106 THE HIGH COST OF LIVING 



kind of education that has no exact counterpart in 

 the world. The nearest approach to it in this coun- 

 try is the Gaiy system, with this important differ- 

 ence, that the Gary system is primarily designed 

 for the cities while the schools of Denmark are for 

 farmers. They were conceived by an insurgent 

 bishop, Grundvig by name, who insisted that the 

 schools of the country should be shaped to the needs 

 of the country. He saw that education should be 

 agricultural and the culture of the country should 

 be the culture of the farmer. He spent his life, as 

 most agitators do, without seeing the results of his 

 efforts come true. But to-day there are eighty-two 

 of these people's high schools in Denmark, each one 

 of which is independent in its administration and 

 each of which is a centre of politics, of discussion, 

 of propaganda, of agricultural training. The years 

 of attendance are from 16 to 35; the boys attend in 

 the winter and the girls in the summer. The cost 

 to the pupil, including board and lodging, is about 

 forty dollars a year. Text-books are but little used. 

 Classroom work of the ordinary kind is of secondary 

 importance. The schools idealize country life and 

 the nobility of manual toil. To attend one of these 

 schools is the ambition of the peasant. He is taught 

 the history of his country. He learns the songs of 

 Denmark. He acquires a strong body. In addi- 

 tion, the curriculum includes farm accounting, nat- 

 ural science, drawing and surveying, bookkeeping, 



