Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1910-01-24
DEAD LANGUAGE
BAN IS FAVORED
By Dr. POLAND
School Superintendent Endorses
Stand Taken by Professor
Byron G. Mathews.

DR.. Addison B. Poland, city superin-
general way the statement made in a
lecture by Professor Byron C. Mathews,
of the High School, last night, that
less time should be devoted to the
study of dead languages and subjects
than to present-day affairs. What the
men of tomorrow need. DR.. Poland de-
%clares, is knowledge that they apply di-
rectly to their chosen callings.
You will be surprised said the SUI
perintendent, when l tell you that out
OF. the 5000 students at Harvard there
are but 800 who are taking Latin and
Greek. They are devoting themselves
to studies that will benefit them di-
rectly, and that is a plan that we
should adopt in our secondary or high
schools.
I'VE are getting away from he old
idea of education. Three or four
decades ago we thought that those were
essentials. We were following the
ideas handed down to us from genera
ton to generation. Now the inclination
is to get away from that. We want
studies that will fit the pupils to seize
opportunities as they are presented.
There is talk of an open door in Nam
churia. What will be the good of the
open door if after we get it we have
not the ability to manage the trade
that will result?
Probably the total number of the
cultured class in this country does not
exceed / per cent, certainly it is not 5
per cent. For this small number the
classical education is valuable, but for
the great mass of people education
along practical economic lines is what
we want. We will still have poets and
authors to make life worth living, but
we must have the other classes Of men
to make existence possible.
ut used to be thought that the study
of the dead languages. while II might
not be directly beneficial, was useful
as a disciplinary measure, but we do
not believe so strongly in that now.
That is where we should MAKE our
beginning in our new high schools. We
should teach by what we call the
laboratory method. We should nave
practical courses in different lines of
trade, so that the pupils might have
an opportunity to do that actual work
of the calling they mean to pursue,
rather than study it from a book.
I'm most of the colleges, and es-
pecially in our great Western univer-
stiles, which are our leaders now, this
idea is gaining ground. In the scien-
tific courses it is recognized that Latin
is not a necessity. A knowledge of
Latin or Greek will not help a mar
to operate a railroad office. If you
are held up in the street by a high
wayinan the fact that you spoke cor
---kt.- -. -A.L - ~ ,--11
not keep you from being robbed.
"As to Professor Matthew's conten-
ton about too much mathematics, L
doubt if he expressed 1t as he is quoted.
but his idea is that of many great edu-
Gators Who believe that too much math-
ematics, or too much Of anything that
may tend to sidetrack a pupil from his
or her work is Injurious and liable to be
their undoing. 1t is ever believed by
son:e hat algebra should be elective, in
stead of compulsory, in the first year of
the High School work"
DR.. Poland said that while Newark
schools were doing good work along the
line of practical economics, there was
room for a great Improvement, which
he hoped to see before long.
Professor Mathews lectured at the
Newark IuTn I1du, III WiIldHl Strtet.
The subject of the speaker was, Are
the schools meeting the demands of the
timer
The speaker said that on most occa-
sions the students leaving the high
schools n secondary schools today
do not understand what life means.
He declared that the Newark High
School ranked high and would be even
.rI.a~, %I- ,1,.1.. H. IT'LL.
schools were built.
Too much ~individualism, he said,
was prevalent 'hese times and not near
enough consideration for ones neigh
Dor.
The speaker pointed out that the
greater part of the students time in
secondary schools today was spent on
mathematics and hat it tends more to
make him a knave than a saint.
In addition, he remarked that far
too much time was consumed in teach