124 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



gxXltor's Sa:blje, 



SOCIAL NEEDS. 



IF the word "socialist" could be 

 defined as one who concerns him- 

 self with the interests of society, who 

 makes those interests his own, then 

 it would be well if we were all "so- 

 cialists." So long, however, as it 

 means a person who wishes to trans- 

 fer to everybody the authoritative 

 direction of everybody else's busi- 

 ness and the control of everybody 

 else's property, we must leave the 

 use of the term to those who accept 

 responsibility for the advocacy of 

 such ideas. Meantime, it is a matter 

 for the daily consideration of all men 

 of good will what are the most press- 

 ing social needs of the hour, and how 

 they can best be met. 



Among the phenomena of our 

 time in this country there is none, 

 we think, more striking than the 

 great development of our institu- 

 tions of learning. Partly through 

 public grants and partly through 

 private donations, the means avail- 

 able for higher education have with- 

 in the last quarter of a century, even 

 within the last dozen years, been 

 enormously increased; and, as has 

 lately been remarked, there will 

 shortly be little need for American 

 youths to repair to foreign universi- 

 ties in order to obtain the latest and 

 best results of research in almost any 

 department of knowledge. In other 

 words, this country is already well 

 equipped for the formation of a cul- 

 tured and learned class, and is yearly 

 increasing its facilities and resources 

 in that direction. This is true even 

 in regard to branches of scholarship, 

 such as the classical languages and 

 philology, which might be thought 

 less likely to awaken interest in a new 

 and democratic community. What- 



ever advantage, therefore, can come 

 to us from a liberal provision for the 

 higher learning we may consider as 

 already assured. 



That culture and learning are de- 

 lightful and profitable possessions no 

 one, we think, but an extremely un- 

 cultivated and narrow-minded person 

 would deny: but, taking what may 

 be called a sociological view of the 

 subject, we have sometimes been led 

 to wonder whether the immense sums 

 of money which have been appro- 

 priated of late to university purposes 

 have really been bestowed in the 

 manner most useful to the country 

 at large. A day or two ago our ej'e 

 fell upon the following observations 

 in one of our most valued contem- 

 poraries: "In truth, one of the most 

 startling things in connection with 

 our collegiate education is its failure, 

 as a rule, to prevent the graduate, 

 when he enters politics, from sinking 

 mentally to the existing political 

 level. This has been the history of 

 the larger number of what are called 

 our 'gentlemen in politics.' They 

 rarely spend a year with politicians 

 without adopting their standards and 

 their view of civilization." Most per- 

 sons, w^e imagine, can confirm this 

 from their own experience. But, if 

 the scholar sinks through contact 

 with the politician, how are we to 

 explain the low level at which the 

 latter lives? With whom is he in 

 contact on the other side? There is 

 only one answer: With "the people." 



This makes us reflect. Millions 

 are being given for the endowment 

 of the higher learning that is, for 

 the creation of a learned class. What 

 is that learned class going to do for 

 the rest of the community ? The 

 members of it will make, no doubt, 



