Evening Star Newspaper, December 21, 1930, Page 39

WET ISSUE TO DOMINATE AS| FACTOR IN 1932 CAMPAIGN| Chance for Democrats on That Platform Dependent Upon New York ’ and Solid South. BY MARK SULLIVAN., \HE Senate one day was snarling its bitterest. Democratic Senator McKellar of Tennessee had just delivered his twenty-third (or some such number) tirade against President Hoover. Rising to a climax in which he demanded that Mr. Hoover “a) to the Senate,” McKellar came to an oratorical rest. The pause gave an opportunity to Republican Sen- ator Bingham of Connecticut to rise and with smiling urbanity say, “Mr. Presi- dent, it is easy to see that the campaign of 1932 is now under way.” Whereupon the Senate registered and the stenog- raphers duly wrote down “Laughter.” ‘That laughter had the impish honesty ©f men caught in the act. The humor thus introduced had the quality of dis- infection, of aeration. The Senate, in a changed mood, listened to Senator Bing- ham continue: “It_is also quite apparent that our | friends on the other (Democratic) side of the aisle have made up their minds thal the people of this country are going to demand that the present occu- pant of the White House shall be re- nominated, and they (the Democrats) are engaged in making campaign ma- terial as fast as they can reel it off and the official reporters take it down.” Senator Bingham was probably cor- Tect on one point; he was certainly correct on the other. It is probably true that the Republicans will renomi- nate Mr. Hoover. It is certainly true that “the campaign of 1932 is now under way Campaigns are always under way long before the public realizes the fact. That 1s, campaigns for the presidential nomi- nations of the two parties-are under | way, in the Senate and wherever else | politicians foregather, many, many months before the public recognizes the maneuvers of the forces at work. Election 22 Months Away. It is true that the presidential elec- tion (between the two party candidates) of November, 1932, is more than 22 months ahead of us. It is true the two national conventions which will nomi- nate-the respective party candidates in late June or early July, 1932, are some 18 months ahead of us. But it also is true that the real deter- mination of the candidates of the two parties is not much over 13 months ahead of us. This amounts to saying that the nominees of the Republican and Democratic parties for the presi- dency will be determined by about the middle of February, 1932. This, statement calls for some expla- nation. Since the coming of direct pri- maries in some States and not in others, the selecting of presidential candidates has become an intricate process. Speak- ing not in a statistical sense, but never- theless in a real sense, the writer of this article believes that the forces which determine a presidential nomination will have gone so far by about the middle of February in a presidential year that it is practically impossible to avert them. In the old days before the direct pri- mary, national conventions were com- of free and uninstructed delegates, able to follow their own judgment or to subscribe to the judgment of any leader. Under those conditions the presidential nomination to be made by a national cconvention could not be accurately known until the convention was in session. Since the coming of direct primaries, however, a politician or observer suffi- ciently well informed can make a shrewd guess about February 15 in a presiden- tial year as to whom the national con. ventions of the subsequent June and July will nominate. Pebruary 15, 1932, is only a little over 13 months ahead of us, and it will surprise nobody (except the non-political public) to be told by Senator Bingham that the politiclans are already at work. As to the Republican nominee, it seems as of today, as Senator Bingham put it, that President Hoover will be renominated. There is as yet no rec- ognizable force under way that aims to alter that outcome. As to the Democratic nominee, how- ever, intricate forces are at work. Not only intricate forces—intricate men also. About all that can be said now is that the Democratic nominee is al- most certain to be a “wet.” Campaign Claim Analyzed. ‘The aim of the present article is to examine the assertion that the Demo cratic party, the presidency, | chance—and a good chance by any | standard of measurement—of winning the presidential election 1932. As a | text we may begin by quoting the re- cent words of an able political corre- spondent, Frank R. Kent of the Demo- cratic Baltimore Sun. Mr. Kent says: “It s simply too plain to be mistaken that regardless of merits, principles, theories, convictions and personal pre- dilections, the Democratic side must be the wet side. * * * Tre strategy of the Democratic position is too plain for argument. It is not a matter of prin- ciple; it is merely a matter of politics; of ordinary common political sense. ‘There s no escape from the logical con- clusion—and whether you are wet or dry, Democrat or Republican, their truth must be conceded. A The thing is foreordained. The wetness of the| Democratic candidate and the Demo- | cratic platform is really settled now. | There is no way out of that.” | Here, then, in the person