ESTABLISHED 1875. Manawatu Daily Times. The Oldest Manawatu Journal. Published Every Morning. TUESDAY, JULY 16, 1907.

Manawatu Times, Volume LXIV, Issue 162, 16 July 1907, Page 4

ESTABLISHED 1875. Manawatu Daily Times. The Oldest Manawatu Journal. Published Every Morning. TUESDAY, JULY 16, 1907.

The news that the Federal Government in the United States is taking proceedings against the tobacco trust shows clearly that President Roosevelt is in earnest in his desire to curb the misuse of the powers of capital. The President has been accused of attacking property, but he states that the great problem he has sot himself to solve is the preservation of the rights of property. He declares that in the United States the rights of property belonging to the great body of citizens are in far greater jeopardy from the predatory men of wealth than from socialists and anarchists. Even a greater work than dealing with the tobacco trust is that of putting an end to the abuses in connection with the railways. Tun President proposes nothing revolutionary, and merely asks for the powers which are already exercised by the British Government. The greatest swindles have been perpetrated in the States by the use of unlimited power to create capital, which those who create it in the

name of the shareholders can apply with the greatest facility to their own enrichment. An English railway board cannot water its stock in that manner. If it wants new capital it has to obtain authority from Parliament, which has to be satisfied that the capital is needed for, and will be expended upon, definite works duly set forth. It cannot hurt legitimate railway enterprise in America to insist upon analogous control, but it will undoubtedly make it more difficult for unscrupulous men to issue capital for their own enrichment, upon which at the expense of the unfortunate shareholders interest has to be paid to all time. In attempting to put an end to dishonest practices of this kind, the President will have the sympathy of all good citizens, and it is to be hoped that the forces of evil arrayed against him will not prove victorious in the struggle. We often hear young people complain that the time spent on some of the subjects they are taught at school is wasted because in the walk of lifa j tl.ey intend to pursue there will be no need for the knowledge they are acquiring. Such remarks are often the result of mere ignorance or idleness, but in the minds of older persons who refuse to listen to the complaints there often lurks an uneasy feeling that they have some foundation in fact. It should be possible to come to some definite conclusion on the matter which will either remove the doubts as to the value of much of our education or else show that the children are right and parents and teachers mistaken. In the short space at our disposal the subject must evidently be treated in a general way and nothing more than hints for a solution can be offered. In the first place we may affirm that pure memory work—dates ( of kings of England or lists of names—is practically valueless and teachers have recognised this fact far more fully than in the past, though even now there is a tendency to accept parrot like repetition of definitions or opinions as a substitute for thought. If, leaving the methods of teaching, we consider the subjects taught we must admit that any subject which provides mental exercise is of value in making the brain a more efficient instrument for accurate thinking. People recognise clearly enough that the muscles can only be kept in a healthy condition by constant exercise, but they do not realise that the brain similarly will grow soft and flabby if it is rarely put to the strain caused by concentration on subjects that test its power. It is possible on this ground to defend almost any study as providing mental training which will make the child better fitted for its work in the world, but the practical question for educationalists is to select subjects which while affording mental gymnastics of the right kind shall at the same time give the opportunity of gaining information lively to be useful in afterlife. The idea that children should acquire at school what is called a business training is, we consider, an entirely mistaken one. The school will have done well if it can turn out children with alert and active minds and with some knowledge how to concentrate their attention on the work before them. It must to a large extent be left to experts to decide how these results can best be attained. And all the public can do is to remind the educationalists occasionally that most children have to begin to earn their living at about 14 years of age, and therefore it is wise not to attempt too much and not to forget the needs of practical life.