Washington Journal., 1915-12-31
ANGLO SAXON RECIPE BOOK
A PRIMITIVE AWAKENING.
Especial Correspondence for this paper
by a prominent Washingtonian).


-
Al short time ago, there was published
by a reputable firm in Great Britain a
thick book containing hundreds OF briet
receipts for all sorts Of compounds that
are in consistent use for industrial pur-
poses, ranging from stove polish to steel.
The preface stated the purpose OF the
book TO be a contribution towards the
campaign recently inaugurated FOL sup
plying the British public with the multi
tude OF manufacturing products Tor
which il has been dependent on the skill
and knowledge Of the Germans.
The book is s%ymptomatic OF a state OF
mind widely spread not only among the
English but wherever the Anglo-Saxton
form of civilization is dominant, and not
the least in our own country. 1t consists
in the belief that great things can be done
by a single. great effort, without the
necessity Of careful preparation. What
we can almost hear the average SELF
complacent Britisher exclain when he is
told that his country has depended on
the Germans for hundreds of important
articles indispensable for the continuance
of his own less developed industries, we
have been buying dyes and drugs and
fine cutlery and scientific instruments
and a hundred other things from the
Huns? WE'LL we shan't do it any moreH
And forthwith he goes and buys that
thick book of recipes, nicely bound in
fred cloth so you can see it all across the
room. "Now lets see how TO make
aniline dyes and microscopes-we1l have
some ready day after tomorrow"
OF course he won't do AZ thing Of the
kind Before he can riya< he Germans
IN making those thing occurring Nai
skill and not merely the possession Of
unlimited possession Of capital and a
fair degree Of enterprise he would
have to create the German system Of
industrial education, from the polytech-
nicum down to the ordinary continuation
school. For in no other way could he
get the necessary skill and knowledge.
These schools, however, cannot be GRE
ated simply by appropriating the money
and putting up the buildings. You must
have teachers-and if Great Britain had
men fit to be real teachers of real stud
ents, it would not need to employ them
as teachers-they could do the work
themselves. Suppose, however, that the
teachers were available, and the hope
lessly inferior technical schools which
England actually possesses were raised
to the standard prevailing in Germany
still the problem would not be solved.
For what is the good Of learned pro-
fessors without students? England
would have to go still further to the be-
innings Of progress, and teach the
,heol children the excellency Of dis
cipline and patient, continuous labour-
The youth Of England would have to.
become converted to the doctrine
sounding strangely humish in their ears,
no doubt-that the acquisition of know
ledge and skill at working is more inn
portant than cricket and foot ball that
il is better, in the long run, to rely upon
steady industry than on gambling gains,
whether the gambling consists in betting
on the races or specializing in stocks;
and hardest of al to understand, that in
o~io. ~ f-oA,. 1ra'e c~., k,.r.aaee -
must first have learned a great many
things which on the surface have no
visible connection with the thing n
intends to deal with finally. There is
an ancient English saying that the long
est way around is often the shortest way
home, but hardly any maxim OF popular
wisdom is less believed in than this one
which the Germans so thoroughly under
stand.
Perhaps there is 40 other evidence so
convincing that the Germans of today
have reached a higher stage Of develop
ment than other nations, and especially
their Anglo-Saxon rivals, as Ibis fact
of their habit Of long and patient prepar-
alton for results to be reaped 10 a distant
future, The stress al the present war
does not ksep hem from continuing this
method Nliieh seems 70 have become
second mature with them Else why
should they bother. Will the bioodshed
lis still gong on along the frontiers,
about opening one new university in
Frankfort snd even another IN Wsrsaw-
for the beaeft not 81 themsel. Us, but
actually Of The Poles who have been
none too fond q them Wny don't they
defer sperding money and energy for
completing The Rhine-Weser Canal,
building til new subway in Berlin, the