New-York tribune., 1906-09-23
OPENING DAY AT N. Y. U.
TEACHERS AND POLITICS.
rr R,o,sn;s address at School OF
Pedagogy.

- .xercises OF the SChOOl "a 'e~@eSe'
Inc " -. vorh University we're he4d yesterday
OF ~ - r-,,versty Building. washington sSuSie
81 the ,.,,-,o-,b Brown. United States Commis-
Elmer h,,ton IN his first public speech since
sonei % -, bv President Roosevelt took ior
his 49,, ss.., ..Teachers and Politics In nitro
nls 49, l,,,,,,issioner Brown Chancellor MAC
ouc'.s "a the worst abused man In EnglsIo
Cia'ee- -.,,sr was the Minister OF Education TINS
tais sun 4. not the case IN America. The Chan
ne "a the best wish lie could oner Coinnns-
- brown was that lie may enjoy the olesseo-
tlo- :. ,ersecution Cor righteousness sake Wh.oh
!. r-or,ssd 70 every reformer."
M Brown said, IN part;
,,,n,sct which have chosen Is many-sidedI
tsf shsn make no attempt 20 touch upon az AZ =. =.
thos. s.bofstion 10 YOU. members and makers OF I5e
ssssion Of teaching, that you De poluGll'iis' oos
oTs private advantage ] SHOULD Ike 70 , ezeoTt
80 70 study the public good aIlo iSg de,.66,s5 tn
- ~ teaching peculiarly procession oeNoteI n ~
ARE. ..Iainded. great-hearted ways 10 the pu0I0
SO. ,,ossss,on OF teaching should labor for the
-,ist al public morals. II should eet petoLS ~
5sno high standards for tie seleeuon ot sSgSS ,5,
f.saf oecials and urge the adoption ana cohs4stent
sTpicaton % those standards IN peIuoSsaa. -. Us Us
- n should adopt the principles undeIIylns ne
,-s,st system. AS a matter or professions. iit
respect, e. Vs. as oie 20, - tbe onDoini rnent
go advancement 81 teachers on the ground OF
80. alone The public. even IN communities less
saoSe5 thsu this viii not long be deaf 10 that de-
,1sn6 when teachers make u unitedly, -
,,1.sS IeS"t ACTIVITY II teachers IN this high sense
"a t5e word politics by survey oi some OF lie
nni' % ~ ~ be done IN the Immediate future one OF
,bese Il The great field q moral education; another
Is the field q etacaiio nal extension sun an2the-
,.,6 Whicb the improvement q our system of edu-
s, eaaps. jII s l and dore is ineHtfica6iy bound up
We have here a. notable shifting ot the centre
n the seventeenth and a large part Of the eigh-
fesnth century the prime impulse 20 education
VAS religious In the latter part ~ the eighteenth
century and the greater part of the nineteenth
The political Impulse ln considerable measure re-
risced TIE religious and education became 20 O
I--Ss,sr,l degree Il movement Of democracy Now
A these later wears the political ana democratic
movement has undergone subtle change. ana the
rhine impulse 10 education, speaking IN the broad
and large. Is an economic impulse. or better eX-
pressed perhaps fhe political movement has passed
Into a more distinctly economic phase. Where the
men of the seventeenth century talked OF public
EDUCATION n the interes; Of learned ministry. and
al salvation. where the men q the American and
al education which should make men canable OF
bearing TIE responslti-ities 81 poAueal freedom.
commercial and Industrial efficiency, and education
which shall enable the home land 10 compete sue
cessfuly ln tie markets q the world. ] do not
cav that this s The whole Of modern education, for
Il Is not do E1t say that = IS the most important
ousiy Questioned hut II IS undoubtedly that aspect
q modern education which comes 10 the front IN
the great national discussions OF education in our
day and L. IS largely with q view 10 this aspect
education that the nations making Of
their greatest educational expenditures
Whatever else may say Of this movement, ~
is plain 20 see that q Is inevitable. II must he
reck0ned With Gs great and present fact. We
may sCy with 81 frankuess that the economic
view of education IS partial view and not the
highest view that the economic movement IN edu-
cation attended with dangers OF the gravest sort
The danger 0f l6terialisu. not OF conscious and
theoretical uatsrialism. but OF subtle and i'm
palp6ble and undermining materialism. IS a dam
ger that education must meet and resist wherever
Il shall appear. Some q that danger IS undoubted-
ly present IN THIS economic movement and for the
sake o. ultimate economic superiority, even II for
no other purpose education must seek 10 counter
act such mEteralisIl.
But when come 70 understand this movement
We stsL see that there Is vastly more in II than
materalisr- and 4 Is a movement which We must
mike our utmost endeavOr tc understand. a large
pan of TIE new inventive work "a education within
The next few years WI. be done IL vital connection
with this movement. II is worth studying SO as 10
understand u thoroughly. and when we come 10
understand u shall find IL full OF promise for
ne highest things !u which We are Interested
Just a. this pCi-t, 20 my m.l6 IS one Of the finest
sno rlrthest reaching iTlpl plssstons Of the economic
uoNeueLt ~ olr educarOh We are al a tine
when the labor question is one Of the most urgent
esestlois it3 which We have 10 do, and The labor
qees on which conditions our prosperity. is often
mace 10 appear as a question merely OF the distrf-
buuoh az wealth would not question for a mo-
flent the Importance Of more equitable dlstrlbu-
uoh ot wealth, hlt that IS not the whole question
Another aspect OF tie labor question = the question