The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1921-10-08
BOLsHEVISM
IN EDUCATION

A recent ssue OF The Outlook
contained seraching criticism of
the present day system Of public
schools. and their failure to accom-
plish results, written by James
AMMAN Ayers. a we'll known educac-
tor of New Jersey. Mr.. Ayers says:
The Belsheviki in Russia over
turned the existing order Of things
and went to the opposite extreme.
Instead Of seeking to curb evils
Which necessarily arise in any long
continued rule or method, to work
from the inside in patience and
earnestness. they attempted new
theories, with the expectation that
anything new aid radical would be
Better than thcso1d and conserva-
tive
That hope is not confined to Rus
sia. s,or TO the present time, nor to
.:olities. In religion. in economies,
in education, there has always
been the struggle between those
who have not and are naturally dis
satisfied and those who have and
who wish no new partners in their
close corporations. and there al
ways Will be that struggle so long
as human nature is human nature
untouched by loTe Of felIow-man.
. But revolutions, whether they be
called BolshevistD or any other
ephcmerai name. must reSolvc
slowly or they often defeat the very
purpose OF their origin and brin~
sbeut worse, evils than those OF the
old regime. The will OF a rcvolu-
tionary ma Jority rs not always sane.
Tho secondary. or high. schools
OF the United States are the out
growth OF the old academies, which
were primarily higher institutions
Of learning for the communities In
which they We're located. Second
ariiy they were preparatory schools
for colleges. They were presided
over by nen who could, and did.
prepare boys IN Eatin and Creek
for college, and whose aim was to
md acc as many us possible to so.
BUT the proportion was always
small, save in the strictly prepara-
tory schools that were feeders for
certain colleges, because Latin and
Greek and college education were
necessary only for ministers and
teachers 4 college course was not
essential TO any other profession
and was considered q detriment IN
business. So the real aim of these
old academies was the erection OF a
low but solid superstrocture upon
the foundation Of district school.
Mathematics was the principal SUBJ
ject in the curricuIun'. There was
higher arithmetic. with problems
ia mensuration and problems of in
tercst. OF practical benefit to the
farmers boy or to the grocer's
clerk; there was algebra to develop
pure reason and geometry to enable
the pupil to visualize. The prepo-
sitions in geometry he had to mem
erie, and fooishly, perhaps, even
their number in the book. Next in
Importance was sramnar-net pre-
aigested breakfast-food stuff, but
solid, tiresome, duh. egonizing
rules and conjusations and parsing.
When the boy got through these.
he was, older than the present
school generation: but he could
think with conviction, and not
fearsemely. as if just; beginning his
mental steps. Mental science and
moral science each had a place in
the curriculum. over the thoughts
Of great men the boys pcndered and
stumbled hahingly in their groping
for the applications Of life. Per
haps they did not get very far. but
so far as they went they thought.
And they developed a power and
an independence by debates--dc-
bates at which we would smile now,
doubtless. but debates full Of en-
thusiasm and fighting spirit. In
these academies occurred the men
tai brit, OF the thinking nucleus of
communities. Many an inslorious
Milton and embryonic Newton or
local Demosthenes lie buried in un-
known churchyards. These acad-
-ennies were hard schools for the
best and no refuge for the incom-
petent and lazy The culnng-out
process began in the entering class,
and did not cease during the en-
tire course. II a subject was not
mastered by a pupik it was re-
peated or the pupil was dropped.
That was a hardship to the pride
of many. and the academy began
to be called the rich mans school.
.asseverations Of that kind, howey-
er unjust, il repeated often enough.
serve their purpose. So the close
corporations Of trustees gave way
gradually to elected officials, and
public high schools came into be-
ing. From the selection of repre-
sentative men to the election Of
ward politicians, intellectual Boil
sfeviki. TO school boards was a