Newspapers / The University of North … / Feb. 5, 1919, edition 1 / Page 1
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The news in this publica tion is released for the press on receipt. THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA NEWS LETTER Published weekly by the University of North Carolina for its Bureau of Extension. FEBRUARY 5, 1919 CHAPEL HILL, N. C. VOL. V, NO. 11 ^ Bdiiorial Board i B. C. Branson, J. G. deK. Hamilton, L. R. Wilson, D. D. Carroll, G. M. MoKie Entered as seoond^slass matter November 14,1914, at the iPostofflce at Chapel Hill, N, C., under the act of August 24,1912. 'A / THE NEW HUMANITIES 'Hie new democracy that President ' VVttson foresees for America will call for Clear-headed, competent leadership on part 6f courageous statesmen, and even more necessarily for intelligent disciple- ship on part of the democratic multi tudes. It is just as necessary for the mass '■mind to think its way sanely and safely , through the mazes of civic, economic, ■and social reconstruction in the new era that the war forces upon this and every other country, as it is for our Mblic men to have clear visions of a ^ble social order. In developing/'''democracieB, schooled disciples arp-just as necessary as skilled leaders. Russia these three hundred years has ■’*fthad many brilliant intellects. While . some of them—a few—have been essen tially sane, none of them have been suf ficiently strong. The Rus.sian debacle re sults from the wholesale ignorance of the Russian mass mind. And this ignorance is not mere inability to read and write; it is what Mr. Vanderlip calls economic dlliteracy, on part of the lettered classes as' ■well as the unschooled masses. What America Needs • What Russia needs is what every other Hjountry needs today; namely, the most liberal possible schooling in the social ' sciences,—political science, political ec onomy, history, economic history, sociol ogy, social psychology, educational sociol- ■ogy, legislation, jurisprudence and the like. These are now the true humanities. Whey are charged and surcharged with human interest. They directly concern ■the problems^ that the ,^ew democracy must think out during the next quarter .-century. They ought to be the very •strongest course offered in every college And university. And they must be taught by the biggest, sanest intelligences in the teaching profession. Tlie democratic mind cannot be safely left ignorant of th,e measures that chal lenge popular approval and demand rec ognition in organic and statute legisla tion. These measures sweep tlie whole round of concerns in life and business; they involve every one of the social sciences. H. G. Wells has recently snorted his disgust at the Universities of England because they are teaching the youth of England few or none of the fundamental subjects that the English masses must now consider as the program of the Brit ish Labor Party comes forward for pop ular vote and parliamentary action. The situation is not quite so acute in America, but it is stupid to think that we can avoid facing a similar crisis in this -country 850uer or later. And barring just a few institutions, our colleges and univ(Hsities are paying scant attention to the social sciences; perhaps more than the Eiiglish universities in general but slid far too little, approaching emergen cies considered. Economic Democracy Economic democracy is a favorite phrase and a fundamental thought of ■our good friend John Spnmt Hill of Dur ham, who preaches it witli the fervor of John the Baptist. -Ittiiean8 to him (1) tlie sacred right of pri.vate property ownership, (2)'self- help and individual initiative, (3) free coojieration of individuals in collective enterpri-es based, on the one-man-one- vote j)rinciple, sanctioned and aafe- :guarded by law, (4) state supervision to protect the cooperators and the tmblic, and"(.4) government ownership of noth ing save natural monopolies. Or so we gathered in a day spent with him lately in his home and out ou his 700 acre farm. Here are very definite propositions cou- eertiing a eociai order and we have ’’ever come upon a time wiieii we snore sorely need definite thinking on such matter.s by tlemocatic multitudes and democratic ieadera alike. Economic domoeracy basedgjn free co operation is not socialism, says Mr. Hill; it is the opposite aiul antidote of socialism. In Mr. Hill’s own language, Economic Democracy means: I. A brotherhood of industry—maii- hood above money—shorter hours of lab or—better sanitary conditions—home- ownership and better homes—develop ment of social conscience and community spirit. 