LC GOO [ LC 6001 .P2 04 Copy 1 The International Correspondence Schools As a National Asset A Critical Examination of the Industrial and Economical Crisis of the Past Twenty Years and How the I. C. S. Have Met the Demands of the Period BY Rev. JOSEPH H. ODELL, D.D. An Address Delivered at the Twentieth Anniversary Banquet of the International Correspondence Schools Scranton, Pennsylvania, October Sixteenth, 1911 v^\U International Correspondence Schools as a National Asset 0= T =0 ^HE only explanation or excuse that I can offer for my temerity in speaking to you tonight is an ineradicable respect — almost reverence — for every- thing educational. Outside of the sacred claims of religion a minister of the Gospel finds no cause that enlists his entire nature to such an extent as do educational agencies and institutions. Personally, I find myself unable to separate religion and education, because it seems impos- sible to awaken the human intellect without enlarging the sphere of conscience, and equally impossible to stir the conscience without causing a new mental activity. I trust this apology will be considered sufficient. I confess that it is an honor to participate in the Twen- Time ^^^^^ Anniversary of the International Correspondence Schools. Any institution that has stood the stress and storm of the past two decades is worthy of a celebration, and any corporation that has escaped governmental dis- solution during the same period must be destined for immortality. Twenty years! Compared with the span of a planet it is nothing, but as a venture in these searching and testing days it is surely a vindication of the purpose and method of education by correspondence. If the institution had been defective in principle, oi- deficient in accomplishment it would have been conderhhed and discarded long ago. When President Foster asked me to speak at the cele- bration I naturally ran my mind back over the past twenty years and tried to grasp the salient features of the period in order to see what conditions there were in the state of society that made an opportunity for such a unique enterprise as this. The first feature upon which I fastened was a deepening feeling of discontent among the working classes of the country. I know, of course, that this condition is no novelty. All along the line of history one meets it. But during the past twenty years it has become chronic, articulate, insistent, and organized. It has become intelligent. Now an intelligent discontent is something new. Men are not ready to bear the ills they have because they are afraid to fly to others that they know not of. It is said that once upon a time afflicted mortals made the life of the gods miserable with their complaints. They gathered on the slopes of Mount Olympus and wailed so bitterly that the festivities upon the summit were inter- rupted. Whereupon the deities left their nectar and ambrosia for a moment and listened to the disturbers. One man had boils and was denied repose : one had a scold- ing wife who nagged him to distraction; one had to carry wood until his shoulders bled; one had cattle that always strayed away; another was deaf; another lame so that he could move only with crutches; another was poor and hungry; another was oppressed by his master. So it went through himdreds of stories. The gods replied that it was always the lot of mortals to have some ill just to remind them that they were mortal. But if it would please them to exchange their misfortunes for those they thought themselves better able to bear they might throw them all in a heap and each take which suited him best. It was done and every man went away content that he had selected a trouble less burdensome than the last. But within a week the gods were disturbed by a noise a thousand times worse than they had ever heard before. Every voice was louder and more urgent. It was the same crowd but angry and maddened beyond belief. "Give me back my crutches," said the one who had chosen deafness. "I woiild rather chase my cattle all day than be poor and hungry," said another. "For heaven's sake give me back my boils," yelled another, "they are a million times easier to bear than a nagging wife." And at length the gods acceded to their requests and peace reigned once more upon' the earth. 3 Social Discon- tent Has Become Intelligent Workers Claim- ing Their Inalienable Rights The High Cost of Living Social Ambition The Verdict of Psychology That fable may illustrate the earlier attitude toward the ills of life. But it is not the attitude of today. The dis- content is not with the kind of ills but a resentment that there are any ills at all. That they are unnecessary, they are removable. Hence, I call it an intelligent discon- tent. To put it in another way, men are really insisting upon their inalienable rights. Democracy has promised those rights and has made provision for those rights, and there are millions who are bent upon inheriting their own. Perhaps one may gain something by looking at a few of the causes underlying the restlessness. First, I think there is the high cost of living. It might lead to contro- versy if I were to discuss the reasons for the rise of prices but I firmly believe that the chief one is far beyond our control, being the increased production of gold with the con- sequent cheapening of its purchasing power. Bradstreefs declares that "in the past 13 years (1896-1910) the cost of living has increased more than 61 per cent." Pro- fessor Irving Fisher, of Yale, makes the statement that "statistics show that general prices have risen about 50 per