REMOTE STORAGE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA BULLETIN New Series No. 157. University Extension Series No. 44 UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA BULLETIN SOCIAL PROBLEMS J. w. SCROGGS, Editor DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC DISCUSSION AND DEBATE THE UNIVERSITY EXTENSION i/ r NORMAN, OKLAHOMA Novem ber 15, 1918 University of Oklahoma Bulletin, published by the university, is issued semi-monthly. Entered at the postoffice at Norman, as second class matter, under act of congress of August 21, 1912. Accepted for mailing at special rate of postage, provided for in Section 1103, act of October 3rd, 1917, authorized cn Juiy 8th, 1918. JAN 17 1919 THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA THE UNIVERSITY EXTENSION DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC DISCUSSION AND DEBATE PROBLEMS J. W. Scroggs, Editor > * # PUBLISHED SEMI-MONTHLY BY THE UNIVERSITY NORMAN, OKLAHOMA FOREWORD. This bulletin is Part II of a series of four parts; as follows: Part I; Studies on the Great War. Part II; Studies on Social Problems. Part III; Problems of Individual Development. Part IV; Living in Oklahoma. A consideration of all the social problems of our day would be far beyond the scope of this series of studies; it is necessary to select only a few. While the supreme importance of those selected is not always recognized there can be no dout of their serious and urgent importance in the life of our day For the most part they are not yet in the fields of controversy either political or economic. They lie deeper and chiefly concern the ideals of character and citizenship. The purpose is not so much to study the controverted questions of the day as the grounds out of which questions arise. As in all previous University bulletins, no attempt is made in this one to advocate exclusively any side or special view of the topics studied. The sole purpose is to arouse interest in these topics and promote their further study, with the ultimate aim of finding appropriate materials for inductive studies in character and citizenship development. Nothing is advocated because it is popular or unpopular, or because of its material values, but only for the sake of its fundamental ethical and spiritual values. Problems of much greater interest to business men or pub¬ licists might have been found; the ones selected will be of chief interest to philanthropy and patriotism. While not the leading controverted questions of today some of them may be by the time those now in the high schools are in charge of the affairs of the world. They must be imprest with the truth that nothing can ever be settld till it is settld right. We would gladly leave a better world to those who are to come after us but we cannot; they must make their ow T n world. Whether it will be a world of war and struggle, of hatred and unrest; whether the world’s woes and sufferings must continue they must determine for themselves. We can only hope that, as > David gathered materials for his son to build the temple, for the social structures of the future we may gather such materials, such unselfish principles of justice, sympathy, wisdom, and right that the next age may be better than ours. October, 1918. J. W. SCROGGS Department of Public Information and Welfare 3 09 ,73 I. THE PROBLEM OF THE MODERN FAMILY INTRODUCTION. The Family Fundamental. The family is beyond question the ultimate social unit of humanity. On the family depends the physical, mental, and moral welfare of the race. Our interest in the family, then must be unsurpast by any other interest in life; and the welfare of the family must be our chief concern. It deserves a place, then ? in our list of important current topics. The Prolongation of Infancy. The human being is born the most helpless of all and remains helpless longest. While mental and physical development are not complete till 30 or later, it has be^n found practicable to entrust human beings with the re¬ sponsibilities of maturity at the age of 21. Th primary purpose of the home is to provide a suitable place for children to grow up. The fact that no great genius has ever come from a public home for children is a very significant testimony to the value of the home to the race. Different treatment is required for different ages and dispositions, and all home policies must be adapted to individual peculiarities and needs. For the first years infinite tenderness and care are required. As the intellectual, moral, and social powers develop, equal tho constantly changing care is required in order to prevent dwarfing or mal-development. The Mother and the Family. We have not yet succeeded in perfectly developing a human being. Every other interest in life is subordinate to this; the endowment and development of chil¬ dren may well be considered the paramount interest of human life. The husband and father may build up a great