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Show National Aid io Music : n ' America is a century behind In I starting governmental instruction in ' music and art, which strange to say, " j!3S come nearer than ever before to I realization since the -world-wide disaster disas-ter to arts and science in the great war. Wo say a century, because our ' t first president, 'George Washington, left in his will ?30,000 to be devoted to n national institution of fine arts, a i vision which never materialized. ( Music has emerged from the up-C up-C heaval of nonessential industries and ' modes of life since America, entered I the war, and has found a place In the ofllclal scheme of things. All art has put on khaki, the musicians going in i for entertaining "over there" or volunteering vol-unteering as song leaders in the headed veterans of Indian fighting days to practice "do-re-mi-fa-sol" to the time-beat of an unstart youngster out of music school. It is nothing short of revolutionary for a general in com- , mand of an army brigade to request his camp song leader to accompany tho boys from a western or southern cantonment to the pier where they embark em-bark for France. A reappraisal of some relative values val-ues has taken place, and music is at a premium today as surely as pork. It spurs the fighting men and it helps the folks back home. Perhaps right here may be found the reason for a new ' attitude on the part of ofllclal Washington Wash-ington toward proposals involving the most serious aspects of art. Undo Sam's open handed welcome to musicians music-ians is wide enough now to include all of their kind, from the long haired ; , fraternity of imported virtuosi to the : humblest music teacher of the rising j generation. Honce the recent consideration, in 1 war time, of house bill 64-15 for a na- llonal conservatory of music and art, ! with incidental control of standards of music teaching in America. ( It was estimated that before the war II broke out there were about 6000 stu- I dents from the United States studying It music in the different countries in Europe. Eu-rope. As the average expense of each I student in Europe, including tuition, was about $1000 per annum, tho total I amounted to about ?6,000,000, which sum flowed annually from this country I to Europe to payfor musical education I -of these boys and girls. Now, It was urged, thqre was no need for these I students to go abroad for a musical II education, as they could get as good ; an education In this country as they do in Europe, and all that was neces- sary was for America to give some en-l en-l couragement to Its young students, I just as foreign countries do. I The committee at Washington de- veloped some other facts from peti- I tioners the country over, who said the II United Stales should not fall behind other civilized countries, where the II respective governments devoted large I sums of money to encourage music and art. Sweden, with a population of l about 7,000,000, offered free tuition In music to natives of that country. The go eminent of Belgium, before the war broke out, supported four national l conservatories. Why should the United l States, a great and rich nation, it was II asked at tho hearing in Washington, withhold encouragement from those talented in music and art? |