The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1933-05-04

Should taxes be lowered at the eX-
pense of many of the so-called "frills"
of education? Both sides of this pop
ular question are brought to light in
debate which appears in the current
Rotary Magazine, between H. L..
Mecken, editor of The American Mer-
curry, and John Dewey, professor of
philosophy at Columbia University.
The Mencken Arguments
There can be no doubt that cru
cational reforms of recent years were
urged in perfect good faith, and that
they were all worthwhile. Unfortu-
nately, some evils came in with these
goods as is apparently inevitable in
human affairs.
"The New Pedagogy, in fact, was
mainly buncombe. There was, of
course, some sense in it, but not very
much. The psychological data upon
which ia was based were absurd, and
the miracles that it was supposed to
achieve were imaginary. Children
came out of the new pedagogical Tai
Mahals no better prepared for life
than their parents had come out of
the little red schoolhouse, and the
new Model A pedagogue, with his
polychrome graphs and bold hypoth-
eses, turned out to be scarcely as
competent as the Model T ma'am Of
the last generation, with her dogs
cared speller and her ready rattan.
"Some of the more advanced ped
agogues began to think of themselves
not only as scientists of a novel and
subtle sort, but also as prophets. The
chief prophets of the movement went
to great lengths. They built larger
and larger schoolhouses, with fewer
and fewer classrooms and more and
more gymnasia, laboratories, ateliers
and shops. They invented multitudin-
Gus new species of experts and put
them gloriously to work. They sweat
ed the poor schoolma ans during the
hot summers with interminable
courses in quack Sciences
"They called for larger and larger
contributions from the taxpayer, and
damned him boldly whenever he cried
for quarter. And in their topmost
ranks they dreamed vo!uptuously of
adding secretary of education to the
cabinet.
"All this went on until the depres-
sion struck the country, and budgets
began to go unbalanced. There ensued
somewhat bilious inquiry into the
whole pedagogical hocus-pocus. 1t
was found that the brethren were get
ting away with nearly three billions
annually Cor maybe even four bill
ions), and that they were planning to
demand much more.
at was found that the cost of ed
ucating' pupil year, which had
been $500 in 1880, had scared to
nearly 500, and that it was still 60
ing up. 1t was found that this vast
outpouring of money had already re-
duced hundreds of American coun-
ties and towns to bankruptcy, and
was seriously imperilling the solvency
of whole states"
Tho nawov ArUumanfS
at is proposed to eliminate from
the schools such things as health SER
vice, work with wood, metal, tools, do
mestic arts, music, drawing and dra-
MATES on the ground that they are
'frills' and costly frills at that. do
not question the desirability of every
legitimate economy in the conduct Of
the schools. l deny absolutely that
saving money at the expense of the
lives of young people, now and in the
future, is economy.
Economy is something more than
reducing expenditure of funds. If it
were not, it would be economy to
save the money now spent in buying
food, shelter and clothing for the mil
lions of unemployed. 1t is as heart
less and as foolish to starve the minds
and characters of the young as it is to