New-York tribune., 1908-02-27
WILL SMITE THE WRONG
PRESIDENTS PURPOSE.
Haste of Time to Ask Him to Wath-
hold His HandLT'aK to Teachers.

ring against rottenness and corruption was
emphaticaIy declared by the President to-uay
in an address TO the delegates to the department.
of s,Iperintendence of the National Educational
Association at their reception at the "nl'e
House. Continuing. the President gave MS
views on educational methods at consldeldOie
length and with characteristic catholicity OF
thought and vigor of expression He said:
+ Gentlemen and Ladies: of all the bodies OF
citizens that have received here at the White
House there is none which occupies more
important relation than yours am teIhPted 70
say none has come that has occupied as m
portant a relation to the nation because you
men and women who deal with educaIIOh. Wlo
represent the great American pohcy Oh suuea
tion for all children. provided Dy the PuotIC a.
the prime duty of the public bear a rea1Ion
to the family a relation 10 the future OF our
whole people such no other Ike nun PEI o4
individuals can bear I own six OF the cnldren
that you educate and / am prepared 10 eA'ehu
cordial sympathy some of you
Seriously. friends. il IS idle Tor any Man 70
talk of despairing of the future OF the country
or feeling unduly alarmed about 1t II ne VIII
come in contact with you here ana WIN tiie
forces that you represent FundamentdIiS uiiS
country is sound: morally. no less than physi.
caIIy Fundamentally. in its family hfe ana
in the outside activities of its individuals. tne
country is better and not worse than 1t formerly
was This does not mean that we are 10 DC
excused if fail to war against rottenneSs
and corruption. if we fail 10 contend effectIveiy
with the forces of evil. and they waste their
time who ask TO withhold my nand from
dealing thereWitn
smite the wrong for the very reason tnal we
are confident that the right will ultimately pre-
vail You who are training the next generation
are training this country IL Is to be a deCaCe
or two hence: and while your work in training
the intellect is great, IL is not so great as your
work in training character More than any
thing else / to the public school turn
out the boy and girl who when man and woman
will add to the of coed citizenship or the
nation. It is not my province nor would IL De
within my capacity. to speak about your peda-
gogic problems. You yourselves are TAR better
able to discuss them But as Iayman let me-
say one or two things about your work
TRAIN FOR FARM AND WORKSHOP
In the first place trust that more and more
toward and away from. the farm and the
workshop. We have spoken; great deal about
not acted up TO our spoken words, for in our euu-
cation we have tended TO proceed upon the as
sumption that the educated man was 20 De eGu-
Gated away from and not toward labor Tne
great nations of medieval times. who left such
marvellous works OF architecture ana art Pc
hind them, were able to do SO because they edu-
Gated alike the brain and hand OF the crafts
man We too in our turn must show that we
understand the law which DEGREES that peo-
pie which loses physical address invariably de-
teriOrateS, that people shall understand
that the good carpenter, the good blacksmith.
the good mechanic the good farmer really do
fill the most important positions in our land
and that it is an evil thing for them and Ior me
nation to have their and daughters forsake
The work which if well and efficiently performed
means more than any other work for our people
whole.
one thing that would Ike 10 have you teach
your pupils Is that whether you call the money
difference and that if by working hard with your
bands YOU get more than II you work With your
head only it does not atone for 1t 20 call the
smaller amount salary. The term dignity or
labor implies that manual labor is as dignfhed
a mental labor, of course IL iS- Indeed. the
highest kind of labor is that whlch makes de-
:nands upon the qualities of both head and hand,
of heart brain and body Physical powers.
physical address. are necessities, they stand on
a level with intellect and CnIy below character
Let show that We regard the position OF the
man who works with his hands as being Ordi-
narilv and in good faith as important and digni-
fed and as worthy OF consideration as that OF
the business man or professional man We need
have certain readjustment of values in this
country which must primarily come through the
efforts of just you men and women mere ana tne
men and women like you throughout this land
NO IMPOSSIBLE IDEAL
would not have you preach an impossible
ideal. for If you preach an ideal that is impos-
sbe YOU tend 10 make your pupils believe thar
no ideals are possible. and therefore you tend 10
do them that worst of wroEgs-to teach them
divorce preaching from practice. divorce the
ideal they in the abstract admire trCm the
practical good after which they strive. Teach
the boy and girl that their business IS to earn
their own livelihood: teach the boy that he Is to
be the home-maker: the girl that she must ulti-
father is TO be the breadwfnner. and that of the
mother the hOusekeeper: that their work is the
most important work by far in all the land; that
the work of the statesman. the writer the cap
tain industry and all the rest Is COndItIOnet
irSr
family, that supports the family 80 teaGn the
bov that he is expected 10 earn his own hvef-
hood. II is a shame and scandal not 20 be SELF
dependent. not TO be able to hold his own IN me
rough work of actual life Teach the girl that
so far from its being her duty TO Try 70 avoid
all labor all effort. that it should be matter OF
pride to her to be as good housewife as her
mother was before her Sometimes the kindeSt
and most well meaning mother. sometimes a
kind and weIl-meaning father. also. do as much
Manage to the children tire most thoushtes5
and eeIfisb parent by bringing them UP to feel
that the goal of their attainment should De th9
absence of effort instead OF effort well directed
We have all of us often heard some good put
unwise woman say. Il have worked nard. my
daughter sha'n'u work the poor woman not
realizing that great though the curse OF mere
drudgery of OverwOrk, is, IL Is not so great
as the of vapid idleness; and II does NOT
make any difference whether the idleness iss
that of the hobo end of the scale or
the gfIded youth the other. Do not waste
time in envying the idlerS at either end or the
social scale Envy is not the proper attitude
toward them The proper attitude toward them
is good humored but thoroughsolnS dlsap-
proval of the man or woman who Is SO ohad
not only TO the interests OF society as wnols
but 10 his or her own real interests as 10 Pc
1ieye that ANYTHING permanent can be gained
from life of selfish and vacuous idleness-
TRAINED FOR HOMELY DUTIES
Such idleness is the poorest investment in
the long run that can be imagined: and there
is no surer way to forfeit all chance Of real
happiness than get deliberately 10 work 20
treat pleasure the only aim after which 70
strive Teach the boy and girl work; teach
them that their proper duty is in the home,
their duty To another and toward their
neighbors Then teach them more, teach them
build upon this foundation the SUperStruct-
mr. of tine higher life I want edu-
cation directed more and more toward training
BOYS and girls back 10 the farm and the Shops
so that they will be first rate farmers first rate
mechanics. fit to work with the head and 70
yxitb