Omaha daily bee., 1909-07-07

To Train Captains OF Industry.
ITO provide an ir restitution OF university
grade for the training Of leaders OF trade
and captains Of industry. with expert
teachers OF business culture, ethics, his
tory. applications Of the sciences, world
markets, etc. is a larger opportunity for
some philSnthropist than the endowment
Of libraries or the establishment OF chairs
In dead language. or the search for mum
mics and scarabs that are s0ll more dead. ."
raid 8. r. Hoover, an educator Of Cleve-
land, o., speaking before the department
of business education at the National as
ISOLATION convention today.
For centuries The business man has
helped to educate all the other professions,
and supported them afterward," continued
Mr.. Hoover. Now the dignity OF his
own, the ~incomparably larger number en-
gagged in It, and the keenness OF the COM
petition with those other lands demand a
departure from our archaic system OF
learning business methods.
For the professional there must be special
training. The physician, lawyer, minister,
teacher, engineer and athlete have pre-
scented their claims and recognition accord
ed In special opportunity provided by
schools OF the most approved type. But
1t has been generally true Of the history
of education that as soon as the boy
showed his inclination toward a commer-
cial career. he was sidetracked with scant
courtesy and only a rudimentary training
In the mere 'ha~tchet-and-saw' course"
Would Eliminate DeEenerncy.
"The English problem of how to elimi-
nate the fHnOliQap si dOag mot vet COO-
front us seriously, but intelligent and
systematic action along we'll defined
lines covering the whole countr through
the common school is necessary to pre-
vent a degenerate class, the individual
OF which has been aptly described as too
heavy for light work and too light for
heavy work." said S. Wesselins, of Grand
Rapids, Mich, in an address at a de-
partment meeting OF the National Edu-
cation association today.
1T Is time" the. speaker continued.
that the child was treated as a unit by
other than standard methods and sub
jected to a scientific inquiry both from
the psychologists and the pathologists
point Of view. These experts should be
employed by the state and sent TO all
communities and conduct the examina-
lions necessary to inform the local school
boards OF the exact condition of every
pupil reported delinquent and backward
In grade work.
Delinquent mental or physical defec-
lives should be separated from the nor
NAL children for a sufficient length Of
time to bring them back to a normal
condition II possible. 1t is needless TO say
that incurables should be segregated per-
manently and perhaps in the state in
stitutions for the feeble minded The en-
ployment of raine experts constantly
for this purpose may be advisable, and
this can only be determined when the
extent of the work to be undertaken is
known"
Arts College, Criticised.
1.-THE American College OF Liberal Arts
has la~mentably failed as a popular institu-
ton of higher education in that II trains
less than 1 per cent Of our young men and
women. but one-tenth of 1 per cent of the
population. 1t has permitted various in
situations, notably correspondence schools,
private business schools, industrial and ag-
ricultural schools to usurp its function
because of illiberality." So declared Prof.
Samuel Wendell Willlston of the University
of Chicago at a meeting today of the de-
partment of higher education, held In con-
nection with the convention of the National
Education association. 1T has lost dis
cipline, both mental and moral" continued
the speaker, It'll the charge is freely
made, and in a great measure truthfully,
that a very large proportion of its students
are seeking merely the diploma rather than
an education which will fit them for higher
pursuits in life; who work, upon an aver
age, but three or four hours daily, and who
acquire habits neither of industry nor APP
plicetion; that there has been a decided
lowering of the moral standard among col
lege students; that upon the whole the
bachelor degree is losing It's Significance
as an indication of fitness for most Of the
pursuits OF life.
Undenlably the college has lost discipline
by the general adoption of the system OF
electives, which leaves so much to the
caprice and uninteiigent choice OF the in
experienced student. There has been, also,
a generalization both OF discipline and re-
q%uirements as a result OF the rivalry among
institutions, especially the state institu-
lions, for numbers; institutions are still for
the most part gagged by their size rather
than by their product. Furthermore, the
elective system has lowered the discipline
by the rivalry among the different teach
ers in the same institutions for large
classics, with the development Of soft
courses-concessions TO the all too obvious
inclinations of most students to seek the
easiest way to their diploma, with little re-
gard for the value OF the work accom-
plished.
whenever every pupil who leaves the
disciplinary high school Is compelled 10
choose some definite course OF study lead
ing TO some definite end, and not be per-
mitted to spend four years more In aim
less work, the problem OF the American
college viii rave been solved, and not
until them" said Prof. Williston, In con-