The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-05-14
THE TIMES RICHMOND VA SATURDAY. MAY H. 1910

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man Is a struggle, says Mr. Cannon,
not with an advantage, but with a
handicap
TAO THIS statement como from Mr.,
cannon alone, 1t might have been Mt
tribntcd to the fact that most OF the
rouse Insurgents arc college men; bur
~ comes at tho end or a long line of
hteacks on college education from men
WHO nave no axes to grind and no
spleen to won't. The Oberin Alumni, OF
chicago, have said tho same thing:
That excellent virginian, Woodrow
Wilson, said It: othcrs--collcge prcai-
dents and deans and learned men or
all types--have pleaded guilty to the
same Indictment.
There must therefore, be more In
tho charge than one would be led to
suppose from the source OF the
present attack Colleges must be
wrong. else they would not be so at
tackled; but II they he wrong, what
is their weakness and wherein is their
failure. The college as an institution
cannot be wrong, else Its effect upon
society would soon have been felt
neither can II be said that all colleges
are training young men incor-
rectly. The trouble must lie with par
ticular colleges and with particular
things In surh co1legea
If such he the case. a more or less
intimate acquaintance with colleges
and the men they turn out, leads lis to
believe that the chief fault with the
colleges-at least with those which
have any serious faults--Is that some
OF their instructors give their stu
dents false view of life.
There are many fine men holding
chairs in our colleges-men OF broad
sympathies, men in touch with the
world. men who can tell the false from
the true and can lead their students
Alright. but there are many other coll
academic. They hold that tho sum
and substance of earthly wisdom
Is contained In physics, or biology. or
mathematics. or history and they try
to teach their students to regard these
things as life, not as lids to life. The
teacher of mathematics. let us say.
thinks that the man who does not
know the bInomial theorem is worse
1,,,,
that the student who does not know
the chief carbon compounds is an ass.
destined to be hanged. and so with the
rest. All the men of this type teach
that tho man who masters his subject
and who is graduated from college is
the man above all others useful in life
the only man. in fact. who is ft to
live with fellow college men.
The result OF all this false doctrine
is that the young man often goes from
college into business, thinking thu:
the man who has no college education
is de facto a fool, and the man who
cannot pirate of academic themes is
beneath the COLLEGE man. The gradu-
ate thus places himself on n pinnacle,
and does not descend until he is maxi
ing $40 the week, working for an un-
lettered employer. and is trembling for
his job.
Still. If the truth be told, most Of
them get over this false view OF life.
and when they do, they begin to
value the substance of what they
learned Mt college. Such being the
case. the outlook is not desperate In
fact. II the man be honest, and unlearn
a part of his college training as quick.
ly as possible, the rest win aid him in
his fight for an honorable place in life.
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