The Connecticut labor news., 1924-08-09

the intelligence testers offering some thing new? The fact Is that they have brought into America the ancient doc Urine of caste and are advocating, un- der the authority of public school boards precisely the same philosophy l of life as governs the Hindu caste sys
 tenn, under which, by alleged divine or natural law, the people are organized ! according to the occupations for which they are supposed to be ftted-the merchant in the merchant caste, the teamster in the caste of the teamster, the carpenter in the carpenters caste, and so on through the long list of vo- cations. Thus they are challenging the political philosophy of the American nation and defying the basic principles of every religion of the Western world. Do they know what they are doing?
 That the intelligence test method of classification Is to be used Is clearly | the authority of the board of education by representatives of that board to meetings of school principals. De- ve1opments in other cities show the classification o1 pupils into so-called Superior and inferior groups, the former of which are encouraged by official 'counsel1ors to go on into the high school, while the latter are ad- vsed by these vocational counse1lors' to end their school life at the age of Is years when the average child gradu- ates from the junior high In other words, 1t is assumed that only those of inferior mentality will enter industry and commerce as productive workers. Thus the brand of inferiority is to be placed upon all productive workers through the medium of propaganda emanating from the public schools.
 "The ultimate effect, if the scheme is to be carried on to it's final con c1usion, will be either to utterly de 1nora1ize American industry and com merce through the refusal of Ameri- can youth to enter such occupations because of the brand of inferiority placed upon them, or American society must be Europeanized by the accept ance of distinct and more or less per manent class divisions among the peo- pie. We firmly believe, however, that when the true significance of the pro- to he of the different communities, they will repudiate the whole scheme and will insist that the children of all classes of citizens and, indeed, the citizens themselves of all classes, are entitled to a full education no matter what occupation they may follow.
 Must Not Degrade Citizens.
 America must prepare to do its own work continues the report, mot by degrading part of its citizens but by steadily raising the social status of every sort of honorable employment. It is not enough that wages be in creased and the working day shortened or that purely material comforts be placed within the reach of the people. Man does not live by bread alone. The master passion of humanity is the desire for equality. The basic prin- cip1e upon which our nation Is founded recognizes this truth i'll candid langu- age, written so plainly that none can misunderstood its meaning and pur- pose. For this reason and this alone, America has become the great nation of the earth.
 "Unitl within recent years the public school system has responded more and more to this great truth and as re- suit the education of all citizens has been growing apace.
 "Now comes the effort to stem the tide by human progress i'll this coun- try by overthrowing the great prin- ciple of American life within the pub lie school system and thus, through the children of the nation, to degrade it by destroying the one vital principle which marks our nation as different from all others-the great principle of human equality as proclaimed in the Amer ican Declaration of Independence. t' Must Protect Schools.
 "As American citizens, allied with each other in our trade unions, with the definite purpose of making life better and happier for all the people, we must oppose with all the strength at our command the effort now being made to mutilate our public school system.
 "The movement to econonize in public expenditures by curtailing pub lie education is an error SC. grave that it will lead to national sterility and stagnation unless it is corrected. It