cent, in 10 years and that the cost of living has risen about as much." I believe that during the life of these Corre- spondence Schools the cost of living has risen 75 per cent. The effect of this upon the average man has been to cause him to cast about for the means of increasing his income, simply to keep his head above water. The second cause of the general discontent is the family and social ambition which democracy stimulates in men. Every one knows today that many of our millionaires were once wage earners on a very small scale, and are now able to give their wives and children all of the advantages of artistic and cultured surroundings, the best education of school and university and the pleasure and profit of foreign travel. Millions of men care little for such things for themselves, but it eats like iron into their souls that they cannot give to their own dear ones what other men give to theirs. The third feature I must notice, and perhaps the most important, is the consciousness which men have of unutil- ized capacity. During the last twenty years psychology has grown into a recognized science, driven its X-rays deep into the recesses of human personality, and man has come to his own. Never again can the race sink into pessimism or accept any self-estimate other than the highest. Do you remember how Walt Whitman went astray on the subject when he wrote: "I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contained, I stand and look at them long and long. They do not sweat and whine about their condition. They do not lie awake at night and weep for their sins. They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God, Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania for owning things. Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago. Not one is respectable or tmhappy over the whole earth." All of which is true about the animals but Whitman might have continued: (I offer the lines with apologies to the poets present.) Not one has built a Parthenon or carved a Venus de Milo; Not one has composed a Messiah or written a Paradise Lost; ■ Not one has made a Republic or fashioned a Constitution; Not one has thought of Freedom or died on the altar of love; Or founded an I. C. S. to ease the terrible toilers And give them the rights for which nature endowed them. Now this sense of capacity has been emphasized by the opportunities involved in the economical and industrial revolution which has taken place during the last twenty years. Practically every industry in the land has been put in the melting pot and has come out as something new. The discovery or development of natural resources has created a thousand entirely new occupations. Things and enter- prises that were timid experiments when Mr. Foster enrolled his first student are among the greatest and most firmly established industries of the country It has been a period of evolution and revolution such as the world never witnessed before. Changes came so rapidly and with such strange and exorbitant demands that the great body of workers were either paralyzed by despair or driven into a state of panic. The everlasting invention of new machinery and labor-saving devices threw thousands of men out of employment every month. Then came the efficiency tests which rooted up thousands of others and 6 The Industrial Revolution of the Past Twenty Years now threatens to eliminate countless more. Twenty years ago practically every public question was purely political, dealing with the rights of individuals and states ; now almost every subject before the people is industrial or economic — the problems of production and distribution. The cities have grown enormously and at the expense of the country. In 1890, 22.2 per cent of the population were in cities of more than 25,000; in 1910, 40 per cent. This trend has had a tendency to leave the less aggressive and The Problem of ^^^^ efficient upon the farms. the Immigrants In the twenty years the population has increased about 33 per cent., jumping from 62,000,000 to 92,000,000— this gain being equal to the entire population of the country in 1860. In the two decades about 13,000,000 immigrants have landed on our shores. This raises a problem far too vast for me to do anything but state. In the decade immediately preceding the foundation of the I. C. S. (1881-1890) 66 per cent, of these immigrants were from Northern Europe and only 19 per cent, from Southern Europe. With other things that condition has entirely changed. During the last decade (1901-1910) only 16 per cent, came from Northern Europe, and 64 per cent, from Southern Europe. Which means that the country has been shipping swarms of uneducated, ill-equipped and untrained laborers. During the life time of the Schools the development of the industries calling for technically trained and scientifically educated men has been so enormous that I hardly dare to sketch their progress. Practically every electric railway has been built since 1890 and electricity for general power and lighting purposes has come to the front during the same period. The steam railroad mileage jumped from 166,703 in 1890 to 239,991 in 1910. In 1910 the produc- tion of coal was more than three times as great as it was in 1890 and the consumption per capita more than doubled. Before 1890 there was no manufacture of tin plate; today it is one of our most floiirishing industries. The manu- facture of steel has quadrupled, so has the output of oil and its by-products. Every manufacturing establishment existing in 1890 has had to be multiplied by four in order to meet the