has come TO be a mere mat
ter-of-tact habit for children who do
not have 10 90 to work earlier to 90 TO
the free public schools until the limit
of the course is reached. And the re-
suit is painfully perceptible in the
general aversion 10 manual labor that
Is so fast becoming Characteristic of
the American-born youth. The lad
who has been piloted through his Yir-
gil. no matter whether his brain was
| delicate nbred enOu0h n annreciate ifs