Evening Star Newspaper, March 22, 1931, Page 29

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, — MARCH 22, 1931—PART TWO. FRANKS TELL FOR GUIDES IN VOCATIONS Vice Chairman of plains Advantagefl of Training in Radio Forum Address. ‘The text of the speech of E. T. Pranks, vice chairman of the Federal Board of Vocational Training, delivered last night in the National Radio Forum, arranged by The Washington Star and broadcast over a Nation-wide hook-up of the Columbia Broadcasting system, follows: . Some years Dr. William Osler startled the country when he sald that when a man reaches the age of 40 his days of usefulness in action, in sgience, in art and in literature have practically ended, and left the idea that after you e 40 you become a lability rather an asset. ‘The statement of the eminent physi- cian is now known to be untrue. Yet time has demonstrated that industry has taken too seriously the idea. We find in far too many instances that employes after reaching a certain age are dropped from the pay roll and younger employes are taking their If the age limit is to bar one class, and labor-saving machinery is to throw out of employment another group, we have a serious problem confronting the Republic. What is to become of these two groups? Retraining Necessary. ‘Will the country resort to old-age pensions? Certainly not for that, class able to carry on. Many of these em- pioyes have served years in their pres- ent vocation or calling with skill and loyalty to their employers. Many of them are untrained for mythmor else, because they have put their whole soul in their present job and given little or no thought to other jobs. ‘When thus relieved of their present Elunm there is but one of two things t can be done—retrain them for something else, or throw them on the charity of the country. Labor does not want charity, but a chance to earn an honest living. rience has fully demonstrated the fact that our unemployment today, which is worw-wi;le. inc u‘ki:! a very small percentage of thorough'y trained workers, but is confined almost en- tirely to the untrained worker. The thoroughly skilled artisans are in de- mand and at a living wage. ‘The census of 1920 (the 1930 census ecutive classes. This ably holds good today. The old-age handicap is weeding out those of & mature age on the one hand and labor-saving machinery is reducing the ranks of all ages. ‘The commission appointed by the President prior to the passage of the vocational educational act reported that the more than 23,000,000 employes engaged in manufacturing and agricul- only 1 per cent of them were ly and ly ed. us trained is to know all the e on the ;_know how to them accurately, with the speed of kman and with job intel- rather than compel him to rely upon | one specialized job only, and that one | may have been taken from him on ac- | count of age or labor-saving machinery? | can not be done in a day nor a year, but the sooner it is begun the sooner the task will be finished. We are informed that it took Noah 600 years to build the ark, but it will not take that long to better train the of the country. I go not know how they reckoned time in"the days of Noah, but the job was not postponed on account of cost or the time required to | complete the undertaking. Sidonians Trzined. It took Solomon 11 years to build his temple. 1t should not take that long to better train the adult workers of the country, bat it appears from the record that they had skilled and unskilled workers in those days. The Sidonians seem tc have been vocationally trained, while the others were not. Sidonians only could hew the.cedars of Lebanon. But they did not have to contend with the Osler idea then, nor with so much labor-saving machinery. I know that some p:ople will argue cost as a reason for putting off this great humanitarian task, but will it not be wise economy to spend at least $28 to better train a workerrather than permit him to become a charge upon the community at a much greater cost? | I do not know the average cost of | training for the professions, but I quote from an Iowa paper of December 6, 1928: “The cost of medical training at one of our State universities for four years was $19,622 per graduate. This was only the expense to the State.” ‘While on the average it cost this State almost $5,000 per year to educate a dector, it cost the whole country only about $28 per year to render a similar servic: to its mechanics, farmers and home builders. ‘There 15 no way of estimating the ‘value of a skilled artisan to the com- munity in which he lives, but let me give