demands of today. Take the manufacture of 6 copper alone (caused by its use for electrical purposes). There were 250,000,000 pounds of copper worked into various forms in 1890; last year there were 1,500,000,000 pounds. However interesting these figures may be in themselves they are important to us as indicating the almost incom- prehensible change that has passed over the country dur- ing the last twenty years, creating inevitably a demand for entirely new types of workmen, men who were flexible enough to meet the new conditions and opportunities. There has been an emergency call for millions of men to do things which men had never done before. The country has been in need of an army of trained workers just as truly as the country was in need of an army of disciplined fighters in 1861. Where was the supply to come from? For generations the colleges had been grinding out graduates with prac- tically the same ctdture that they gave centuries before — a broad, enobling and enriching culture of the mind in languages and literature. They heard the demand and girded themselves to meet the new opportunity. But they were hampered by tradition and limited in equipment. Yet in spite of everything they have done nobly in adding scientific and engineering courses and in creating branches of technology. But these institutions could care for only the boys, shaping them for future careers. What could be done for the millions of workers already occupied and encumbered and unable to give three or four years to expensive study? Many of these could be remolded and shaped to meet the new demand; they could be made effective, if only enough scientific knowledge could be added to their practical experience to fit them for the new reqtiirements. At this point the International Correspondence Schools sprang into existence and with a courage and foresight and determination tmknown hitherto in the educational world proceeded to supply just what the cotmtry needed most. It is comparatively easy to say what was required: Architects for the btiilding of homes and factories; elec- tricians of various grades and orders to tame and harness the new power to industrial use; foremen to organize and An Emergency Call for Millions of Trained Men Why the Supply Fell Short of the Demand The I. C. S. as the Saviour of Industrial America How the I. C. S. Justifies Its Claims 23,364 Grateful Students Give Voluntary Testimony direct the vast army of laborers; draftsmen to design the machinery for the manufacturing and power-producing plants; engineers with the creative ability to meet unex- pected demands; proprietors who could start and develop enterprises and industries for turning raw material into a myriad useful products; superintendents with the knowledge of organization and the courage for expan- sion. This is a tremendous demand and until last week I was not quite sure that the International Correspondence Schools had really risen to the occasion. I asked for evidence. "No vague, general statements," I said, "but genuine testimony, such as would be valid in a court of law." I thought that perhaps they would give me a few dozen striking instances and was entirely unprepared for the avalanche of evidence that swept down upon me. Lord Derby, the great British statesman once said that "every institution must justify its claim to existence year by year by its fruits. " If you want an occupation that will keep you busy day and night for months go down to the Schools and ask them to justify their claim to existence by Lord Derby's dictum. I assure you it will not be a dreary occupation either. You will get the life-story of men by the thousands who have fought their way up from penury and cramping conditions to positions of wealth and honor and power. The letters will bring tears to your eyes and a quickening beat to your pulse as you read of their sacri- fice and heroism and achievement. Between the lines you will see beautiful homes, happy wives, children with a fair chance in life and all of the conditions that make for virtue and good citizenship. I wish I were able to give you some adequate idea of what this mass of testimony means to the nation and to humanity. Well, to go back to the question of evidence. As I said, it came as an avalanche. The first thing the Schools did was to give me the records of 23,364 students who have voluntarily written their life-story, telling how they owe almost everything to the I. C. S. instruction. Let me pause for a moment while the facts sink in: 23,364 have voluntarily written letters of gratitude, frankly saying that the I. C. S. have transformed for them the world in which they live. The overwhelming majority of them were in lowly and disadvantageous circumstances, crippled by lack of early education and with nothing but a pre- carious future before them filled with uninspiring toil and scant remuneration. Of course there are thousands who have not had the gratitude to report at all; and there are hundreds of students for whom we cannot but feel the contempt that snobs always merit. By the means of the I. C. S. instruc- tion they have risen to affluence and social position and now they wish people to believe that they were bom to the purple. Then there are those whose service under corporate control makes it impossible for them to report their advancement without violating rules laid down by their employers. Still others feel that genuine modesty which is unwilling even to count its accomplishments lest it should seem to boast. But putting these aside, we have an army of 23,364 enthusiastic volunteers pressing