The weekly chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Craig County, Okla.) 1905-1913, 1910-01-28

NtSi9 AaAh ~ Nllt htiNlNt VIII uNl
mean drudgery, nor sinecure, nor ac.
cidental opportunity. but an enlight.
ened stimulating, highly efficient ser.
vice OF highest earning power. least
uncertainty from accidental causes,
largest freedom from individual inl.
tiatiye, entire self.respect, and thor
oughly democratic spirit
With this prediction J. Shirley
Eaton, former statistician of the lie.
high Valley railroad concludes n
lengthy monograph for the United
States bureau OF education on "Edu.
cation for Efficiency in Railroad Ser
vice, which Commissioner Elmer Il.
Brown has submitted to the secre.
tary OF the interior. In his letter Of
transmittal Commissioner Brown says
the subject of educational preparation
for definite occupation in life and
particularly for the several trades, is
under serious consideration In the
United States. The relation OF trade
education to general education is one
of the important aspects of that ques
ton This relation was summed M
by President Nicholas Murray Butler,
OF Columbia University, in saying:
What science and practical life alike
need is not narrow men, but broad
men sharpened to the point"
THE advance made In the present
decade In the subject of education for
railroad service is very surprising to
those who may not be informed" says
Mr. Eaton, ideas Of practical men
on the subject are now less indefinite
and conflicting The relation between
education and efficiency in railroad
service is coming 10 be generally con.
ceded. The large educational value
Of the railroad practical account. and
the value OF educational agencies in
preparing for specific Industrial efl.
cheney is better understood.
THE railroad service in the United
States will shortly reach total Of
100000 men II Is the largest and
most highly organized example of as
sociate effort in an epoch CONSPICUOUS
for industrial and commercial concen-
tration. Education is a broad sense
must always be a large factor
"In the course OF railroad develop.
ment, there was a first era, which was
the era of railroad building There
was the next an era of coordination
of the railroad service and finance
to the commercial and financial eondi-
tions as whole with which the rail
roads were called upon to deal.
Next came the era of internal ad.
lustments on the physical and mechan.
ical side-perfection of the machinery
cutting down grades, strengthening
bridges, increasing the train unit.
And now has come the era of soeiol-
ogical adjustment. The human part
of the machine is quite as vital as the
steel and wooden part In producing
efficiency and so in increasing the In
come
THE most practical and efficient
railroad manager today is now
squarely up against the problem
which he is attacking in one form or
another of education. of himself, his
staff. the individuals In the rank and
file, and the rank and file as a whole.
This Is the last and highest and
most comprehensive stage Of the func-
tion of administration It implies. for
instance, on eager. resourceful. self.
, respecting indiyidualism throughout
the working force co-ordinated with
keen appreciation Of the social char
acter Of the work, which expresses IT.
self In a loyalty not 20 a person or
local group, but to the income AZ.
count of the railroad nor yet to one
income account. but 10 the aggregate
Of the income accounts OF several
years These income accounts. show.
ing steady, healthy growth over sew
eral years, became at the same time
the terms of largest service to the
community the stoekholder, and the
individual employee.
"a note ~ warning may at this
time seem to be premature but Ger.
i tain tendencies are already fore
shadowed which should not go un
checked When the railroad manager
come fully to realize how bis new
found tool Of education enables him
to shape almost absolutely to his pur.
poses the working body. there may
arise the dangers that railroad spe-
cializatlon In education be carried too
far
IF the railroads. when they come
very generally to instruct their EN-.
ployees, turn their back upon the pro.
fessiona teacher. severely dlvorcing
their work IN subiectmatter and in