The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1906-05-04
EDUCATIONAL COLUMN.
ECONOMY IN EDUCATION. "a

ECONOMY IN EDUCATION.
(An address delivered at the Har-
risburg district meeting If the state
Association by Prof J. + Messenger,
Of the State Normal School nj Farm
ville:)
Virginia is now awake 10 the need
Of better educational advantages for
her children, and il may not be out Of
place TO consider briefly the economic
side Of the case. The most practical
economists are the managers Of great
industries. What can We learn from
them? The captains of industries pay
more for skilled labor because they
know that it brings greater returns on
the investment. II the man who re-
ceives 500 a day did not bring 10 his
employer a. great or greater returns |
than ten men who can be had for 80
cents apiece, would the 500 man be
employed? Certainly not. 1t pays
to employ skilled workmen. That il
the reason business men DO il. The /
cost of labor l. measured by it, pro-
ducts
Raw material il Away cheap. \
diamond would be worth io more than
brick if there were no lapidary to
polish il. As with jewels, so with
children. Ii is the forming and polish
ing that gives them value. The skill
ed teacher Will increase the value Of
child as the skilled lapidary Will in
crease the value OF jewel. The child
is the raw material out Of which hu-
manity Is made. and The school is the
factory in which the work is done In
a commercial factory unskilied hands
make the cheap articles, and skilled
hands make the one, OF higher grade
What sort Of produc; DO we expect
from the human factory which we
call the school system of Virginia?
If we wish the best possible product
we must send the raw material To the
best workman We can get.
A man has a money value and this
value may he Increased by proper
training. The increase in actual value
which a good school brings 10 COM
munity j. many times greater than
the amount II costs Ia maintain the
school. Hence every dollar paid 10 a
good teacher l. a good investment be-
cause ii brings large returns
\ compulsory education i- good
thing under some circumstances, but
when every school Is so well taught
that both parents and children feel
that every day Of school missed j. a
bargain lost. there Wiil he little trOu-
bic about school attendance The
problems We are facing today will
never be solved until they are solved
by the teacher, but the teacher must
not only find the solution, she must
BE the solution
1t has been said that with Mark
on one end Of a log and stu
dent on the other end, there j. uni
Just give us the Mark Hop
kinses and We shall have university
in every district. ID take- the whole
world century or more 90 produce a :
genius like Hopkins or Pe-taiozzi, but
we have very effective substitute for =
H. training II we can
not have a Pe-talozli OF a Hopkins in
every district. We can have a young ,
man or young woman who i- quail ,
fed by having the best training avail
able This training should include
The equivalent of four year, course
IN High School and some professional -,
training besides. The High school
work j. intended 90 give that knowl-
edge which the world Dol IL expert ,
snce has found to ue most essential 1
-or the individual who wishes To- UNI
ierstand the world about him, TO get /
along with his fellow men and 10 be a
Useful citizen Professional training
aims at the understanding OF our do
ny. 1t stands for a iair knowledge >
# the mental processes involved IN
earning, and of the forms OF presen- :
alton suited 10 those processes, and
or the art of putting principles into
Practice