Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-07-10
Germany's One Fatal Error
Disregard For Eternal Truths

the armies of education in America.
$50 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 the
student as well, that our young re-
cruits may be trained, trained, train
ed into an alert, disciplined, irresisti-
BILE army of knowledge.
"It 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 undisciplined minds or wild the
orists, still less for idlers. slouchers
and slackers, and even less for false
prophets dressed up in the uniform
of the army of knowledge.
"It is great to be a true American
it is greater to be true man or
woman here or anywhere. That all
men everywhere may be free was
Lincoln's prayer. Can we not lay
aside all prejudice and then read our
| lesson in the fiery light around us /?
That lesson is that no freedom is
won or held without struggle and
without self-denial. That lesson is
that mental and moral freedom is
not won or held by any human being
in any land without whole minded
training in the fundam entails oil
knowledge, be they pleasant or un-
pleasant at first, whole souled obedi.
ence to duty, interesting" or unin-
teresting, and whole hearted devo.
| ton to the truth won and held by
hard effort, not for money, place oI
power but for the sake of living de.
Gently in a decent world. made fiji
/ to be free.
"In our education, as in the war
| the immortal conflict is now on. IT
| both the same cause is working. AnC
! in both may God defend the right!
Another feature of the addres;
was the effect of the self-centere(
exclusive national culture, as is illus
| trated in Germany, which inevitably
| leads to disparagement of foreign
/ languages and Foreign history; an6
! especially Of ancient history anC
classics. He pointed to the Kaiser;
Insistence upon German as the foun.
daIon of everything that ;esulted ir
| the present Prussian effort to rule
! the world.
| MIR. Vests address throughout wa,
a strong appeal Tor intensive study
whether 1t was interesting or not
| Some are telling us. he says, tha
vocational aud technical education 1.
the one thing needful. because every
one should be taught to earn hi,
! living. So he should. And nine
teuths of our youth must begin tC
earn their living early. We grant it
But this utilitarian proposal errs II
/ forgetting some hard facts. For il
this is practically all our youths arc
| to have then most of them are con.
| demned in advance to a form of in.
| dustrial slavery, because they woul6
! thus be trained to be little more
| than animate tools for special tasks
and would be largely cut off from
their just chance to rise. This view
! overlooks the fact they are NOR,
than animate tools. They are hu.
man beings, our brothers and sisters
with minds and hearts as we'll a.
hands. If in our desire to prepare
| them for making their living we alsc
unjustly fail to prepare them by goot
general schooling to make their live.
better worth living we shall create
huge proletariat of discomfort t
curse us, grave menace to them.
selves and to the safety of our demo
! cracy.