The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-09-25
Editor Laurens Advertiser:

Editor LaurenS Advertiser:
In an article which appeared in
your paper Of August 18th, President
Riggs OF Clemson College discusses a
phase OF education that is very much
to the front nowadays. 1t is what is
called education for practical life"
1t is not a question peculiar to
South Carolina, or to the United States
as for that matter; but it is one that
is being discussed in nearly every
part OF the civilized world. How
ever, from observations OF the writer
while he was in South Carolina this
summer, it seems to be a rather acute
form in that State at present.
Just what an education should be
depends on the person answering the
question. How much OF the cultural
and how much Of the practical
should enter into it, and where the
practical should be introduced are
questions that will never be settled.
But there are a few broader principles
that should be considered along with
any individuals opinion In the mat
ter. 1t is when we get away from
these that we fall into serious falla-
cies.
In the first place, the advocates OF
education for practical life" assume
that pretty nearly all Of life is ma
terial-that it consists Of factories
and yards OF cloth, land and bales OF
cotton, iron in the r and then in the
finished product. The problem with
them is to convert the raw material
into the disable article. This consti-
tutes much in life, 1t is true, but it
is not the chief thing. and should
never be made the. guiding principle
in the lower school-the school be-
low college grade.
Life includes much more than our
materialists will admit. 1t has been
two thousand years since the Great
Teacher %expounded the doctrine that
life is immaterial. The elemental
things are of the intellect and soul.
How often we lose sight Of that, es-
to find u later that in abandoning
that doctrine We had turned and at
tempted to embrace a shadow. The
view we have Of life matters immense
ly; and it seems that there, Is setting
in a reaction in the educational world
against the vanities Of materialism.
The signs are few, but they are sig
%nificant. Harvard, the first Of the
great colleges to advocate vocational
training, Is swinging back the other
way. Vocational training there has
not actually made good. 1t has fallen
short Of what its advocates used to
say it would do. Another hopeful sign
of the times in that philosophy is
turning to the immaterial side again.
NJ. Bergson. who Is bayins SO much
influence on the thought Of the world
at present, is %proclaiming anew that
the primordial things in life are un-
measurable, not measurable, things
qualities, not quantities. That means
that man Is not TO be considered as q
machine or a cash register.
1t is charged that the schools OF
a century ago educated the student
away from life" The allegation can
not be substantiated. On the contrary,
the school Of that time, if it was
worthy Of the name, gave the student
very profound views OF life. Even in
the study Of Greek and Latin, which
our friends so belabor, there was A
study of life. The great thoughts
and emotions set forth In the Clas-
sizes are as vital today as they were
centuries ago. Moreover Tho student