Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-09-04
Mustn't Let War
Stop Education
By Frederic j. Haskin

at the beginning of the war, when
the first shortage Of labor became apparent
n raid was made upon the schools, n great
raid, successful raid, n raid started by
a large body Of Inrehecting opinion.
The result of that raid upon the schools
has been that hundreds Of thousands
Of children in this country have been
prematurely withdrawn from school,
and have suffered irreparablc damage,
damage which it will be quite impossible
for MS hereafter adequately 10 replace.
So has declared II. A. l.. Fish or, prcsi-
dent Of the English Board of Education.
And this year the American schools
just opening their doors forth. new
semester, are threatened with n similar
raid
Thousands of boys Of military age, who
would otherwise be in college. are in the
army: thousands below the military age,
who should be in grammar and high
schools are at work, taking the places
of men who have gone to war The
attendance OF girls is not 80 much affected,
but in Washington alone there are thou
sands Of them who have left school 10 work.
SEEKING To AVERT THE Danger.
In this situntion the administration,
through the Bureau of Education, IS
calling upon the people Of America TO
avert the "irrcparable damage" which
any considerable interruption Of education
IL sure To cause. II is, above all, urging
parents to keep their minor children N
school, urging legislatures and taxpayers
not to let appropriations for education
suffer because Of wartime financial
burdens, urging young men within the
new draft law TO enter the Stndcnt Army
Training Corps.
The attitude of tho Administra-
ton, as expressed by Commissioner II
Education 7. J. Claxton, is that ed
ucation taxes a piace second IN importance
only 10 the purpose Of winning the war;
and that, since the great wartime need
Is for educated men, the two purposes
do not conflict.
Perhaps the greatest inmcdiBte cause
of the diminished Attendance which
threatens the schools is the number
Of boys and girls who arr working,
and are unwilling to give up their work he
cause Of their high earnings. Commissioner
Claxton would call the attention of
these TO the great opportunities which
will await educated Americans after
the war.
As he points out, there IS a world
to bo rebuilt when this war IS over
Not only the devastated count rics of
Europe, but the great nations Of China
and Russia, both now passing through
a formative stage Of unrest and dlsor-
ganization, will be in need Of builders
and organizers.
KILLING, NOT TRAINING MEN.
And Europe has not been producing
trained men for four years; instead
It has been killing them. IL Is not
to say that America faces
the task of rebuilding the world,
for European leaders admit that their
nations are not equipped for the task.
A high French officer on q mission in
this country recently stated that France
had produced practically no trained
men for four wears, and would re unable
TO carry out the scientific and engineer
ing tasks Of reconstruction without
AID from tins country.
The Federal Government itself IS
carrying out program Of education
which is much more extensive than most
realize. The most recent phase Of
this is the Student Army Training Corps,
which consists in nothing less than the
aking over Of the American universities
0y the American Government. and which
means an opportunity TO obtain a college
education at government expense Tor
every American youth over eighteen
years of age Those who have had a high
school education will be gwen regular
'ollege courses with a view to fitting them
or further training IN the officers train
ng camps, or for advanced technical
according to their aptitude
These VINO have had only a grammar
school education will be trained along
mechanical lines needed by the govern
nent. but all of these who show the
ability will be gwen oppor-
unities to qualify for commissions.
The SATC Is the greatest and newest of
he Federal educational projects, but by
10 means the only one. Before it was
organized. the government was spending
between 30 and 40 millions of dollars
,ear in direct educational work This
Included Its army post schools, its re-edu-
alton of injured soldiers through the
generals Office. It's extension OF
education in the schools
through the Federal Board for Vocational
training OF shlpyard workers
through the United States Shipping Board
nd many other educational activities
ot directly connected with the war
To how great an extent the war prob
em has been a probl EN- in education is
10 ,>aaTiyaI II 80 v,~al-o