New-York tribune., 1917-10-07
By Archer Wall Douglas
Among the many farreaching and


Among the many farreaching and
revolutionary tendencies In higher
education which mark the present, none
is more significant than the stress
placed upon extension work by the
great universities. II is shared IN by
all sorts and conditions Of colleges,
some Of them being among the most
potent. staid and reverend OF the East
ern endowed institutions.
But, naturally and inevitably, the
impulse and initiative come from the
state universities, and they still have
"the lead" in this great drama OF gen.
eral enlightenment. For 1t is the creed
of the state university that its duty is
to furnish the people with whatever
mental pabulum is needed for their
better education and more general well
fare. Hence, It being possible that al
who should arc able to attend the uni
versity, the obvious problem Is to carry
university teaching to those who will
take it. The central purpose of such a
programme Is that solely Of presenting g
the facts, the entire body Of facts, and
nothing but the facts.
The real intent of extension service
lies at the root Of state University ex-
istence, being neither more nor less
than the obvious truth that democratic
forms Of government depend for their
very existence upon the general intelll-
gcnce and welfare Of the masses; that
save In stump speeches there can be no
such things as liberty, equality and fra
,.,ra l.
tion, with consequent vice, are rampant
and where poverty stalks abroad.
or the many experiences OF the
European war none is more tragic
than the spectacle Of the Russian revo-
luton, without form and void, blindly
cropping in the dark for democratic
rule, because Of the desperate ignor-
ance and superstition and' often bitter
poverty Of the mass of mujiks or peas
ants who make up the vast substratum
of the population. So, IL the exten-
sion division of the state university
naturally teaches by correspondence
things academic, languages, mathe-
MATES, history and the like, and things
practical, engineering. law, home econ
omics, agriculture, business, the vari-
GUS sciences. and much more besides, il
does not feel its calling and election
sure unless it dips deeper and more
continuously into those social. eco
nomic and political problems which so
interest and disturb US, and which fit
themselves so easily into the corre-
spondencs method of education.
In recent visit TO Madison, Wis,
was much concerned as to how q
clerk In a grocery store fits himself by
correspondence TO pass examination
for admttsnce 10 the bar, or how by
the same methods a boy in a machine
shop gets better grasp upon the real
meaning of his business and thus
makes his own future. But was more
anxious TO discover what part the Uni
versity OF Wisconsin played in mould
ing and guiding the mental drift Of the
inhabitants OF the state. For they ara
"A peculiar people, even among progress
sive Western folks. There is much
mixture Of foreign element. yet they
are remarkable. not only for their low
percentage of illiteracy, but especially
as a distinguishing characteristic, for
their mental receptiveness and their
apparent hunger for those new ideas
which are milestones OF progress in
modern civilization.
The influence of the great university
through its undergraduates and alumni
and upon the legislators In the capital
at Madison is already an old story
But what Of the unknown many. sunk
in the obscurity Of the numberle+s
towns and upon the farms throughout