The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1909-08-04


afforded by the common schools. Let
us add to them for thirty yeers the
, three-quarters of a million pupils
who, according to the report (p.
525), complete the work in the sew
'enth or eighth grades Of the element
airy schools. There will be %, l00.-
900 of them. Now adding all these
sums-allowing for the increase in
population to increase the number Of
youths as the years go on and we
have about fifty million Americans
who have remained in school into the
midst of their teens--something ike
two-ffths OF our population in the
next thirty years This Is not enough
Democracy may live, but II cannot
thrive upon that basis II we are to
solve the problem of the century
the restriction of Ignorance and greed
In our business organization-we
must solve II In the school house
rather than in the legislature or In
the court room. So long as there Is
a body of the people ignorant. that
ignorance will breed a greed that
will be duped by demagogy, and al
ways the greed equipped by cunning
will outwit greed equipped by ignor-
ance. The problems that this nation
has solved have been for the most
part simple problems. They are prob
lens in the production of wealth. II
is tr"e that the abolition OF slavery
concerned the distribution OF wealth
II was simple subtraction. but to deal
Justly with capital in It's public uses
to say what Is the individuals share
in the public partnership and what
Is the share OF the common wealth
that is long division problem of
distribution. And most OF our ma
tional problems now pending are
problems OF distribution. wherefore
II We are 10 do these complex prob
lens OF distribution, as a nation at
least we must get into the eighth
grade. Perhaps the average now Is
nearer the sixth than the eighth.
The eYars a Boy May Waste.
As conditions now exist there
comes into the life OF the average boy
or girl four or FIVE waste years-the
years between thirteen and eighteen
These waste years hold in them the
real dangers Of our democracy. For
out Of school the boy at least Is
worthless.
And yet ten millions OF fourteen
year-old boys and their sisters-who
are really worth somethlng-are out
Of school in America today. Partly
they are out for economic reasons:
the family needs their support; but
the state needs a clear mind In the
ballot booth seven years later. worse
than the family needs support. and
might well AFFORD to pay the family
. the errand boys meager wages. But
apart from economic forces which
keep the boy out OF school during the
waste years OF his life. there are so
= cial reasons why he Is not in school
And those social reasons are his stud.
les and his teachers. and at the bot.
tom of all, the selhshness Of the tax.
payers.
For when a child Is not doing
well" in school. the parents find II
easy to put him 10 work outside. Aud
thus OF the fifteen millions OF chill.
dren who leave school before they
reach the high school. probably Ave
millions leave not because they have
TO leave to support the family but
because the parents feel that the
boys at least are better OF working
out OF school than idling and wrang-
ling with their teachers IN school
Generally speaking. the fault Is with
the school rather than with the boy
Certainly the fact that FIVE millions
of boys in their early teens do leave
school, unnecessarily Is a fact worth
considering in making up currl-
culum. And II the fads and sms are
driving the boy from school. the ma
ton IL the loser. Therefore the In.
stinct Of the boy for physical educa-
ton as well az for mental training
should be needed The boy longs for
manly things. He Graves the COM
pany OF men and their roughness. He
desires to do somethlng-to see some
thing growing under his hand. II Is
instructive. and the most hopeful
thing in our democracy is not the
growth OF the secret ballot, the
cleansed party. the direct nomination
and direct legislation. but the vague
and definitely growing recognition
that the boys instinct for pratlcal
education in his school Is TO be trust
ed. The almost universal introduce
ton OF manual training in some form
into the lower grades OF American
schools-giving the boy opportunity
to work with his hands--is one of
the most important symptoms OF So
ella health in our political organiza-
ton
The extent Of the growth OF man.
ual training in the country is surpris-
Ing. Within ten years-coincldent
with the other big democratic move
ments-manual training has spread
to the schools Of almost every Ameri-
can state. Typically manual training
begins in the sixth grade. when the
pupils are coming into their teens.
II continues through the eighth