The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-12-27

OF industrial and vocational education
In Virginia and what legislation is
needed to supplement- it. II Is rule
Tin our courts to get the facts first
and then apply the law. Following
that wise rule. ] shall mention as my
first fact the profound belief in the
value of Industrial and vocational ed
tucaticn, which Is weil-nigh universal
among our educational and civic lead
ers. 1t Ia evident that there are nc
limits to the vast possibilities of This
type of training. and II one views the
subject as a field, it at once becomes
a great plain, even State or a con-
tinent. so crowded is 1t with vast areas
vast reaches, vast unknowns. II one
might make Virginia industrially eff
, ficient its wealth would speedily eX-
coed that OF all Of the other States
! combined. II one might make the
United States industriaily efficient its
wealth would speedily exceed that OF
all the other nations of the earth
combined. IL one might make the
whole world industrially efficient
there would speedily be no more pow
erty nor helpless muttering. nor wild
anarchy of social unrest. 1t is great
prize-this thing of getting right eco
nomically, and we are to labor for IT.
/ imagine. as our forefathers must
have struggled for the right OF petit
ton, or the principles Of religion:
liberty.
Consider what 1t would mean II
each person in Richmond were today
usefully employed in some vocation
challenging his or her real interest
: the vocation, indeed, for which he
or she ia best suited. Nor would /,
make a great deal of difference in tina.
event whether all of the output were
Immediately marketable or not, for as
Richmond Is now one OF the twelve
reserve clties--cities Of refuge-estab-
lished to make financial panlcs i'm
possible. SO with an industrial system
that would put everyone at work
there would be such a surplus OF
wealth that ready market for siS
months, or even six years, would bs
a negligible consideration.
sour Vision"
> Suppose there were no idle rich
in this great city, no idle poor: nc
well-dressed parasite living merely b,
his wits. no drunken vagabond living
on child labor; no unemployed Marie
Antoinettes in the salons. no unem'
ployed Mary Magdalenes about the sa.
loons--in short, suppose every young
man knew where to go for a satisfac'
tory income on the day Of his gradua'
| ton from school and that ever,
young woman on her day Of gradua'
ton felt secure either in her own In
dustrial prospects, or in those OF thu
aforesaid young man. the name Rich
mond would become synonymous with
Dorado and Goiconda would CEASE
to have special significance. But one
may discount all OF these Industrial
estimates as being material and still
nothing is lost for the mental moral
and spiritual advantages of being uso'
fully employed and Of seeing the dig
nifty OF labor in new light will com.
pensate ten times over. This 10 ouI
vision.
In there any longer the slightest
question about the doctrine that there
IL absolutely nor conflict between in.
dustrial efficiency and educational ef'
ficiency: bAtween manual training and
mental training; between agricultural
and general culture? Your society
. for example. Is only giving education
q richer content; 1t Ia not asking vi
to surrender. any real or essential good
/! in that training Of head or heart which
has Mfted our race to the level Of
notwithstanding culture and refine
ment.
For two days we have been discuss.
inx the Richmond survey. work Of
monumental skill and permanent
value, and we come tonight to- take
a glance at a broader field which lie,
open before us--a field white unto the
, harvest. We are to consider Virginia
ana the effect Of this survey upon hei
welfare and her future. AZ our sec.
ond fact we must note the intimate
relation between Virginia and Rich.
mond. Take the birthplace OF this
f0hildreM ana their parents. One white
| chil6 ont of every stx. whose name 4