The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-04-06
The Value of Education.

Ihe value OF EQuCdtlOn.H
Americans have been called a nation OF
ira clers. They are a strictly business
people and lay great stress on business
accomplishments. From time to time
statistics are printed showing the condi-
ton Of our foreign and domestic trade,
showing railroad earnings and the output
of factories, showing the value Of real
estate and the like, all for tho purpose
OF ascertalning whether or not our wealth
ia increasing. If our trade shows pro-
gress, If bank clearings. railroad. earl
ings and factory earnings show an in
crease, there is an expression9of graufi-
cation on the part Of flnanciers, and We
all felic,tatc ourselves upon the fact that
the wealth of the country Is growing
But the wealth Of the country is not
in banks and fac rios and railroads and
houses and lands. The wealth Of the
United States is In its people. The best
way, therefore, to increase the value of
our lands and houses. 70 increase tho
earnings OF our banks, our railroads and
our factories, Is to increa SO the capacity
OF tho people; ana the way to increase
q mans capacity is to educate him, ] T
by education the earning power Of man
can be increased from 81 n day to 81, s.,
81 and $40 q day. the amount OF money
expended in educating that man is the
best investment that can be made OF 1t.
AS an Illustration Of this principle some
III ct1 n t6p
ond edition Of who's Who In America -
With q view 10 determining what effect
education of the various grades has had
on success In life, effort was made by
the publishers to ascertain the school
training OF each or the men and women
mentioned under the head "of more than
local note and 1852 on the United States
list were thus classified. According to
latest estimates there are In the United
States 4O,7S20o7 persons over twenty-ore
years Of age and these are divided cdu-
catonally about as follows:
Class .1-Nithout school training. 46S2, 49S
Glass with only common school
training ....,...............':.... ."l'so-''ol
Class 3-With common and high
school lTdlHlllS..,'. -'i"'oo'
Class with college or higher
education added Observation-Disclosures. 1,071 ,2u
Now. the question Is. how many OF the
eight thousand distinguished citizens of
the United States on the Who's Who
list came from each of these classes
The 4,6S2, 4oS Of class / furnishcd...... 81
The 81, Sc, 95l OF class furnished $50. sos
The 2,1G5.357 of class 8 furnishcd.... l,2io
The OIL POI Of class furnished. ....6, 7GS
These figures arc glven by Professor
W. w. Smith and he draws tn, follow
ing conclusions:
LIST. That an uneducated child has ono
chance in 10000 Of attaining distinction
as Il factor in the progress of tho age.
Cd. That a common Schoo! education
Will increase his chances nearly four
times.
3d. That high school training Will
increase tho chances OF tho common
school boy twcnty-threa times. giving
him oighty-scVcn times the chance or
the uncducatcd.
Ath. That II college education increases
the chance of the high school boy nine
times. giving him two hundred and nine
teen times the chance of tho common
school boy, and more than 500 dimes the
chance of the unframed.
II Is a surprising fact, Dr. Smith adds,
that of the 1852 notnbles thus gathered
1910 proved to BIO full graduates Of COL
lcgcs.
The-old idea was that when man was
educated he was not expected to work,
except to do "brain work" But in these
days a man Is educated in order that he
may work, ana that he may work more
successfully. Even manual labor is best
when II Is done BY the educated man.
We arc spending q great deal Of money.
| fer educational purposes, but We are not
! spending as much as We ought to spend.
| III this article no mention has been
made of the moral value of education,
but simply OF its material value, and,
! speaking from that point of view, It is
plain from the figures above that the
money expended in educating tho peopl.,
comes back four, fold, an hundred fold in
increasing the capacity of the people to
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