of this | start, where only 266 are needed. shrewd and experienced observer, Mr. Kent, is the assértion that the Demo- cratic presidential nominee is practi- cally bound to be a wet. If support for so able a judgment were needed it can be said that practically every other ob- server, similarly experienced, agrees with Mr. Kent. Success a Debatable Proposition. Accepting that, assuming that the Democrats will nominate a wet, the question is, can they win with him? To that question the partial answer is that they almost ertainly cannot win with a dry. The Democrats, with a dry nominee, do not have the faintest chance of carrying New York State. To that assertion the most inexperienced amateur in politics will agree. And without carrying New York State the Dlemucu?.s can hardly carry the MNa- tion. Turn then to the heart of the ques- tion. Can the Democrats, with a wet nominee, win the presidency? The an- swer is that as things stand today, assuming that conditions remain as they are, they have a chance that is certainly their maximum one, and a good one measured by any.standard. The first element in the answer is, can the Democrats with a wet nominee carry the Solid South? To that Mr. Kent’s answer is: “Everybody concedes these Southern States as safely Demo- cratic with any Protestant candidate, no matter how wet.” .With that judg- ment practically all observers will agree. It is true that five of the States in the Democratic Solid South went Repub- lican in 1928. (Practically all for the first time in 50 years.) But the Demo- cratic candidate in that year, ex-Gov. Smith of New York, was a wet and also a Catholic. The opposition to him for these two reasons undoubtedly overlapped and is not easy to disen- tangle. Practically all politicians ld-l mit, however, that Gov. Smith's religion could account for the comparatively narrow margin of votes by which he lost most of such Southern States as he did lose. Gov. Smith lost Texas, for example, by 25400 votes in a total of 720,000. Can any realist in politics doubt that this narrow margin of 2 pér cent of the total vote was probably due to Gov. Smith’s religion, apart from his wetness? Can any one_doubt, in other words, that a wet Democratic candidate, provided he is not also a Catholic, can carry the Solid South? (Does any observer dissent from the judgment here expressed that the South would ?D solidly Democratic, as ordi- narily, for any probable Democratic wet candidate other than the Catholic ex- Gov. Smith? To put it the other way round, does any well informed citizen of the South believe that any Southern State would go Republican' just because the Democratic nominee is a wet—such a wet as Gov. Franklin Roosevelt, for example?) Solid South a Formidable Factor. ‘To carry the Solid South is to make a formidable start toward the presi- dency, True, many a Democratic can- didate has had that start, and yet has failed to win the presidency; but the reason has been that the candidate failed to get very far beyond the start. In the present case a wet Democratic candidate, having the Solid South as a start, may go very far. To win the presidential election a candidate must carry enough States, large and small, to give him 268 out of a total of 531 electoral votes. The 10 Southern States have 114. Conceding these 114 to a wet Democratic™ candi- d;u. let us examine his prospects else- where. Consider a group of adjoining States, which we may call the “New York group,” consisting of New York, Massa- chusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Jersey. These States are all wet. They are very wet. In ail but one of them both the Democratic and the Re- publican State organizations are for-| mally and expressly wet. In these | States many voters are wet first and Democrats or Republicans afterward. Can any one doubt that a wet Demo- cratic candidate would have a strong chance to carry this “New York group” of States? And if he does, he has 89 electoral votes to add to his 114 from the Solid South, or 203 from both groups. Two hundred and three elec- toral votes is certainly a formidable Count Shows 203 Electoral Votes. There is not space at this time to go | Pr further. It has been shown that the Democratic party with a wet candidate (not a Catholic) can probably carry the Solid South with 114 electoral votes and the “New York group” with 89 elec- toral votes. Here, with only two groups of States—the Solid South and the New York group—a wet Democratic candi- date would have 203 electoral votes to- ward a needed 266. Can it be doubted that the wet Dem- ocratic candidate would have an excel- lent chance to pick up the needed 63 electoral votes in such States as Ohio, with 24; Missouri, with 18; Kentucky, with 13; Maryland, with 8; Montana, with 4; Oklahoma, with 10; West Vir~ ginia, with Arizona, with 3; Dela- ware, with 3; New Mexico, with 3; Nevada, with 3—to say nothing of the possibility of Illinois, with 29? All of which is here stated as of to- day and on the assumption that pres- ent conditions continue until the final el(ectmn. which is 22 months ahead of us. Wheat Being Taken From World Politics As League Calls Economic Conference (Continued From First Page) economic equilibrium: the organization ©of