business, a factory or a business block that bears his name, he may be widely known and honored; but his life achievement is utterly insignificant in comparison with that of a wife who brings into the ranks of men a rare being who shall bless the world for all time. We need to see that home making is not only a great busi¬ ness, but that it is the great business of human life. While we wear carnations on Mother’s Day, and pay them empty tributes, the day must come when a civilization will be decried which does not provide pensions and honors for mothers as for the best of soldiers. Often a mother, left a widow with a family of children, by incredible sacrifices and heroic effort gives a family V 84 UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA of good citizens to a state which never gives the slightest recog¬ nition of her achievement or of its obligation on account of it. Failure of the Family. In a recent Oklahoma newspaper a list of 27 cases of the docket of the District Court was given of which 20 w'ere for divorce, and 16 of which were granted, 18 of the suits were .brought by wives. There are more divorces in the United States than in all the rest of the civilized world to¬ gether and the rate is increasing three times as fast as the population. The average for the entire nation is about one di¬ vorce to every twelve marriages; but the state of Washington had one divorce for every four marriages; Montana one for every five; Colorado, Texas, Arkansas, and Indiana one for every six, and San Francisco in 1903 had one divorce for every three mar¬ riages. All these are family failures; but they are not all. Where one case goes to court there are many who endure in silence for duty’s sake a home which is more like a hell than the the paradise married life was meant to b'e; homes may be fail¬ ures and yet kept up. Matrimonial Choosing. Among the ancients parents chose husbands for their daughters and sons’ choices had to have their approval. Tho this plan has long been discarded by civil¬ ized peoples, young people are great fools who do not consult their parents in such matters. Parents are apt to underestimate affection, are too unwilling to take risks, and are apt to lay too I much stress on financial considerations. Civilization has left the supreme decision as to who shall marry to the women not because that always secures the wisest choices, but because women are the chief sufferers from unwise choices, and there¬ fore marriage should not be forced upon them, Young people usually overestimate affection, underestimate character, and are generally ignorant of eugenic considerations. Matrimonial Aids. Most marriages are more or less irra¬ tionally contracted tho many turn out happily. No dout this is a potent cause of divorce. Some have advocated responsible matrimonial agencies supported by the state whose functions should be entirely advisory, and which w r ould endeavor in a systematic way to bring about good matches and prevent bad ones. The selection of such a bureau would be very difficult, it is doutful if those who need it most would consult it; but it would at least be an attempt to meet one of the greatest social needs. We can hardly expect a stable family when we leave its founding to luck or blind sentiment which ignores all con¬ siderations of reason. There should be more study of personal- SOCIAL PROBLEMS 85 \ ity and temperament, and society should cease to consider its most serious interest a mere matter to giggle about. The Chief Failure. But tho homes might not be as happy as they might be, children might grow up in them somewhat normally and successfully. The worst failure of the home is not in the relations of husband and wife but when it fails to rightly develop children. The home exists for this; if it fail in this noth¬ ing else can redeem it. It is becoming notorious that children are growing up in many American homes very .much as they might on the streets'; there is but little or no control, discipline or guidance. Much indignation has been exprest towards land¬ lords who refuse to rent property to families with x children. Their objection is not to children but to destructive children who are uncontrold by their parents. Children need culture, training, restraint far more than the young of any animal yet a cat mother gives better rearing to her kittens than some mothers do to their children. The o’d training of children was too se¬ vere but many modern parents go to the opposite extreme. The Corner Stone of Civilization. Our whole civilization rests upon the home. If that fails we are headed back to bar¬ barism or worse. No great achievements, either individual or social are possible if the home fails to do its work, and there is nothing to take its place. Yv T e can and should relieve motherhood of much of its drudgery, its burden, its isolation, and medical and domestic science are doing it. To rear a family should