A BroaderMission forLiberal Education... 

_Baccalaureate Address, Delivered inAgricultural College Chapel, Sunday, June 9, 1901. _

_By_.... J. H. WORST, LL. D. _President. _

A Broader Mission for LiberalEducation. 

Baccalaureate Address, Delivered in AgriculturalCollege Chapel, Sunday, June 9, 1901. 

BY J. H. WORST, LL. D. 

AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE P. O. , North Dakota. 

[Illustration: J H Worst]

A BROADER MISSION FOR LIBERAL EDUCATION. 

BACCALAUREATE ADDRESS, DELIVERED IN AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE CHAPEL, SUNDAY, JUNE 9, 1901. 

BY J. H. WORST, LL. D. , PRESIDENT. 

In America we recognize no aristocracy except that of genius or ofcharacter. Our countrymen are all citizens. Our government was foundedupon the principle that "all men are created free and equal" and thoughintellectual endowments differ widely in individuals, yet specialprivileges are accorded to no one as a birthright. Therefore the collegegraduate, as well as any other aspirant, must carve his way to fame andfortune by energy and perseverance, or lose his opportunity in thetremendous activities going on about him. His only advantage is superiortraining which must nevertheless be pitted against practical minds instrenuous rivalry for every desirable thing he would accomplish. Themere fact of education is considered no badge of merit. Educationrepresents power, but until it manifests itself in action, it is merelystatic, not dynamic, potential, not actual. It conveys to its recipientno self-acting machinery which, without lubricant or engineer will reeloff success or impress mankind, as a matter of course. 

The question is no longer asked by practical men "what does a man know"but "what can he do?" Knowing and doing have thus become so intimatelyassociated by common consent as to be inseparable; for knowing withoutdoing is indolence and doing without knowing is waste of energy. Theformer is sinful, the latter wasteful. For many years progressiveeducators have been striving against the culture-alone theory andadvocating the education of the whole man--hand as well as head, body aswell as mind. As a result the ancient educational structure is prettywell broken down, and the erstwhile curriculum has become areminiscence. Many wealthy parents still educate their children for thelarger pleasure which they believe education of the old type will affordthem in life, but parents generally have come to look upon life as aperiod of intense activity rather than a brief round of pleasure, andhence provide an education for their children that will fit them for theevery day demands that duty or necessity may make upon them. Since it isa matter of common observation that wealth is easily dissipated, especially when inherited, farseeing parents prefer an education fortheir children that is adapted to some useful end rather than theeducation that is largely ornamental or fashionable. 

The vicissitudes of life are many. Fortune is fickle and but few youngpeople can hope to command perpetual leisure even should their badjudgment make such a thing desirable. There can never be realindependence of thought and action apart from one's conscious ability tocope with others on equal terms in any human emergency. The young manwho rejoices in the provident hoardings of his ancestors which exempthim from strenuous exertion on his own part has but a small mission inlife. Work is the normal condition of man. The stern necessity thatcompels him to labor, to think and to plan, lifts him into thepleasurable atmosphere of usefulness and imparts zeal and ambition tohis energies. There can be no "excellence without great labor", and"hard work is only another name for genius. "

A young man cannot begin life with a richer heritage than good health, good habits and a liberal education--an education that imparts cultureto his mind and power to his body. If he should never have occasion touse his hands in some useful vocation, the training they have receivedwill never prove burdensome. On the other hand, the fact of being inpossession of reserve powers will prove a source of pleasure. It willdispel many a dark cloud and remove positive forebodings of possiblewant. The world is strewn with the wrecks of men who inherited fortunesbefore they had developed the mental poise or business experiencenecessary to estimate money at its true value. If they had earned theirmoney by honest effort they would not have fallen into habits that ledto unbridled extravagance and ultimate disgrace. The inheritance ofunearned wealth quite frequently proves a curse rather than a blessing. 

