<) COLORADO COLLEGE STUDIES. 



niinded instructor in and throutrh tlie very process of tenchinfj: 

 aritlimetic. grammar, and geography. Mental activity and 

 intellectual self-respect are important factors in the truest 

 morality. Habits of attention and observation may be de- 

 veloped into self-control, and the power of judgment into 

 capacity for distinguishing between right and wrong. The 

 ability to hold one's self uninterruptedly to any task may be 

 power for resisting wrong or for the performance of duty. 



In this connection mention should be made of a certain 

 force of character which may be produced by the element of 

 continuity in the courses of study through which the pupils 

 are required to pass. So far as these are fitted to the nor- 

 mal, natural method of mental growth in the pupil they have 

 ethical value. Obedience to the laws of mental development 

 is essential to the highest type of manhood, and abnormal, 

 restricted, unnatural mental growth is apt to produce im- 

 morality. 



The things that have been mentioned lie on the hopeful 

 side of this problem, and on the whole they make the outlook 

 encouraging. They lead, however, to the question, How can 

 an institution that is fraught with so much good, and which 

 is necessary to the life of the state, be still further improved, 

 and how can certain evils within it be eradicated? To do a 

 little in the effort to answer this question, and also that this 

 statement of the moral problem of the public schools may not 

 be one-sided, an examination must be made of the evils that 

 at least modify their usefulness. 



Dr. Rice says, in his last article, on Our Public School 

 System: "One half the work of placing the schools upon a 

 healthful foundation has been accomplished when the mem- 

 bers of the boards of education become endowed with the 

 desire to improve the schools." To accept as final the opinion 

 that they are perfect always results in the evil elements be- 

 coming consijicuous. The most dangerous official is the one 

 who regards no criticism as valid simply because it is uttered 

 against the public schools. Neglect of such an essential 

 institution is not worse than bigoted satisfaction with it and 

 all that pertains to it. 



