The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-06
A HERMIT PHILOSOPHER
 ON SCHOOL ATHLETICS


1 cisco earthquake and other destructive natural phenomena.
 l "Oh yes, I know well enough of your | stock arguments In favor of athletics. But science and civilization demand the elimination of waste and when we are scientifically educated we will find hu- man energies conserved and applied only | productiyely The end must Justify the | cost. These maryelously eccentric exhi- | bitions of vital force for inadequate pur- 1 poses constitute a criminal misuse of the resources of society and government, and a costly drain upon the exchequer of the | race. That these sources of energy are not economically directed Is due to the poverty and ignorance of our civilization. | It Is mainly a crime of city life. Such proiiigacy does not find currency in our country life. The city needs to diversity its industries so as to utilize productively it's wasting human energy. Physical ex- ercise is necessary, but we should devise means for the combination of needful ex- ereise with economic purpose.
 Do l believe in play? Certainly, for animals and children. It Is natures prep aration for work. When the child is in the primary school he needs play; this | should be supervised and increasingly di- rected. Purposeful work should be grad ually injected and interspersed with
 
 superseded by work. This is simply the substitution of the purposeful use of hu- man energy for the aimless dissipation of power in mere sport The play of the young is an imitation of the work of the : adult; under scientific direction the imi- tation should be completely merged into the reality. at least by the time the pupil graduates from school"
 "Yes, | have observed your efforts to organize athletic leagues and field sports in the public schools, and the efforts to secure the city parks as paygrounds. Now, I approve of this for young chill dren under P. Parks should be set aside for play under the direction of skilled instructors, and every child that enters should be registered and directed as in school. But for boys and girls over F. I would organize Industrial leagues. with compulsory attendance. I would | have the larger parks of the city and the | unused acreage within the corporate linn its converted into farms and gardens. | Every child over 12 in the public schools should be required to work six hours a week under skilled gardeners, agricul- turlsts and horticulturists. What a magnificent substitute for your athletic leagues and field day sportsl Such health i ful exercise in the open air and the sun shine would not only be educative, but | economically productive. It would mean the scientific solution of nine-tenths of the grevous educational problems you school people are everlastingly talking about in your meetings. Thousands oi 1 healthy boys and girls learning to raise | corn and tomatoes, fruits and garder | vegetables and to cultivate flowers and | grasses--what a magnificent 'anti-tuber- | culosis league you would have. Within | five years your dreaded tuberculosis germ could not find place to live and the problem of the White Plague vii have been solved. Talk about your 'Oper Air School.' this is the only scientific l open air school worth considering. Youl schools for, defectives would be still need ed for while to take care of the de fectives developed by your unscientiht methods and your wasteful athletic schemes, but in another generation ther, would be no defectives under the new in dustrial system. You will need littl, mathematical magination 10 calculate thu effects of such system upon the sani tation and health conditions of the peo pie. and upon the productive efficiency of the next generation. The sense of tn, aesthetic in the people and the ideal o beauty in the home will be revolution ized and the avenues of public diversion and popular amusement will be converted into agencies of general culture. directed
 by the demands of social science and con
 trolled by the economic principle of, per
 soral culture. industrial utility and socia
 efficiency.
 Your average city child is in a deplor Il ah- n.oe.u.a4te condition. From th
 starr he has no work and no sense of re
 sponsibility. True work must begin witt
 .he physical. not the mental The cit,
 child is sent to school and entrusted witl