2. Profit-sharing in industry—a sure means of harmonizing the interests of capital and labor. t 3 Organized self-help, the basic prin ciple of social development—agricultural progress assured through cooperative credit, cooperative production, and coop erative marketing. 4 The riglits of private property own ership sacredly guarded and individual initiative encouraged—no use of private property to the injury of community or state. 5 Government control of railroads and other public utilities and natural monopolies, but no paternalism. 5 Cooperation—an antidote for social ism. Tliese propositions ar? well wortli thinking through sanely, now that the Barrs and Gompers of America and the forces they represent are squaring them selves for a fight to the finish. Clumsy thinking about the fundamental concerns of social stability is nothing less than criminal on part of any man or woman with sense enough to vote or to guide public opinion. HAS THE DAY COME ? A day will come when the only bat tlefield will be the marketopen to com merce and the mind opening to new ideas. A day will come when btillets and % bombshells will be replaced by votes, by the universal suffrage of nations, by the venerable arbitration of a great sovereign senate, which will be to Eu rope what the parliament is to Eng land, what the diet is to Germany, wliat the legislative a.ssembly is to France. A day will come when a cannon will be exhibited in public museums, just as an instrument of torture is now, and people will be astonished how such a thing could have been. '' A day will come when these two im mense groups, the United States of America and the United States of Eu rope,'shall be seen placed in tlie pres ence of each other extending the hand of fellowship across the ocean.—Victor Hugo, 1852. UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION LETTER SERIES NO. 156 DEMOCRACY AT BOTTOM Democracy in this country does not mean that property should be held in common; it does not mean that no man shall have distinction; it does not mean that all the natural abilities of the ablest men are to be brought down and put on a level with those of the lowest, the least thrifty, says Franklin K. Lane, our Sec retary of the Interior in Everybody’s. Democracy essentially means that a man shall be given his chance—first his chance to get an education; second, his chance to prove himself in making himself by character and by ability eco nomically independent. Our competitive system between individuals must continue if the race is to improve. We must make clear that in democracy men do not fall down to a common level, but constantly rise by only having to prove that they are better in character and ability than others; we must make clear that in democracy there can be no interfering sovereignty of caste or aristoc racy, that no wall shall be put up which a man can not scale or overcome by char acter and ability, and also make clear that democracy does not mean the aboli tion of all social lines, because these are based largely upon common tastes, artistic for instance, or social. Democracy, at bottom, means jus tice. We arrive at justice through liberty. That is what we mean when we say that this country is essentially a land of liberty. Men of all times have striven for justice and have found that they could get justice only through liberty, and that they gain liberty only through the exercise of man- 'hood suffrage, and through trusting in the courts of law to settle disputes witli- out favoritism or prejudice. Americanism means, as the soldiers and sailors offering their lives to preserve it know, courage, self-reliance; not disorder, laziness or wilfulness, by which men fall, but purpose, faith; not belief in the myste rious working'of a slothful fate, but su preme belief in the mysteries wrought by work and will. The philosophy of American democracy —that no man need endure military, financial or political force without moral limitation, and that men can care for themselves if given opportunity—we must impress on the soul of the youngest child that is brought to this country or is born in this country, so Uiat.chiidren wiii grow up with an ever-present sense of what our institutions mean to inaukiud. A Public School Job We feel, therefore, that a larger pro- iiortion of time in our public schools should be given to the leaching of these princi ples for which we fought abroad, and in j accordance with which we should begin I now to see that no injustice shall befall ' our returning soldiers, j American .boys and girls should he taught lit Uie .4.1ijfi«Aii Longue, MARVIN HENDRIX STACY | In the death of Marvin Hendrix Stacy the University has suffered one of its greatest losses. I was his teacher in his | student days. I appreciated his high' manly qualities, admired