The Washington herald., 1911-11-19
DEFENDS PUBLIC SCHOOLS AGAINST CRITICS

be men and women in the world, where
entertainment Is absolutely nothing, and
where interest is everything"
MjddIe-cIass Boys the Best.
What kind of children are the best
students-children Of the rich, the poor,
or the middle class?"
THE Bible says, Tt Is the spirit that
uuickeneth.' II the son of rich man
believes he has all that he wants, that
the purpose Of life is to- obtain houses,
lands, bonds, and stocks, he will not make
q good student. If his parents show him
that property is not life, that service Is
of far more importance-service as an
employer Of labor, or in science, or in
literature or in law-he, having spirit
that quickeneth,' will make a good stu
dent. The boy. you see, wants that which
he does not possess. Studiousness, among
all classes, begins right tnere-the want
Of things.
''The desires and deficiencies Of poverty
are many and visible. A digger Of ditches
is ambitious that his son be something
else When the son thinks as his father,
there is hope for the boy. 1t is possi-
BILE for him to become a great man.
Often he becomes a great man. The mid
dle-class boy is between riches and
poverty. His position Is the best Of all,
provided he has the spirit. And his rec
ord proves II. The country to-day Is
ruled. in business, politics and the profess
sions, by men who, as boys, were neither
dangerously ricn nor distressingly poor"
Are American children as well train
ed at home as they used to be?'
ct do not know; am inclined to think.
however, that they are not. And there
is a reason, IL am right. The American
home in cities is being broken up. A
nat, in my view, cannot be a home. To
me, a home means a house separated
from other houses and with ground
| around it. In the past when our popu-
lation was not so congested, a boy work
ed with his father on Saturdays and dur
| ing his hours out of school. The girl
| helped her mother in the house. Train
ing went on continuously. Duties were
| to be done. The parents were present
| most of the time. Life OF that kind Is an
| impossibility now in cities.
when a child of the city walks out
of doors it is in the street. Clubs lead
| fathers and mothers away from home A
| friend of mine took census in Min
neapolis. He found that 70 per cent OF
the children in the region where he made
| his investigation did not eat breakfast
| with their parents: 20 per cent did not
/ eat luncheon and only 43 per cent ate
dinner with both parents present. On
the one side we have the factory pull
ing children from the home: on the other
side we have the club pulling the par
ents from the home"
when All Educated Men Talked.
DO not high schools keep large num-
bers of boys out OF useful mechanical
| trades?"
mo. As now conducted. high schools
are helping boys into trades. We are get
ting away from the classical method Of
education and are establishing manual
! training schools, and in some places
schools of agriculture. We are following
Pestalozzi the Swiss founder Of new
school, whose purpose was to train the
whole man. A half century ago men
worked either with their hands or brains.
Lawyers, preachers, physicians, editors,
book writers, and statesmen educated
their sons. They all talked for living
in one way or another. Doctors had to
| talk with the rest, because medicine then
was so unscientifc that conversation
was thought to be eficacious in the sick
| room.
1T was believed that Greek, Latin, and
the classics developed the graces Of ora
tory and familiar discourse. So they