The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1905-06-23

OF available ministers, however, there are not enough to 60 round,
but that dearth is due in part to there now being so many phlanthro-
pists. To the three tine-honored professions Of law, medicine and the
bnpt should be added that Of teaching, in which the supply is always
pyer full, and is likely TO be as long as advance from kndergartens to
normal schools and colleges is a matter OF diplomas rather than Of per-
sonal fitness. But with the exception Of teachers, the oyercrowding of
#professlons is also due to courses offered outside Of the public school or
collegiate systems. Y. NJ, {. associations and other voluntary organi-
cations offer courses and certificates which fit at least for later state
denominations and which add to the number OF those going in for them
from professional schools.
Another prolific source of overcrowdng is American ambition to
$get on, TO be somebody to reckon that a humble profession opens The
doors of society more than a worthy business career, Thus is it that
N rnany persons are content with salaries or incomes which they would
decline i'll business. Better, they say to be school principal on s., 500
than a floor walker Or manager Of a mercantile establishment on $1,000.
1t takes sef-respect to remain unrecognized. Social prestige is envi
liable, and those who have it not fancy that if they are professional they
8can obtain social advantages which otherwise would be denied then,
unless they were mlionaires.
Yet there is a steady overflow from professional to business ranks
TO say that ministers constantly become insurance agents; doctors, man
Aagers and lawyers bankers, is a tusm. The reason thereof is to be
Hound III the growing feeling that as education takes in the whole scope
Aof life, mercantile careers, trades, industries, agriculture, manufactures
are seen to be but extensions of the present term profession becau>c
the present system of education has demonstrated the application Of sci
hence to every department of activity The teacher Of drawing must also
Hbe a pattern maker, a worker in sloyd. The girl normal student must also
know how to cook and sew. The names mechanics, high art and house
hold arts schools are tributes to this application Of art to unprofessional
living.
The whole trend Of to-day's American education is distinctly indus
#tral, as technical education expands into professional. Textile and
strade schools are multiplying under state auspices, and industrial courses
are being added to high school currculums Even little children are
taught gardening, mat and hammock making, etc. Bookkeeping and
artisan work in public schools is more common now than Latin or
French as branches Of study.
Still the present system of education has to bear many Ills for
which it is not responsible. It is the present method of administering
that system which iss 50 grievousy at fault But objective treatment OF
subjects and the bringing of animal, vegetable and mineral fife into the
schoolroorn is putting new vgor into school life, and science. not the
classics, is making nature teach the pupils.
As we more and more recognize the truth that general education,
fortified by special education, is needed for any kind of success. from a
clerksfip to a judgeship, there will be less overcoming of a few present
professions, while the many branches Of what is now called labor will
become professional. The present system of education, through nature
study and laboratory methods, is helping to work the miracle of there
being a niche for everybody and
Of every one being in his place. Ea1 Ea~>ea MSA