exchanges, and, finally, more orderly | methods of co-operative and interna- | tional marketing. | Since wheat prices will have to be fixed on the world market, conditions can be permanently alleviated only by international co-operation. Co-opera-| tlon of groups of nations having com- | mon interests may serve to pave the| way. Thus the Mid-European states, | whose peasant population comprises | from 70 to 80 per cent of their hun-, dred million peoples, are asking that, their industrialized European neigh- | bers promise to absorb first their sur-| plus of 60,000,000 to 80,000,000 bushels | of wheat yearly before buying from | overseas. This amount, which wog solve the problem of Bulgaria, Rum#ia, , Poland, Jugosiavia, Hungary ing prices at a figure which would in- crease slightly the cost of living in the | hasing _countries. off The extent to which wheat has been d| Jation alone jumped by 34,000,000 over | | collective | necessity or through vanity. sources. The acreage producing wheat | was: Acres. In 1908-13. .197,000,000 In 1925-: 232,500,000 The world's production of wheat over| the same periods is estimated as follows: | Bushels. In 1909-13 .2,961,800,000 In 1925-27. £3,783,000,000 ‘While the acreage has increased al- most 18 per cent, the production over the same périod had increased around 36 per cent, indicating the extent played by modern methods in wresting more | and more from the earth. In Canada, Argentina and Australia the acreage planted in wheat has in- tl:;aud by more than 200 per cent since Yet, while the population of the world, despite wars and epidemics, in- | creased 123,000,000 in the decade be-| tween 1911 and 1922, and Europe’s popu- | that period, the per capita consumption | of all cereals decreased in Europe by 125 per cent and in the world as a whole by 19 per cent. Either mankind i changing its diet or contracting its belt because of economic Rural Population Decreases. ‘The result: Wheat prices in Canada are Jess this year by half than in 192). In the United States, according 1o ‘Washington's official report to the League, from 1920 to the year the rural communities suffered a net loss of 3,760,000 persons gone to swell the cities’ flood of unem- ployed. Summarizing the European situation, M. Hipolit Gliwic, President of the Polish Senate and ex-minister of com- Champions F DECEMBER 21, ive-Day Week | 1930—PART TWU. “Secretary Doak Advocates Greater Period of Rest for the Workingman. History of Fight for Shorter Hours. BY REX COLLIER. « O LONG as there is one man who seeks employment and cannot obtain it, the hours of labor are too long.” Forty years ago, when the late Samuel Gompers gave expression to this view, the movement for an eight- hour day for workers was just getting under way. Today a new champion of labor has stepped forward in support of a shorter work period than Gompers would have dared to broach two score years ago. He is none other than the new Secre- tary of Labor, Willlam Nuckles Doak, erstwhile freight-car shifter and late legislative representative of the Brother- hood of Railroad Trainmen. Secretary Doak no sooner had as- sumed his post in the cabinet than he came out with a public pronouncement in favor of the five-day week. “I have tried it out in my own office for several years and found it success- ful,” he declared. “Nothing is gained by making employes work half a day on Saturday, for little can be accomplished during those few hours. I believe in the five-day week.” ‘While Mr. Doak was yoicing this sen- timent in his office at the Department of Labor a group of railway labor exec- utives was meeting at the Labor Secre- tary’s old headquarters to formulate a program for & shorter work day and a shorter week in the railroad industry, and a movement already was on in other circles to gain a five-day week for Gov- ernment employes. Worked From Dawn to Sunset. Announcement of Secretary Doak's opinion and of the railroad labor drive and of the movement in the Federal service did not create the stir that Sam Gompers’ “radical” statements aroused when the crusade for shorter hours was in nebulous form. When this country was yet in fits swaddling clothes it was customary for industrial workers to stay at their work benches just as long as the farmer re- mained behind his plow, namely, from | sunrise to sunset. The hours were longer in Summer, a fair day’s labor extending over 14 or 16 hours. In Win- ter the daylight period shortened the hours to 12 or 14. One or two hours usually constituted the meal period. In 1791 the journeymen carpenters of Philadelphia startled industrial cir- cles by striking for shorter hours. After long negotiation an agreement was reached between the employes and the Master Carpenters’ Association “that in the future a day's work amongst us shall be deemed to commence at 6 o'elock in the mor and terminate at 6 o'clock in the evening of each day.” Some 30 years later, when the 12- hour day began to pall on the workers, 2 general movement was launched for 10-hour day. The movement was ttflded by many strikes and contro- versies. Struck for Ten-Hour Day. Indicative of the shock which the new drive cccasioned in the ranks of employers is the response of master carpenters of Boston to a strike by BY HENRY W. BUNN. HE following is a brief story of the most important news cf the world for the seven days ended December 20, 1930. Rk a GREAT BRITAIN.