Newark post., 1913-11-26
THE WISCONSIN IDEA
Pertinent Paragraphs From
Recent Addresses

At the large meeting of educa
tors from all parts Of Pennsylvani;
held in the Bellevue-Stratford
Philadelphia, last week, addresses
revealing the principles and work
ings of the Wisconsin Idea were
made byp men and women promi
nent in the movement.
President Van Hise of the Uni
versity of Wisconsin epitomizec
the wide meaning Of extensiona
education, in the declaration that
it tends toward providing equal
opportunity for all" by providing
the same educational chance fol-
the boy outside the school as is al.
ready furnished the boy or girl
whose family is able to keep him in
an institution of learning.
Going further he declared that
there is at hand sufficient know
ledge to teach all the people OF the
country to the end that disease and
the causes of poverty may be elm
mated as was yellow fever and
smallpox, once believed to be in
escapable. The following para
graphs are excerpts from DR.. Van
Hise's speech:
KNOWLEDGE LITTLE APPLIED
"We know enough about agri-
culture so that if it were applied
the agricultural wealth Of the
United States would be double in
ten years. We know enough about
medicine so that if the knowledge
were applied 20 years would see
the elimination of all contagious
and infectious diseases. We know
enough about eugenics so that If
the knowledge were applied within
a generation the feeble-minded
would disappear and the insane
be reduced to an insignificant num-
Der.
"It may be said that it will be
sufficient to teach the new know
ledge to the boys and girls in the
schools; and this, of course, should
be done; but since many Of you
left the schools a vast portion of
this new heritage has accumulated.
You have 25 or so years more to
live. Therefore, it is not sufficient
to teach the new knowledge to the
children in the schools; it must be
carried to the mature everywhere.
This is what we have been attempt
ing to do in Wisconsin.
In Wisconsin the continuation
school, in operation only about two
years, has already reached some
$4,000 pupils. There are separate
boards for the administration Of
these schools, with authority to
levy a tax of one-half mill. Re-
suits show already that system is
producing workmen of superior ef-
ficiency, workmen who appreciate
the intellectual and artistic side Of
their industry, workmen with SUI
perior general education.
Last year we estimated that in
Wisconsin through extension edu-
cation we reached not less than
100000 persons.
In Philadelphia there should be
added to the public educational
system the continuation and trade
schools. Every boy and girl be-
tween IA and Is, and all appren-
tices not 81 years of age, should be
required to attend continuation, ev-
ening or day schools for limited !
number of hours a week without ,
diminution Of earnings. The in
dustrial masses will be inspired |
with larger hope because of their
broadened horizon. With increas-
ed happiness will come renewed en-
ergy and efficiency. Thus the EN-
ploy ers, even from their own mar
row point Of interest, will find such
schools to be worth manifold their
cost. With these features added to
her educational system and other
features extended, Philadelphia
should soon be populated with a
happy, intelligent, prosperous in
iustrial class, working in co-opera-
ton with the employers for the adj
vancement Of the city, the State
and the nation.
Mrs. Lois Kimball Mathews,
dean of women in Wisconsin Univ
,rsity in the course of her discus
sion of the feminist movement,
said:
"The feminist movement, now
It it's seeming crisis is as old
Is woman herself" She analyzed
t as nothing more than the age-old
struggle for differentiation. The
family, the school, the church, the
Or a-all-sha de-