you one illustration. In a small city of 25,000 in a near- by State th: chemical fire engine broke down. The city authoritles were ar- to load this engine on a flat car and send it back to the factory, & distance of about 400 miles, for repair at a cost of §300 or $400. Would Train 14 Others. The fire chief was advised by a friend to drive the fire-fighting ma- chine to a certain machine shop in the city and call for “Prank.” The fire chief laughed at the idea that there to the machine shop and for “Frank” and asked him if he could repair the broken part. Prank said “Yes.” “Are you sure of it?” asked “Yes,” he replied, “I could the entire engine” * it take?” asked the chief, part of two days” said Frank. Jess than two days the engine as a5 new at a cost . 4 mere mechanic but he was the biggest man in his line. saving to ity by two days’ work of vocationally trained, for the further train< mechanics for an en- the 92 per cent of the 41,614,000 5318858 =§agatefiia | thelr hands. S OF NEEDS Federal Board Ex- engaged in gainful occupations are to kegptfip with changing conditions, it is important to better train those fortu- nate enough to still hold their jobs, and very necessary to those who seck em- ployment in other flelds on account of having lost their jobs if they are to continue to carry on. Without such assistance many of them would be forced to join thel lh;ildy crowded ranks of the unemployed. If a school in reach of the untrained adult worker was available, those work- ers—not only that class forced to change vocations on account of labor- saving_devices, but the untrained in other lines as well—would be given an yportunity to prepare themselves for :gel.r new flelds of endeavor. For 140 years the people walted, without any material results, for an educational service that would better train the $2 per cent who work with “Undeveloped Resources.” The Con::oss, seeing that the case was hopeless under the then existing conditions, passed legislation in 1917 encouraging vocational education for working people. As a result, all of the States and the Islands of Hawaii and Porto Rico are co-operating in this work, and in 1930 more than a million people took advantage of it. ‘The growing demand to enlarge the work 5o as to include the adult worker who never had an opportunity to take advantage of this training makes this kind of education necessary in order to | help the displaced worker find employ- ment in new fields to relieve the unem- ployment_situation. l'!'Eew this time I have been speaking of adult worker. I am now coming to America's greatest asset—Iits boys and girls: “A challenge to America’s undeveloped resources.” This is the richest and most power- ful nation in the world. Our estimated ‘wealth is more than $360,000,000,000. I am not saying this in a boastful spirit, as our wealth some day may be & millstone to drag us down if we do not use it intelligently. A hog will eat the acorns from under the oak, but never look up to see whence the acorns come. But with all of our wealth of whatever nature, it is not equal to the value of our boys and girls. In proportion as we use our wealth to develop the boys and girls of this generation to take on the burdens they must assume when those who are car- The Susan Riviere Hetzel Chapter met March 13 at the residence of Mrs. Richard H. Cabell. Mrs. William T. Clerk, regent, presided. The historian, Mrs. George Combs, read a paper which she has written for the national con- test on “Heroines of the Revolution.” Her subject was “Hester Brooke HIll,” who was her own great-grandmother, from Maryland. Mrs. Gertrude Janney McPherson gave an account of the An- nual State Conference, March 4 and 5. Rust reported recent the restoration of . _She invited the mem- bers of the cha to be pres- ent at Wakefiel when the tional R. April 1‘3" motor bu: Mrs. Cabe McClelland and was tertained in of the nominat- est was Miss Katrina Harvey, State torian of the District of Columbia, who gave a brief talk on | points of historic interest in Washing- | ton. Mrs. Elmer E. Curry, State chair- | man oi genealogical research, was also | a guest and spoke of the work of that committee. Other guests included Mrs. | Lyman Nebeker, Miss Charlotte John-| son and Mrs. Jasper M. Beall. | The American Liberty Chapter was entertained at its March meeting by Mrs. George T. Newcombe, 3402 Six- teenth street, assisted by Miss Elizabeth ‘Wingfield, Miss Prancis Owen and Miss Elizabeth Newcombe. Mrs. W. M. Mac- Kellar, the regent, presided. The dele- gate, Mrs. Edgar Allan, gave a report from the district