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Show i THE D"T EDUCATION. Tl.;.l Vl'Liich n.iiw Iluud and HnOn To-i;r;!i To-i;r;!i -r A i r-iit li-,;iil;e. j n-:th y.-;n ..rirr: -; ui Ir' g-iucrnl public. ; n-.i v.-.-ii us tu t!.o i-.lucators, theconvic- lion c'lt tin presi-iii tybU-mnt education is -ip:.!" t: the (.Vwur.Us of the (by. 'ihe urea public, which idiuoredirecr.lv Lni.e'.v::-,tviJ in school met hods thiin the t;d-ucr.ton; t;d-ucr.ton; t!u :i.xlvcs, crs v.'iihing to the couviution tliLt thcro much useless es-pendimivnl' es-pendimivnl' time nnd i Hurt in putting ) tht? Uv uml girl t!:ruu;-li the course of study in the fichu -Id. This conviction is i not limited to any class of intelligence. It is pennealmg ull classes. With this more complete vL-w of education comes among the higher classes u greater re- I spect for skilled labor. In these days when riches .suddenly take to themselves : wings and fly away; when there may be luxury ono week and penury the next, it is necessary for every one to be prepared pre-pared for these emergencies. The exigencies exi-gencies in business life cannot always be foretold with accuracy. Tho laws that govern the evolutions of commerce are to a certain extent the same in their tendency ten-dency and as unerring in their effect as those that govern the evolutions of nature, na-ture, it lias long been a great mistake of the rich to educate their children in the ef-floresences ef-floresences of knowledge, and to teach them to view manual labor as lowering in its influences. But self preservation is one of the first laws of nature and thei'o aro comparatively few people who would rather starvo to death than work with their hands. The instinct of na-tui'o na-tui'o is strong with us all, and there is that consciousness iu every one, at least in nearly every one, that forces liim to labor in order to save his own life. The complications of social conditions and the consequent competition in all departments depart-ments of industrial and professional life, together with these sudden disappearances disappear-ances of fortunes, are impressing upon the minds of all, the rich us well aa the poor, the necessity of being forearmed. The man who is armed is always ready for an attack. The man who has a skilled brain and hand to fall back upon is ready for an emergency. If society is to bo compactly built and enduring we must all contribute our labor, not only to make it so, but to keep it so. We have now as much of the disintegrating elements as we need. These are the criminal claBBes, the paupers, the insane, tho bed ridden, the homeless, the aged, the infirm. Wo have in this wide domain many that are needy, but that are not yet tho wards of the public. With the increaso of the population comes an increase in society's burdens. The com- Slication in 6ociaI conditions must beevi-i beevi-i ent to every one that will take the trou-1 trou-1 ble to penetrate the Blight crust which j envelops life in tho United States. The only way to put an obstacle in the way of this alarming increaso in our non-producing class, or non-contributing classes, is to educate our cliildren to become producers pro-ducers and contributors. Tho present system of education is good so far aa it goes, but it does not go far enough. If all members of society were producers produ-cers as well as consumers there would be less necessity for poorliouses. Practical education initfht, and undoubtedly would, lessen the tendency to crime. An idlo brain is tho devil's workshop is a saying aa true as it is old. Thomas Carl yle's ringing sentences may bo quoted here. Says the great philosopher: "Produce, produce, produce. If it bo but tho most mfiniteshiial part of a product, in God'B name produce it. 'Work -while it is yet day, for tho night cometh wherein "no man can work.'" It is the business of those who direct education to consider these facts deeply. Detroit Free Press, |