—The government has definitely decided to present to the Commons immediately after the Christ- mas recess an electoral reform bill e bodying the alternative vote principle— a sop to the Liberals; not as favorable to the latter as they could wish, nor in the form they would chcose, but per- haps favorable enough to conciliate es- sential support by them. The government has presented to the Commons a bill calling for repeal of the trades disputes act. This is a move of the very first importance. It is said that the Liberals have promised to sup- port it in return for the electoral reform oposed. It would legalize sympathetic strikes and picketing unaccompanied by violence; trade union funds would again be immune from attachment and unions would again be authorized to make po- litical levies on members; and the right of civil servants to organize would be restored. Premier MacDonald has ylelded to the Lords on one issue. The Commons had approved, though only by a very narrow margin of votes, the govern- ment’s proposal to allow the dyestuffs act to lapse on January 15 next. The Lords amended the measure so as to postpone for a year the date lapsing. Mr. MacDonald decided that, consider- ing the present complexion of affairs, it would be unwise to contest the matter further. So tor a little longer the Brit- ish dye industry is to be protected against terrific pressure from Germany. On the 19th, Parliament adjourned to January 20. ke i NORWAY.—Norway has been cele- brating the twenty-fifth anniversary (November 27) of the mounting of Norwegian throne by Prince Karl of Denmark as Haakon VII. King Haakon has thoroughly endeared himself to his subjects. He is an authority on the sagas and an ardent patron of Winter rports. Norway celebrated another an- niversary this year, namely, the nine hundredth of the death of King Olaf II, great-grandson of Harald Haarfager, to whom is attributed the firm establish- Pcland dropped from 184 in 1926 to 112 ip 1929, down to 89 in 1930. The lowefing by 200 per cent of the farmers’ ability to buy immediately made itself felt in industry. One depression aggra- vated the other. The farmers of Mid- Europe constitute 25 per cent of the buying population of Europe. In Hun- gary they are even going without salt. Rumanian Minister Speaks. Over in Rumania M. Virgile Mad- gearu, minister of commerce and in- cti;‘x,xcry. gave me the following observa- n: ’ “Ecnomic life is not static. There are cycles and long periods of economic depression which come at intervals, and especially in agriculture. After the Na- poleonic wars it lasted 15 years; after the wars of 1870-1880 there was one which lasted 25 years. Now we are in the midst of another. Russia’s economic experiment is complicating the situa- tion and Russian dumping has just be- gun. Europe's jculturists are in a tragic position. In Rumania, for ex- ample, as a direct result of the depres- sion in agriculture our imports dropped 20 per cent in 1929. In the first six months of this year there was another decline of 20 per cent. All the coun- tries of Europe almost have a similar phenomenon. Unemployment is the re. sult and the jow purchasing power of the peasant tion is almost di- rectly to blame.” Since the prosperity of the farmer is directly linked with the prosperity of industry, it is obvious that re- habilitation must go hand in For that reason industrialists and agriculturists are joining forces,™and merce and industry, who is the spokes- | man of the Mid-] n agricultural bloc, gave the writsr a striking illus- traticn of the interdependence of agri- ufilmuuwmauflwyflwvm offic! reports collected by the from various authoritative culture and industry, of peasants on .the land d workers in the cites. Prices. obtained " for prosperities, are | the ‘firet time e b governments, which in the final analy- is must be arbiters of their national cern For is seeking to bt national ng ury for tne the " SECRETARY DOAK journeymen carpenters in 1825 for & 10-hour day. “We learn with surprise and regret,” the employers said, “that a large num- ber of the journeymen have entered into a combination for the purpose of altering the time of commencing and terminating their daily labor which has been customary from time immemorial.” Such a combination, they declared, was “fraught with numerous and pe nicious evils,” for it would subject the Jjourneymen to “ temptations and improvident practices” from which they were “happily secure” when from sunrise to sunset, ment of Christianity in the land and who is, therefore, revered as St. Olav. Haakon's been adorned by two first rank, Amundsen and Nansen. L FRANCE.