SOUL-LESS EDUCATION

In the last issue of the Yale Alumni Weekly a splendid protest against German influence in American universities is lodged and with it a splendid prophecy that the war will free us from this thralldom. Starting back in the fifties when American students began to study at German universities, this influence has grown until in all too many places it is a distinctly dominant force. The chief objection to the German method as pointed out in this Yale publication is its "soul-less" quality, Efficiency has been the watch-word; masses of information have been the result. This system has not only been applied to science, where it is natural, though mistaken, but it has gone into the field of literature and art. It is time to get away from this influence. It has been with us too long. Although cut loose from a program of efficiency, we may not bring forth such ponderous collections of data, yet we shall send out men of more noble spirit and of greater value to the world. And what a relief it will be to have rules and efficiently no longer behind our every thought. To take a single example--what joy that we need no longer take Wolf and Von Willamowitz-Moellendorf seriously.