THE FOREMAN OF EDUCATION.

The Harvard Bureau of Vocational Guidance seems to think the foreman is the greatest factor in the winning of industrial success. He is the man who comes in direct contact with both laborers and managers. He it is who "must keep the workers in good humor, settle the minor differences that arise, guard the health of his men, and stand ready to give his assistance in case of accidents." He must be a teacher and something of a sociologist as well. A foreman has been aptly described as the "top-sergeant of business."

Perhaps it would not be stretching the imagination too far to draw an analogy between the position of the foreman in the business world and the section-man in the University. Of course, their actual duties correspond in no way. But the latter does come in close contact with men--the students. And yet the importance of his job tends to be minimized. What a man learns in the section-meeting makes, in a great many cases, a far more lasting impression on his mind than the lectures. The gathering is more informal; the questions are direct. Instead of being told, the student has to tell, and to do this he cannot help but think. If Seniors will look back upon their careers at college, they will realize that in the class room, not the lecture hall, their minds were widest awake. Universities and colleges complain bitterly that their greatest men, the heads of their departments, cannot be kept because of the poor salaries offered. Endowment drives are under way for the main purpose of keeping the great minds in the teaching profession. But do not let us neglect the foreman of education--the section man. He is the future professor. Without a good foundation the upper stratum of a faculty cannot hope to survive.