226 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVIII. No. 451. 



cation appeals to only one side of human 

 culture. ' 



There is nothing very new in this last 

 remark, for we have all said the same thing 

 in some form, but it is new to have such 

 a man say it so plainly. It reminds one 

 of an earlier plea for a broader system of 

 training by Dean Farrar, in which he said, 

 after thirteen years' experience as Master 

 of Harrow : " I must avow my distinct con- 

 viction that our present system of exclu- 

 sively classical education, as a whole, and 

 carried on as we do carry it on, is a deplor- 

 able fa'lure. I say it knowing the words 

 are strong words, but not without having 

 considered them well. It is no epigram, 

 but a simple fact, to say that classical edu- 

 cation neglects all the powers of some 

 minds, and some of the powers of all 

 minds. ' ' 



But it is not my purpose to attack nor 

 my wish to undervalue classical culture. 

 There is not a single well-arranged course 

 of literary study which I wish to overthrow. 

 'V^Tiat I ask is the establishment of addi- 

 tional courses, which are as truly liberal 

 and, for the great majority of youth, much 

 more efficient and timely. I have quoted 

 two eminent, open-minded authorities to 

 the end that all of us may be open-minded 

 in the consideration of the great educa- 

 tional problems of to-day. 



The opportunity and duty for secondary 

 schools rest upon two conditions which 

 must be briefly stated: First, secondary 

 education is becoming more general ; in the 

 next place, the demand is imperative that 

 the curriculum of the secondary school be- 

 come* broader. Let us examine these 

 conditions. 



1. There is an increasing tendency to 

 require school attendance up to a certain 



* I do not accept the fanciful distinction Presi- 

 dent Hadley makes between secondary education 

 and the curriculum of the secondary school. To 

 me they mean the same. 



age or to the completion of a certain stand- 

 ard of scholarship. Recent legislation is 

 in the direction of more schooling and 

 higher education, and even where legisla- 

 tion is wanting, public opinion is strongly 

 in that direction ; this is conspicuous where 

 manual training has been incorporated into 

 the secondary program. 



In England and Germany elementary 

 education is compulsory and, therefore, uni- 

 versal up to what we call the high school. 

 The same is true in many states in this 

 country. A few years a^o there was seri- 

 ous opposition to high schools supported by 

 taxation, and the great mass of children 

 had no expectation of entering a secondary 

 school. At the present time that opposi- 

 tion has vanished, and in many communi- 

 ties it is the rule and not the exception for 

 a graduate of the highest grammar grade 

 to enter the high school. 



The rapid growth of the secondary school 

 can not escape observation. The increased 

 range and efficiency of the grammar schools 

 is partly the cause and partly the conse- 

 quence of increased privileges in the way 

 of high schools. This is strikingly shown 

 in many cities, notably in the two chief 

 cities of Missouri, St. Louis and Kansas 

 City. In St. Louis the board of education 

 is building two fine manual training high 

 schools, which will be opened for students 

 next year. These schools have long been 

 necessary, but an unfortunate provision 

 in the state constitution kept the school tax 

 at so low a rate that the secondary features 

 were greatly neglected. Nearly a year ago 

 the constitution was amended, raising the 

 limit of taxation for schools from four 

 mills to six mills per dollar of assessed 

 value, or a dollar and a half of actual value. 

 To a surprising degree the prospect of new 

 schools has strengthened the higher gram- 

 mar grades. The feeling that the high 

 schools belong to all children is taking deep 



