The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-10-10

Before undertaking "A consideration of
this subject as 1t applies to us to-day
, II might he well to look back "A little
and see what system of education has
| produced the greatest number of good
| leaders For the purpose OF this dis
Cussion let MS eliminate the Latin Coun-
| tries and those under autoCratic gov
eminent, for their problems and their
aims are distinctly different. or the
countries left England presents the best
! field for inquiry.
TO what does England owe her Nell
sons and her Welingtons? Not, surely,
to her college training, nut to the train
ing of her so-calcd public schools -
a glance AZ the great names on the rolls
Of Elton. Harrow. Westminster and
Rugby bears ample testimony to this
assertion. IL may he objected that
these schools draw their members from
the aristoCraCy. In the main this is
true, but a privileged class. more than
any other, needs the most drastic kind
/ of training to knock out" OF the PAM
pcred boy his notions of ease and priVi-
lcge and 10 make him an effective
human machine The system OF these
secondary schools OF England is espe-
cially adapted to achieve this result
For number Of reasons II is well
worth our study.
The first thing that strikes one is
that the system is mainly competltive
boy is pittcd against hoy, even in his
studies. In order To gain promotion he
Is required not merely to reach the
passing grade hut to outrank a certain
proportion of the members of his form.
For example. In "A class Of fifteen II
might he decided that only the first ten
should he promoted. Tho Distinctive
feature NJ the system is thai the bovs
IN tho upper part " the school are
largely responsible for the tone OF the
| Schopl and the discipline OF tho schol-
ars. This places the regulation OF
community life largely in the hands OF
the boys themselves. and there IS no
other means 50 effective for deva,op-
ing sense OF responsibility. an UNDER
standing of community life and n power
~ leadership
Our own country being a domocr,cv
II is Of course better to have the demo
cratic form Of boy rule. election IN
stead of appointment by the headnas-
| ter or the automatic system of the
English, which is virtually "A survival
OF the fittest enthusiastically. Such dem
ocratic systems have been tried in
American schools in a number of differ
I ent forms, and have been very success
full whore they have been dcyelonod
with tact and frmness and the pa-
thence and breadth Of mind to reai,zo
that any sclf-government system must
depend Tor its success upon the CON
sent OF the governed. The creation
| ,tf "A nn1ar 81 "a nd Inc .,T,
for the system is therefore a necessity.
though often difficult thing to bring
about, for the hereditary enmitv be-
tween boy and master is stiIl strong.
But the new tradition once established
ana become effective as public opinion
the most difficult part of the problem
mas peen solved, for the working out
Of governmental details then becomes
a matter or natural growth. The form
of organization should be devised TO
suit the type OF school; "A small school
naturally needs merely committee or
some simple form of government,
whereas the great public schools. with
hundreds or even thousands Of bows
and girls evidently find the school city
or school state plan more satisfactory.
/ probably because it provides a sufficient
number Of offices to stimulate interest
and furnishes an Incentive To patriot
ism In the large foreign element which
/ knows So little of our institutions and
/ therefore needs this ocular demonstra-
| ton of our form of government.
To return ror a moment to the Eng
! fish system. The best evidence of its
! effectiveness seems to me to lie in tho
| fact that England in the past has been
! able, as no other country Cunless our
own in the Phllippines) To send her sons
/ to the extremes Of the earth, most trv-
ing of all, into tropical climates. such as
/ India, with the assurance that her
/ Judges and officials would retain their
/ high sense of justice and their Anglo
/ saxon Ideals, no matter where located
! or how isolated from he moral support
| OF an Anglo Saxon community. IL Ia
/ this quality among others that has made
/ the English, up to the present time, the
| most successful Colonizers. The trait is
| due largely To the fact, | believe, that
! the emphasis in their secondary schools
/ has been placed upon character building
rather than upon intellectual acquire
mcnt There has been also a goodlv adj
mixture of the old ideals of Locke 10 the
| effect that to succeed in the world a
man must train his body and his mind
| to endure strain and hardship. \ de-
/ mocracy, even more than monarchy
/ has need of such training and we with
/ our present tendency toward making
/ things easy and interesting may be in
danger of departing too far from those
stern and practical ideals.
/ Under our form of government, citi-
zens and leaders alike have especial
need OF patience, breadth and pose
This can only come from an insight into
. community life born of actual eXpe-
rience. But this kind of experience can
hardly be gained after leaving school or
college, because things in the outer
! world are on too large n scale. Within
the school circle, where Issues are not
influenced by monetary considerations
not complicated by n multiplicity of con
hicting Interests, the fundamental prin~
| Ciples OF social and political education
may well he acquired, In our Communi-
ties to-day everything is conducted on n
gigantic Sale and at long range. Con-
sequently all that most of us know OF
public affairs is CLEANED from the papers
whose versions often contradict each
! other.
! In the New England village of our
forefathers the town meeting made II