be beyond all comparison the most attractive occupation for women or for any human being, for in it centers every other hope of humanity. We should frankly recognize the fact and act accord¬ ingly. The New Woman. Having in mind the importance and the needs of the home, many have regarded with alarm the appear¬ ance of thG “New Woman.” No one seems to know exactly what she is, or how she differs from the diviner type we have always had, but the mothers of the past have been so excellent that the world fears any change. It cannot but be better that women should be more economicaTy independent; they should not be even tempted to marry an unworthy man for the sake of a home, for that cannot bring a real home. She should be able to support herself for even marriage may bring her a condition where she may have to support herself and others. Her economic depen¬ dence should not compel her to live with a husband who be¬ comes a brute. She needs political independence, for many wo¬ men have to live outside of a home and have precisely the same UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA Z6 rights and the same need of a voice in making the laws which govern them that men have. And the normal woman, after she has reared her family, has many years of magnificent possibility for public s'ervice which we cannot afford to lose. Competing with the home. Economic and social progress has brought about mal-adjustments which make indispensable institutions compete with the home. Practically no .money can be made at home now> all bread-winning has to be elsewhere. With the increast cost of living, wages cannot keep up but are relatively failing and the father’s wages are insufficient. If the mother earns anything she must be away from home, making the performance of her duties impossible. When the mother has leisure, society calls her away from home increasingly. To de¬ prive her of social joys and privileges is unthinkable, at least no man would suggest it, but it does sometimes seem as tho society did not have a wholesome effect on motherhood. (It is even said that in extreme cases, some women find a poodle dog more con¬ genial than a babe.) A man’s work has aAvays taken him away from the home, and no improvement is in sight. Often’education, even, wars against the home by taking children away from it. From 6 to 14 children are away at school all day. After that many have to go away from home to high school and nearly all for aollege or professional training. Happy Homes. While the home should be supported from a sense of duty, human nature is too weak for that. Unless the home is happy it must fail of its greatest purpose and achieve¬ ment. Let the entire family make this an object and it will not be so difficult. Love, kindness, faithfulness should be insepara¬ bly associated with the home, but more is needed. Play is the most potent attraction to children and a 7 so one of the greatest forces in their development. The happiest memories of every childhood are associated with its plays; parents cannot afford to be indifferent to them and money spent on toys is not wasted. It is not necessary to provide expensive toys. The finer the toys the less there is for imagination to do: a rag doll is more likely to make an artist than its finest French competitor. Toys should be suggestive. The children who have to leave home for their happiest play are largely deprived of what a home should be to them; amusements away from home are a most formidable com¬ petitor. Many parents make the mistake of over-feeding and over¬ clothing their children while denying them the infinitely greater spiritual values of assisted and supervised play. The unhapplest home is where the children do not play happily. ( \ SOCIAL PROBLEMS 87 Wil! the Home Survive. Many earnest students of these problems are seriously asking this question. It is useless to mini¬ mize the difficulties and the dangers; they are real and appar¬ ently inescapable. But solution must be found; humanity has progrest too far to be sacrificed by its own achievements. The school can b’e made to supplement the home instead of compete with it; and the same is true of many other foes. It is not necessary that the home should be a prison whose inhabitants never leave it. We need such adjustments that children leaving home temporarily should return to it with increasing joy and yearning. There should be “no place like home.” The Greatest Danger. These things which compete with 0 the home or attract children away from it are not the chief perils. Indifference as to what is going on, careless drifting, blindly ignoring patent facts and their results,—these are the chief perils. The problems are not inso uble but they will re¬ quire intelligence and earnestness and moral effort worthy of the great end to be achieved. What is the Remedy? Prohibiting divorce would not pre¬ vent the causes which lead to it; punishing chose who marry