The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1913-02-11

The -Lever-Smit legislation,
now awaiting the decision Of. the
House as to whether it shall be sent
to conference or referred to the Com
mittee on Agriculture, will, If passed
in proper form. easily be the con-
structive chef de'oeuvre OF this SEES
sion.
Too little is known by the country
at large about this big and highly i'm
portant departure in the direction of
adding to the efficiency OF our nation
al educational system. Briefly stat
ed, the legislation is this,
The Lever bill proposes to appro-
pirate 100000 year for university
extension work in agriculture that
is, for demonstrating to the farmers
the scientific work of the department
and the experiment stations, and
$3.50, 900 a year for direct aid to the
agricultural college of the States, Civ
ing each State $4,000.
The Lever measure stops here.
The Page bill goes much farther. IL
gives, first, the 100000 annually to
extension work. Then it gives B.
600 900 a year to aid district agricul-
tural schools, 100000 more to in
troduce the teaching of agriculture,
trades, and domestic science in the
rural schools, and 100000 to teach
ing trades and domestic science in
the city schools.
Aside from the broader scope of
the Page-bill scheme, 1t is fundamen-
tally different from the Lever-Smith
measure in this: that every dollar
which Senator Page would give from
the Federal treasury for these pur-
poses, must be matched by a dollar
from the State. The State gets no
Federal money unless it proves its
sincere purpose to cooperate in the
work by giving its half.
This seems to be an altogether de-
sirable condition. II would be bad
economy, to plunge the National Gov
eminent into the general business of
endowing State education, without
proper assurance that the endow-
ment would be used rightly. A state
could be counted upon, with all con-
fidence, TO take and use any money
handed Ii by Uncle Sam; but il would
be much more certain to make prop
er use of that money, and less likely
to accept IL recklessly and inconsid-
erately, If for every dollar it received
il must also put up one of its own.
The Page bill represents the truly
national, the really business-like
handling of this proposition. II will
be most unfortunate if. in the eager
ness of competing ambitions for the
distinction of having particular
name and a political party label at
tached to such a measure, the legisla-
tion gets held up. or is passed in
less desirable form.
In the matter of education, we-are
coming nowadays to understand that
all our vast expenditures and all our
pride in them, have not given by any
means an ideal system. IL is not so
practical as, for instance that Of Ger
many, which has contributed so very
much toward making that nation the
industrial force it is. We have need
for the very sort OF work which the
Page measure proposes to encourage
in the most effective way. In time,
1t is to be hoped, the various appro-
priations which it makes would all
be accepted by the States, and then
multiplied many fold.
The industrial and economic fu-
ture Of this country depends in large
measure on a proper adaptation OF
our educational methods to the
changing needs Of a country whose
interests become with every year
more diversified. Efficiency must be
its keynote So long as We can get
and have the place to put, the means
TO feed. 200. 600 immigrants from
the old world annually. TO do our
days work. we will not feel the
stress so keenly. But the time will
come when We cannot absorb the
vast multitudes as now. when great
er efficiency, larger intelligence. a jus
ter appreciation Of the dignity Of Ia
Dor. must make up for that which IN
restricted immigration cannot always
supply. Washington Times