Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1913-05-08

10 be sure there are other influences
at work, but they are for the most part
accidental. The school Ia the one great
Institution whose definite and sole pull,
pose Is to give form and character to this
class of raw material.
MATERIAL NOT SECOND GRADE.
The Inference wish you to draw
scarcely need be stated. In that great
human factory which we call the school
system of Vermont, what sort Of material
have we to work up7 Is II poor quality
to be made into inferior goods for n
cheap market? Or If the raw material IL
good, is 1t our aim to make 1t into second
class articles to be put on the market as
"no-name' goods or as seconds? !
think not l need not tell you that the
boys and girls of Vermont are not second
grade Nor do | need say that it Is our
wish to make out of this material the best
possible product. | wish to state only that
since 1t is good material and since we do
wish it made into the best possible prod
uct, we must send 1t to the best workman
we can get, with the best equipment he
can have.
Vermont needs skill, because only with
neighbors. The great means OF acquir-
ing skill which is available for everybody
is education. To our schools we must look
as our only hope. Our present wealth Il
not great. Without heavy taxes we cannot
have large funds for school purposes. We
must make our money go just a. far as Is
possible. Even in this respect the West
has some advantage. The sale OF public
lands for school purposes has brought
millions OF money to western States. We
have not that source OF revenue. I once
thought that this fact was entirely to the
disadvantage OF the East, but there are
some dangers even in having money for
educational purposes. | should be perfect
~ willing to face that danger, OF course,
but | can see some advantages in being
free from the danger. Sometimes in the
West. people think that the school fund
Is large and they exercise very little care
in the expenditure OF it. Now there is
much education working out an econom-
ical and efficient educational system. There
is nothing which develops the intellect like
facing problem. We have the problem
1t is this; How can we take our limiteo
meant and manage our schools so as to
produce the largest number Of best train
ed men and women, and how can we train
them to see the diamonds in their own
dooryards?
NEED Two KINDS OF EXPERTS.
Besides the most efficient teachers We
need two classes OF experts: First the
men who can so systematic the schools
that there is no waste of time on the part
of teoChare 10, 90
servation of human energy we have not
yet learned. We have hardly dreamed
there is one. 1 wa. told few days ago
about machini.t who was head clerk
for large insurance company. Why a
machinist instead Of the most expert
bookkeeper? He had devised ways Of saw
ing time The whole office force was a
great machine to him and he worked it
to avoid waste. He was valuable man
and the company knew it. They did not
want any clerks to lose time through poor
management. What about your boys time:
DO you want him to lose It? It is worth
money. There is story OF a southern far
mer who was feeding his hogs corn In the
ear. man came along and asked him
why he did not have the feed ground so
that the hogs could eat and digest it in
less time. He looked up in disgust and
said, What do you reckon hogs time Is
WORTH" But he was behind the times.
Progressive farmer. have learned that a
hogs time is worth money, but not all
progressive parents and not all teachers
have learned that boys time is worth
money Manufacturers have gotten rich
by saving the waste products. We need
some expert educational machinists to
put our school system into the most eco
nomical working order and thus to save
the waste.
The second part OF our problem | said.
Is to see the opportunities that are be-
fore us. We need experts In Vermont re-
sources. Everybody know. that. But
where do we need them: In the schools
Railroad men, large manufa cturers, agrl-
cultursts and engineers know where some
Of them are, but the people must know.
How can they find out? Only through the
school. We may speak OF social, indus
trial, moral or political problems, but
every problem which concerns the activi-
ties OF men Is at bottom an educational
problem. When the schools are right the
State will be right We can't raise cotton
and We can't raise wheat with much prof
it, but there Is no better place in the world
to raise men than in Vermont. And there
is no product that pays any better Five
hundred dollars will give a boy FAIR edu-
cation, 1900 will give him a good educa-
ton How much more Is an educated
man worth than an uneducated one!
Leaving out OF account the superior men
with large salaries, the ordinary educat-
ed man Will bring on the market from $500
to slooo a year more than the uneducated.
This Is the best proof that We can have
that he is worth 1t. The money which the
State invests in education pay. a dividend
of not less than 100 per cent The rank of
Vermont in the sisterhood OF States Will
be just where her citizens put her. II We
raise the standard OF teaching in the
State, II we strengthen our schools. II we
eliminate the useless-whether it be an
heirloom or a fad, II the schools are adapt
ed to the needs OF the people both present
and future and the system is so eco
nomically administrated that We get the
most for our money-not that we spend
the least but that we make the best in
vestment, then we shall hear from the
watch tower of Vermont the cry, The
| schools are in session. all's we'll"
What are the signs OF hope IN Vermont
| at present. To my mind the best OF all Is
that we have realized that we have edu'
cational problems-not simply few
school men. but the public at large real
ICES that we have them Struggling with
problem is always n good thing, but
here In Vermont we are studying our edu'
cational problem. thoroughly, systemati'
cally and scientifically, just as grea'