The sun., 1909-11-17
WTLLTAM TORRBY HARRfS.
Dr. Helden's Tribute to the Memory OF
One Of the Nations Rema able Men.

II
Dr. Helden's Tribute to the Memory OF
| One Of the Nations Remarkable Men.
TO TIE EDITOR or THE SUN--Sir: The
country has lost one OF its greatest men.
! perhaps the very wisest OF them all. His
work touched many OF the most practical
robIems orGour generation, and touched
them In a WALKING way. From his youth
! he was concerned with education. and from
! 1855 TO 1850 he was teacher and snperin-
| tendent OF the public schools OF ~. Louis.
Here he applied the theories OF pedagogy
aud learned by teaching. No one had
! wider or a more fruitful experience. The
st. louis public schools became a model
! for the whole country, and Harris gradually
I attained an authority that ouly increased
! with time.
| In 1880 he resigned his position as super
! intendeNt ard removed to Concord. Macs.
where he was active in founding the Con-
cord school OF Philosophy. ne became vir-
tually the director OF the school and was
| the nauraI successor OF Emerson.
In 1889 he was appointed to he the Com
missioner OF Education OF the United States.
| and remained In this oTice doing good and
great things till 1908. when no resigned Ia
devote himself entirely to literature. In
1897 he founded the JoUr"0l Of Speculative
| Phiioso phR. and carried II on largely at his
own expense ill twenty-one volumes had
/ been issued.
The regents Of a great university were
in 1883 looking for a president to NIL va
cancy that was to occur. The name OF
Or. Harris was proposed by one OF his adj
mrers and friends. and his work and his
merits were explained to them. He was
not chosen. for the reason that he was
speculative philosopher. they said tso was
Aristotle, by the byI. and therefore he
| could not be a practical man; he could
not administer the affairs OF their univ versity.
| A year later he was chosen TO administer
the educational affairs Of the whole country.
and IN a few years was called upon to direct
the educational systems OF Alaska. Cuba.
and the Philippines to boot have often
wondered IL this board OF regents learned
its lesson. There is indeed q difference
/ between the educated and the practical
man. Both have theories and the theories
Of the practical man are usually wrong.
] Harris was preeminently man of theory.
a. man who believed in general principles
| and sbhorred the temporary expedient:
but he had the shrewd New England mind
that applied its principles accurately and
precisely. and he won results.
| II would be great satisfaction to me IL
! I were able to set forth the immense con-
tIibutiors OF Harris in the ever widen
ing fields he cultivated. A list Of his writ
ings tt7s separate papers. is0e-l9OsD is given
in the report OF the bureau OF educstion
for 1907. In his earlier years he was chiefly
concerned with the theory of education and
with the fundamental questions OF philoso-
ply and art. Practical he was at every
turn. Library classification. which Is noth-
ing but a classification Of human knowledge.
owes mu ch to him School buildings, in
dustriaI education. moral teaching. coedu-
cation these are few OF the topics treated.
HIS best use, perhaps. was in reaching gen.
eral formUls that would serve his teachers.
Self lt-determination-the direction OF ones
own practical endeaVoT-is the object
aimed at in our schools" Philosophy and
aesthetics went hand in hand with peda-
RoRiCs In these early and formative years
We find analyses and studies OF HeRel.
Aristotle. Goethe. Beethoven. Plato. Michel
, Angelo, Pestaiozzi. Fr6beI. Dante. Shake
speare. Kant. Emerson and a score OF others.
He becomes more and more Interested
in the practical application of principles as
tIne goes or. HIS theory OF insanity Is All
example ussD. The insane man reasons
| correctly or incorrect data given TO him by
his senses. Henry Georges SS.take Abort
Land" IL the title OF one OF his papers. ~
was about this time that he wrote his
treatise on The Spiritual Sense of Dante's
Divina Commedia "A noble book. Statis-
tics interested him always. and he has made
notable discussions OF them and drawn con-
clusions OF the first importance.
His book Psychologist Founds lions Of
Education" uSSsl ia a classic. / understood
him to say that he considered his analysis
| of the logical figures Of Aristotle to be Que Of
| its chief merits. His New Currency Plan"
| u9Osl for the Dited Ctates consists in the
| issuance Of conV Vertible bonds bearing a low
rate OF interest less than , Per cent 49, hut
purChasaole ary business dav in any
&.Sunt These are convertible into cur
rency for principal plus accrued inter-
eat any day when presented. Such
u system. he concludes. would Furnish a
| perfectly elastic currency and would free
! the money from the dan ger o: hos srdinG In
a paper Of 1908 on Hegel's philosophy his
thesis il: Hegel's voyage of discovery
reaches as lis goal an insight into the aeces-
sity or goodness and righteousness in an
absolute being. and into the Conseouent
necessity that the absolute has the form OF
personality.
| I shall be happy II have been able by
these extracts from the results of long life
! OF endeavor, industry and deep rehec-
| tion. to convey some sense OF Harris's
achievements in philosophy. pedagogics
and education. Such notice should come
| from more skilled pens than mine. /
despair OF conveying TO those who have not
known him personally the sweetness OF his
character. his grave wisdom. his kindness,
tolerance. sympathy and insight. II is one
Of the great privileges of my life TO have had
his ompan ionship and friendship.
| EDWARD \, HOLDEN
1 N..Na kNA