The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1910-12-08
ssA SCHOOL WITHOUT FRILI4s.


la school, publicly supported, III
Which boys and girls Of tender years
Day learn legitimate trades and pre-
Sare themselves to enter the bus1-
Aes world, is step in the direction
Which The Advocate has long hoped
he education of Negro youth in the
mass would take throughout the
n1ld, North as well as South.
1t is and has long been the belief
f the writer that it is the. duty OF
he state to offer to the masses Of its
htizens such public school training
u wourd best fit them to better their
Material conditions along the lines
To- which they are confined by natur-
In causes. In other words, We hold
hat the state owes it to the common
tsople to provide such educational
methods as will enable them to raise
kE Sssss74r--eemparatiYe- independence by
:eason of their increased productive
kbthty.
Under the system which now OBJ
Aains throughout this country. no
State measures up to this standard
Everywhere the ultimate aim is
the college. The kindergarten is
80ut door of the primary depart
ment. The primary school leads to
The grammar school. The grammar
School course looks forward to the
nigh school, and the high school has
8but one door, and that leads to the
3eollege. It might be we'll to state
FLOR the benefit of the captious critic
8that high school, is used in the
ageneral acceptation of the term.
h In the college is found only one
9gtenth of one per cent. of the popula-
sIion of the nation. The millions Of
Others who started and fell by the
swayside are numbered largely among
these engaged iii the blind alley"
for the simple reason
That they did not have either the
means or the inclination to fit them
SelVes for the learned professions.
Their parents did not feel able to
support them while they were learn
ing that 'all Gaul is divided into
three parts, ''of Darius and Parry
salts were born two sons, or some
other such rot as useful to a man
who must work with his hands as
fifth wheel would be to a wagon.
Il. The fault with our public schools
Us they are, is that they do not offer
instructions in the practical things,
that they look only to the prepara-
ton for the battle of life Of the in
the manuals, and they
are about eighty per cent. Of the
whole, are completely ignored We
do not ask our readers to take our
words for this. 1t is within the
power Of most of them to put it to
the test. Ask any young man or
young woman graduate of a normal
or high school to measure your floor
or wall for carpet or wall paper, ask
him to lay off the foundation of a
crib to hold a given quantity OF
grain, to make some simple repairs
ABOUT the house, or to tell what sum
would be passed to you over the
counter of the bank which accepted
your note for eighty dollars for SIX
ty days. The chances are, three TO
one, that you would wonder how a
person who could SO fluently name
the capitols Of the states, square X
plus Y or conjugate amo could be SO
ignorant Of those callings upon
which most of them must rely tc
bring the bacon home.
washington has set the pace.
Let us hope that other cities and
rural districts will soon emulate her
example. We Negroes have had toe
much education Of the brain in pro
portion to the education of the hand
at public expense. Let US now have
"a spell of practical education, O,
{:that kind Of education which will
mt us now to live on a higher plane
In the sphere, which reason and OK
!. perieence teach, the great maiorit,
must occupy.
s.