The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-20

a@s4 .r q |
 Boston. Dec. Ia 1so3.--Pfesident Henry s Pritchett Of the Massachusetts Insti- tute of Technology. who during his re, cent German visit had the distinction of being the first American to travel on the experimental railroad which has re- gently proved that speed of over lSo miles an hour can be attained with com fort and safety, has brought back some very interesting impressions of present conditions in the German Empire. Aside from the natural interest that centers about anything connected with this rec- ord breaking little German railroad, Dr.. Prftchettss visit brought him in unusu- ally close and authoritative touch with the industrial movements of modern Ger many and his view of the direct relation of the Emperor to the present industrial greatness of his people presents an im- portant aspect of. the imperial character that is very little realized on this side of the water. The attitude of intelligent Germany toward the United States is yet another matter of which his recent visit shows an interesting reflection
 That the head of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology should have been so pleasantly impressed with the men and things of, modern Germany is per haps the more interesting because he per- sonaIly represented an institution we'll known in that country and in the van of an educational rivalry that is there. apparently much more widely recognized than 1t is in America. Speaking Of the typical German attitude toward all ques- tions of industrial education. Dr. Pritch- ett finds among all classes with which he came in contact an understanding or the meaning and purposes of industrlai training that is practically universal The term "engineer.", for example, has 10 the average German distinct meaning. ana the "engiheers" of one kind and another --the experts, in other words, In the working out of all kinds of mechanical problems, in. the planning of great utin- tartan public structures, in the perfect ing of misunderstanding and industrial op- erations, and in the utilization of various scientific discoveries as they apply 10 the public, health convenience. or the carrying on of commercial projects-naVe come to constitnte a body of workers gen erally regarded with the respect that m many other countries has not yet popu- larly included them in the rank Siven to the other learned professions.
 This condition, Dr. Pritchett holds, Is not only one explanation of the success of Germany along all industrial lines but is deeply significant of the determination with which German governmental poncy has sought and n .in. lined her present commahding position in the scientitfc and industrial world. From this point Of view the present Emperor is both the head and soul of his Empire. The position Of the industria1 expert in German social life, a position that has the important result of attracting to the technological schools many young men who. in Eng land for example. would choose the army. navy or ministry, Is entirely the work of :, the German Emperor and ne is thus daily recruiting what all Ser many now appears to accept as its most important profession from among men whose abilities would often otherwise have been diverted into other channels. This step has be er1 both official and tacit; in the first case when the Emperor raised inc technological schools to a par with the universities, and in the second when his;ow attitude began stamping the men of marked industrial and mechanieal achievements as worthy of royal favor:
 Among the intelligent persons or stne Empire the Emperor is therefore much m ee popular than we have sometimes heen led to imagine. His interest in the growth of German industrial power is personal as well as merely matter Of carefully considered policy, as Is evinced, to take a single instance. by his frequent visits to the great educational center at Charlottenberg, where he is not only or- ten present In the lecture ndllS anu Aa- boratories, but carries his interest into the. minutest details of the work there go- ing forward.
 Dr. Pritchett smiles pleasantly at the mention of a future war between Ger many and the United States, although ad- mitting that hostilities might arise' as between any two nations, over some un- forseen international question. The real war between Germany and the United States" he says. ''is a peaceful one, al- though none the less determined on that account. Germany knows, and every man in Germany knows. that her real future deneuds upon the development of her 1n- dustrtal and scientific forces The Amer ieah travelling in Germany can haroly fail to realize this concentration or en- ergy hut at the same time he finds 1t qood natured concentration. The competi- tion is fair and above board and there is a very genuine respect between the counbatai1ts The attitude reflected by the lower class comic journals toward Amer ica: has no more practical significance than a sfinilar attitude reflected under like conditions in this country"
 '"The actual history of the new nlgn sneed electric train, is an excellent illus tration of just this national German spir- if toward industrial problems and Is the direct outcome of the spirit of organiza- lion for any specific purpose that one Nnds written large all over Germany. The first uurpose of the German educational