The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1914-05-14
NOTABLE ADDRESS 0N
EDUCATION THAT EDUCATES

Effective character means. intelli-
gence to know right and will power
enough to do right. To both of these
the modern world is yearly adding new
burdens. Our environment is very
complex and is constantly becoming
more complex. The youth of today
does not tread simple paths where in
stinct can be relied upon as safe,
guide for conduct. We live amid sur
roundings of mans creation-"a place
where instinct is not at home," a place
where lifes problems can only be
solved by the keenest minds and the
highest intelligence, coupled with the
most sterling integrity.
Any thoughtful person must stand
aghast when considering the problems
knocking at our doors-problems not
to be solved by our generation, but
problems constantly growing greater,
to be handed on for solution to the
next generation-the boys and girls
in our schools today. The general dis
agreement among honest students of
social prQalems but shows the great
difficulty ~ the riddles Of our day
There iAcertainly need of a new So
SlnA-HioiNi tIllelllSeuCS W ucdl Will
these complexities. "Who is my
neighbor'' is a much harder question
than ever before. Man no longer
deals face to face with the people he
knows. Employer and employee, buy
er and seller, producer and consumer,
are separated by gulf which leads
naturally 10 mutual ignorance, indif-
ference, distrust, and even hatred. The
product OF industry now follows such
a long and devious course from the
painful and often degrading labor of
production TO the comfortable consum-
er that the consumer knows not and
cares not whence comes his luxury,
and is too Indifferent to face squarely
his far off and unknown neighbor.
Yet it is truer than ever that no man
liveth unto himself, but it was never
before so easy to forget the truth.
In addition to added strains upon
the social and moral intelligence, con-
slider the ~ HSns put upon the will
power. The very abundance and var
iety Of art and manufacture make the
fundamental ideal Of self-control diff
cult fgG5.Xtiized g5..X man wastes upon per-
lshable things the energy that should
be devoted to higher and truly hu-
man life."
Sec. 277, Art. 18, Laws of 1911,
says: obstruction tending to impress
upon the minds of pupils the impor
tance of truthfulness, temperance,
purity, public spirit, patriotism, in
ternational peace, respect for honest
labor, obedience to parents and due
Difference for old age, shall be given
by each teacher in the public Schools"
Here by legal enactment we have es-
tablished the cardinal principles of the
Education that Educates."
Montaigne would have history
taught in such a way that the teach
er imprint not so much in his pupils
mind the date of the ruin of Carthage,
as the manners of Hannibal and Sci
plo; nor so much when Marcellus died,
as because he was unworthy Of this
devoir he died there"
We find in Millions noble Tractate
his definition of Education. He says:
II call, therefore, complete and gen
erous education that which fits a man
to perform justly, skillfully and mag
unanimously, all the Offices both public
and private, in peace and war" In
masterpieces, he says, "the main skill
and ground work will be to temper the
pupils with such lectures and expla-
nations upon every opportunity as
may lead and draw them into willing
obedience, inflamed with love of learn
ing and the admiration of virtue,
stirred up with the high hopes of liv-
ing to be brave men and worthy pat
riots, dear to God, and famous to all
ages" Is this the ideal of our teach
ing? 1t certainly is not or we would
not need to be considering this ques-
tion of training today. Is it any Won
der that our young people are SO care
less and immoral and occasionally i'm
moral when we so neglect the chief
ends of education? You see, we have
been so anxious about grammatical
constructions and agreeIlents, trans
lations and mathematical solutions,
that we have almost entirely ignored
the most vital of all of our duties and
opportunities.
DR.. Arnold of Rugby has always one
supreme ideal; moral thoughtfulness
and devotion to duty. All else was to
be auxiliary and subordinate.
In order to understand the sacrifices
| ClleAV AAOA USC AxAdI1A vas "1llAlS W 1Ildhc
in the cause of education, one has but
to remember that it was his belief that
education is the only force that can
elevate character. All of his lectures,
labors, writings, "are inspired and
penetrated with the moral aim" Do
we find teachers whose chief aim is in
reality character-building in our
schools today?
The justly famous report of the
Committee Of Ten is probably the best
known and most authentic educational
work in America( and yet one could
read it from cover to cover and almost
never be reminded that Character Ed
ucation exists or ever existed.
Here, then, we have before US the
present situation. What can our
school do as to the remedy? What has
caused this elimination Of the most
vital elements of education? An over
crowded curriculum. A curriculum
still encumbered with relics Of an age
long since gone. The place formerly
occupied by Moral Training is now
,given to the purely Intellectual. Moral