EDITORIAL 



315 



spirit of initiative which is wanlin_<;- tor 

 iitiHziiii;" their services. 



Is it necessary to insist on the bene- 

 fits of The Agassiz Association, or to 

 show how it ought to be extended? 

 The greatness of the idea of estabhsh- 

 ing a lively connection between all 

 schools of the Earth is too clear. Every- 

 body knows that it is sufficient to have 

 a friend in a foreign country — be it 

 ]\Ioscow or Java — to begin to take 

 some interest in that country. A news- 

 paper paragraph entitled 'Moscow' or 

 'Java' will henceforth attract his at- 

 tention. The more so if he is in a live- 

 ly intercourse with his friend, if both 

 pursue the same work and communi- 

 cate to one another the results of their 

 explorations. More than that. Let 

 English children be in a continuous ex- 

 change of correspondence, collections, 

 and thoughts wdth Russian children ; 

 and be sure that after some time neither 

 English nor Russians will so readily 

 grasp at guns for settling their misun- 

 derstandings. The Agassiz Associa- 

 tion has a brilliant future ; similar ones 

 will surely extend all over the world." 



What Eliot and Elliott Say. 



There is an Eliot and an Elliott, with 

 even more difference in their occupa- 

 tions than in the spelling of their 

 names, although from two different 

 standpoints they are working practical- 

 ly for the same end. There is President 

 Emeritus Charles W. Eliot of Harvard 

 L'niversity, well-known the world over 

 as an educator and a thoroughly schol- 

 arly and literary man. It is he wdio 

 has become an authority in reference to 

 the best standard literature of the 

 world. From his long experience as 

 President of Harvard University he 

 probably knows better than any other 

 man in New England the condition of 

 our schools, yet he says that the prime 

 object of our educational work is not 

 right and has not been right. He pro- 

 poses to apply the remedy. Hear his 

 own words on the subject. 



"The new teachers would be good 

 mechanics, well-trained laboratory as- 

 sistants, and naturalists competent to 

 teach botany, zoology, and geology on 

 walks and excursions with the pupils. 

 To provide these teachers in sufficient 

 numbers, the programmes of normal 

 schools would need to be considerably 



niudilicd ; ^u that it would prul:)al)ly be 

 necessary to wait for the production of 

 an adequate number of teachers com- 

 petent to give the new kinds of in- 

 struction. The prime object being to 

 give all pupils a correct conception of 

 the modern scientific method, and 

 sound practice in using it, the teachers 

 themselves must understand that meth- 

 od, and be bred to its constant use." 



Is it not the strangest thing in the 

 ^^'orld that a professedly literary man 

 should say that the new teachers should 

 l)e mechanics and naturalists? Yet this 

 is exactly what he correctly claims. 

 Again hear his words : 



"The training of the senses should 

 always have been a prime object in hu- 

 m?n education at every stage from pri- 

 mary to professional. That prime ob- 

 ject it has never been, and is not today. 

 The kind of education the modern 

 world has inherited from ancient times 

 was based chiefly on literature." 



Another President by the name of 

 Elliott has been telling us that we are 

 on the wrong track, a practical railroad 

 man, Howard W. Elliott, regarded as 

 one of the most efficient railroad man- 

 agers in this country. Perhaps the most 

 difficult of all railroad problems has 

 been assigned to him. With it he is ac- 

 complishing wonders. The task is yet 

 far from completion, but he is reorgan- 

 izing and rejuvenating and putting into 

 a higher grade of efficiency the New 

 York, New Haven and Hartford Rail- 

 road. But what is one of the first 

 things of which he sees the need on his 

 arrival in New England? That we are 

 not living up to our privileges as an 

 agricultural state. He marshals to- 

 gether a vast number of photographs to 

 show what crops we produce, and from 

 them he concludes : 



"If the actual figures were obtainable 

 we would undoubtedly find the amount 

 produced is actuallv less than 30 per 

 cent, of the consumption. New Eng- 

 land must raise more farm products, 

 cattle, fruit, vegetables, etc." 



He notes our extensive facilities for 

 agricultural labor and emphasizes the 

 important fact that New England has 

 advanced her manufacturing interests 

 =0 far ahead of her agricultural output 

 that it is now needful to make a strong 

 plea for the more active development of 

 these neglected interests for the fur- 



