Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1922-01-28

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sympathy, perhaps more than any
other, is the young lad anywhere
from sixteen to twenty years Of age
who is trying to find the work No
10 best adapted to do and the way
In which he can get into that work.
Everywhere are. young men going
from place to place, from job TO
job, from one business Office to an
other, from one occupation to an
other trying in the best way they
can to break their way into an in
dustrial organization Infinitely more
complex than that Of even one gen.
GRAFTON ago. The man Ct middle life
who does not have occasion init
mately to associate with young men
can have no realization OF the
change which has come over indus
I try in this regard. The condition
is undoubtedly responsible for the
demoralized attitude which older
men criticise and condemn in boys
| and young men. Attention to this
i problem of adjustment must be paid.
The purpose of the junior high
school with its increased offerings
should not be to compel our boys
and girls to cover wider course OF
study. The course Of study in these
higher schools should represent a
reservoir OF offerings out OF which
can be selected those things which
are needed for the attention OF the
different individuals. sAnother Prob
lem Of our modern education Is to
secure some means by which, the
| youth can get a proper perspective
on the place that work must take
in their lives. The agitation against
child labor has been productive of
vast good In that it has removed
from factory and factory conditions
/ children who should never be EN-
ployed in those conditions On the
other hand, possibly some harm has
been done since many parents now
believe. apparently. that work should
occupy no place in the education of
their children. Let it be borne in
mind that work is not only not .,arm-
full, but that it may be actually bene-
fetal and indeed positively educa-
tive in its results. Hence it is my
opinion that those inter ested in the
development of education and these
who are conducting the industi ial
enterprises of the communities must
in some way work out a plan of
part-time education so that Logs
particularly may have a chance dur
ing the secondary and possibly the
collegiate period to engage in lucra-
tive productive employment while
they are pursuing their education.
|. Financial Support
Another problem which will
doubtless press for attention at once
is that Of securing financial support
for education. 1t will be recalled
that in the course of the Civil War
| there was the greatest difficulty in
securing appropriations for educa-
tional support. In many states,
there occurred a reaction in educa-
ton that continued for many years
! The reason for this is plain. The
people were laboring under the costs
of the war. Taxation rates were
high. The cost of living had not
gone down. The pension profile m
was looming in sight. Bonuses had
to be paid. In the face of these needs
the people in their state and munich
1 pal housekeeping found it necessary
to sound the note of Tetrenchment.
| The same thing is happening now.
| The conditions described at the
close of the Civil War apply-a the
present, but they apply more II early
universally than during mat ptricd.
Already PEOPLE are saying that re-
trenchment must take place. The
| federal government has found prac-
| tically all the ways there are of tax
| ing the people. We cannot complain
at this. The bills of the war must
| be paid. However, when the state
and the locality is finding it neces-
sary to carry on their own activi-
ties, they find that there is apparent
ly no way OF financing those activi-
ties except by assessments on real
estate or by duplicating federal
| methods of taxation. These local
expenditures are likewise more
readily under immediate control. In
these matters, education Is likely to
suffer since the results of educa-
ton are to be determined by the
long look ahead rather than by the
immediate prospect. One cannot be-
lieve, however, that our people in
entering upon a war for democracy
intended to pay the bills by dis
counting the education Of our chill
dren. We may properly asst Cur
children and our children's children
to carry in part the financial burden
of the war which saved to them the
blessings of civilization. 1t is not
fair, however, to ask them to bear
that burden and at the same time
to reduce the opportunity by which
they are going to be enabled to dis
charge their responsibilities. In this
connection, it would be well to bear
in mind the advice which MIR. Fisher,
the minister of education. gave to
the people of England when dur
ing the war he made this statement:
THAT nation which, after the war,
employs~the best teachers with the
highest pay and as part of Che
best school system will be the best
governed and therefore the greatest
nation. OF that am absolutely GER |
tain. No people which does not re-
spect education will demand and |
support good government. and If |
there is not a vital impulse running |,
through its education the people of |
no nation can be expected TO respect !
it.