his strong char acter, and in the later days of friendship grew to love him. Mentally he was highly endowed. He grasped a subject readily, thought deeply, made his decision after careful weighing, and then was firm as a rock though just and sympathetically considerate to those who differed with him. It is not strange that such a man was a force for all that is best in the life of the University from his college days through the years of his apprenticeship to those of mature accomplishment and gathering lionors. He was one of the best teachers in the faculty, sparing himself in no detail of pains and time and repeti tion, getting the best work out of his stu dents. And they appreciated the labor spent upon them, the unruffled patience, the even-handed justice and the insight into their difficulties. He was admirable as an administrator, clear, convincing and eloquent as a speak er, a man of few words but they were well weighed, to the point and not to be misunderstood. Quiet, simple, unaffect ed, a thoroughbred gentleman in the highest sense, I never found in him the trait of self-seeking, rather I had to argue him out of a sort of self-depreciation. He sought no new honors nor advance ment, telling me once that the thought of present duty was enougli for him and I realized that duty had for him the one clear call unmarred by thought of self, unstained by pride of achievement. Such sweet, gentle, true natures are rare. They constitute the finest, the liighest among men thougli not always so applauded. Such are the salt of the world.—Francis P. Venable. ♦ BRICKS WITHOUT STRAW AVe learn from Bible history that dur ing the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt the Pharaoh forced the children of Israel to an almost impossible task of making bricks without straw. AVe read that this was a hardship and an oppression with which the Pharaoh oppressed the people. In the twentieth century the United States of America has forced thousands of its citizens to be placed in a similar position. Upon our citizens we have squarely placed the burden of making and enforcing the laws under which we are to live and be governed, but—hun dreds of thousands of these same citizens do not have words and letters, to say nothing of ideas with which to make the laws. Bricks without straw! Worse Still The full effect of such a demand of our citizens does not at once appear. It takes ideas and thoughts about folks other than those in the immediate family or neigh borhood to make constructive and wise statutes. How can the citizen who knows not our spoken or written language have these big ideas? How can we have a united purpose and a common set of American ideals toward which to work and with which to be inspired if one in every twelve of our aliens cannot think, speak, write our mother tongue? It is not only bricks without straw but bricks tvith- out clay. How We Get It There is no more effective means by which to provide bricks and clay and mortar with which to build our national structure of democracy than the public 'School. Its organization, its administra tion, its management is itself a lesson in democracy. Its fundamental rule an«i guide is and must be that of equal 0|t- portunity for all. In our public schools worth determines promotion; merit re ceives recognition; fair and just treat ment is meted out to all. In miniature, the public school is our American De mocracy. Here the tools of knowledge, the ideals of our people, the instrument of our thinking are made a part of the in heritance of our children. Through our public school we must more and more spread the gospel of democracy among our people. and in the colleges, where the spirit of democracy and the zeal to protect it al ways burn. The college is the full-grown man; the elementary schools are, in a sense, its children.—Franklin K. Lane, in Everybody’s. STATE UNIVERSITY PLANTS North Carolina was not the first state to erect a university on paper—Georgia has that honor, we believe; but she was the first state in the Union to have a uni versity in actual operation. She occupies a proud pre-eminence in this particular. AVe began to erect university buildings ahead of all the other states, but we do not today rank first in the United States in the value of university properties. Twenty-five states stand ahead of us in the value of university plants—as can be seen by a glance at the table presented elsewhere in this issue. The University of North Carolina open ed its doors to students in 1795 and is therefore 124 years old. It was establish ed in the last years of the 18th century, but the 20th century had dawned before the state began to appropriate money for buildings, equipments, and