conference. Mrs. W. W. Lemmond of the Patriotic Educa- tional mittee of the work of thr: ©o! l:hu:. wr:hl:ut told of \‘1;: gold spoon gave latest grand- child of the chapter, Evelyn Millar, one-month-old daughter of Mrs. Charles F. Millar, jr. Mrs. May Lynn Hawkins, regent, of Jemima Johnson Chapter, Paris, Ky, and Mrs. Alice Millar of this same chapter were among the visitors. Misses Owen, New- combe and Wingfield assisted in the dining room. The Fort McHenry Chapter met March 17 at the home of Dr. Delos ‘W. Thayer and Mrs. Thayer, on Wis- consin ‘avenue, Mrs. Thayer's sister, Mrs. Elmer Shane, sharing in the en- tertainment. Dr. Thayer gave a lec- ture on his European trip, accompanied by screen pictures. Capitol Chapter celebrated its fif- teenth birthday anniversary with a dinner at the Roosevelt Hotel March 17. Miss Helen A. Skinner led in prayer and Cadet William Carlton Cox gave an address on “Old Glory's Great- est, Glory.” Guests of the evening were Mrs. David Caldwell, vice president general Miss Helen Harmon, State regent; Mrs. H. C. Groves, State vice regent; Mrs. M. R. Spengler, State corresponding secretary; Miss Katherine L. Harvey, | State historian, and all of the cth- ter's past regents, namely, Mrs. Cath- erine Nagle, who, with Mrs. Dennis Smithers, organized the chapter; Mrs. O. C. Luxford, Mrs. Pedro De Capo and Mrs. G. A. Martin. Other chapter officess present were: Mrs. G. E. Mc- Cm‘ /o, as regent, presided; Mrs. F. 8. Opton, Mrs. Barbara Snell and Mrs. W. A. McMillan. ‘The chairman of the Dinner Com- mittee, Mrs. E. C. Rittue, extended tertainers, There were vocal selections by Miss Lucille Hardesty, accompanied by Mrs. Robinson, and by Mrs. Archer Haycock, who is a member of the State Music Committee. She was accom- panied by Miss Collamore. Dramatic ‘were given by Miss A. Machen. The Richard Arnold Chapter met at the home of Miss Bertle L. Packett, gl;eflennuent’h street, with 1"‘!!"' plffye . Penn , jr, presiding. The pro- m was given over to historic sub- fects. “The fuest epeaker, Miss Harvey, State historian, gave a description of the historic Stoddert House, in George- town. She also told of plans for the Bicentennial. Mrs. Prances O. Abbott and Miss | Marietta Tibbits, uncll!‘ members,, .| regent, Mrs. Stanley H. Beasley. greetings and then introduced the en- |8 Forum Speaker ! EDWARD T. FRANKS. ying on today drop out, to that extent elu'the country keep step with its possibilities. ‘There are more than 10,000,000 boys and girls in this country between the ages of 5 and 19 not in school, not- withstanding the compulsory education laws of the various States. Most of these boys and girls are at work. Ex- perience convinces us that many of that 10,000,000 could be brought back to school on a part-time program, where they divide thelr time between work and school. Friend of Education. ‘The object of education is to prepare boys and girls and men and women to better carry on in their various pro- fessions, vocations and callings. Of the 25,000,000 or more pupils enrolled in the schools of the country in 1930 only 1,066,000 were enrolled in voca- tional classes, including adults, or about 3 per cent of the total population of school age and 4 per cent of the num- ber- enrolled in schools. * I do not want any one to get the idea that I am knocking higher edu- cation. I am a true friend of higher education, but the question that I want to raise in all seriousness is: Are those who are responsible for educating the people of the country giving the boys and girls a balanced education? Are they educating the boys and girls to successfully do the things they must do in order to carry on the Nation's bu;xnus?m ying that irt of the am not saj any part of number now enrolled in academic classes should be withdrawn from those classes and enrolled in vocational D. A. R. ACTIVITIES j who had just returned from a Winter spent in Savannah, Ga., spoke. Katherine Montgomery Chapter met at the home of Mrs. Willlam Bonar Bell, 803 l;“::"d‘,nhouut street, Mrs. Charles J. New! 