The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-07-26

FULLY than any other. for it's impor-
lance. once we'll understood and the
magnitude of the work to be done
once fully realized. the need of Fed
eral aid will be more easily seen
Moreover. IL it be impressed strongly
enough upon the people of Virginia,
greater work by tho State will be DONE
and the report OF the commission will
have been productive OF great good.
whether or not Congress decide to
enact the legislation suggested.
SUPPLIES ROTH SOCIAL.
AND EDUCATIONAL NEEDS
Vocational education Is a wise bus
mess investment for any State or for
the nation. should II decide to extend
aid. and it will supply both social and
educational needs. These advantage
Gus results are treated extensively and
convincirEly pointed out In chapter
l OF the report. The prosperity of the
past II is pointed out. has been due
largely to cheap raw material, tho
inventive genius o. the nation, or
ganizing ability of Its people. and
cheap labor. These Things have
served us we'll in the past. but some
of these aids to prosperity do not now
exist and some of them will no longer
serve under changed conditions. The
rapid use-thc waste. rather--of our
raw material has lcsseneI the supply
and. therefore, Increased tic cost;
operation of inventions. rather than
their creation, Is the need of the day:
operation rather than organization IN
the principal phase of our Industrial
life to-day, and, frnllv. cheap labor
is no longer needed or desirable To
crs must be had, and. as already
pointed out, the annual supply does
not meet this demand. which Is grow
Ing rather than diminishing. Voca-
tional education will reduce waste
labor. provide training for unskilled
or prospectively unskilled woritcrs and
increase the wage earning capicity of
the individual. The individual bene-
fits through higher wages and COM
mercial and agricultural industries
through the gaining of more efficient
workmen.
The industrial benefits. however. arc
not all, as the report q; the comIris-
sion undertakes to show and does
show There are social and educa-
tional needs of the hour to be sup
piled and social and educational ad-
vantages to be gained by the extension
of vocational training. "Iiy -ecogniz-
ing different tastes and abilities ard
by giving an equal opportunity to all
, TO prepare for life's work" says the
report, education Is denIocra tized."
Better teaching processes Will he de-
veloptd, through which children who
90 not respond To BOOK instruction
may be reached md educated through
learning by doing Social needs arc
met by the rise in tho standard of
living, coming a3 the result: of greater
efficiency of the worker. and, therefore
higher wages
FIGURES SHOW GREATNESS
OF PROBLEM Alta CKED
The following facts and figures given
i'm the report emphasize the lack whici.
VIII lie supplied by propc- training in
the public schoola ana show the mag
nnude OF the problem:
according to tho census of 1910
there were 12,65o.2O3 persons in .hc
United States. both male ana female,
engaged In agriculture. While II is
impossible to secure accurate figures.
I is probable that less than l per
cent of these have had adequate prep
nration for farming. This meanm that
there are over l2.d00.oOp people en-
gagged in agriculture IN this country
who arc not trained To deal with the
soil In such Il way as 10 make II pro-
ducc, through scientific methods what
II should yield In order To sustain the
present and future life OF this nation
Engaged in manufacturing and me-
charical pursuits al;l alli..l industries
there were 14,26l.376 1t is equally
correct to say that not ono ont of
every hundred of these workers have