Evening star., 1921-05-17
Editorial Digest
Mr.. Edison's Test.

college men don't seem to know
anything" has raised a storm of criti
c'sm from the American press as te
'he inventors method at arriving a
MS conclusion. Despite his "higl
| authority" remarks the New Yorl
Evening Post, 'it is by no mean:
certain that the intelligence of the
coiiese graduate must be assessed or
; .he OASIS or what he knows concern
ing tne sources of shellac, the geo
graphical origin of prunes. cork ane
! ulhes ana the name of the inventor
VI ioe arlt hinS In the same spirit
most of the newspapers make light OF
MI fdiSonS list of questions, fail.
ure 10 answer which has condemned
.he college graduate in the eyes OF
me wizard of Menlo Park.
me tact that he has reforms to
suggest causes the Springfield Re
publican to credit the great inventor
with "accelerating education" with
ms IDEAS on the substitution of NOV
ing pictures for text books While
,he Wilmington Star feels that the
Inst OF questions presented was
1t adds that MIR. Edison assumes, per
maps with reason" that the man who
has been trained to think will nee
essar'iy have accumulated a respec-
tanie store of everyday knowledge
through his powers of observation"
For the most part. however. the
papers refuse to take the Edison tes,
as one-hundred proof. The Rochester
Democrat Chronicle proposes four
questions itself. and declares that if
must admit he is "amaZingly igno-
rant according to his own reason
inG Here they are: CO When was
me hrst gums OF machine installed
IN H"hokrn. \. j.? - When Will the
German indemnity question finally be
wood? 90 How deep is Lake on
tarl" If the reader must know it
the Democrat Chronicle admits, I'VE
cant answer them ourselves"
IN TINS spirit the New York Times
asks if Mr.. Edisons test is con
What is copra?" inquiries: WAS any
man ever kinder to his aged mother
because he knew what copra was:
How is it important save to grocery
clerks?" The Wall Street journal
speaking for the financial center OF
street" would never regard Mr.. Edi-
sons questions as anything like a
satisfa actory test of Intelligence. II
is content that man should be
ignorant of who is the author OF
Yankee Doodle, or the chemical
that he knows where to get that in
formation if he needs it" Speaking
in similar vein, the Nashville Ban
ner remarks that the test of an edu-
Gated man in thes" days Of the com =
plcxitics of knowledge is the ability y
10 know how to acquire information
rather than to possess it in every
case
The New York Globe suggests that
perhaps Mr.. Edison has been asking
the young men the wrong questions"
Had he inquired about base ball or
foot ball scores or the records OF
various athletes who during the last
quarter Of A century have won Il GER
tain fame ne would have been over
come with a dcluge of facts and fig
ur"& and even hypotheses. That is
the kind of information which par
excellence American youth possesses
Not man who's. bin of facts is
empty" the Globe concludes. but he
who in an emergency cannot learn
is truly ignorant"
The New York Herald hints tha,
perhaps the subsection of Mr.. Edison
to an examination by recent col
lege graduate on matters entirely
be interesting" Then, it adds. both
might unite in preparing question
naire for submission to Mr.. Edson's
warm friend. Mr. Henry Ford. II
MIR. Ford could not answer the ques-
tions it will not prove that his life
has been utterly wasted or that he
did not have the ability to build vi
d great and succe ssful business"
The New York Tribune also refers
to Mr. Ford's inability "to score d
high percentage on d set of questions
put to him a while ago" yet Edi-
son would. no doubt. find Mr.. Ford
useful man TO employ at West
IRA, hf
Tribune concludes, Of the abnormal
stress that is laid on that desirable
thing called efficiency"
The Fort Wayne News and Sentinel
feels that the province of d college
education is not to stuff 4 mans head
with information" but ito teach
young men how to think and act,
and the Boston Post defines the pur-
pose of the college course as rather
"to train his mind so that he more
rapidly and surely learns how 10 dc
things when he gets out into the
world" It is easy. it remarks. "to
get up a duestionnaire that will
stump anybody" thus agreeing with
the Manchester Union. when the lat
ter declares that "the odds are
strongly on the fellow who has the
strategic advantage of asking tn.
questions"
The side of the collegian is taken
by the New York World, which first
printed the qucstionnaire. college
graduates may not know much about
arc lights" it remarks, but they
have a smattering of knowledge; dc
not they write plays for Broadway?
1t goes on:
THE more vital question is whether
the college education will not count
for more in the long run. whether il
does not provide a solder founda-
tiOn for development."