South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1922-03-20
.SEC'Y DAVIS ASKS
EVOLUTION OF U.S..
SYSTEM OF SCHOOL
Secretary Declares Present
Methods DO Not Give
Proper Training.
Especial 90 The New -Times.l
BY JAMES =. DAVIS.
secretary Of Labor.


secretary Of Labor.
WASHINGTON. March. ia The
national system Of education needs
reformation
De- bias stood st.l in It's fundamen-
tails while every other art and science
has advanced.
Tho American youth 81 today is
being turned ont " schools not int
ted 20 give his best in the battle
that an ever growing complex eco
romic situation demands. He is be-
Ing bcdeckod with educational pref
tics" dress uniform that must be
cast aside % give place Co the dull
drab OF the working garb and the
tfmc he loses i'm making that change
ls precious time OF strength and
enthusiasm, of plastic years that yield
too easily many times to- the fingers
Of circumstance and environment OIL
ideals that may be shattered by the
rude hand of necessity.
Children should Doe trained 70 APP
probation Of the finest things in life
but they can never secure those hne
things unless they are equipped to
oxpend 20 best advantage every pow
or nature gave them az birth and
Americas educational system today
is negIectlng too many OF those pow
ers and feeding 90 excess others.
We Americans have long been
justly proud Of our free public school
system For the more easy-gOing
life we lived a dozen years ago II
did very well. Now. it seems 20 me,
our deepest. Fundamental notions of
what "A system of schooling should
be are I'm need of complete re-
shaping. We have been sending our
children out into the world 10 work
their way upward, but with blunted
tools in their hands. Now they need
more accurate fitting for the work
they are To do. and we must supply
it.
Lifc's Real Needs.
Let US look at the matter more In
detail. Every year a certain pro-
portion of our children must begin
work and leave school at the end OF
the grammar grades. They leave
these grades with the elements of
arithmetic, geography, history Eng
lish and other languages-hardly
much more. Those who are FORUM
ate enough 20 finish high school
have, Of course. gone much farther
into mathematics and history and
the languages. and into the past and
present activities of the world
what we call cDsmOgony But the
point / am making is that this sys-
tenn OF education strikes me as be-
ginning at the end instead of at the
beginning. All these studies given
our children have been useful
enough. but except for mathematics
and English study they all consti-
tutc training for the finer things
Of life rather than for LIES first
practical needs.
Let me hasten TO say that i am not
for curtailing i'm any measure tils
training OF the very humblest Of our
children for enjoyment Of the finest
things i'm life. The point is that this
training should come at the proper
slime. and that life can mean moth
ing 10 him until he has been taught
some means OF earning his liveli-
hood. Our colleges themselves
yearly release to- the world great
crowds of eager young people highly
trained I'm the appreciation Of life's
finest things. They know the great
deeds and the great works of art of
the far past They have a deep un-
destanding of natural and economic
law They have been taught 20 un-
derstand and enjoy life, and mea-
sure the present against the back
ground OF the past But all this is
for enjoyment and understanding,
10 is not a training for actual work.
Many "a college graduate enters the
world wise enough, but actually
bewiIdered and helpless
Chance For Youth
L would not for anything surrender
or curtau the training we should
give our children in appret alton of
the fine things OF life But long ago
10 struck me that for the safety OF
the individual and for the safety
of the country. the ideal system of
education for the average young boy
or girl i'm our land consisted of aj
least a high school training and the
acquisition Of some practical trade.
This has been no idle theory of
mine. The theory has been In prac-
teal operation I'm the home school
started and maintained by the Loyal
order OF Moose. at Mooseheart, not
far from Chicago. along the Fox
river I'm Illinois. Experts have been
generous enough 90 praise this eN-
pertinent in the highest terms. They
have pronounced 10 not simply re-
markedly successful thing I'm itself
but n model 20 the rest of the coun-
try I'm sound education
The idea of MooseheIrt occurred
70 me when I was worker I'm the
iron mills of Pittsburg. There / saw
heads 90 families die and leave their
dependents totally helpless. the chill
dren with little or no education and
driven 60 work without the slightes.
training. often they were dispersed
so that brothers grew Up apart and
unknown To each other throughout
their lives
What MOO~Chcart 4.
MOoseheart is not am institution.
10 Is not "a sectarian retreat. IL is
not a reformatOry. IT. has no OFF,
cialdom 90 rule So From the FIRST ID
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