The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, April 14, 1919, Page 8

l i THE LATEST AMERICAN ATROCITY = l The great fight for the direct primary is still fresh in the It was one of the most important steps toward overcoming gang rule, and it was put over in our north- Now practically every reactionary legislature in the Northwest either has abolished it for state officers or is a long way toward doing so. The excuse of- fered is that the direct primary may aid the organized farmers and minds of our citizens. western states only after long struggle. workers. —Drawn expressly for the Leader by W. C. Morris workers in their fight for clean government. Intrenched privilege fears that the organized toilers may take one of the old parties as _well as the nominations out of its hands. at all progressive groups, and not merely the farmers and city None who believe in democratic government can allow this latest atrocity to go unchallenged. The politicians so corrupt as to do a thing of this kind will be given a big surprise in 1920. Denmark’s Experiment in Education | Education by and for the People Increases Their Prosperity—Popular High Schools Open to All—T'rain for Work and Culture BY A. B. GILBERT %z]N A speech before an audience | of London business men over a year before the war, Roger W. Babson, to whom our American bankers and other business men pay $100 or more a year to be told how the market is likely to go, declared that “THE STRENGTH OF THE NATION RESTS ON THE PROSPERITY OF THE WORK- ING CLASSES.” Now this is not so-called work- ing class propaganda but plain business fact. It is abundantly demonstrated in every page of his- tory, ancient and modern, if we interpret history right. Mr. Babson went on to tell these Englishmen that the way to get ahead of Germany commercially was to make the working class in England more prosperous. And every one mow knows that if his advice had been heeded, or better, if this prin- ciple had been followed several years before the war, England would have had more success in the war. The war might not have been fought at all, for it was England’s industrial weakness that tempted the German junkers on the one hand and made English statesmen desperate on the ' other. ¥ WORKING CLASS MUST CONTROL EDUCATION Perhaps because he had to hedge a good deal be- fore such an audience, Mr. Babson went into the “how” to make the working class prosperous in only one particular, but this was the very impor- tant point of education. And even on this he prob- ably i,'_si:ari:led and displeased his audience, for he declared that the big capitalists who controlled education at present would hardly inaugurate the kind of education the people needed to increase their prosperity. THE WORKING CLASSES THEMSELVES, he said, MUST SECURE CON- TROL OF EDUCATION. - : Now that is precisely what has been done to a very great extent by that enterprising little coun- O R RS ST M NI Re TA S try—Denmark. The common people have dominat- ed affairs, and particularly education, in Denmark for many years. They have worked out educa- tional plans which other nations have tried to copy. And Denmark has been prosperous. It is primarily an agricultural country and its farmers for years have been producing more foodstuffs per acre of land used and per capita than any other nation in Europe. The explanation of this prosperity is land reform, co-operation and education. The Danes are inclined to put education first. They have a popular saying: “In England you find fac- tories, in Germany barracks, and in Denmark schools.” Denmark has made its primary schools espe- cially efficient, but it is in what is known as “pop- ular high schools” that the country has made its chief success. from 18 years upward. They can be entered with- out examination and the fees and other expenses are such that practically every one can afford to attend. They have two general objects: 1. To add to the pupil’s knowledge of the work he has to do. This is done chiefly by demonstra- tion and employment. carry on dairying, keep farm accounts, etc. The students who take up office work get direct train- ing in their fields. The girls learn how to keep house, and how to do other things which are of advantage to women to know. 2. To provide more cultural life for the people. The farmers of Denmark realize that.the life on the farm is in many respects hard and certainly lacking the excitement of the cities, even under good conditions; so they have attempted to over- come this fact by widening the mental life of their boys and girls. A large part of the work in the popular high schools is made up of lectures on history, geography, poetry, philosophy, current events, religion. g The young man or woman, therefore, who, * attends one of these schools, even if only for .a few months, can take back to the country an interest in and a knowledge of how to read, an . PAGE EIGHT These schools are open to any one- i Farmer boys work on the’ model school farm, learning how to treat soils,. T interest in methods of making more of the community life, such as music, amateur plays, -and what Americans would call neighborhood parties. ‘One good proof of the fact that these schools do succeed in widening interest is found in the fact that in 1914 this country, the total area of which - is about one-fifth that of Minnesota, had 700 pro- vincial' libraries. i PHYSICAL CULTURE IS EMPHASIZED Perhaps it ought to.be said that there are three " general objects rather than two, because with all these schools there is elaborate provision for phys- ical exercise. They make much of games in which every one takes part and not, as is generally the case in American schools, a few prominent athletes. Not only is practical application of study to work made, but the schools themselves are expected to make profits on what they demonstrate. The demand of the farmers, for instance, is “show us how to make a farm pay,” and the agricultural instruction is consequently in the line of com- mercial rather than is so often the case here, the- oretical efficiency. The difference between commercial and theoret- ical efficiency, which perhaps marks one of the dif- ferences between some of our agricultural teaching and that of the Danes, may be illustrated by fer- tilizer prices. Phosphate rock might be the best thing for a certain soil, but it may cost so much more relative to its value that some other fertilizer ‘may be more profitably used. Or the tractor may plow much more land than a team of horses and in this sense is theoretically more efficient, but its commercial efficiency must be measured in terms of cost and relative value of service on the farm. Again anthracite coal may be the best for a certain purpose, but there is a point beyond which it would pay the farmer better to use some other coal, such as lignite. . If this fundamental distinction between theoret- ' ical and commercial efficiency is ignored somewhat by our agricultural schools, it is practically dis- (Continued on page 14) But the step is a blow - o