Great Falls daily tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1895-1921, 1921-01-06

and future AS Mark Twain has ex-
pressed it. There is no prophecy in
| our day but history. But history is
trustworthy prophet. History is
always repeating itself, because con-
Fditions are always repeating them
| selves. Out of duplicated conditions
history always gets duplicated pro-
| duct"
The principal mental residues
which we have of our elementary
United States history are the errors
which later reading and observation
have brought to light. These were
enough in number and sufficiently
glazing to shake our early estab-
lished faith in most of what the text
taught. Political history occupied
the entire stage; wars were elaborate
accounts of detailed battles with
| burdensome statistical data n
amounts of impedimenta and losses
Bunker Hill was dazzling victory
| the United States was always right
and her opponents always wrong. Is
it any wonder that the faith of our
maturity was shaken by the whisking
away of some of these pillars OF his
| torica1 faith? We were as ready to
believe the first destructive propa-
gandist as the boy who finds that
Sany Claus is horrible hoax.
Still more unfortunate in its re
suits was the utter predominance of
political history in the test. The
space between wars was occupied,
or rather filled in, with complete ac-
counts of political turmoil. Social,
industrial and economic conditions
| were treated as minor and unimport
ant phenomena. The results of a
war were given in indemnity dollars
or territorial gains with little or no
attempt to show succeeding move
ments of people with great industrial
changes. Similarly immediate polit-
ical results of wars were presented
with no hint of deep-rooted economic
or industrial causal factors. The re
sult1 How could it be other than to
present history of this country as a
succession of isolated international
topics.
| That this situation was seen may
denoted in the comparatively recent
report of the National Historical as
ISOLATION recommending that more
social and industrial history be
taught in the elementary schools.
This does not mean that it is neces-
sary to minimize political history,
but it does mean that full and intel
ligent correlation of it with social,
industrial and economic phases is es-
sential It is by this means only that
history can be made valuable and
live background for the exercising
of intelligent suffrage. The doctor,
the lawyer, every professional man,
use the information garnered from
an intensive study of the history in,
cidental to their particular profess
sions as basis for treatment Of the
particular matter at hand.
But lest it be thought that the
Older history texts were entirely use
less, let us note point in their
favor. Whatever their failings, they
did not lack in attempting to en-
gender a distinct loyalty and pat
riotisrn for the United States in the
minds of the boy and girl students of
history. The attempt in this direc-
ton was conmendable and right, al
though, as we have intimated, they
overreached themselves by using the
wrong means for the correct result
too highly colored material in or
der to instill patriotism. 1t is our
opinion that the same result can be
gained by presenting facts as they
are. There have been enough ideals
and principles developed in this
country through struggle to over
whelm the few mistakes and to give
every boy and girl student COMPEL
ing reasons for lasting faith in the
government. We certainly have nc
faith in the warped historian who
criticises the government at every
turn and tears down faith instead of
building it. AS historian for ele-
mentary school boys and girls, he is
very much Of wolf in sleeps cloth
ing. In these days of poison propo-
ganda it seems hardly necessary tc
add that the text book commission,
in case they conclude to adopt a new
history or work on civics for our
common schools should exercise
great care to see that it does not
teach the doctrines of radicalism as
set forth at the Rand School of
Social Science. It is fact, we be-
lieve, that in the past some pretty