God never intended, however, that parents should provide a propertyinheritance for their children that will deprive them of the naturaladvantages which reasonable labor and its restraining influence affordboth body and mind. Parental drudgery and self-denial for the purpose ofrelieving children from the necessity of wholesome effort is mistakengenerosity. It makes parent and child alike fall short of the highpurposes for which life is given. For life is intended for moreimportant purposes than mere money-getting or the pursuit of objectsfrom which man is utterly divorced at death. Poor indeed must be thesoul if, at death, it must part from all it loved in life. But thisfrenzy of excitement in which parents live in order that their childrenmay be heirs leaves no time for the consideration of higher and betterthings. How much more lamentable, too, is such striving in the light ofthe fact that those who are to be benefited by these inheritances are inreality harmed and checked in their development. Said Senator Dolliver:"If I had a son and $100, 000, I would keep the two apart. "

Every man owes a duty to God, to his country, to his family and tohimself. To discharge these obligations honestly, fearlessly and withcredit should be his earnest purpose. No ambition should be entertainedthat does not embrace these fundamental duties and no career should beconsidered worthy that even underrates their sanctity. The fact that menoccasionally become prominent in business, social and political affairsby subordinating conscience and character to position or gain should notswerve a young man from the strict path of rectitude. Victories won bystrategy or injustice, whether in business or politics, seldom remainpermanent and never afford substantial enjoyment. Society has but littleuse for the man who wears a mask. 

In this busy world there is honest work for every man to perform. Civilization has multiplied human wants and also developed the ingenuitynecessary to gratify them. But it requires labor. Not such, however, aswas performed by the slave, but skilled labor--labor where the hand isguided by an intellect, quickened by the agency of class-room andlaboratory for the task assigned; labor, such as will reflect creditupon and elevate a gentleman. For there is no honest work a gentlemanmay not do. Work elevates a man. It perpetuates the manhood heinherited, which was built up by labor and thought in the flesh andblood of his ancestors. The necessity for labor, therefore is heaven'sblessing and to repudiate it is to invite physical and mental decay. 

Liberal education should take a far wider range than has ever beenassigned to it and exert an influence affecting matter as well as mind. It has a double mission, that of facilitating earning power to providefor physical comforts and also to prepare them to live. 

In a republic where every able bodied citizen is an equal factor andwhere one is possessed of mutual privileges and obligations, societydemands that each shall do his part. To be consistent society alsoshould afford equal educational facilities for all; facilities having asdirect bearing upon vocation as upon profession, and for those desiringit, an educational training as liberal for manual pursuits as isrequired for law, medicine or theology. 

The standard of manhood must advance to meet the new conditions and thetremendous responsibilities of the century we have entered upon. Withinthe present boundaries of the United States there exists the requisitearea, soil fertility and other resources sufficient to support agovernment of five hundred million people. Our patriotism, therefore, must be directed toward realizing the largest possible destiny for ourcountry. We should strive so to conserve the natural resources of thenation that with six or seven times our present population there will beno abridgment of opportunity to make a living and to fulfill the purposefor which life was created. The experiment of self-government will haveto withstand severer strains in the future than in the past unless oureducation is as democratic as our politics. The educational energies ofthe nation must be so diffused as to uplift all classes, reducing to thesmallest possible minimum the army of unskilled workmen. Through skilland training, labor must become pleasure. Steam and electricity musttake the place of human energy, lessen waste of raw material and elevatethe hand that guides the machine. 

The present generation is sinfully extravagant. Forests, mines and soilfertility are wasted with wanton prodigality. We speak of our coaldeposits and oil and gas wells as inexhaustible. We simply mean that itwill be impossible for this and probably for the next generation toexhaust them. But coal mines are not inexhaustible. Oil and gas wellsare problematical as to the length of time they will yield theirproducts. To such an extent have the forests been destroyed thatsubstitutes for timber are already sought for building purposes andmanufactures. Timber that would be worth millions of dollars to ourgrand children is burned in a day to provide a sheep pasture on somewestern mountain. We seem determined to waste and destroy what we cannotconsume or turn into ready money. 

