The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-06-09
THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 1904
SAVE THE COUNTRY SCHOOL

1t is one of the most extraordinary
commentaries possible upon the slow
advance of intelligence in matters re-
lating to public education that, just as
those in charge of city schools are be-
ginning to study how they may escape
from the evils of the graded system,
those in charge of the country schools
are putting forth efforts to throw it
under the same evil blight. The move
ment toward consolidation is the pre-
Nailing mental disease of our day. Peo-
pie are not sane on the subject Hav-
ing seen what wonderful results can be
accomplished in certain directions and
within certain limitations by the COM
bination of labor, they seek to apply
the principle everywhere. It is as if,
because ten men can lift stick of
timber which one cannot lift by him
self, we should therefore insist that
every locomotive engine should carry
one hundred engineers, since they could
necessarily run it a hundred times bet
ter than only one.
The movement for the consolidation
of country schools has little better foun-
dation than this. 1t has been put into
effect in the country districts of a good
many states to greater or less extent,
and few superficial and thoughtless
people are charmed with it. They see
that by the union of a number of indie
pendent school districts one big school
house, with large and comfortable
rooms, has taken the place of three or
four of the small old-fashioned build
ings; that some hundreds of pupils
have been gathered under one roof, put
through the grading process, are car
ried to and fro from their homes by
public conveyances and are able to as
sumo all the airs and graces of the city
school. They think that this means
progress, and are highly delighted with
the innovation.
We wonder what the people so be-
fooled make of the general conclusion
today that the country school has been
the mental and moral salvation of the
people; that to it we owe the POSSIBLE
ity of independent development which
alone brings out the strength and char
Rcter of the human unit; that from it
we have gained originality and free
dom of thought. and that to it and it's
unconventionality, rather than to any
other advantage of rural upbringing.
we owe the fact that SO many of our
greatest and ablest men are country
born and bred. We wonder what they
make of the fact that thinking men who
are members of boards of education
and school superintendent everywhere
are planning how to get away from
the admitted curse of the graded sys-
TEN.
II a satisfactory method of handling
the small army of school children in
st. Paul today without this system
could be devised. we think it would not
last month. This device of Procustes.
that lops off the intelligence where it is
TOO long and stretches it out where it
is too short. this rigid mold out Of
which all human material comes fash
toned after the same unadmirable pat
tern, this crushing weight upon orig
inality, this scheme for turning out
men and women mentally machine
made, as inferior to the product nature
INTENDED as Grand Rapids sideboard
Is to a bit of antique wood carving. is
today accepted by thoughtful people as
Dnly necessary evil. The instant we