The Washington herald., 1921-09-11
Interloeked With History.

MI himself the heir to great unpopularity with
4NA the youth Of this land for starting the quiz
plumb to sound the depths Of student information.
The Review Of Reviews has now sent out current
event quiz to 100000 students of public and private
schools and colleges The 1890 replies were turned
over the Institute Of Public Service Of New York
for analysis. They range the scale from to @ per
cent in correct answers, with average OF a per
cent.
The questions not of the catch variety.
They included such subjects Sim Fem and Lloyd
George, the Knox peace resolution and Henry Cabot
Lodge, the last two constitutional amendments
Charles Evans Hughes the budget law, Samuel
Gompers and like high lights in current affairs.
Strangely enough no said Senator Lodge was
a Moro sultan that Mr.. Hughes caused the wreck
of the Titanic, that Samuel Compers was
president. of the United States Steel But they said
what equally absurd.
Tde result shows that sehoolboys do not read
newspapers the Review Of Reviews. They may
read of murders and scandals, but not of economic
and political events. Yet they all study history,
,erday, not today, is history. The calling of the
Washington conference Is history, as are Mr..
Lodges fourteen reservations and Mr.. Wilson's
fourteen points, we'll as the Ten Commandments
Five or ten minutes Of the time allotted to his
tory could usefully be devoted to quiz current
event, or to 4 sort Of round-tabe discussion Of the
more important pending matters of public interest
This would have several results. One would be to
teach young people how to read newspapers and
current periodicals. 1t would dovetail history with
civics 1t would prepare for an interest in public
affairs essential to intelligent voting and good citi-
zenship. II would bring into their lives a whole
field of interest which belongs to them personally
which is of their affairs and it might help end
that decidedly deplorable condition of the indfer
ence Of business to their political obligations
and their rather scornful attitude toward politics.
But It would do still another thing. 1t would
bring new and unheard-of interest and intelligent
understanding of the all too fixed. inelastic and
prosy school eourses in history. No one can be
fairly familiar with present-day affairs in Rus,
sia, the Balkans, Asia Minor, Old Asia and else
where without unknown thrill being injected
into the history Of Greece, of Rome, and of all
early migrations which have left Europe hodge
podge in which self-determination become, a game
Of pigs in clover"
Why il Sim Fein, Does English history telll
How came Japan and what were her past relations
with China? Where did all the peoples of whom
we read every day come from? Why does the
word -unredeemed" play so large part in so many
wars? Current events never before had the import
ance they have today. No one understand them
who does not fairly we'll know history and no one
can undcrStanQ the h1story OF people or pcrlOQ
of the world who is not familiar with current
events which give the status of the people of today
History is just as dull. dead and desolate with
out current events current events meaning
less without history. No one cares rap about the
history Of Greece it sounds like fiction. But
hooked up with the great war and the present war
with the, Nationalist Turks. it is thriller. The
present immigration restriction law has meaning
only a, read into American history. What does
dominion government without the story of
the building up Of the British Empire? And vice
versa the history Of the Empire is not complete
without the recent conclave OF premiers at London
Progressive schools everywhere are, in fact
now, including current events part of their his
sehy courses. The young who asked: "Who
are the Bulgars" started something Only now
has this generation been able to- realize that the
scraps of history they studied in their youth, not
only was series of sequences but that all of these
sequences have been tumbling themselves into
the current events Of the past seven years.