European countries abound in sad memories of wasted soil fertility andforest destruction. Slowly but surely they are rebuilding andrehabilitating worn out tracts at tremendous expense. The ruin whichignorance accomplished with alacrity, education is slowly and painfullyundoing. Americans should heed the lessons of history and profit by themistakes of other countries. The production of food, clothing and othernecessaries of life which is of vital importance to a nation, cannot, with safety, be left to blind forces or to revered but ignoranttraditions. For it is a singular fact that science had quite as much todo with ridding agriculture and the manufacture of commodities ofdebilitating superstitions that not only retarded progress but werepositively injurious to both man and material, as it had to do with theintroduction of rational ideas. The rapid increase of the world'spopulation and the very general occupancy of arable lands throughout theworld, presupposes that the maximum of food production will soon bereached. A liberal and general diffusion of scientific information amongagriculturists alone can augment the productive power of the soil and atthe same time conserve its fertility for the support of futuregenerations. This subject demands a real awakening of public sentimentas to its importance. Provision must be made for thorough training thatwill direct the labor which produces the fruits of the earth. Thus tobroaden the scope of liberal education it must be divested of allaristocratic limitations and rendered sufficiently democratic to meetthe wants of the sons of toil. 

The question naturally arises, will the general introduction of sciencestudies in American schools tend to lower the standard of scholarship?If so, will the more democratic and hence utilitarian influence itexerts, compensate for the change? To the first question the classicalschools will quite generally and naturally give an affirmative answer. But the answer must not be considered as conclusive in settling thequestion even if believed to be true, in view of the contention thatsurrounds the second question. More than scholarship is needed to directand control the affairs of men. Mere scholarship--book-learning--isseldom effective in the solution of intricate national and economicproblems. For profound judgment and constructive ability, such asfrequently become imperative in great crises are qualities which are notevolved through classical investigations. They are born rather ofexperience and contact with the rugged every day affairs of life. Toexert a guiding influence in the affairs of state one must feel thethrob of living forces and come in touch with the great heart ofhumanity. 

The study of ancient languages has long held the honored place in theuniversities of Europe and America as peculiarly essential to maturescholarship. They answered the purpose intended, for the sciences wereunknown or in the infancy of their development and there was but littlebesides the ancient languages with which to train the student mind. Butshould they dominate the curricula of the twentieth century? Do theymeet the requirements of this intensely practical age?

Whatever may be said against the materialistic tendency of the presenttime, the scholarship of the idealists at least did not retard itsgrowth. Materialism abounds everywhere at present. The object sought byintroducing scientific in lieu of classical studies in some of thehigher institutions of learning is that facilities may be afforded thechildren of the productive classes, such as they can accept and whichwill have a directing influence upon labor. Whether such change willtend to increase or lessen materialistic tendencies, remains to be seen. The conditions will certainly be made no worse. For to balanceeducational forces and more nearly to, equalize educationalopportunities can only result in improvement. Equilibrium ofintelligence tends to unify and harmonize American interests and tostrengthen patriotism. And should liberal scientific education thusextend its beneficence to all conditions of men, especially to thosehitherto unprovided with facilities for preparation for their vocations, we can at least endure the innovation, for it does not aim at theimpairment of educational opportunities so long maintained for studentsable or desirous to take classical training. Some of the foremosteducators of the day admit that the study of the sciences possess asmuch disciplinary value as that of the ancient languages, and theinformation obtained, even though incidental to the culture sought afteris of inestimable value in the practical affairs of life. The fact thatbut few instructors are prepared to teach the sciences as creditably asthey are to teach the ancient languages, does not weaken the claims setup for scientific education. In the opinion of many sound educators, thecultural advantages of the dead languages, all things considered, arereceived at the expense of more important subjects. Says The World'sWork: "The easier and better way of retaining, restoring and greatlybroadening the culture-studies of a college course is to recognize theculture of our own language and literature. A broader and saner and morehumane and thorough and loving study of the literature of our own raceis the obvious way out of the dilemma. And it is more than an escapefrom a dilemma. It is a better means of broadening and deepening ourculture than we have over utilized or tried. "