—On December 13 Senator Theodore Steeg announced to Presi- dent Doumergue success of the effort to form a government. That government is very definitely left. Of the 18 min- isters 11 (including M. Steeg) are Radi- cal socialists, 3 are left Republicans and 2 Republican Socialists, 1 is of the Union Republicaine and 1 of the Radi- cal left. A good many well known names are seen—Briands (foreign affairs), Legues (interior), Cheron (justice), Bathou (war), Sarraut (marine), Chau- temps (education), Deladier _(public \(l'u‘rh), Louicheur (commerce), Painteve air). Only 3 members of the new cabinet served in the late cabinet, but Messieurs Leygues and Louicheur were members of Tardicu's first cabinet. The oppo- sition, which includes four very im- portant groups, appears t be strong enough to make M. Steeg dependent on support from the unified Socialists; an namely, To—Julia, UNS_may forget to lift their mist But she waits not for drowsy sivd munzI ‘When the ship carpenters of Boston followed the example of the journey- men several years later and struck for a 10-hour day in the ship industry the ship owners painted a sordid picture of evils that would result from the extra leisure. “The habits likely to be generated by this indulgence in idleness in our Sum- mer mornings and afternoons will be very detrimental to the journeymen in- | dividually and very costly to us as a| community,” the owners stated. ’ If the men succeeded in their strike, it was added, their example “probably would be followed by thousands who | extremely unsatisfactory situation, a most precarious support. Senator Steeg is 62 years old. He entered Parliament at 36 and held his first portfolio in 1911. He was minister of the interior almost throughout the years 1919-20. Thereafter as Governor General of Algeria he established a very high pro-consular reputation. He re- | signed this post in 1925 to join the Painleve cabinet as minister of justice, but within a few months he returned to Africa as resident general of Mo- | rocco, which post he filled with dis- tinction for four years, on his return to France becoming Senator. On the 18th the new government presented it- self to the chamber. Debate on the ministerial declaration raged flercely for seven hours, after which a motion of confidence was carried, but only by the exceedingly narrow margin of 7 votes (291 to 284) and only through solid support by the unified Socialists. Moreover, already M. Thoumyre, minis- ter of pensions, and two undersecre- taries have resigned. I repeat that the position of the new government is very precarjous. On the 19th Parliament was adjourned to January 13th. The new minister of justice an- Who Serves hoods; es to throw Gold on my window ledge; Her back bends low To coax in curling radiance from dull logs; Gold warmth to glow. And for the dusty garb of yesterday, She lays out hcmespun fresh and linen white; For recompense small coins, Which are but birds in eager flight To bear a u&efir ¢:m‘rym§l my name ry’s height. To Holy It is a day called Christmas—Julia hastes To bring to me a ift. In her hard palm She holds a bit of fabric, woven fine, In twilight’s calm, By nuns who tied And gold, with psalm. ale threads with threads of prayer, Why should she bring to me this holy gift? For things by love contrived most holy are— And when I see this frail stuff, shot with light, My vision, by some shinin, Is severed from near fiel scimitar to fields afar. To far blue fields where it is Christmas tide, With angels round the Holy Mother’s knee, And Julia, in her arms a robe and crown, Raises her eyes and catches sight of me, Shabby and cold outside the gates 6of Heaven, Standin g despondently. The 1nJels all put cn their lustrous robes, And every angel dons his shining crown— Save Julia—She with her bright gifts held close 1Is tugging at the Holy Mother’s gown. “Oh, Holy Mother Mary, may I take ese garments down To him? He needs them so.”—She nods my way— His earthly garments ever were my care: Oh, Mother Mary, let me take my gi Down to the gloew\g? All shabby and you oft fts See Him standing there, ave heard His name— My taper bore it upward with my prayer!” And Julia threw the wide gold gates ajar, And light more fair than dawn upon me shed; A:ld!he “Please, Mother - '0 make my lit! And there beside the H Lost in n!'\l;r 3 joyous , another’s brow her crown, ping me about with radiant robes, me unto Mary’s throne and said— , may 1 halo fit His head?” have a star Mother’s knee, uliz lingers. shining star between “her fingers; a world in wonder watches glory thread the blue-lit miles; on the shining patches, with lcve; and smiles. ~—LEWIS COLWELL. are now contentedly and industriously pursuing their avocations, and thus pro- duce incalculable injury to the whole people.” i Van Buren Shortened Work Day. President Van Buren in 1840 gave the shorter day proposal a big boost when he proclaimed a 10-hour day for Federal employes in the Capital. The eight-hour movement appears to have originated at the Charleston (Mass.) Navy Yard in 1842, when ship carpenters went on the shorter schedule. It was a Boston mechanic, Ira Stew- ard, then working 12 hours a day, who took the leadership in the campaign for an eight-hour work day. That was about the time of the Civil War. A concerted drive was undertaken with considerable success, and in 1868 Con- gress enacted the first Federal law lim- i iting the hours of work. The law pro- vided an eight-hour day in the Govern- ment departments and for all laborers “employed on behalf of the Govern- ment.” Department heads, however, met the change with a corresponding wage re- ?