The Saint Paul globe., 1905-01-01

lish schools are about the worst in
the world. Useful studies are neglect
ed for Latin and Greek, and even these
are i'll taught. The schools are hot
beds of snobbery. They kindle no de-
sire for an intellectual life Games
alone are pursued with enthusiasm.
Their ordinary products are the most
ignorant and uninteresting men of So
cial position from Tokyo to Budapest
and thence to San Francisco. Compar-
ed with the graduates of American col
leges and universities, they are simply
not in it,"
But how about the famous saying of
Melllngtons we hear quoted so often:
The battle of Waterloo was won on
the playing fields of Eton ?''
I am certain that Wellington never
said it," answered the doctor, 'for he
was truthful man, and no man could
nave known better the utter falsity Of
such a statement. Wellington fortu-
nately for himself, spent only few
months at Elton. He trained for en-
trance into the army under military
coach at Brussels. None of his famous
generals were public school products.
AT an age when the youths of these in
stltutions are neglecting their brains
TO acquire proficiency in football or
cricket they were mastering the art of
war with their regiments In actual
service. There never was great SOL
dier-6r a great man of any sort-who
was distinguished as a young man by
his devotion to games. 1t is the cult
OF decadence; 1t represents the abase-
ment of intellect.
Lest it be thought that / am too Sc
we're on our public schools, let me read
you some things that A. C. Benson,
himself an Elton master, has said of
them:
60 Tt must be frankly admitted that
the intellectual standard maintained
at the English public schools is low,
and, what is more serious, do not see
any evidence that it is tending to be-
come higher. My own belief
is that a good many boys have the
germ of Intellectual life in them, but
that in good many cases it dies a
natural death from inanition. :
Unless boy is very keenly interested
in intellectual things his interest is
not likely to survive in an atmosphere
which is all alive, indeed, but where
intellectual things are, to put it
frankly, unfashionable.'
America Could Whip England
.'The degradation of education which
is fostered at these Institutions" the
doctor continued, lis vitally connect
ed with the question of army efficien-
cy, because a desperate effort has been
made and is still being made to limit
the selection of officers to candidates
from certain swell schools and univer-
sites. 1t has been abundantly demon
strated that many members of the
cabinet, and many of the war office
authorities, too, would prefer as off,
GERS wealthy idlers from fashionable
schools, who would display hopeless
1ncapacity in war, to- able men who
have been well educated at private day
schools Or by private tuition.
Despite all the costly lessons we
nave received as to the vital need of
scientific training for our officers, the
army advisory board-dons and school
masters as Lord Roberts contemptu-
ously termed thenl-persuaded the
Etonian secretary of war last February
to agree to scheme Of education
which is a marvel of incompetency.
The course would have the effect of
keeping our future officers at big
boarding schools until they are nine
teen, and by a subtle arrangement Sc
curing that rudimentary Latin. or Greek
shall take the place of science or gem
eral history. In other words, providing
for another abundant crop of regret
table incidents in our next big war;
The fact Is, our ruling classes
products of the same system of defect
i've education and men for the most
part quite incapable of earning their
own Hvings in any industrial or COM
mercial purSuits-are hopelessly in
competent for the government of the
empire. Man for man, the members Of
the American cabinet are greatly su-
perior to ours. They are practical men
who have demonstrated their ability by
achieving success in business or pro-
fessional life before they received their
nigh appointments. You pay them only
$4,000 year each. We pay ours three
times as much. Yet when Elihu Root
comes over here to settle the Alaska
boundary question he easily scores over
our high salaried law officials.
11f, after America has brought her
navy up to the high standard which she
aims at, we should ever have the mis-
fortune to go to war with her-which
God fOrbid!-She would f1atten us out
like pancake
In view Of the startling character Of
this exposure of the ignorance and in
competence Of the average British army
officer and the defects of his military
training. I submitted the above inter
view to DR.. Mcguire before sending it
to you. It has received his full ap-
proval. He expressed the hope that the
comments elected by its publication in
America would produce some effect in
arousing the authorities here to the
need Of instituting immediate and
sweeping reforms. e. LiSle Smell.