The Washington herald., 1914-07-25
DIR. MARDEN'S
UPLIT TALKS
By ORISON' SWEET MARDEN,
Author of Pushing to the Front" Etc.
THE EDUCATIONAL FEVER
Copyright. 1sli.l

A chain has been added to the United
States army equipment which enables the
weakest soldier to lift great weights with
one hand with the utmost ease. A man
need only be able actually to lift eighty
two pounds in order, with the aid of this
chain, to lift a ton; $50 pounds to lift
some twenty tons. A strong man can
lift nearly fifty times as much with its
help as fifty men could without It
The ponderous mass Of tackle, ropes
skids crowbars, rollers. and human mus
Gle which were formerly employed In
raising great weights are done away with
paratus- There is also the magnet, which
a boy can operate, which lifts enormous
weights of iron and steel.
Now this is a good example of what an
education seeks to do-to double, treble
and quadruple a mans power. The edu-
Gated man who has found himself, who Is
in a position to use all Of his powers
ought TO be able to do the work Of many
men without education. He has, as II
were, the leverage Of all previous gen
erations with which to work
It It..requires some scores Of unthinking
men with pick and shovel to do the work
Of one machine, planned and made by an
educated and skilled mind which has ap-
piled itself to the problem of finding the
best, wisest, and quickest way Of doing
things.
The one great weakness Of our public
school system is that our courses OF study
are too often headed toward the college,
rather than work in practical life. They
point toward an education in theories in
stead of pointing toward experience in
life College is not desirable for every
one. Every year a great army of prac-
teal workers are spoiled by trying to
make clergymen, doctors, or lawyers Of
them. Oftentirnes a splendid mechanic is
made into a very poor preacher because
he was educated for it, and he thought
It would be a disgrace for a man with
college diploma to remain a mechanic.
The very fact that one has gone
through a college course which Is calcu-
lated to prepare for the professional life
often turns the head of the graduate to-
ward life he is utterly untitled for. Such
misguided people are not only always in
efficient and plod along forever in medi-
ocrity, but they are unhappy as well be-
cause they can't but realize that they are
out of place. they are going through life
on their weakness instead of on their
strength.
I know college graduates who always
advise everybody to go to college. They
say It is the only thing to do. Now a
college course is a splendid thing for
natural gifts to profit by 1t, but on the
other hand. many youths are positively
injured by ii because their minds are
turned in the direction which their abil-
ity does not function. They undertake
things which their mentality does not fit.
II our youth were taught that going to
college does not necessarily mean adopt
ing literary or professional work when
they graduate, but that no matter what
they are going to do, whether they are to
remain on the farm or remain mechanics
IT would still do them good to go to col
lege, then there would be fewer round
men in square holes, despite our faulty
educational systems, and all education
would prove a genuine lever to higher
achievements. According to our present
standards, many young men seem to
think It a disgrace for a youth with a
college diploma to go into an ordinary
pursuit, and IT is this false standard that
plays havoc with so many graduates
The whole meaning Of a college educa-
tion, however, is gradually changing, as
during the last half century educational
ideals have been almost revolutionized
and very radically altered within the last
twenty-five years. The classics are not
emphasized nearly so much as thay were
even ten or fifteen years ago. Education
is becoming more practical, although IL
is still biased to some extent with the
medieval idea of scholarship.
But II is gradually becoming less theo-
retical and more and more fitted to our
everyday needs. more and more Of q |
lever to higher things.