The Minneapolis journal., 1903-03-10
|. A Lesson From France.

A Lesson From France. fT
This discussion of the public school pol
Icy as affecting certain forms Of manual
training and art instruction is very bene
fcial. No harm ever resulted in the long
run from an earnest discussion Of pub
lie problems by ry-day citizens That
they have not the training Of the teachers,
that they do not understand educational
methods and purposes as we'll as those
whose profession it is to teach, does not
bar them from the discussion. The out
side point of view is always valuable, and
Is sometimes better than the inside.
Such a discussion ought to be encour-
aging to the teachers. So far as 1t has
gone in the columns of T he J o u r n a
1t has revealed widespread sympathy with
the teachers, and shows them that the
public schools are first In the list of pub
lie affairs to which the people turn their
attention. It is something for the OBJ
scurest hard working teacher to know that
she Is contributing her mite to- keeping
up so important a public institution.
The critics must, however. be warned
only practical instruction the children can
get in the public schools is limited to the
three RS of the fathers. Indeed, if it
came right down to question of prao-
ticality, we suppose that a boy who is
taught the rudiments of carpentry or
plumbing, or some branch of metal work
ing, would stand a much better chance of
doing we'll the moment he got out of
school, even if he were a little weak in
spelling than the boy who is proficient
in readin', 'ritin' and 'rithinetic, and
knows little of anything else.
1t is to be regretted that our public
schools are not more successful in teach
ing spelling Though it must be remem
bered that some children can't learn to
spelD, but successful spelling Is not the
only. test Of the good of an education.
There are other desirable ends in edu-
cation than instruction in the studies that
were the only studies of the district school
OF a generation ago. It is very important
that the artistic faculty Of the children
should be developed. It is not only be-
cause such development holds out prom
Use of richer life when the children be-
come men and women, and, therefore,
better citizens, but because of it's prac-
tical dollars -and-cents value to them and
the community In this we can learn
: something from France. In the hurly
burly of modern commercial warfare
France steadily holds her own. German
goods drive out English, and American
drive out German; but in her character
istic Industries France serenely holds her
own. The French minis,~r of commerce
proudly referred the other, day to the
highly finished character Of French ex-
ports.
II was reared" writes Walter Vroo-
man, in a recent number of the Outlook
with Puritanic, Tolstoyan inclination
to regard art as Of the devil, as some
1ss thing effeminate and enervating. In the
course of my political investigations, how
ever, l ran across the fact that, while
American industries were competing sue
cessfully with the English and the Ger
man, they were making almost no head
way at all in competition with the French
This is because In all French Industry tn
artistic element is such a vital part. w
cannot make the rare and beautiful crea
tions they produce. Until we do, we Cal
never compete with them in the market
+ OF the world. When thus learned that ar
Is power began to respect it. need hardI
add that this respect, especially for applied
art is srowing:''
Now, to what does France owe thi
wonderful development of the artistic fac
ulties?. Generally speaking, to the publi
schools The child in France learns t
draw in the kindergarten before he learn
to write, and this training extends through
out the entire school life. There are free
public evening art classes in every war
in Paris, about a hundred in all. Their
are higher schools for those who wish t
go further. Every provincial town fa
it's own art school, together with a. de
partment or separate school Of apple
art. ~
Is not the example of France enough
give us pause before we begin to adve
cate the exclusion of art from the publ
schools on the ground that it is "only
fad and a waste Of time?