Milford chronicle., 1919-09-05
DeIamareans. Face the Facts


Mr.. Rossell, and members of the Del
aware Bankers Association:
Your chairman has just mentioned
two things--Education and Economy
as if they we're entirely separate and
distinct. In some aspects they are,
but l wish to speak to you as if they
were one. Education is economy. Ed
ucation is not something on which we
spend money, but something in which
we invest money An investment
brings returns. It has been usual to,
speak and think of education as though
it we're a luxury; advocates of educa-
ton have long been regarded as IDEAL
lists But as bankers, as the financial
representatives of the people of this
State, as guardians of the wealth of
rich and poor alike, you must face the
facts. At this time you are not in
terested in sentiments, in ideals, in
the adornments of life, but in those
financial and economic facts which
are the foundation of a secure future
for Delaware and its people. So we
will confine ourselves rigidly to facts.
Fact One. We nave reached an era
when mind is worth more than muscle.
The State which has the best chance of
prosperity is not the State which has
the most Drawn but the one which has
the best brains. And this is an age in
which the trained mind can produce
the greatest amount of wealth. The
farmer, working only with his mus
cles, cannot get any more from the
land than a farmer could a hundred
years or a thousand years ago; but
the farmer with the trained mind, us
ing all of the resources OF civilization. /
can make his land yield astonishingly |
rich returns. The man in the town /
or city, who has nothing but his mus
cles to depend upon can earn only a .
common laborer's wage; the man who
has been trained to think clearly and
quickly has no limit set to his earning
power.
Fact Two: Delaware stands thirty
third in its educational rank among
the other states of the nation; which
means that thirty-two states are Civ
ing their boys and girls a better edu-
action than Delaware is giving to its
children. Never mind who is to blame;
That is a matter of the past and we
nave neither the time nor the desire to
muck-rake the mistakes of yesterday.
But IS It fair, is it right, is it decent.
that our children in Delaware should
not have as good a chance as the chill
dren Of other states? What have our
boys and girls done that they should
be crippled and handicapped with an
inferier education Are Gs:=S children children
worth as much to us as the children
OF New York, New Jersey, Pennsyl-
Vania, Ohio and Indiana are worth TO
their parents? Let us see clearly
what this means. Five. ten. twenty
and thirty years hence the boys and
girls of Delaware will be in competi-
ton with the men and women of the
surrounding states-they will be pro-
iucing for the same markets and striv-
ing for the same goals-but these men
and women. from neighbOring states
VIII have had better start, they will
be working with finer tools. they will
be able to use swifter and surer meth
DDS. So Delaware will decrease in
while Maryland, New Jer-
iey, New York and other states in i
crease. Education is economy. We
must not be penny wise and pound ,
-oolish. We must not think so much ,
- eA~ --NNAI saving VI THIS year ludL
We lose the big gains of next year.
These children of ours have rights,
nalienable rights, and one Of these
rights is that Delaware shall give
hem as good an educational equip
nent as the children have elsewhere !
n America. Education is self-preser- !
Fation for the State.
Fact Three: Other mistakes NAV
'e rectified but mistakes in education
re fatal and final. For example: ri
We should build a bad piece of road
n the state, road which goes rough
md rutty in a short time, we have
Yasted a certain amount Of money.
We can rebuild the road in a few
ears and correct the mistake. But
we give a boy faulty and deficient s
oucation and he does not find it out 8
lntii ten years later, when he is be-
az worsted in the bitter competition
4 life, we cannot take him back into a
chool and correct his mental deform- v
ties. Our chance has gone and so
las mis-; there is nothing left but to C
et him struggle on as best he can v
r go down in ignominious defeat. Our
situation calls for com '
1on sense and conscience and il we h
pply these two qualities at once we +
an lift Delaware into the first state a