The Nome daily nugget., 1914-05-19

de AgeSs famuaAyley with Latin Ncn Greek was enough to put the then
 limited store of knowledge at the ser- vice of anyone with the time and ln- clination to do little reading. Today nc ordinary lifetime would suffice for a
 man. to familisrize himself with the important treatises published in En- glish in the past hundred years alone. 4 metailursist, for example finds it increasingly dihicult to even keep
 moderately we'll informed of progress
 in that knowledge of inorganic chem
 istry on which his art is based. So
 we have come to e present-day stan dard of practical education in which
 an accurate comprehension of the basic principles which underiie all
 knowledge. and c complete mastery Lf the details of some ono branch is re- garded as the working ideal. It is unfortunately true that a large part perhaps a majority. in our population
 possess neither of these. since faulty
 methods of primary education have
 not conduced to the former. and s
 natural desire to keep abreast of the
 times tends to substitute for the lat.
 ter a smattering of many things. Ex'
 tending the doctrine of Malthus from
 the material to the intellectual world
 1t may be said that there is impend.
 ing an equilibrium between the worlds
 fund of knowledge and the capacity
 of the human brain to make any use
 ful application of it. AS a result.
 everyone is content 10 remain in con.
 tact with things he does not under
 stand. Thus to choose familiar
 example.
 Everybody uses the telephone. but
 few understand 1t, beyond that an electric current, magnets. and vibra:-
 ing diaphragmns give the desired re-
 suit. Absurd as the statement may at
 first seem. 1t Is certainly open to auea-
 ton whether the general public has a
 clearer detailed understanding of the world in which 1t moves than was the case in the middle ages. The great ccvnnce In general understanding has perhaps been more than compensated by the tremendous increase of com- Hex objects of knowledge. The pIr- suit of knowledge thus appears al hopeless race for the generality of mankind. and the present condition of affairs. in which a comparative few seek the ultimate boundaries of re- search, while the many make the best rse possible of what others furnish, seems likely to become permanent relationship.
 Looking at the matter from tiiis viewpoint. 1t is clear that educational methods are and have been funda- mentality wrong. being founded on cr- roneous conceptions of the mental of the child and perpetu- ated in schemes which are not adapt ed to secure the end desired. Whatl is requisite is to give each child pi- raary training which will lead up {" either & mastery of the knowledge of others .or the ability to advance the of knowledge; trusting to thc child. when he reaches tho proper age. to automatically determine which ofI these two paths to follow. On thel range 1t Is tho custom to let a colt lun wild until it is old enough md strong enough to work under tho sad die. It ia then ropcd. broken" andl ut to work l. Something similar has been the practice in our schools. where the exact manipulations of laboratory work in physics and chemistry nre suddenly introduced with the high school course at an age at which the child has had ample opportunity for| his natural aptitude for such work tol strophy and disappear. Thanks tol GHUdm0 11HTtd 1nOutcooVAb sh0 ssASS> obvious fact that tho highest service ability of the human senses can only be secured by beginning their traia- ing at the earliest possible moment has now gained universal acceptancc, end 1t Is not too much to hope that educational methods. from the primary school to the university. will soon he recast along more rational lines.
 Out of this fautly conception of edu- cation arises never-ending controversy ever the relation between general cd ucation and vocational training. In n recent report Mr. Nicholas Murray Butler. president of Columbia univer- sity, said that vocational training. cnr- ried to its logical result would mean