Febbuaet 19, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



289 



4. In your opinion what is the value of 

 such instruction and what should be its 

 place in the course of study of secondary 

 schools ? 



Answers were received from fifty-six 

 schools. Replies to the first question show 

 that in twenty-one schools no instruction is 

 given ; that in twenty-one, political economy 

 is taught ; in f our, civics ; and that in nine, 

 such instruction is given only incidentally. 



The amount of time given to such study 

 is forty weeks in thirteen schools; twenty 

 weeks in fifteen schools; ten weeks in two 

 schools. 



From the answers to the second question 

 it is learned that in twenty-one schools in- 

 struction is given in the fourth year ; in ten 

 schools in the third and fourth years; in 

 three in the third year; and in one in the 

 second year. 



In the fifty-six schools named instruction 

 in social and economic science is given to 

 1,152 pupils specifically, and to 2,681 inci- 

 dentally. 



The fourth question elicited interesting 

 replies. From these expressions of opinion 

 it appears that there is considerable diver- 

 sity of views, ranging from pronounced 

 disapprobation to emphatic approval. 

 Twenty-four are of the opinion that it is a 

 very valuable subject, second to none. The 

 general opinion favors the last year of the 

 four years for the study, on account of 

 maturity of the pupils and their awakening 

 interest in the problems of the day, and 

 also on account of their previous acquisition 

 of knowledge essential to apprehension of 

 the present stage of civilization, domestic, 

 economic, political, religious, educational. 



The great service of social science will be 

 the discovery and statement of the laws of 

 association in obedience to which men may 

 live together in a state of freedom and attain 

 the fullest individual development. In the 

 secondary schools originality of thought is 

 not to be expected. To rediscover and 



verify and apply the laws discovered and 

 announced by science of every kind is the 

 immediate task of secondary pupils. More 

 they must not be expected to do. The com- 

 plex social organism with its fivefold exe- 

 cution, the family, society, the state, the 

 church, the school, furnishes a subject of 

 study that demands sustained attention, con- 

 centration of mind, apprehension of princi- 

 ples, familiarity with history. If this 

 study of institutions be undertaken late in 

 the course, when the effect of previous years 

 is apparent in power of concentration and 

 the vigor of grasp, it may be made ex- 

 tremely profitable. It is only by a study of 

 institutional life around us that we awake 

 to a consciousness of our relation to our 

 material, social and spiritual environment. 

 The world of the individual is commonly 

 limited by sight, hearing and touch. The 

 debt of obligation to the great institutions 

 through which he is made partaker of all 

 the results of centuries of struggle and trial 

 and sacrifice and suffering is not realized. 

 To give a youth rational conceptions of 

 the presuppositions of present social condi- 

 tions and spirituality of ideals is to render 

 him and society a much-needed service. A 

 teacher who is imbued with the importance 

 of the subject wiU make opportunity for its 

 introduction, but its close relation to his- 

 tory is apparent. The evolution of insti- 

 tutions is the theme of history. After a 

 course in general history sufficient time 

 should be given to a systematic study of 

 the evolution of institutions whose existence 

 conditions the life of to-day, that it may 

 appear from what beginnings and through 

 what modifications social order has been de- 

 veloped. From this study of institutions 

 doubtless there will come a more intelli- 

 gent comprehension of the process of civil- 

 ization, a juster appreciation of present 

 conditions, and a sincere and earnest desire 

 to contribute to their betterment and to 

 serve the cause of social elevation. 