annual sup port in any noteworthy way. For a hun dred years or so this child of the com monwealth suffered the neglect of the ash-barrel baby. AA'^e have always believed in the liberal arts and we have always cherished Learn ing as the handmaid of Religion—or said we did; but, as a matter of fact, what we cherished in the south as a sentiment has been acted upon in the middle and far west as a sound business policy. Thus it is that Nebraska has three mil lion dollars invested in university proper- be made to think in American terms, to judge by American standards, to con tribute to the American idea, by learning to know our liistory, not as a series of in cidents, but as the development of a phil osophy, by making every boy so passion ately devoted to our form of government as a growing expression of the love which men have for justice and liberty, that he will be willing to fight for it and make himself able to fight. To do that, the work of the teacher must be elevated in public - esteem. - The salaries of teachers must be raised. The profession must be made to draw to it men and women of superior kind, for teaching is the most important of all the professions. The c.-impaign we are rnsking, for which the cooperation of the entire nation is required is one that is being expanded so that it wilt affect dire;t.ly every .Arner lean in school and out of school. AVe have been carrying on this campaign in a limited way in*the last few years, but under the impulse of the war and with recognition of the problems that are to come in reconstruction, it must be.greatly iiKTeattsI in iiiiei'slLy in all the s.:1hk>Is, ties, Iowa four millions, Ohio and Illinois six millions each, Michigan seven mil lions, Alinnesota ten millions, and Cali fornia thirteen millions. These states have dared to manifest their faith by their works. Our university plant in North Carolina after one and a quarter centuries is val« ued at only $1,222,675. How We RanK In the south, North Carolina has been outstripped in the value of university- plants by Texas, AUrginia, Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, and Georgia; and in legislative appropriations for an nual support, by Texas, Oklahoma, Ari zona, Kentucky, and Georgia. However, there is a brighter day ahead for our common-schools, our church schools, our public and private institu tions of benevolence, technical training, and liberal arts. The fervor of war purposes has brought into the open the amazing w'ealth of North Carolina. The people that have given outright two and a quarter million : dollars to war benevolences alone, during I the last eighteen months, are easily able I and abundantly willing to give two or , three times as much as they ever gave be- I fore for the support of all worthy enter prises, church and state. In times of war, we have opened our hearts and purses grandly. It is impos sible to believe that in times of peace, we will ever again draw into our shells like periwinkles. “The finest memorial we can build to our brave,’’ says Governor Bickett, “is a state that ranks as high over here as our boys did over there.” And it’s true. VALUE 0F:STATE UNIVERSITY PLANTS Covering the value of grounds, buildings, library, apparatus, machinery, and furniture in 1916-17. Based on the Federal Education Bureau Bulletin No. 55, 1917. H. M. HOFKINIS, University of North Carolina, 1918-19, 1. California $13,584,432 23. Delaware State College $1>123,129 2. Minnesota 10,681,075 24. Georgia 1,375,000 3. New York—Cornell .. 9,534,854 25. AA'est Virginia 1,281,085 4. AVisconsin 8,128,346 26. North Carolina 1,222,675 5. Michigan 7,546,821 26. Kentucky 1,185,542 6. Illinois .... 6,556,659 28. Oregon 1,043,702 7. Ohio State 6,296,368 29. Ijouisiana 970,574 8. Iowa ... 4,141,408 30. Idalio 965,606 9. Missouri 3,982,525 31. Maine 948,337 10. Nebraska 3,153,174 32. Nevada 918,220 11. I’enn. State College... 2,802,713 33. North Dakota 904,997 12. AA'ashiugton .. ^ 2,740,209 34. Oklahoma 884,713 2,555,191 35. non 14. AUrginia 2,297,059 3i. Utah 757,812 15. Kansas 2,000,000 37. South Dakota 750,000 16. Indiana 1,681,600 38. Arkansas 718,000 17. New Jersey, Rutgers.. 1,660,979 39. Arizona 708,500 18. Colorado 1,515,000 40. Florida 698,000 19. A'ermont 1,511,222 41. Mississippi 536,000 20. Tennessee 1,458,993 42. R. I. State College 485,335 21. Alabama 1,439,318 43. Montana 430,252 22. Soutli Carolina 1,425,004 44. New Mexico 250,426 New Hampshire, Maryland, Coimecticiit, and Massachusetts do not maintain H.ate colleges and universities.
The University of North Carolina News Letter (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Feb. 5, 1919, edition 1
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