unwisely is superfluous. The only remedy is character. Th* ultimate dependence for marital happiness is not lov'e but character. Where love is not merited, unworthy character makes it a tragedy even if it survive. Many a couple have fallen in love after marriage,—a deeper, truer love—because of the dis¬ covery of higher, nobler traits of character not discerned before. Many who married with douts and misgivings have entered inte fullness of joy because character was true and genuine and stood the tests. Youth must know that unworthy, selfish, unlov¬ able character can never bring happiness in marriage nor is any other life relation. It is never too late to improve character. Good common sense may do much. Many causes of marital unhappiness might be avoided by good sense and tact. Reso¬ lution to make the best of it often avoids shipwreck. In ideal marriage each will is surrendered to the other and th'ey coalesce more or less into one; a firm, a partnership in which neither has exclusive control. A serious effort to agree will often work wonders. But all these mean character,—the ultimate depes- dence. STUDY ON I. Suggested Questions To Aid Discussion. 1. Why is the family fundamental? 2. Cou’d not children be reared in hospitals or public institutions? 3. How long does / %$ • UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA * *» legal infancy continue? 4. Compare the length of infancy of the human species with that of a few animals. 5. Why do birds build nests? 6. Is it necessary that the mother be not attracted from the home? Why? 7. How could civilized peoples show' their appreciation of the mother? 8. Does every divorce mean the failure of a family? 9. Should divorce be more restricted? 10. Woukl that solve the problem? 11. If the divorce rate keeps on increasing what will become of the nation? 12. Why should there be proportionately more divorces in the United States than in all the rest of the world combined? 13. Should marriage require the consent of parents? 14. Should any state agency be established to facilitate better marriages? 15. Do those who might make good matches have adequate opportunities to meet? 16. Is a home v/hich rears bad citizens,—that is, children un¬ controlled and undeveloped,—vrnrse than divorc'e? 17. How far is a cat boxing the ears of her kittens an example for human mothers? 18. Make a list of things which would relieve mothers of part of their burdens. 19. What are.the most essential things required of the mothers? 20. Should she ignore other calls? 21. What do you understand by the “New Woman?” 22. Will economic independence of women make them less apt to marry and more apt to seek divorce? 23. Make a list of kinds of work which interfere with the home. 24. Make a list of social re¬ quirements' ditto. 25. Make a list of amusements ditto. 26. Should the mother be a prisoner in the home? 27. May a home b-e so happy that a mother would not miss outside attractions? 28. Make a list of things which might compensate a mother for staying close at home. 29. Is play in the home a necessity or an obstruction 30 Is the home in danger? 31. Is a very selfish person capable of genuine, enduring love? 32. Why must the ultimate dependence for the permanence of the home be on character? 33. Do we always love tkose who are worthy? REFERENCES Lee: Play in Education, Chapter XIX. Marden: Woman in the Home. Towne: Social Problems, Chapters XII. Ellwood: Sociology and Social Problems, Chapters II—VII. SOCIAL PROBLEMS S9 II. CIVILIZATION AND THE USE OF LEISURE. Nature of the Problem. The persistent teaching of educa¬ tors and psychologists is at last awakening tlie public to tne importance of the right use of leisure. When at work we are under restraint, compulsion, we are not our real selves; at lesiure we are free, our acts are spontaneous and natural, we are our real selves. What we do depends on our work; what we are depends on our use of leisure. At leisure we rest because the will is not under constraint. Aesop long ago told us in the fable that when the “Bow is always bent it will break.” The gospel of relaxation has long been preacht by physicians and psychologists, but no where is it needed as much as in America. Leisure The Building Time. At work we tear down; at leisure we build up. It is not surprising, then, that the right use of leisure should be so important to growth, to the keeping up of strength and vigor. And since it controls our capacity for work, our leisure is as important as our work. Prof. James somewhere endorses the statement that we learn to swim in winter and skate in summer. That is, we utilize all ex¬ perience after it occurs if there is time and opportunity; or in other words, if a normal amount of leisure be provided. A justice of the U. S. Supreme Court once said, “A man can do a year’s work in ten months but he cannot do it in eleven.” Recreating the body, keeping up vigor and force, health and energy