Show uplift in public opinion splendid progress 0 being made alade in the united states where the experiment of universal education had its inception when will durant ventured to put out a thick volume entitled the story of philosophy I 1 hll nobody in the business would have haie ventured to forecast a sale of cop copies I 1 es but that was what happened some of the philosophers were annoyed by the study but they should have made their lectures more interesting it if they wanted a monopoly many of the historians were aghast when debunking volumes glut ted the market it Is undeniable that some of the works which caught the fancy of readers were both thin and misleading but the new style of pre benting history as an exciting and vital subject did much to broaden the market for what the booksellers speak of as in the cal bookstore two exhibits greet the eye of the visitor one is a case con inexpensive rep reprints rint s of mas ter pieces of the past the standard books and then there Is a counter known in t the he business as active nonfiction I 1 these volumes on many subjects wl ich would have been called heavy in a less inquisitive age move rapidly to ready pur chasers of course the making of books remains em alris a gamble as formerly but it is not nearly as much a short road to bankruptcy as it used to be people are decidedly ready to be in formed unfortunately there is no reason to believe that the great bulk of the population Is prepared and willing to wrestle effectively with the great problems of the day there Is still illiteracy literacy which is not being de creased while thousands of schools are closed or on short time the clouds of prejudice continue to inter fere with the working of the human intellect and there Is a prevalence of the disposition to avoid problems that appear difficult 3 let et there has been progress the intellectual base of millions of americans has been broadened with the result that they are willing to be shown and are able to employ something more than a combination of horse sense and the rule of thumb when they con sider the present and the future Is it too presuming to cherish the belief that american public opinion lias has a more solid foundation than Is to be found in other large countries of the world there should be a difference after our century and a half in the first place the stock from which our pop sprang was nas automatically se lecter A spirit of adventure and initiative was required to start the various waves of immigration across the ocean seeking footing in the new world the stay at homes re where their ancestors had been going through the same rou tine here first of all in modern times was attempted the unheard of exper ament of universal education much of it has been nonproductive thou sands of degree holders have brought little besides diplomas from their alma maters but there has always been a percentage of men and lat at terly of women who had a right to a place in the I 1 society of the edu bated and the percentage here has been far higher than in europe no class has a monopoly of edu cation the prize scholars at the older universities are seldom the progeny of 0 graduates graduate s there Is ig class wh ch has monopoly on read ing and thinking on the tremendous problems of this nation and ot of the P world the base of knowledge Is ver broad and continually extending this people are more tn in poss possession assion of the facts of history and of science than Is elsewhere to be found oi 01 any comparable scale knowledge docs does not insure leal ical and economic salvation but it I 1 shou should id help toward that desired goal in an ancient boob book of wisdom it wac admitted that ten men of the right sort would save a city in this great country there are millions who are becoming well equipped for such a tasi stability Is never due to the quality of the apes apex of the pyramid but to the broadness of its base that has become the hope of amer lea ica and the broadening continues ibis people inquires to know uncle dudley didley in the boston globe |