‘uc:lan that caused widespread discon- nt. A year later President Grant issued an executive order directing the de- partments "to restore the 10-hour-day scale of wages. Some of the bureau heads failed to comply with the order, however, and Grant issued a second proclamation that was obeyed. The eight-hour edict for Government work long was evaded by contractors, however, and it was not until Congress passed a special law in 1913 forbidding employment of outside labor where the eight-hour day was not observed that the evasion ceased. The newborn American Federation of Labor took up the fight for an eight- hour day in industry in the early eighties. A policy of strikes was adopt- ed to force employers to shorten the work day. The notable strike of the carpenters in 1890 resulted in estab- lishment of the eight-hour day for car- penters in 137 cities and a nine-hour day nearly everywhere else. Other unions followed the example set by the carpenters, until the eight-hour day be- came firmly established in most lines of industry. Ford Adopts Short Week. In the meantime the five-day week began to receive serious consideration. Henry Ford focused world-wide atten- tion on the movement in 1926 when he adopted the short week in his plants in | Detroit. In announcing the innovation, | Ford said: “The country is ready for the five- day week. It is bound to come through | all industry * * * because without it the country will not be able to absorb its production and stay prosperous. The industry of this country could not long | exist. if factories generally went back to the 10-hour day, because- the people would not have time to consume the g00ds produced. “For instance, a workman would have | little use for an automobile if he had (Continued on Sixth Page.) nounces that there are 181 French bankers or financiers against whom ju- dicial proceedings are in progress, in- cluding 35 in jail. * ok ok % | . SPAIN.—The military revolt at Jaca, a garrison town in spain gear the | Frerch border, was a brief episode. The dispatches are foggy, but the following seems fairly ‘established: On December 12 most of the garrison of about 600 mutinied, imprisoned the loyal few and declared against the Berenguer govern- jnent. The next day a detachment of about a hundred sallied out for Huesea, though with what precise object is not clear. The government acted with re- markable promptness. The detachment was met en route and overpowered by loyal troops, who pushed on to Jac where, rather surprisingly, they en- icounured no opposition, the bulk of | the mutineers meekly surrendering. Forthwith six mutinous officers were tried by a military court. Two were sentenced to death and at once shot; four were sentenced to life imprison- ment. It is widely conjectured that simultaneous on at sundry points similar to that at Jaca had been con- certed, but failed to materialize, owing to faint heart or other cause. But the end of the government's troubles is not yet. At da the 15th the famous Maj. Ramon Franco alighted from a plan at the Cuatro Viekos Military Airport, near Madrid, in uniform, wild-eyed, and soon he had persuaded ‘most of the airport person- nel of about 500 officers and men to revolt and proclaim a republic, the few declining to join being locked up. Several planes were painted red and dispatched to scatter over the city in- flammatory leaflets which the major had brought with him. About noon gov- ernment troops, including artillery, ar- rived at the field, and a few rounds of shrapnel brought surrender, the air personnel being insufficiently armed | we object to the |ANTIOCH COLLEGE SYSTEM AVOIDS MASS TREATMENT Every Student Chooses One “Field of BY ARTHUR E. MORGAN. President Antloth College, Yellow Springs, Ohio. YRANO DE BERGERAC strove valiantly to win recognition for other characteristics than tco obvious nose. Mark Twain had great difficulty in being anything but a humorist to his readers. Both cases {llustrate a common fault of human nature—the trait of being satisfled with identifying men and things and but little concerned with understanding them. In every day life we are content with observing and re- membering a few cbvious uliarities of whatever we meet, so that we can recognize or “know” them. This type of “knowing” does not discriminate values. Antioch Cullefe has a fundamental educational philesophy which affects every phase of higher education. In the expression of that philosophy eer- tain methods are employed which, though not original with Antioch, are striking and novel to the casual ob- server. These methods are proving to have educational ve'uve even beyond our expectations. Methods Express Philosophy. Yet they are but incidental to the development of an inclusive plan, and castal judgment which assumes t because one observed an obvious characteristic the whole has been duly appraised. Speak of Antioch and you often hear the remark: “Oh, yes; that is where stu- dents pass half their time at college and half in industry and commerce.” The expression “that is where” may just as properly be used with reference to any one of several other notable de- partures which Antioch has made from conventional methods. Yet each of these methods is but an element in the expression of a philosophy and not one is so radical, so novel or so nearly unique as the underlying phi- losophy of