'nt, pmldh"g. B. Hiscox, delegate to ference, gave a report. Mrs. gave a report of the chapter's work for the past year. Mrs. Gary E. Walters, State chairman of the makers, gave a talk on the work of her mmittee. Army and Navy Soclety, Children of the American Revolution, will March 28 at 8 pm. at the home of morning. | Jane and Helen Cox, }I?t;,e Grafton street, embers wi Continental Chapter met at the Hotel Washington for its annual dinner March 16, followed by the regular meet- ing which was called to order by the Estelle Sawyer, recording secretary of the Committee on Sons and Daughters of the D. A. R, gave a report of the work, In addition to supporting the budget the chapter increased its con- tributions for patriotic education, thereby insuring a scholarship at Cross- ner School, also contributed $25 to the exterior column for Constitution Hall and made additional contributions for Girl Homemakers and Sons and Daugh- ters of the Republic. A card party will be given by the chapter March 20 at the Thomas Circle Club, 1326 Massachusetts avenue, at 8 o'clock. The next meeting will be April 30 on account of various D. A. R. activities, instead of the usual time. meeting . Bert L. Dana, 1508 Allison street. Assistant hostesses, Mrs. Lora Fay Manion, Miss Esther Ann Manion, Miss Helen Rose Manion and Mrs. Grace W. Watson. The National Board of the Children of the American Revolution met at Memorial Continental Hall March 12. Mrs. Samuel Shaw Arentz, national president, presided. Mrs. Thaddeus Jopes reported a large amount in the fuhd for Tammassee, the South Caro- lina school maintained by the Daugh- ters of the American Revolution. Mrs, Edna Dubois gave an account of the Jjuvenile work of the Washington Bi- centennial Commission. Fagns for the annual convention were repggted. The auditorium of Corcoran Art Gallery had been secured for the sessyons and it was believed the dance for the delegates should again be given at_the Washington Club. Mrs. Percy Edwards Quin, former president, accepted the chairmanship of the Program Committee for the con- vention, The Gov. Thomas Welles Society of the Children of the American Revo- lution met at the home of Robert Wil- son, 1418 Newton street, March 14. The Junior president, Josephine Davis, pre- sided. ~Prseident Mrs. Samuel Shaw Arentz and Mrs. Willlam Sherman ‘Walker, chairman of the National De- fense Committee of the Daughters of the American Revolution, made ad- dresses. The chairman for the George Wash- ington Celebration reported that the Joint celebration which took place at Memorial Continental Hall was par- ticipated in by the 8. A. R., D. A. R. and C. A, R. The flag salute was led by Barbara Fries of Gov. Thomas Welles. Robert Wilson told of l.l‘lln‘ a wreath on the grave of John Follin, t.h'ze lmnt-'ren-zrmdnv.her of y. The essay that took the D. A. R. prize was read by Ella Cooper. It was written by Elizabeth Bryan on “The Part Taken by the Carolinas in the Revolution.” A committee was appointed to select the cast for a play to be given during the week of the national convention. The chairman is Amy Verhoff. Dele- gates for the convention are Josephine Davis, Robert Wilson, Gaines Gough, Stuart Fries and Ruby Arentz, Alter- nates, Beatrice Mullin, Dorothy Howe, Kenneth Lord, Ella Cooper and Harry Raglan. ——e While fishing in the Thames recently a bo& hooked the body of a man whose hands and feet were tied. classes, but I do say that many of them would take vocational education if vo- cational schools were convenient. But, when you bring it down to its final analysis, we have 38,000,000 per- wlm'.helrhnl:d&-nd on‘l!o ing to do about it? Some of those who are opposed to vo- cational education would say, let them learn by the pick-up system, or the rule of cut and try. How are we to reconcile the fact that we have some 25,000,000 enrolled in jobs, and only 1,066,000 in school learn- ing the things necessary for the 92 per cent to know in order to fill the jobs in that field? I do not think the schools of the country are supplying a balanced program. America is to keep pace with twentieth century progress, it must provide in reach of every boy and girl & school where they can learn better how to do the things they are doing, or have selected to do as their life’s work. To fail to do that will close the door of hope to that large and necessary group of men and women which society and the business world—with all its diver- sified interests—niust look to if we are to make use of our undeveloped re- s _roes. No country has either a legal or moral right to provide opportunities for one class and refuse equal opportunities to another class of equal importance. That is not a democratic form of education. I do not believe that the feunders of the Government, the taxing districts, so- clety or any other sizable group ever intended that such inequality of oppor- tunity should exist. The teacher, the doctor, the lawyer, eacher are constantly taking post- courses to better fit themselves for the things they have selected as '.h%rmme‘lwork. some wise man, or group of wise the mechanic, the [ b Ty gy The