are as essential as the work itself, and even more. Leisure time, then, is as important as work time. Play and Personality. No satisfactory definition of play can be given, but we do not need one as everyone knows it by ex¬ perience. Since we are our real selves only when at leisure it is evident that relaxation must be necessary to normal growth. Under constant pressure and constraint we can never know what w r e really are. A chi’d deprived of a normal amount of play can never become its full and real self. This is true even of adults, but is far more true of children. P!ay and Morality. No moral discipline for children is equal to play. Playing with others, team work, affords more oppor¬ tunities for moral training than all the rest of life. Froebel said that play is the purest and most spiritual activity of man. “Playing fair” is the finest moral training to which children are susceptible. To be ruled out of the game means a direr woe to a child than fire and brimstone to an adult. To the Greeks their games were religious exercises. Chicago’s Experiment. After many years of effort by so- UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA ciologists a public play ground was established in one of the worst wards in Chicago. As a result crime fell off in that ward 53 per cent in one year. No such a moral record was ever made before. In another case this c'ty tore down a whole block of business buildings and establisht there a public playground. She finds playgrounds are cheaper than jails. She spends over a million dollars a year on supervised play, and sometimes near y twice that. Piay and Health. It seems almost superfluous to discuss the relations of play and health. President Wilson, with all his heavy burdens, keeps himself in perfect condition by riding and by p aying golf. Groos says that children do not play because they are young, but that they are young so that they may play. Joseph Lee says, “Play is not a luxury but a necessity. It is not something a child likes to have but something it must have if it is to grow up. It is more than an essential part of his ©ducat’on; it is an essential part of the law of his growth, of the process by which he becomes a man at all.” Play and Mental Development. In play, a child without ex¬ terna 1 compulsion puts forth its utmost endeavor, and so in¬ creases its power for effort, and this power is completely under the control of the will. “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” is an old and universally accepted adage. The bright¬ est intellectual age in Eng'ish history was the age of Elizabeth, and no other age was so distinguished for play. Elizabeth’s maids of honor used to play “tag.” The playground is every whit as essential as the class room in the education of the child. Athletics. We spend one million dollars a year on athletics, but the results are not all that we could desire. The popularity of games depends too much on how spectacular they are. Those who witness games are not taking part in them and get but little good from them. Many games afford exercise to but few students and those not the ones who ne'ed it most. Match games are often accompanied by gambling, and professionalism is hard to prevent. Track athletics are less open to these ob¬ jections but they often encourage over exertion. It seems to be provd that athletes are not long livd. More intelligent super¬ vision is needed. Commercialized Amusements. Experience has abundantly provd that amusements cannot be commercialized without great loss. The chief purpose becomes not deve’opment but gain; that overshadows every other consideration. Where there is SOCIAL PROBLEMS 9i competition pandering to the lowest tastes is compeld, and the real object is lost sight of. Society permits and even ap¬ plauds things on the stage which it would not tolerate else¬ where. We allow amusements to sink to the lowest level, and then many well meaning people oppose the amusements instead of the degradation. We permit our most potent force for good to become one of our most potent forces for evil. Motion pictures might he one of the most potent and inspiring instrumentalities we have for education and entertainment. Great works of litera¬ ture can be filmd so as to rival the printed page. History can be reenacted before our eyes in the very costume and custom of the time. The wonderful world seen thru the miscroscope becomes a fairy land on the screen. The moving picture is now the third business in magnitude in the United States, but very few moving picture shows are of a higher type than the dime novel. Norway has annext the motion picture to the school sys¬ tem and prohibits its commercialization. A line example. Saloons. The attraction to the saloon is not that drinks are sold there; it is a social institution, and tho public opinion generally considers it one of the worst institutions, its chief attractive force is due to the fact