THOSE WHO LEAVE EARLY

There is undoubtedly some basis for the point of view of Dr. Lang of the University of Chicago, who says American colleges are being impregnated with practical courses which breed a materialistic outlook. In some cases the reaction against the classical curriculum has been carried to extremes. But, when Dr. Lang comes to criticize the high schools on the same grounds, he seems to fall into the common error of considering the high school purely as the hand-maiden of the college.

The high school is in reality far more than this. A comparatively small portion of its graduates go on to college, and the high school, to serve efficiently its community, must prepare for life that majority who will go to work immediately after graduation. To them the four years of high school have been a period in which their less ambitious comrades have been adapting themselves to the world, getting a head start in the struggle for existence. Classes in stenography, carpentry, bookkeeping, and so forth, however inappropriate for the prospective college man, are necessary for these others. If the high school failed to present technical courses, many would have to begin to learn a trade immediately after leaving grammar school, and so would be deprived of the cultural courses which are presented simultaneously with the others.