time will come when the |and girl in the nied the same right as the professional group to at least attend an evening school and ge<t the latest and best methods of doing their work, so that they may become experts in their line, Just as professional men and wom- en are becoming experts in their line? Society will be better served, the Nation will stand on surer ground, on a more firm foundation, and will be better able Should Be Trained. The peak load in agriculture will in different things at different the year. The hay, wheat, rye season will come before digging, or corn husking, but men can not change over night one job to another without some of training. Neither can employes change from one factory to another over night with- out some kind of training. If vocational schools were convenient to the worker: many of them could be trained in & short time to change from one factory to another at k season and be dove- talled in to help carry the peak load at peak seasons. This, in my opinion, course in out what 5 ing they should select as their life's work and then fit themselves for that fits in human energy, 80 much lost mo- tion in the human race, so many fail- ures scattered along the pathway of life, fewer men and women trying to do things that God Almighty never in- tended they should do. Suppose that even 50 per cent of the men and women of the country were doing the thing that fhey are best fitted to do, the country would have so many more prominent, outstanding men amd ‘women, more great preachers, lawyers, doctors, teachers, mechanics, farmers, home builders and last, but not by an: means least, great statesmen and cap- tains of industry. Real vocational guidance will some int the way of the boy and girl to a f’py solution of their possibili- ties, tell them which route to follow in the race of life, what profession, vo- cation or calling they should select as their life's work. Never Had a Chance. Past experience teaches us that 92 out of every 100 will select one route, and 8 out of every 100 will select the other route. The 8 per cent will go possible, and in the end may become a Frances Willard, a Marshall, a Web- ster, Beecher, a Walter Reed or a Pasteur. ‘The 92 per cent will take enough academic education to meet their re- quirements and, if possible, & thorough particular thing to avold so many mis- | the through the stages in higher learning, if | with the L training on the job with the brush pro- duced the “Last Judgment” and with chisel the statue of “Moses.” ‘ll;:'o:l‘fiho truggled through life :1% r} ve strugg] e the mind of a Wilard, a Carnegle, a Hill, an Edison or a Michelangelo; th carried that mind through their use- less life rusty and decayed to the grave, undeveloped, because they never had o chance in the race of life. Society some day, somewhere, must answer for that neglect. Will that neg- lect continue longer or will the country see the possibilities of untrained youth, America’s undeveloped resources, and demand a balanced education which will give to each individual a chance to make the most of his ability, apti- tude and opportunity, a real democratic form of education—not pulling d those at the top, but lifting up those at the bottom, giving their undeveloped minds a chance in their own fleld of endeavor after vocational guidance has pointed the way. ‘There is another class which should be given special attention—those who are :hyllu!ly handicapped. Science has demonstrated that many of them can be rehabilitated, and when thus treated should be placed side by side those more fortunate and given & chance in the race of life. More Happy Homes. For those who are beyond the reach of medical science, special arrangements should be made, so that soclety would be relieved of the odium of not having i ] % calling It will result in homes, more progress, more law and order, fewer reds ai pathizers. More e church, for we shall preachers; more le will law, because we shall have better lawyers and petter better citizens; boys and 2‘1 main in school longer, have greater teachers; the will be lengthened, beca have greater and better fewer quacks; better laws will acted, because we shall have statesmen; the Nation's work better done, because we shall have ter mechanics, better workers kinds. ‘The worker will be work. He will be doing it was intended he should a result, we shall ha bankruptey courts, be fewer failures, fe and fewer broken-up we_shall have more ha P Tequire & course tional guidance, followed by a training in vocational education. 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