Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-12-17
Educational Efforts of
he Utah Pioneers
Address Delivered at the Salt Lake Tabernacle, Sun
day, November 20, 1910 by
ELDER ORsoN T. WHITNEY,
Hcpor,cd by +. W. ottcrs,romo

. w OtIcfSIrOil.)
less than three years after tho pioneers
entered this valley, the University OF
/, Deseret, now University of Utah. was
| chartered by the provisional govern
ment; and from that time forward the
| history of education in Utah will com
! pare fuvorably with its progress in any
other state or territory Of the Union.
THE CHURCH SCHOOL SYSTEM.
The Church school system now -four
! ishing, had its inception In the autumn
| Of 1876. beginning With the Brigham
| Young academy inpw university at
| Provo. Subsequently the Brigham
i Young college at Logan was estab-
| iishcd: and the l.attcr-day Saints uni
| vcrsity Of Salt Lake City. From time
| to time. this nucleus has been added
| to, until today II or IS stake academies,
scattered through n region extending
from Canada to Mexico. exist In the
midst Of tho Church of Jesus Christ OF
Lattcr-day Saints. This system is
distinct, remember, from the public
vcrsity OF Utah. The Church school
system Is q Mormon institution ex-
clusi"cly, ana the Church sustainS it at
cost of hundreds of thousands Of
dollars every year.
KARL G. MAEsER.
| heard DR.. Karl G. Macser tell how
he came to found the Brigham Toung
academy; for he was the scholastic
founder of that institution. He re-
lated how President Brigham Young
called him into his office and told him
to go down into Utah county and es-
tablish school where religion could
be taught. along with the arts and sci
ences; where the gospel OF Christ could
be inculcated. ana the Bible and the
Book OF Mormon used as text books.
In other words. where tie Spirit of the
Lord would be present. to preside over
the faculty and sit with the board of
trustees. DR.. Maeser said that when
he asked President Young for instruc-
tons III the founding of such a school,
the great leader replied: Brother
Maeser,. take the Holy Spirit as your
guide. and do not attempt to teach
even the multiplication table without
1t. Those We're the good doctors in
structions; 1t was Il tiny acorn, appar-
emily, but what mighty oak has
sprung from it-evcn this great school
system. which Is turning out, year after
year, men and women. Latter day
Saints. equipped and qualified by their
education In these institutions. to teach
not only the learning of this world,
but the knowledge of the other world
as Ntii' so idI as goa mas reFeaied H.
TWO GREAT IDEALS.
The Church school system stands for
two great ideals: first, n complete edu-
cation: second, the application of that
Ideal, the use of that education for the
uplifting and salvation of mankind
What do mean by Il. complete cduca.
ton? Herbert Spencer declares: TO
prepare man for complete living Is the
f,,p, int, hi !, ii,
charge" | know not how far the
great thinker desired to be interpreted
in the direction to which his noble say
ing points. but do know thnt Com
plete living" from the standpoint of
Latter day Saint. means life hereafter
as well as here. We are in full ac-
cord with the definition given by this
great man, that the purpose of educa-
ton is to prepare man to completely
live.
TO LEAD OUT'
When | was a little boy It was sup
posed that education meant something
that was put into the mind: and hence
arose system OF examining, examining,
examining: and whatever stuck was
your education, But by and by better
IDEAS began to prevail They ought
tn have prevailed before, for the mean
ing Of the word educate" Is not to put
in, but to bring out ITO lead out
that is the true and technical dehni-
ton OF the word One mind cannot
put Information into another: but It
can put information where another
mind can get 1t, and can present It In
such way rs to make ii attractive and
desirable. The gardener who plants his
tree, pruncs and trims it's branches,
digs about Its roots. and rrigates 1t.
puts nothing into the tree. If the tree
were dead he could not make It live, or
cause it to grow. 1t must have life
within itself, the principle of growth
All TINT the gardener can do is to
cultivate and draw forth its latent
powers and possibilities, encouraging
the tree plant, or flower to expand ac-
cording to the laws OF It's own being.
teachcr--to induce the mind to grow
and develop of its own accord. All that
tho teacher can do Is to place the stu
dent in the proper environment, give
him the proper care. and do every
thing that Will conduce to his self de-
velopment That Is what educators
are doing today They do not profess
to put anything into the mind Of the
student. but they do profess to bring
something out. to convert the potential
into the actual, to possess the boy or
girl of his or her own faculties which
arc only half possessed until they arc
educated. When the man Is master or
himself. and to n rightful extent mas
ter of his surroundings. he Is an edu-
Gated man.
MENTAL AND PHYSICAL CUL-
TURE.
1T has long been recognized that men
tai education alone Is not sufficient;