Daily Kennebec journal., 1908-10-29
CHARITIES AND CORRECTIONS
Continued from Page Two)

than the teacher that the intellectual
type OF child is not the predomnatin2
type. Now the education that provides
for the intellect alone will not only fail
e. prevent crime and dependency, it
may even. under some circumstances.
promote both. The boy Of pronounced
physical activity, the one in whom the
motor senses are strong chafes under
thc constant restraint of an education
that ne@lcctS one of the inSiStent de
mands OF his nature and sometimes,
almost in spite of himself, rebellion
comes not always consciously OF course
but lone the less disastrously Manual
training in the schools is d most i'm
portant force not only for dealing with
the extreme cases but in the all around
educational development Of the normal
child. because it meets a great need
that the hand be trained to obey in
stantiy and accurately the command
of the brain. 1t is also important be
cause it RAY reveal to the child
realism of talent that would otherwise
remain undiscovered. He who does not
fnd his own place in the worlds life
is not only likely to be less happy
himself but there is always a danger
that. because he is misplaced, he will
enGanger the happiness of others.
There can be no doubt that ,hc
ranks OF the criminal and of the de
pendent are enormously recruited from
he sources of discomfort. Happy III
deed is the man who has found his
work. Therefore more attention may
we'll be paid by our educational system
to the complex social conditions of
modern life and it may Well enlarge
its func tionS in order that these con
ultions may lie met. The value Jf n;nn-
ual training as positively Uniform
ing force was long ago recognized in
treating with these who had been con
victed of wrongdoing. 1t is a striking
on our former method OF
trying to cure crime rather than pre-
vent it that long before manual found
its way into any schools where are ed
ucated normal children, it was placed
in refornatQry institutions as Il rec
rgriZed and efficient instrument IN the
restoration OF the wrong doe: to the
ways of right living. In this discussion
we must not overlook the large NUM-
Der Of LntortunateS who because Of
or mental defects are cspe
oially in danger of falling into GRIM
inal or dependent class. The State has
recognized its duty by providing in
stjtutionS for the care and investment
of those whose defects are extreme.
Provision is now made for the totally
blind ard the totally deaf and the
progress made III the education Of these
members Of society has
been 50 great that even those who
suffer extreme affections are neve-the-
less lifted from the dependent class and
take their places as happy members OF
society, able, not only to support
themselves but even contribute t. the
support of others.
So likewise of the extremely feeble
minded it has been demonstrated tiiAt
many of this class may b@conl" if not
self supporting, at least Scli-hclplui
But the work in this direction is done
only in Part of state institutirts. -h-
ter all these extreme cases have
been provided for there are still TO be
found large numbers of the partially
defective who are thus handicapped
and mus. have their chance il society
is not to be endangered by them. Ihe
lines of demarkatlon between the we'll
and the sick, the deaf and those who
hear, the blind and those who see are
rot clearly drawn so that we may say
that on one side are all of one class
and on the other side are ali oI the
other class. And 50 we have left III
our public schools the hundreds and
thousands of the partially defective
and we must not deny them TIL" at
11r.ir merely he
cause they happen not to be 50 e%-
Il Cme as to require that they go to
special institutions. A few years ago
the school committee of Maine city
cmploycd an occulst to examine the
eyes Of all children in the city. He re-
rorted later that 30 per cent. of the
children showed defective tyoslSht.
HON many of these pupils may have
been accounted by their parents or
teachers as idle. dull or vicious be
cause Of their physical infirmltieS that
forbade the close attention to book
study required in the school? If the
reported in that city Should
hold for the entire State then W"
should nnd 10000 of these attending
school suffering from defective NlSion.
But lct me remind YOU that this defect
is only one OF the distressing com
tiaints that may attlict childhood. Chill
dren defective in hearing are some
times called stupid or careless by The
thoughtlcss adult who supposes that
all children being young must of course
be We'll.
A good school system is one that >ul-
tivatpS Il large sense of personal re-
SponSibility. a good school is one mat
affords Just the right stimulus to the
child ana then leaves him to work out
His; own educational salvation, 4 good
teacher IS one who makes himself un-
Necessary to his pupil by cultivatrg in
himself dependence. | hold it is to be
of chicf importance that every boy
ard every girl go into life equipped
with the ability to do his own thinking
and with respect and liking for work.
Much of our education has appar sntly
impressed Young people with tie Idea
that the achievement of an education
means freedom from the necessity or
work. No idea could be more prnvoca-
tive Of dependency and crime tnan
this Education of the right sort not
only does not free from the necessity
of work, it helps one to find his work