Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1919-01-10
"HONEST OLD ABE"
AND THE HOHENZOLLERNs
(By e. o. Holland, President of
the State College of Washington.

In the midst of the Civil war
plans for reconstruction were formu.
lated for the difficult days that
peace would bring. The man who
saw most clearly the needs of the
American people was a farmers boy.
graduate of the college of Hard
Knocks -President Abraham Lin
coin. 1t was he who signed the bill
founding the agricultural or land
grant colleges in 1862, ito promote
the liberal and practical education of
the industrial classes; and this bill
made law by the signature of Hon
est Old Abe" was a forward step in
democracy for farmer-reared boys
and girls, and for all the industrial
or productive classes.
Today, as in 1862, men of vision
must look forward and plan for the
new demands that will come to
America in commerce, in agriculture,
and in all other industrial lines.
This country's place in the world
cheme of things can never be what
it was 10 years ago, or even two
years ago
In this day of transition from the
old to the new, we are rubbing
shoulders with nations, peoples, GUS
toms, and traditions of the old world
and a few comparisons may be illum-
mating. For example, apply Abe
Lincoln in America to the status OF
farmer-reared boys and girls lately
under the rule of the Romanoffs, the
Hohenzollerns, and the Hapsburgs.
To begin with, we can not imagine
among the kings and barons of aid
autOcratic Europe, Honest Old Abe"
founding a system of education Ito
promote the liberal and practical
education of the peasants and fac
tory-workers. We would expect this
just as quickly as we would that the
kings and barons of the old world
would seek from among their peas
ants and factory workers new kings,
queens, and princes to pre-empt the
places enjoyed by hereditary power
and privilege. Indeed, we can not
apply Abe Lincoln to autocracy, and
have other than a sadly divided
house.
1t is true, of course, that Ger
many offered education to the chill
dren of the farmers and factory
workers. This training was largely
for the purpose of holding the next
and succeeding generations in the
same lowly place in the economic
scheme of things, regardless of the
efficiency or the promise OF leader.
ship in the children of the industrial
classes. An Abe Lincoln in Germany
would have been an utter impossi-
bility.
What I have said concerning the
education of the children of the COM
mon folk in Germany applies par
ticularly to agriculture, which was
made an asset to autocratic govern
ment. Under the approved system OF
education, autocracy remained at the
top, dominant and seemingly secure,
but it participated in the benefits of
increased production, encouraged
through special educational schemes
which tended to hold each child in
a narrow groove of opportunity and
service,
More meat, milk, wool, butter,
grain, fruit and flax were wanted,
and it was proper to encourage the
peasants to produce more of these
things. The viewpoint of autocracy
was much the same as we have in
America toward our farm animals.
We desire more productive cows, bet
ter beef cattle, more wool, and so
on. In autocratic Europe the lead
ers had no thought of training boys
and girls Of the farm, or the chill
dren of the industrial workers for
misunderstanding to American
standards Of citizenship-or to oc-
cupy the high places in the nation.
Understanding this, our farmer
reared boys and girls In America, and
the children of those who work with
their hands, should perceive how
blessed 1t is to grow up in this land
of the free.
Just now. several creaking old
thrones, like the deacons one-horse
shay, have tumbled to ruins, and
their former occupants will have diff
iiculty in getting employment where
they can earn their bread and but
ter Autocracy is disappearing from
the face of the earth. We believe
that the spirit of Abe Lincoln will
build on autocracy's ruins. One of