which it is the partial ex- pression. Like most great developments which grow out of fundamental human needs education has been a haphazard, em- pirical growth. seldom has felt the need of a_general principle which would complete, as well as discipline and harmonize, its conflicting expressions. The Antioch philosophy of education in both theory and practice undertakes to do nothing less than that. Major Qualities Analyzed. Antioch attempts to make a delib- erate survey of the entire range of major human affairs and to observe what qualities of body, mind, person- ality and character have significant in- fluence on the outcome of living. It endeavors to. discover to what and in what manner all these major human qualities may be developed, modified and disciplined to bring about the total greatest worth of lity. In making this appraisal it does not stop at elements commonly included in a conventional college program. There is no field of human concern of which it will say: “That is outside the proper province of the college.” Neither does it take the attitude that while its one real concern is scholarship, various other interests will be tolerated, but with an inferior status. Every human trait and quality is equally within its field. For such a survey, sustained effort is_ keep a critical mind and to see issues that exist even though they never have been brought within conventional edu- cation. Mass Limitations Avoided. With that appraisal as a guide An- tioch undertakes to build a program which will bring about the best pos- sible development of each s nt quality and it endeavors to phasis to each in proportion as it is important in life and not as it is con- ventionally valued in education. We recognize that individuals vary in the to different elements of development, and thus we endeavor to escape from one of the limitations of mass methods of education. The greatest handicap to the success of any such undertaking is the natural tendency of students and faculty mem- bers in every institution to see the world in the light of the educational most men largely incapable of fresh outlooks as to educational values. The commonest objection to Antioch is that there are no universally ac- cepted canons of value to serve as sure guides, and that, lacking such stand- ards, the best policy is to follow tradi- tion—with occasional modifications in detail after research in special fields— or to let the accidental and undirected interests of the student be: his guide through the mazes of educational op- portunity. This objection cannot be alization of the failure to have an in- clusive educational philosophy as an actual working guide. Tdeal Kept in View. 1t is common human experience that if we keep an ideal clearly in view as an aim we can constantly approach its realization, even though it cannot be given complete and unqualified defini- tion. The ideal that a government should exist to promote the well being of its citizens !.s‘ good illustration. It is-a valid and prétical ideal, though we and unfitted by training or organiza- tion for land battle. 0 other Lisbon, where the Portuguese govern- ment interned them. In granting them asylum, the latter is naturally embar- rassed. Maj. Franco is quoted as claim- ing that the artillery promised to co- operate with him, but proved false. ‘The Third International may, as the French press aptly intimates and as the Duke of Alba, the Spanish minister of foreign affairs confidently asserts, have an active oarin that galley. Apparently martial law throughout or through the greater part of Spain en- sued at once upon the Cuatro Vientos affair, and still continues. Our information of the general situ- ation in Spain subsequent to the Jaca and Cuatro Vientos affairs is only vague and scrappy. Close upon the latter there was a rather serious emeute at San Sebastian, civilians engaging po- lice and civil guards, and several deaths resulting. Similar affairs were doubt- fully reported from lencia and Huelva, but, except for a number of strikes, some general, the 16th seems tflo }:lve passed off without much inci- lent. Striking continued on the 17th wide- ly, with some access of violence. And numerous rioting clashes, not a -few casualties, contentions being worse in Alicante and its vicinage, but reports in- dicate extraordinary subsidence of strikes on the 18th and 19th and very little violence. The dispatches are not so clear as to the total casualties in the disorders since and including the Jaca affair. The Jaca total was 11 dead and 54 wounded. That of Alicante is reported as_12 dead and 89 injured. continues as to Recognizing_the | ® unkx;ot fully define the well being it eeks. Another position often is scholarship; that .a college must_rigorously limit its field of effort and leave to other agencies the disci- pline of other phases of personality. This position, while still strongly held, is being gradually modified. A contrasting criticism takes the form of a complete agreement with the Anti- och aim, with the further observation: “Of course, that is just what all higher education is trying to accomplish. What peculiar endowment has Antioch to Justify its expectation of exceptional success?” We believe this criticism does not state the