upon our notice. Of these 1,026 are architects. They have designed every How kind of buildings from cottages to skyscrapers. But the Architects thing that interests me chiefly is what they were before. I find they were following these different occupations: Carpenters 235 Office boys 6 Draftsmen 102 Bookkeepers 5 Apprentices 67 Bricklayers 5 Contractors 18 Laborers 5 Clerks 14 Painters 4 Foremen 12 Masons 4 And the rest from forty other occupations. For instance, one was a German barber who began to study at the age of 23 and is now in charge of the Drafting Department of the Consolidated Gas and Electric Light and Power Company, of Baltimore, Md. Barbering seems to me a peculiarly unimaginative employment and for a man to develop creative genius after years of such an occupation is certainly worthy of notice. Perhaps you all remember that Sir Richard Arkwright, who revolution- ized the cotton industry, was also a barber. Here is another interesting case. A carpenter in Brooklyn, a native of Sweden, was earning $12 per week Are Made when he enrolled in the Architectural Course. He was 30 years old at the time. His letter of February 28, 1911, informs me that he has drawn plans for 174 good class buildings in and around Greater New York and he is at present engaged upon a 48-family apartment house in Brooklyn — one of the largest in the city, and he also has other constructions under way aggregating more than half a million dollars. He superintends the construction beside drawing the plans. This is a remarkable showing considering that only 7 years ago Mr. Ericson received his Making ^^^* lesson papers. Electricians Among those volunteers I find 1,520 electricians, of whom 376 have become chief electricians and 163 elec- trical engineers. I find one who was a cow-puncher in California who is now the chief electrician for the Western Pacific Railway; another who was a lamp-trimmer and has become instructor in electrical equipment and con- struction in the Carnegie Technical School, Pittsburg, and another who was driving a mule in the mines and has become superintendent for the Bessemer Coke Company at the Griffin plants, which were constructed under his supervision and are the largest coke ovens of that company, being electrically driven. Here is a case which has pathos and heroism in a marked degree: Paul J. M. Loewe was born in France. At 6 years of age he was earning his own living and at 16 was supporting a widowed mother and six other children. He struggled along working by day and attending night school in the evening. At the age of 32 he was getting only $12 per week and that was uncertain. He then took a Course with the Correspondence Schools in Electrical Engineering and has now risen to the position of Vice-President and General Manager of the Moberly Gas and Electric Company. When I tujrn to the stories of men who have become chief engineers I am bewildered with the romance woven into the individual cases. My eye runs over the records of over 600 chief engineers and instance after instance would inspire Jack London to some of his most vivid writing. They began as firemen, laborers, machinists, farmers, clerks, blacksmiths, night watchmen, teamsters, and occupations of which I had never heard before. 10 In 1902 R. L. Thomas, of Eureka, CaL, at the age of 24, was running an old hand-propelled ferry boat across the Eel River in a rain storm. One of the passengers was a representative of the I. C. S., who spoke to the ferryman about the school that taught by mail. We will let Mr. Thomas tell the story in his own words: "This interested me, but I had no time to talk, as ferry boats in high water need attention, and the deck of a boat in a winter storm is not a convenient place to show literature. He took my name and said he would send information, I only men- tion this because, in 1908, while Deputy Surveyor for Hvmiboldt County, Cal., I drew the plans, got out the stress sheets and bills of material, and made the cost estimate for the steel bridge that now spans the river at that same place where the water-soaked, half -frozen and thoroughly miserable man, yelled at me, with chattering teeth through the cutting wind and blinding rain, that there was a school that taught things by mail." He enrolled. But he had a job that kept him busy from 2:30 a. m. -until 11 p. m., which he left for another which would give him more time for study. Here he had to work for only 11 hours a day and walk 3 miles on his own time. Still he made some progress in his Course. He says that what discouraged him most were the pictures in the I. C. S. literature depict- ing a student sitting in a room by a table, with a lighted lamp, because all of his study had to be done lying on the ground aided only by the light of a flickering candle shielded from the wind by a poncho thrown over a sage brush. Mr. Thomas is now City Engineer of Eureka, Cal. Then I hold records of a clerk who studied engineering with the Schools and has since invented and patented and manufactured electrical pumps, vertical gas and gasoline engines and special air-cooled engines for mining in arid regions; of a baker's assistant at $10 per month who through the Schools has become Chief Engineer for the Holyoke, Mass., Street Railway Company; of a Norwegian who knew hardly any English and learned of the I. C. S. through a post card picked up on the street, studied with the Schools and has become Erecting Engineer to the West- inghouse Company; of a motorman who began to study at the age of 38 and has since become the General Man- The Romantic Rise of the