The sun., 1918-07-07
1.-THE IMMORTAL CONFLICT NOW BEING WAGED IN EDU
CATION AS IN WAR.
Germany Example Of the Folly of . sdhCutcd and Exclusive National Culture in til PREPARATION
Men for tho Realities Of Lhe ,


Graduate School. Prtncefoa UHfuedfv. deht
Education Association N Pfffsour0 on July
moment of his achievement "'Tis
past" Do you also recall who said
in reply:
IT'S past7 a foolish world
That is to say
As 1t had never been
It was the devil.
SO our struggle in the schools. as
It should be in our homes, Is against
ignorance, the old, ancient, inveterate
ignorance with which every genera
ton Is born into this world. the igno-
rance which must be first overcome
and then enlightened by effort, hard
effort. repeated effort. wisely guided
effort, not alone by the exertion OF the
teacher but on the part Of h stu
dent as we'll. that our young recruits
may be trained, trained. trained into
an alert, disciplined, irresistible army
OF knowledge.
1t Is not an easy task. for we are
wrestling not against flesh and blood
but against the unseen powers OF
darkness. darkness intellectual and
darkness moral. 1t Is then our part
in the Immortal conflict" ceaseless
and strenuous, now going on and
calling for marvellous vigilance more
loudly than ever. 1t is no place for
un~disciplined minds or wild theorists,
still less for idlers. slouchers and
slackers. and even less for false
prophets dressed up In the uniform
ne thu orrx, 90 Epn vp1a1on
What Is the way to win? This Is
the question that must be answered
rightly IL we are to keep faith with
our country. There is just M way.
II is to make the proved truths Of
experience the one basis for our ef-
forts and the n test Of all theories
offered for our acceptance. 1t is the
test of common sense. 1t Is also the
one scientific test. for science, as Hulk
ley put it, is nothing else than highly
trained common sense" applied to
scientific questions. Let us try by
this test some Of the plausible as
sertions which are being made.
One is that there should be no
formal discipline in studies. If this
means that there should be no strict
and regular training of the human
mind, as the words naturally imply.
the test Is easily made. II it means
something else we have no need to
consider it. AN we iced to do is to
remember the record of facts. This
record tells us that in the worlds con-
tests the u%nd!sciplined mind has gen.
orally been beaten. 1t has been one
of the outs.2 ading lessons of the war.
notably SO in the defence of Nerdun.
1t is notable to-day all over our land
In the newly Weakened spirit Of disci-
pine. of unquestioning obedience 10
duty, both in our military training
and in civil life. Why? In order to
win-so that freedom may not perish
from the earth. So we may trust the
war to refute the critics of formal
discipline and to discipline them too.
Another assertion is hat no stu
dent should be required to TAXI any
study which is not interesting to
him, because if he does not like 1t he
will get little good from it. 1t Is hard
to take this seriously. What in the
world is to be done. on thisb basis, with
those who find all studies and espe-
o!ally all study uninteresting? This
beguiling half truth breaks on the
hard rock of facts. For it is no a
matter Of guess or supposition, but
of fact, that many things we have
to do and know we ought to do are
not pleasant in themselves. 1t is not
interesting" to do drudgery or to
bear hunger or to keep the night
watch, chilled to the bone, in the bat
tie trenches. Duty is not always in
teresting.' but 1t is always duty. Life
is not a series Of pleasant elective
choices, but has in it the element Of
stern ~compulsion. and most OF all
When duty whispers low, thou must.
And 1t is another fact. not fancy,
That obedience to duty, however hard
and distasteful at first, yields a most
interesting" joy Of human life, the
Joy of the hard won fight, and leads
to the highest freedom, the freedom
of assured s~elf-conquest. Is there any
thing our country needs more?
Some are telling is that vocational
and technical education is the one
thing needful, because every one
should be taught to earn his living.
So he should. And nine-tenths of our
youth must begin to earn their living
early. We grant il. But this utilita-
rian proposal errs in forgetting some
hard facts. For If this is practically
all our youth are to have then most
a form OF industrial slavery. because
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