The Washington herald., 1911-11-19

were taught at our colleges academies,
and high schools An educated person
was not supposed to work at anything
that would soil his shirt or collar.
Manual labor was not actually dishon-
orable, but 1t was no more than respecta-
bic. Thus we were a nation OF educated
and uneducated men. And the educated
men, though few in number, dictated the
courses of study in the villages, towns,
and cities where they lived
To-day the national conception goes
the other Z way. A carpenter mailing
shingles on a house Is performing a
public function. The farmer is helping
to clothe and feed the country. The
merchant is bringing the producer and
consumer together. and therefore Is
benefactor Talk is subordinated to ac-
tion. Lawyers have become less fluent
Sermons have been cut from an hour to
twenty minutes. Editors print more
news and less editorial The soiled shirt
is a symbol Of service. But the out
worn classical scheme Of education. I
am bound TO confess, has been continued
too long. Still. 1t IS going to pieces. The
spirit OF the age is revolutionizing our
high schools. Mechanics are not being
spoiled any more to make bookkeepers
and real estate agents, and the wives
Of next year are learning to cook, bake,
and keep house"
should more mafe teachers be en-
ployed in the public schools?''
II answer yes. with conviction. By and
by there will be a man and a woman
In every room OF our graded schools.
Young children need the sympathy. tact
fulness, culture, and attention Of wom-
en-. All children need the strength, judg-
ment and initiative Of men. Women are
good disciples, but they cannot originate
The Teachers of Germany.
Can teaching ever become an attrac-
tive profession so long as salaries range
from $40 to 800 a month";
Surely not. Teaching abroad is a de-
sIrable occupation In Germany, teach
ers are officials of the state. They have
a standing among men, are hOnored by
everybody, and there is work and wages
for them so long as they live. 1t Is
true, however, that teachers abroad are
better prepaEed than are the teachers in
this country. They must have the equiv
alent Of a high school education and
must spend three years at a normal
school Nor are they expected TO use
their positions as help into some other
profession.
"Are wars unduly emphasized in school
histories?"
They are. Their cruelty and destruct-
iveness and the misery and suffering they
cause should be made known The civil
war cost this country $32. 900. 100000 in one
way and another. I have the figures. 1
would italiCize that awful fact; also that
It took Germany two and a half CEN
turtles to recover from the thirty years
war that involved all the other nations Of
Central Europe"
why are country boys leaving their
homes to be clerks and wage-earners in
towns and cities?"
That is a big story. There are causes.
Man is inherently sociable. He goes to
city and there, under a plan of CO.
operation. he walks on paved streets, in
stead Of muddy roads, and in lightness,
instead of darkness. He finds many other
conveniences and things which he thinks
he wants-water out Of a faucet, books,
newspapers, companlonship, and enter
tainments. Moreover, every time farm
machine is invented with which one man
does the work Of four, three men are
released to do something else.
"Oh. it is a great question. Ultimately
1t will be settled, I think, by system
Of village life, the farmers living together
in communities, going to their land in the
morning and returning home at night.
Copyright. 1911. By James B. Morrow