EDITOR'S TABLE. 



767 



out the country. Dr. HcCosh thus 

 stated his main position : 



" I don't propose that any portion of this 

 90,000,000 should be given to colleges. "We 

 cannot aid all, and to select a few would he 

 injurious. In regard to elementary educa- 

 tion, the Northern, the Middle, and the 

 Western States, are able and willing to do 

 their duty. I venture to propose that in 

 these the unappropriated lands be devoted 

 to the encouragement of secondary schools. 

 Let each State obtain its share, and the 

 money handed over to it under certain rigid 

 rules and restrictions to prevent the abuse 

 of the public money. In particular, to se- 

 cure that upper schools be endowed only 

 where needed, I suggest that money be allo- 

 cated only when a district, or, it may be, a 

 combination of two or more districts, has 

 raised a certain portion, say one-half, of the 

 necessary funds. By this means the money 

 may be made to stimulate the erection 

 of high-schools all over America. These 

 schools would aid colleges far more power- 

 fully than a direct grant to them, as, in fact, 

 the grand difficulty which colleges have to 

 contend against arises from there being so 

 few schools fitted to prepare young men for 

 them with their rising standard of excellence. 

 But I plead for these schools, not merely as 

 a means of feeding colleges, but as compe- 

 tent to give a high education in varied 

 branches, literary and scientific, to a far 

 greater number who do not go on to anything 

 higher. These schools, like the elementary 

 schools, should be open to all children, of 

 the poor as well as the rich. They should 

 be set up, like the German gymnasium, in 

 convenient localities, so that all the popula- 

 tion may have access to them. They should 

 embrace every useful branch suited to young 

 men and women under sixteen and eighteen 

 years of age English composition, English 

 language, history, classics, modern language, 

 and elementary science. The best scholars 

 in our primary schools would be drafted up 

 to these higher schools, and thus the young 

 talent of the country would be turned to 

 good account, while the teachers in the com- 

 mon schools would be encouraged by seeing 

 their best pupils advance." 



The discussion that followed this 

 speech brought out difficulties which 

 the doctor had not considered, and, in 

 fact, opened the way to the most vital 

 problem of American education. The 

 colleges of the country represent the 



old scholastic culture which took its 

 shape at a period when popular educa- 

 tion was not thought of, and culture 

 was confined to the professional classes. 

 These institutions are not holding their 

 own at the present time. Their stu- 

 dents are falling off, for the reason that 

 there is a decline in the academies by 

 which the colleges are fed ; that is, as 

 Dr. McCosh says, " the grand difficulty 

 which colleges have to contend against 

 arises from there being so few schools 

 fitted to prepare young men for them." 

 But the cause of the decline of the 

 academies is the rivalry of the newly- 

 instituted high-schools, and these are 

 the outgrowth and now an essential 

 part of the common - school system. 

 The modern idea of universal educa- 

 tion has become organized in such a 

 way as to antagonize the old college 

 system. The common schools are not 

 constructed upon the scholastic pattern ; 

 they aim to give to all a useful practical 

 education, that shall he available in 

 the common work of life. It was 

 found that they did not go far enough 

 in this direction for the wants of many, 

 and so high-schools were organized in 

 which the pupils of the common schools 

 might graduate into the working world 

 with a better preparation than the 

 lower schools can furnish. It was stated 

 in the discussion that hut one in fif- 

 teen hundred of the population passes 

 through college, while it is left for 

 the common and high schools to edu- 

 cate the rest of the people. As the 

 old academies disappear, therefore, 

 the colleges seek to get control of 

 the high-schools, to he used as feeders 

 for themselves ; and this, of course, ne- 

 cessitates a high-school curriculum fit- 

 ted to prepare young men for college. 

 This is the point at which the two sys- 

 tems are unconformable, and is to be 

 the point of conflict in the future. 

 What shall be the course of study in 

 the high-schools ? Shall it be a sequel 

 to the common schools, or a prelude to 

 the colleges, for these are different 