Ferryman I. C. S. Study Makes Inventors 11 The I. C. S. Supply the Country with General Superintendents ager of the Yukon and California Mining Company, doing pioneer work in Alaska; and numberless other cases which time forbids me even to mention. Out of these 23,364 voluntary witnesses I have the amazing record of 1,644 who have jumped into positions of great executive responsibility such as General Superin- tendents, Superintendents, and General Managers. Strong men such must needs be, well equipped, well poised, and with the capacity for leadership. Of all the officers of the tremendous industrial army they are the most difficult to produce. The I. C. S. have no greater honor than their success in this particular department. It is the process of self-education, the sacrifices the student must make to keep his evening study hours inviolate and the self-reliance which he develops in pursuing his work alone which ultimately qualify him for such a position of responsibility. These 1,644 Superintendents rose from the following occupations : Machinists 362 Electricians 82 Draftsmen 80 Carpenters 60 Laborers 54 Engineers 46 Clerks 35 Miners 24 Farmers 22 Foremen 22 The I. C. S. an Open Door to the Lowliest Worker And 21 were in the desolate ranks of the unemployed at the time they began to study with the I. C. S. Their triumph is the more remarkable of all. The remainder jumped up from 60 other subordinate occupations. For instance, I found three who were mule drivers. One of them, John Clapperton, the oldest of a family of nine children, went to work in the mines at 12 years of age and struggled along until he reached the hazardous occu- pation of mule driving, when he heard of the I. C. S. Not satisfied with taking the Complete Coal Mining Course he also took Mechanical Drawing, and you can find him any day at Minden, W. Va., the effective superintendent of the New River and Pocahontas Coal Company. Charles A. Sine, the present superintendent of the Johnston City Coal Company, 111., was also a mule driver when he got his first instruction papers from Scranton What chance had such boys in life apart from the helping hand these Schools could give them? Mr. Sine left the public schools 12 before he knew the multiplication table and was set to work in the mines at the age of 12. But we must leave the congenial subject of mules and turn to other cases. W. C. Calverley is well known in in the coal producing world as the General Superintendent of the Berwind-White Mining Company, having 10,000 men in his employ. Look at the terrible disadvantages under which he started. He went into the bowels of the earth to work at 8 years of age and it was not until he had reached 33 that he heard of correspondence teaching. The only education he had when he began to study was a knowledge of how to read, knowing absolutely nothing of mathematics. Mr. Calverley gives the I. C. S. the entire credit for his phenominal progress and writes: "I have repeatedly said that with such a school as the I. C. S. and its system of teaching there is nothing to prevent most young men and young women acquiring an education that will enable them to get away from the life of drudgery that falls to the lot of illiterates in all countries." Just one other case interests me because of the pathos of the child labor and juvenile privation. John G. King, the superintendent of the important Elmira Cotton Mills Company, Burlington, N. C, was one of a family of ten children with a widowed mother. He was put into the mill when ten years old and toiled like a slave until the correspondence schools picked him up, taught him all that was necessary for efficiency and made him a master of men. I could continue to cite cases equally cogent and dramatic with practically no limit but I think I have already indi- cated and unfolded sufficient evidence to prove that the International Correspondence Schools have more than justified their "claim to existence year by year by their fruits." In fact I believe the evidence at my disposal is ample to support the statement that the International Correspondence Schools are a national asset which no historian of the progress of our country for the past twenty years dare leave out of account. Let me lay before you just one other set of figures. We must necessarily confine ourselves to the 23,364 voluntary witnesses because we do not feel at liberty to subpoena the tens of thousands of others. One out of ten of those The I. C. S. Undoing the Evils of Child-Labor The L C. S. the Best Friend of the Common Laborer 13 A Student 47 Years Old Makes Good voltinteers were coniinon day laborers when they enrolled as students with the Schools; that is, 2,330 of them were earning a precarious livelihood in unskilled, untrained, and uninspiring toil; poorly paid, amid depressing conditions, and with no guarantees, or even hopes, of a better financial or social future. These day laborers have advanced to important positions as follows: Engineers 77 Foremen 45 Electricians 36 Draftsmen 36 Proprietors 33 Clerks 32 Chief Engineers 22 Superintendents 20 Managers 17 Asst. Foremen 17 Chief Draftsmen 15 Inspectors 14 Machinists Contractors Chief Electricians . . . U. S. Postal Clerks. Chemists Architects Civil Engineers Surveyors Vice-Presidents Factory Owners. . . . County Surveyors . . 