Mr. Foley, formerly of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, declares, as the result of his experience, as already stated, that the scientific methods of the manual training school are twenty times as valuable to the student as the unscientific methods of the trade-shop are to the apprentice. But we have shown in a former chapter that the training of the trade-shops of England, during the past one hundred and fifty years, has been better than that of the English schools and universities; in a word, that England is more indebted for her greatness to her apprentice system than to her school system. It follows that the school system of England must have been almost indescribably poor.
That the system of popular education in the United States, which is much more comprehensive, and presumably better, than that of England, is very poor indeed in results, is shown by the statistics of railway and mercantile disasters; and it is scarcely necessary to remark that these disasters show prevailing methods of education to be as defective morally as they are mentally. The reason of this is that, being automatic, they lead neither to the discovery of truth nor to the detection of error. It is easy to juggle with words, to argue in a circle, to make the worse appear the better reason, and to reach false conclusions which wear a plausible aspect. But it is not so with things. If the cylinder is not tight the steam-engine is a lifeless mass of iron of no value whatever. A flaw in the wheel of the locomotive wrecks the train. Through a defective flue in the chimney the house is set on fire. A lie in the concrete is always hideous; like murder, it will out. Hence it is that the mind is liable to fall into grave errors until it is fortified by the wise counsel of the practical hand.
It is obvious that the reason of the demand for the manual element in education is not so much that industrial interests require to be promoted, as that mental operations may be rendered more true, and hence more scientific. What we need more than we need a better class of mechanics is a better class of men—men of a higher grade both morally and intellectually. The study of things so steadies and balances the mind that the attention being once turned in that direction great results soon follow, as witness, the history of discovery and invention in England.
The world moves very fast industrially, but very slow morally and intellectually. Mechanics stand the test of scrutiny far better than merchants. Civil engineers and architects are more competent than railway presidents, lawyers, judges, and legislators. The reason of this fact is that mechanics, civil engineers, and architects are educated practically in the world’s shops and the world’s technical schools. They are trained in things, while merchants, railway presidents, lawyers, judges, and legislators have only the automatic word-training of the schools. It is notorious that criminals are not punished in this country. Suppose there were such a failure of bridges as there is of justice. That is to say, suppose nine-tenths of the bridges constructed, whether for railway or other purposes, should fall within a few months of their completion. What would be thought of the technical schools whence the civil engineers graduate?
Ninety-seven merchants in a hundred fail. Suppose ninety-seven buildings in a hundred, constructed under the direction of architects, should tumble down over the heads of their occupants six months after their erection. The education of the architects would no doubt be regarded as defective.
Buckle says of English legislation, “The best laws which have been passed have been those by which some former laws were repealed.”[60] It will be admitted that the same is true of American legislation.[61] In other words, the average legislator is wiser in the statutes he repeals than in the bills he enacts. What if the incompetency of the legislator were paralleled by that of the machinist? Suppose ninety-seven in every one hundred locomotives should break down on the “trial-trip,” and be returned to the builder’s shop for remanufacture. Such a result would be an impeachment of the education of the locomotive builder.
[60] “History of Civilization in England,” Vol. I, p. 200. By Henry Thomas Buckle. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1864.
“In a paper read to the Statistical Society in May, 1873, Mr. Janson, Vice-president of the Law Society, stated that from the statute of Merton (20 Henry III.) to the end of 1872 there had been passed 18,110 public acts, of which he estimated that four-fifths had been wholly or partially repealed. He also stated that the number of public acts repealed wholly or in part, or amended, during the three years 1870-71-72 had been 3532, of which 2759 had been totally repealed. To see whether this rate of repeal has continued I have referred to the annually issued volumes of the ‘Public General Statutes’ for the last three sessions. Saying nothing of the numerous amended acts, the result is that in the last three sessions there have been totally repealed, separately or in groups, 650 acts belonging to the present reign, besides many of preceding reigns....
“Seeing, then, that bad legislation means injury to men’s lives, judge what must be the total amount of mental distress, physical pain, and raised mortality which these thousands of repealed Acts of Parliament represent.”—“The Man versus the State,” pp. 50, 51. By Herbert Spencer. New York: D. Appleton & Co.
[61] “So thoroughly have the conscience and intelligence of the North apprehended these facts [neglect to educate and enlighten the freedmen], that while the Nation has done nothing they have given in private charity, intended to remedy this evil, nearly a million dollars a year for nearly twenty years. This is the instinct of a people versus the stupidity of their legislators.... Of the true character of the South he [the author] was, like all his class, profoundly ignorant, almost as ignorant as the men who made the Nation’s laws.”—“An Appeal to Cæsar,” pp. 52, 56. By A. W. Tourgée.