Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1915-02-19
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1915.
HIGHER EDUCATION IN VERMONT
Continued from last week.

Continued from last week.
A carefully elaborated system of ag-
ricultural training extending from
primary school to college, is proposed.
Now this is an excellent plan, for the
one subject of agriculture, complete,
we'll rounded and thoroughly articulat-
ed; and if it is feasible there can be no
objection to it. But and here is the
nib OF the whole matter-if it is reason
able and wise that complete system
of agricultural education, crowned with
its own college, should be established
and supported by the State for the ben
eft of 35 per cent of the people, why
should not such system with college
at its head be established and supported
by the State for the professions and
vocations of the other 65 per cent of the
people? Let him who can make answer
to this question. There is no answer in
either report.
The commissioner of education, in one
of his recent reports, speaking of 'edu-
cational fads," says: agriculture now
dominates the vocational education
movement to such an extent that it is
usually considered thing apart" This
is the way it has been considered by our
commissioners. under Carnegie guild
ance. They have exalted and distorted
this one feature of education out of all
proportion and natural relation to other
forms of education The Carnegie eX-
perts, having perfected their scheme of
vocational education before they left
their office in New York, when they
reached Vermont, saw nothing but
farming going on in the fields and viii
lagos and cities, and in the schools they
saw nothing but children fore-ordained
and elected to this one profession to the
farthest generation. The vision of an
over-zealous propaganda is bound to
be myopic.
The colleges-a except the Agricul-
tural college-are condemned, as ser
wants of the State. President Pritchett
of the Carnegie foundation decided that
they must be cast out, as unfaithiul
stewards and Improbable servants, and
the commission has done his bidding
The reasons for this action are obscure,
for the Carnegie foundation prefers to
give commands rather than reasons.
But one or two reasons, such as they
are, appear in both reports. 1t is said
that Vermont should not aid the col
leges because only one-tenth of the high
school pupils ever reach the college.
This has been the cry of political dema-
gogues for currying favor with the
people from time immemorial. 1t is an
excellent argument with which to stir
up class prejudice 1t is the argument
that was everywhere used by small
politicians thirty years ago against the
new high schools Everybody familiar
with educational history knows the
number of high school pupils who get
to college is large and relatively salts.
factory per cent, and practically the
universal per cent. If the colleges OF
Vermont ought to be abolished for this
reason, then the colleges in every State
in the Union should be abolished. More.
over, since only one-twelfth of the ele.
mentary pupils ever get through high
school, by the same argument the high
schools should be abolished. 1t does
not help the argument to call this ter
per cent comparatively small num-
a Of he
State is in the same degree compare
lively small, only fraction of the cos
of educating this ten per cent being
borne by the State. But all such argu
ment that measures the value and eff
cheney of education by count of noses
is fallacious and futile. Who can tel
how many average men would be re
quired to equal in value one Senator
Edmunds, in the educational output Of
Vermont? Says James Bryce; "A com
munity moves forward less by its aver
age citizen than by its strongest ant
best minds" The same demagogic cry
of ten per cent recently arose in Eng
land, and this is James Bryce's answe
to it, given before the Royal Commits
sion: ''Ten per cent, or even less, il
the institutions of higher learning, i
the best investment that a nation cal
make" Compare this broad-minde'
judgment of Lord Bryce with Superin
tendent Stones prattle about 9Th
crisis of our educational system
whatever that may mean, which cal
be met only by cutting off aid to tn
colleges!
Another argument against the cole