THE SUCCESS OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 



I never have been much interested in failures. In- 

 deed I incline to admit failure as a possibility in noth- 

 ing except that which is intrinsically wrong. That of 

 course is bound to fail sooner or later, and our interest 

 can be but of a pathetic sort. When, therefore, I hear, 

 as sometimes I do, men proclaiming the failure of the 

 common schools, I am less alarmed. I am disturbed, of 

 course, fearing mistaken judgment as to what is right. 

 But my disturbance as the years go by is more and more 

 slight; because, as I hope to show, as time passes I am 

 more and more convinced of the success of our schools 

 and that failure is far from them. And yet the cry is 

 still abroad that the common schools are a failure ! 



In studying the situation with care for many years, I 

 find that those who make such statements belong to one 

 or other of two classes. First, there are those who would 

 attract attention to themselves by assailing something 

 universally affirmed ; as who should say that Sarah Bern- 

 hardt is a poor actress ; or that a fine auto is not a hand- 

 some ornament to an American gentleman's dooryard; 

 or that the Sahara is not much of a desert. These peo- 

 ple have no special interest in the contention; they are 

 talking for talk's sake, and may be dismissed forthwith 

 from serious consideration. 



But, on the other hand, there is a class of critics of en- 

 tirely different sort ; these merit our attention. These are 