The ancient classics as taught in high schools are of but littlecultural value. Not one student in a hundred reaches the degree ofattainment that presupposes a positive benefit. If the time were devotedto acquiring a more thorough understanding of our mother tongue it wouldbe more creditable. To give time to translating good Latin into poorEnglish is paying an extravagant homage to a fetish. Training in theancient languages must be long-continued and far-reaching, or it seemsto be of little value. The needs of culture cannot be satisfied by merediscipline any more than they can be satisfied by merely utilitariansubjects. But where the training is essentially practical and directlyhelpful in discharging the highest of all human duties, that ofproviding the necessaries of life, while at the same time affordingabundant opportunity for the study of the language and literature of ourown race, the blending thus of cultural and practical training shouldpossess a clientage immeasurably larger, because more useful, than whereonly the purely cultural is sought. Where the head is educated away fromthe hand and the number fitted for ministerial and professional dutiesfar overruns the demand for service, a heavy burden is imposed upon theproducing masses. At the same time thousands are graduated every yearfor positions that have only a prospective existence. The professionsare overcrowded to a degree that challenges the sanity of the country'seducational energies. And were it not for the gravity of the theme, thestrenuous defense that is set up for the system and the efforts putforth every day to still further augment the number of neophytes forprofessional honors, it would seem ridiculous. 

But why this overcrowding? Because the atmosphere of the professionalinstitution fills the student with prejudice against physical labor. Itis menial. His education has fitted him for something nobler than totoil in the field or in the work-shop. Institutional rivalry also doesits share, sending out alluring advertisements and thus filling thecollege classes with recruits from the farms and from the homes of laborwith candidates for positions in life of greater respectability thantheir parents were able to enjoy. The seeds of prejudice against rurallife and manual labor are often scattered in the country schools byteachers innocently imbued with the "ideal condition. " The fascinationsand allurements of the city readily impress themselves upon the youthfulmind, and the fact that facilities for liberal education were notoffered for the relief of the toiling millions, unless to transform theminto a different social element, naturally turned the eyes of those whowere able to obtain a liberal education toward the cities. 

It remained for the federal government to attempt to turn the tide thatwas setting too strongly toward urban life. The government's remedy isnot prohibitive legislation, but what should have been afforded withoutdirect government interference--a liberal education with a directbearing upon agriculture and the mechanic arts for those who naturallydesire to fit themselves for such pursuits; to place the farmer and theartisan upon an intellectual and social plane that will attract ratherthan repel those who would develop the country's resources. At the sametime no effort should be made, for the sake of patronage or forinstitutional advantage to influence a student from the calling hisheart honestly indicates as the one for which natural taste and nativeability, quickened by educational training, fits him. The thing to beavoided, rather, is the inculcation of prejudice against usefulvocations and desirable pursuits as being undignified and consequentlybeneath the notice or ambition of a gentleman. 

Do scientific inquiry and scientific knowledge generally diffusedaugment human greed? Do they tend to promote avarice? Most certainlythey do not. The man of science can see so much beyond--so much ofbeauty and design that even the drudgery of toil is forgotten incontemplation of the forces which he aids or controls. 

No thoughts can arise above the thoughts of God as written in thegrowing plant or painted upon the bow that arches the sky. To the man ofscience, even the raw material which he reconstructs into usefulcommodities contains a revelation in every grain and fiber. The swellingbud, the opening flower, the growing plant, the greeting shower, each isa chapter from Nature's open book, full of inspiration. Beyond them andabove them he sees the hand and hears the voice of God. And since helives and works thus close to Nature's throbbing heart and in closecommunion with forces that link the finite to the Infinite, who dares tospurn the dignity of his toil or characterize his associations asmenial. 

