4 COLORADO COLLEGE STUDIES. 



habit of putting one's hands into one's pockets is mechanically 

 nothing l)ut the reflex discharge, or not, the fact remains 

 that " the walking bundle of habits of later years " does spin 

 his fate for good or evil in that plastic state which covers the 

 time when the child is usually a pupil in the j)ublic schools. 

 If this is true, there is reason for saying that there is ethical 

 value in the systematic order and discipline that are found 

 in the majority of these schools. The constant and punctual 

 attendance, the orderly arrangement of pupils, together with 

 strict requirements in connection with these matters, fit one 

 for successful business life, and create a sense of responsibility 

 in regard to the use of time. The system of the public schools 

 tends to make the pupil systematic, and helps to produce the 

 accurate and methodical man or woman of later years. The 

 testimony in regard to this is incontrovertible. 



More than this, however, there is ethical value in the very 

 conception from which the movement started, and the idea 

 along which it has developed. The notion of self- improve- 

 ment for a high end has in itself moral worth ; for it demands 

 that the youth of the country shall be upright not only be- 

 cause excellence of character is a good in itself, but because 

 it promotes the good of the state. The expenditure of such 

 a large proportion of the public revenues, the erection of so 

 many buildings, the employment of such large numbers of 

 high-minded persons, the creation and constant support of 

 such an elaborate scheme, for the one purpose of producing 

 good citizens, are object lessons that must have great influence 

 upon the public. 



What has been said indicates some of the lines in which 

 the schools exert a direct moral influence; but in addition to 

 this a large amount of testimony shows that, especially where 

 there is a compulsory school law, a sense of responsibility 

 has been developed in parents, making them recognize their 

 own obligations. This, the reflex influence of the public 

 schools upon the communities in which the system is at its 

 best, is shown in many ways. Parents whose education has 

 been meagre and faulty have become learners themselves, 

 and have been led for the first time to consider seriously the 