real issue. No Unique Equipment Claimed. Antioch claims no unique equipment for its task. If Antioch is approxi- mately vnique in any significant it is in consciously kee&tn( in the fore- ground of attention the principle we have stated and in making it the actual control in the college program. The effect of such a course is- very different from that of giving abstract philosophical approval while allowing traiitiona. educational outlooks, modi- fied only in minor details by the re- sults of experience and research, to continue in control of practical policy. ‘We believe that any American col which actually adopts the phllmoghy ‘we have ouf will be compelled into revolutionary changes. There are novel and revolutionary educational policies now fighting a hard, slow battle for recognition which would at once be ap- proved and accepted everywhere vious common sense which results from indoctrination in revailing Eb:r:fely technical educatios vitheg ith physical d cal education for per: economic life; with with the dev with cial an appreci pal, so- hetic of his Gerly and integrated plan In actual practice it | g emphasis they can most profitably give | 9us | doctrinated. This indoctrination makes | b sustained. Sometimes it is a ration- | I as but for the bias| ik Concentration” Besides Liberal Course. Industry Takes Half Time. practical tempering to th. conditions of the economic world. These elements are not casual accretions about the nhis- toric major stem of educational inter- est, but are organic elements of an or- of study. The development of such a program Tequires every effort to displace aca- demic anarchy by discipline and organ- ization. Required nces of courses; avoidance of overlapping of subject matter in related courses— these and many other economies make poseible the rather heavy requirements of Antioch in the fleld of liberal edu- cation. Each student is ted to have a substantial amount of composition and literature; four or more years of his- tory, government aad economics; & year of philosophy and a year of es- thetics. The content and distribution of there required courses are subjects of continuous reseatch and study by a faculty committee. They are not born of happy inspiration, and they do not survive by chance. “Flelds of Concentration” Chosen. In addition to the required liberal courses, every Antioch student is asked to pre; himself for a major life in- terest a freely chosen “field of con- centration” which occupies not less than a third of his coliege time. These has flelds of concentration prepare for ca- reers in business, in literature, in edu- cation, in pure and applied science, in physics, chemistry, geology, biology and psychology, in economics, in engincer- ing, in journalism and in home econ- omics. Other flelds of concentration prepare for professional schools of law, medicine and architecture, The fulfillment of the requirement for the field, however, both prepares for a life calling, which is the aim of professional schools, and supplies ocea- slon for that mastery of a subject which 8 the aim of the unde: college “major.” two purhoses in a is a fundamental educational eccnomy. After meeting the requirements as to liberal couraes and the field of con- centration, & or a third of the student’s time is still available for ectives. & Hyglenic Living Emphasized. the Antioch program is to develop symmetry of personality, unusual o phasis must g: ph.u? b0 . they greatly reduce those elements of edy in the next generation. child care are main that not only those “ economics will enroll number of young men lfl’:’lhfl L of the ':t nt majority mmn{mm gardless flelds, courses. il #s§ of their The Antioch rognm d at the carefu’ selection of req Jjects nor at re- ugl? i rriculum. — One-half college cu b of Antioch student’s time is in try, in practical work. e student g % § EF nlarging an Ppersonality by a devel t of ties of character and he is made of, and he knows life at first hand. E g Helps Student Find Calling. ‘The pursuit of these also helps the student to m anc to prepare himself in it. the Mississippi to .c Atlantic for efi?i‘flmllnm““‘ ’::1‘1 institutions Wl great t are being buil and where guv. personalities are ¢ mining policies and inspiring men; find in them working _opgammms for young men and women where they may acquire those traditions and outlooks by actual experience, whil> at time they are developing their own characters and mastering the practical life. The personn achieved this purpose. operative college to see the &ling may Burt the Srandiag oF e may st is an invaluabl. educational building character and personality. “Autonomous Program” Adopted. ‘The Antioch “autonomous by which formal class room recif are largely replaced self-directed study and informal erence, is an- other feature of the Antioch program which greatly increases responsil - itiative. It is one of the most notable of the Antioch undertakings. nated in 1921, it has grad N oped until nearly all work after the year is now done autono- e similar to that 5 tric_engineering, book and the te-cmnfi of dramatics, where cther- wise a college would be unable to provide the necessary facilities. Community Service Undertaken.. ‘Through u.: Antioch, “Service Qoun- -