12 11 10 6 6 5 4 4 3 2 2 That is the point of advancement they have reached up to date, but it is a serial story and every day sees some new ele- vation. Many of them have only just completed their Courses and there has not been time for them to come into their own. But there is quite enough in the record to demonstrate that this institution is playing the part of social and industrial redeemer for thousands of men whose lot is almost hopeless and helpless, and who would be submerged and lost but for the ladder the I. C. S. put under their sinking feet. A typical case is that of A. V. Riker, who was earning $50 a month when he enrolled. He had served his employ- ers faithfully and was often set to train younger men along the line of practical work. Presently he found that when a foreman or superintendent was to be appointed one of these younger men was sure to be chosen over his head. Then he would grow angry and quit the job, joining another gang. By the time he was 47 years old this had happened so often that he was in danger of becoming soured. Then it occurred to him that the reason why younger men were advanced while he remained behind was that they possessed what he did not — a technical education. Here the I. C. S. enters. He enrolled for an Electrical Course, and worked until he graduated. He is today Manager for a general contracting firm handling large and important enterprises. 14 Then there are the firemen, 1,603 in number, members of Kipling's "Black Tar Gang," without whose sweat and toil in smoke and grime the giant wheels of industry would never turn. These firemen have attained other positions as follows: Stationary Engineers. . 821 Locomotive Engineers 262 Chief Engineers 163 Proprietors 53 Electricians 35 Managers 28 Chief Electricians 20 Foremen 12 Machinists 4 Civil Engineers 2 Presidents 2 While 183 have entered various other occupations. One of the most typical cases is that of Wiley W. Bailey, of Taylor, Texas. This man enrolled for a Steam-Electric Course in 1903. He studied awhile but grew discouraged when he reached higher mathematics. For 7 long years he bent his back in the ash pit and the coal hole. During those years Bailey's wages increased only $10 a month. Then another I. C. S. Representative found him and persuaded him to resume his studies. Within one year he had made such progress that when his firm added a planer mill, they increased his salary $100 a month and made him Chief Engineer and Inside Manager. His company has complimented him still further by naming the plant the Wiley Bailey Mill. Is it any wonder that this student is an enthusiastic witness for the Schools? Likewise, there are clerks, 1,500 strong, many of them the product of the Commercial Courses in our public schools. While it may be difficult for one to rise from the ranks of those occupying clerical positions, these men have demonstrated that with the help of the I. C. S. it is not impossible. They have entered a variety of occupations calling for trained intellects, as the following table will show: Proprietors 262 Chief Clerks 227 Managers 169 Draftsmen 125 Superintendents 66 Secretaries 55 Mechanical and Civil Engineers 18 Electrical Engineers ... 8 Auditors 6 Electricians and Chief Electricians 45 Treasurers 38 Foremen 30 Contractors 26 General Managers 18 Chief Engineers 5 Chemists 5 Teachers 5 Presidents 2 Leaving 350 scattered among various other occupations. 15 How Firemen Mount the I. C. 8. Ladder to Success The Story of the Clerks The Alma Mater of a million and a half Students LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 029 931 995 One of these men whose letterhead shows that he is now a builder of artistic homes in Winnipeg, Manitoba, was a grocery clerk, in poor health, confined for long hours in a close store, trying to support a wife and child and look decent on $40 a month. He paid for his Course by working at night, while his wife carried water and split kindlings so that he should not be kept from studying during the scant time he spent at home. Finally he became a super- intendent, but he was not yet satisfied and last year he cleared about $12,000 as a Building Contractor. This student, J. F. Parker, ascribes his success to the deter- mination "to keep on going even when he was tired to death and sick of the whole business." I began by showing that the past twenty years have been a period of extraordinary ferment in our nation, with a thousand new industries springing into existence, and old ones expanding and ramifying in unexpected direc- tions. The larger part of the citizen body was unable to meet the sudden demands owing to lack of training. Our existing institutions of learning, at best, could train only the on-coming generation. Then it was that the Inter^ national Correspondencfe Schools did what was needed most: took the old workers and trained them for the new opportunity. The achievement is phenomenal. In the twenty years just past the Schools have aided, adapted, trained, or equipped no less than 1,315,000 men in America alone and have made them effective factors and forces in our national life. "^All honor to such an institu- tion! the first, the largest, the most successful, and the best of its kind in the world ! And all honor, a thousand-fold, to the man who has put his body, heart, and mind into the vast creative enter- prise and has guided and developed it to its present mag- nificent efficiency! When the graduates of our colleges speak affectionately of the institution from which they graduated they call it their Alma Mater. I suppose you all know that Alma Mater means — foster mother. How much more truly and literally may the million and a half students who have received the boon of education speak of the I. C. S. as their Alma Mater — their Foster Mother! 258P— 19278-10-27-ll-20m 16 029 931 995 7( HoUinger Corp. pH8.5