To live is man's first duty; to live well his privilege. But the worldhas its severe as well as delightful aspects. The divine law whichcommands man to subdue and replenish the earth is not less mandatorythan that other law which commands him to "lay up treasure in heaven. "And just as material wants antedate the soul's awakening or reason'sdawning, so throughout all life, physical well-being precedes andcontributes to the growth of the higher life. 

But, in the language of Herbert Spencer: "That increasing acquaintancewith the laws of phenomenon which has through successive ages enabled usto subjugate Nature to our needs, and in these days gives the commonlaborer comforts which a few centuries ago, kings could not purchase, isscarcely in any degree owed to appointed means of instructing our youth. The vital knowledge--that by which we have grown as a nation to what weare, and which now underlies our whole existence, is a knowledge thathas got itself taught in nooks and corners; while the ordained agenciesfor teaching have been mumbling little else but dead formulas. "

But we may hope for better things. We may, some of us, live even to seeliberal education divest herself of exclusive restrictions andeighteenth century idealism and walk hand in hand with twentieth centuryprogress; this will be when the "overwhelming influence of establishedroutine" shall give way to practical knowledge and love for theornamental in education shall no longer override the useful. 

E. P. Powel, in The Arena for April, most beautifully and expressivelycontemplates the schools which are to be. He says: "I will picture whatI believe to be the common school of the twentieth century. There willbe handsome schoolhouses in abundance, placed in the center of largegardens. The children will study books half a day, and things the otherhalf. The brain will not get any more training than the hands. Manualculture which is already a part of the school life of a few towns, willbe a part of school life everywhere. The school will have its shops andits gardens--and to use tools will be the chief end of culture. Man gotaway from the monkey by his power to make and use tools. He goes back tothe ape when his hands have to be cased in gloves and his brain isashamed of decent labor. In these school-gardens botany will be appliedto horticulture. In the shops our boys and girls will learn to createthings. The trouble with education now is that it divorces knowledgefrom work--the brains from the hands. In the twentieth century the gloryof American education will also be a thorough knowledge of economics, civics and history, applied to good citizenship. Colleges will surely bea part of the common school system, and just as full of modern life. Ibelieve we shall see the day when boys and girls who are in the commonschool together; without damage, can be co-educated in all other gradesof school life. The farmer will then not have a separate and specificcollege for agriculture, while the rest have one for 'mental culture;'nor will college boys in those days be ashamed to look ahead to farmingas a profession. There is no occupation that requires so much wit andeducated tact, and so much positive knowledge as farming. When we getthe schools, we shall get a style of farming that will be as keenlyintellectual as our present style is wasteful and unintelligent. "

And yet, strange as it may appear, the mission and purpose of anagricultural college must be constantly defended in a state almostwholly devoted to agriculture. 

In conclusion I quote from Herbert Spencer again: "How to live?--that isthe essential question for us. Not how to live in the material senseonly, but in the widest sense. The general problem which comprehendsevery special problem is--the right ruling of conduct in all directionsunder all circumstances. In what way to treat the body; in what way totreat the mind; in what way to manage our affairs; in what way to bringup a family; in what way to behave as a citizen; in what way to realizeall those sources of happiness which nature supplies--how to use all ourfaculties to the greatest advantage to ourselves and others--how to livecompletely. And this being the great thing needful for us to learn, is, by consequence, the great thing which education has to teach. To prepareus for complete living is the function which education has to discharge;and the only rational mode of judging of any educational course is, tojudge in what degree it discharges such functions. "

 Transcribers Note: The following words were changed from the author's original spelling:

 _problemetical changed to problematical_ _neophites changed to neophytes_