The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-12-28

More than 400 colleges and univer-
Sites with more than ten Thousand
teachers and more than 400, 900 stu
dents. with endowment aggregating
more than a billion dollars, make up
the higher educational budget of the
United States. More than 100000
pupils taught by more than half a mil
lion teachers receiving salaries out OF
the public exchequer aggregating more
than $500. 600. 900 annually, represent
numerically the American peoples in
terest in secondary education. And
these expenditures in money and in
human energy are increasing every
year. 1t is because we have seen. or
think we nave, certain abiding ele-
ments in education that are willing
to invest men and money in 1t in such
bcwildering proportions. We have
found. or think we have, that educa-
ton pays well for every dollar invested
In il, and for every particle of neutral
force devoted to its acquisition. The
American people sit at the feet of the
pedagogue during the formation pc
Rod OF childhood and adolescence
and far into that of early man and
womanhood. as no other people ever
have, and they do it because of the
permanent elements they have seen
in education.
l. Tha1 HAL IN II DJN VI ~ ltSANs
Among these permanent ele-
ments the practical American would
place foremost. practical information,
knowledge equipping directly for some
vocation. skill contributing to wealth
production and industrial success. We
have departed far from the old notion
that gentleman should have no
business. The American gentleman
with no business is your tramp or jail
bird We believe that work ennobles
man and consider every loafer para
site, whether he be rich or poor. Ed
ucation ought to be practical and II
ought to assist in achieving material
success. 1t always has, and il always
will. or 1t will cease to be. In in
sisting on the practical benefits of ed
ucation, however, there is involved the
danger of stunting the finer sensi-
bilit!es of the soul and reducing life
to materialism only. We must all
make our living--that is Waterfalls
tic--and that living should he the best
of which we are capable--that Is gross
mat eriaiism. and yet I believe In IT,
would include in best" however
many things which the extreme ma
terialist would vigorously exclude.
ing only; I would occasionally peep
at the stars.
But Its Insistence Should Be on Man.
Not Practical.
In our insistence on practical edu-
cation we should put the emphasis
on education. which is another name
for nan-developnent, rather than on
practical. Maa is the most impor-
tant element in education, not pracd-
cality. You can never make FIRST
rate lawyer out Of man God has
nA ~
way to make Of him the most efficient
farmer possible is to give him &C
ouaintance with life in the large as
well as with the practical technical
training required OF the farmer the
best man is Nosir. broad catholic. sym
pathetic man, ana This holds true
whether he be farmer a merchant
or professional man. and this type
of man, the man who makes his Nv
ing. and at the same time lives mis-
life, this type of man viii help for-
ward the life OF every man who ieels
the impulse of his energy, or even re-
mote,v il touched by his influence
We Must Not Convert Our Schools
Into Apprentice Shops.
The narrow specialist, the man who
has confined himself to one thing
to the exclusion of everything else,
who has seen in education only prac-
tical information. and in life only
his own yocstion-that man may make
his millions. may stand at the Top
OF his profession. but his own hfe
will be poor in the elements tnat
really make living worth whiae--poor
in the things that elevate human life
above mere animal existence and bring
il close 10 God. This is not deriving
success, This is not decrying material
success. II Is pleading for man as
the master of materialism as against
man enslave6 to his own ACQUISITIONS
And il Is a plea that needs to De
made Short sighted educationists,
mad with desire for popularity, are
enunciatins in catching phrases the
gospel of mammon. and the manmoh-
ito. are saying amen and amen.
They would eliminate from our schools
ALI but practical studies, and they
would introduce vocational training
everywhere possible. They would con-
vert our schools into apprentice shops,
and nut under the ban OF disapproVai
every Ideal save that OF material SIG
success. We need apprentice shops,
hut we need schools also. Our schoois
will quicken our ideals Our apnfeh.
.,ce shops will enable us to wor', GUY
In material form these Ideals. put
n o,lr schools become aparsnt.ce
..Lors where will cur ideals be-
The Old Countries Are No safe Cr'-
terion for America.
The advocates of vocationai IRAN
ing and practical education as IN.
onlv worthy aim. OF our educanonai
system do not help their cause when
thov cite the examples OF foreign
countries as justifying their reform'
Thev forget that life in those countriss
l. cast in certain moulds. ana that
there is very little. IL any. TRANSFER
ence from one stratum OF society 10
annther Sons and daughters or Inc
mobiles will be mobiles. and the emu
aren of artisans will follow their FORE
hears Not so in America, where even
the humblest can aim at the niSnast
station In the old country tnere -
very little need for the Quickening OF
iaea,. hut in America such quick
aning ia the secret of our glory ana
the destiny of our future Yet even III
the old countries, there exist Two
tvne. Of practical for the
children OF the poor and the arusans,
ana classical for the education OF rne
nrofessional and higher classes. we
shal, likely come to some sucn ar
rancement in this country. but as be.
tween the vocational school only ana
the classical school only, inere San
he but one choice for a nation whose
national greatness is dependent upon