Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1904-09-17
A PROBLEM FOR PARENTS.
The Training of Children Requires
Great Care.
LAB0RER'S LIVELIHOOD.
Less Than Generation Ago the College
Graduate Seemed United
for Work.

comes with the early fall. 1t is at this
season, therefore, that every paren,
whose child has reached the midway
stage to manhood or Womanhood, takes
careful thought of what mode of educp-
tion should be chosen 10 further the
childs chances for success and happiness
Three ways present themselves.
The boy. equipped with Il smattering of
many things that range from music to
mathematics, and from mature study" TO
the first book of Caesar. but having only
the unsure grasp on any branch OF even
elementary knowledge that the common
schools provide, may be placed at once in
the office. counting room. shop or factory
to gain, as early as possible, the practical
experience required Tor mis- future career.
On the other hand, college may be the
choice of his parents, with the coming
years to decide whether philosophical or
other university training will follow thor
ongh acquaintance with 'the numanities."
But, If applied and not abstract science
Is TO be his vocation, precious time will
be saved by sending him promptly to Il
chronological school.
Happily for the puzzled parent, the ex-
periences Of recent years in this country
has Simpliiied the problem by one-thrd
The first of the paths that open before
him is marked mo ThoroHghfare. The
uniform tendency toward specialization in
every line of human endeayor puts the
highest premium upon education, and de-
MES more than bare livelihood TO UNI
skilled labor, whether of the brain or
hand.
Early Start May Be False.
The seeming start that the boy of fif-
teen gains over his competitors in life. by
becoming an Garner and producer while
they are still busy in the lecture room
and laboratory is false start by the
| testimony of the majority of manufac-
| turerS and professional men. The bridges
of the world are being built, the books
being written and the victories in com
merce and chemistry. Wall street and
diplomacy gained by young men who
armed themselves with theoretical knowl-
edge before beginning the ma terial struy
gle.
Common sense. integrity and industry
are assets as valuable as in the days
when sweeping out the office was the
most approved method of beginning Il
career. But the supply is so large and
competition so keen that the demand is
confined to applicants who can offer the
special qualifications that study alone can
supply.
Except in cases where it is absolutely
necessary fer the child to become Il wage
Garner, and aid in the support of the
FAMILY, the theory of ''the early start"
Is discarded as a short-sighted and harm
Iul fallacy by every conservative OBJ
server of modern conditions in America.
The widespread belief in that fallaey
| IS dying out, but only slowly It's exist
cnce and the fact that il is perishing
cniehy because every days development
~ modern industry gives increasing proof
tnat education pays" constitute n Gu
rious commentary on the hold of tbe
l5aconian philosophy, even in distorted
FORM, upon American thought and fem
permanent.
Utility and Progress"
The key-wOr Is of the induction system.
which MacauleY declares 10 be utility
and Progress" were the proper beacons
Tor new people in q new country The
DarrenneSs of the ancient schools in cam
parlson with the rich fruitage of the
philosophy that fosters invention and inn
rFoyement in ali matters of material
comfort prompted thousands of people
unconsciously to their contempt for col
lege training.
Less than a generation ago. to the
great majority of business men, the coli
lcge graduate seemed untitled for real
work. Like Horace Walpole, SERIOUS
business was trit1e TO him and trifies
his serious business"
Even today so honorable an authority
as Prof. Ira Remsen of Johns Hopkins
university, champions manual work as
compared with speculation, and declares
that THE only way by which we can
gain knowledge of natures secrets is nv
taking her into our confidence Instead
Of contemplation in a study, we must
have contact with the things of nature
either out of doors or in the laboratory.
Manual labor is necessary. Without il
we may as we'll give up hope of acouir-
ing knowledge of the truth"
The father who directs his sons stud
les toward electrical civil or mining en-
gineering or any form of scientific train
ing will not lack the approval of edu-
Gators or men of affairs. The shorten
ing of college terms. the growth of the
elective system and the Introduction of
a bewildering number of studies, even in
the primary schools, are all concessions
to the gospel of Utility
Revulsion Against useful Education
The most serious problem for the par
ent of today to answer is whether this
| theory has not been realized TO an ex-
IRENE degree and whether his son will
not be the gamer in the end if he seeks
scholarship for the sake of scholarship.
n revlusion against so-called useful
education has arisen. unquestionably.
during the past few years The plea
tiidL Aie HlSuCSl function OF education is
to discipline the mind and provide the
foundation, not the superstrueture. for
the students mentality, is gaining more
and more hearers.
1t is expressed epigrammatically by the
English eSsayiSt, Chesterton. who argues
that ian ideal which is relatively easy
of attainment is dangerous, because il *
still more easy for us to imagine that
we have already attained it when We
have not" Upon the value of the hign
ideal Prof. Edward a. Ross, formerly
Of Cornell university, comments with
truth in recent number of Col6er's
Weekly. His argument is upon fine
practicahility of the scholar in pnlitins
but it applies as well to other vocations
"Of no straighter grain than Others he
has, nevertheless, two things in his
favor. His scholastic career has exposed
him during several impresSionable wears
TO standards of honor aud ideals of Doii
ties much above the ordinary. Then. TOO
educated men develop among themselves
wholesome frecmaSOnry that makes
them dread nothing 50 much AS loss ~
caste. The fact that the scholar prizes
above all material rewards the We'll
I done" of hsi old teachers. his classmates
and his fellow scholars everywhere ou.b r