that it ministers to a social need. If leisure is not utilized in a better way it will be in a worse way. The German beer garden, to which the whole family goes, is better than the saloon tho it is far from ideal. It seems to be very difficult to replace the public dance hall with anything better; it is easy to get better things but not the patronage; when commercia'ized it is a social menace. Billiards and bowling alleys are excellent and wholesome games, but when commercialized they are generally opposed by good people. The only way to prevent commercializing amusements is to furnish them at public expense. Soldier’s Leisure. We have found that so'diers cannot endure the terrific strain of modern war if no better use he made of their leisure than formerly. To make nerve and muscle respond and endure in modern warfare care must be taken which was not dreamed of 50 years ago. Recreation must keep pace with the wear and tear of battle .and trench. And so we are spending millions for the renewal of the soldiers while they rest, and we have to do so if we are to have efficient armies. Napoleon and Grant said that it is the “Spirit of the Army” that wins victories, the “morale” of an army is a matter of first importance; but these depend chiefly on the use made of leisure. 92 UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA Leisure Must Be Protected. It is a common, saying that work ennobles but over-work degrades. We must have leisure; this is a fundamental law of our being; we cannot escape it; we cannot greatly modify it. Even if some workmen do make a ruinous use of leisure, all do not. Even if the idleness of some children is a measureless curse we cannot rob childhood of its birthright—the opportunity for spontaneous growth and development. Even if the opportunities of leisure cannot be utilized we cannot afford to sell them to greed. The use of leisure must be spontaneous, voluntary, free. To compel recreation, to make it a task changes its character and impairs its value. Tho we must prevent excesses, leisure must remain inviolate; leisure must be leisure. The Adult Attitude. Older people get so interested in work that it becomes play to them. Samuel Johnson says “It is doutful if a great man ever accomplisht his life work without having reacht a play interest in it.” We must “get into the game.” But the doctors are tel'ing us there is no substitute for leisure. In the rush and drive of American life men are breaking down earlier and more completely than among any other people. Labor, however enjoyable, cannot be a substi¬ tute for leisure; it affords no time for relaxation or renewal. But the worst thing is when the adult, because he is inter¬ ested in his work and finds it play for him, insists that children should do the same. So it is common for older people to be not only indifferent to the right use of leisure, but object to anybody having any at all. They do not distinguish between leisure and idleness. An Ancient Testimony. We are not left to guess work about this; it has all been fully tested out by experience. The story which Xenophon tells us of the education of Cyrus shows that one cause of the development of the Persian empire was the wise use of leisure. But ev'en if that story be somewhat ideal¬ ized there' is no question as to Athenian education. No nation ever gave so much time, attention, and effort to the utilization of leisure as the Athenians did. .And no people ever had so much leisure. The Greek business man usually closed his place, of business at 2 p. m., and spent the afternoon’s leisure -at games or listening to the philosophers, poets, or statesmen. The great Greek tragedies were given at public expense,—they wou’d have been impossible otherwise—, and great audiences sat all day in the sun on hard stone seats listening to them. And yet the ag¬ gregate of Athenian business activities is amazing. Her fleets SOCIAL PROBLEMS 93 covered every sea, and her manufacturing and commerce sus¬ tained them. They excelled all the ancient world in all lines of productive activity and yet had more leisure than any other peo¬ ple ever had before or since. The secret of Athens, of the “glory that was Greece” was her wise use of leisure. Her leisure was not wasted time but the chief source of her wonderful mental and physical energy. Leisure Time Not Lost Time. A boy scout master in Iowa askt a farmer to let his boy go on a week’s “hike” with the other boys. The farmer was about to give an indignant refusal;—to think of losing a whole week from work!—when he was askt: “Suppose that for the remaining 51 weeks the boy should work with greater willingness, interest, and zest, would the week really be lost?” The farmer tried it, and afterwards it was a fixt custom. The fact was that the w r eek’s hike was the most productive week of the whole year. When to that is added the mental, physical, and spiritual effect on the character and de¬ velopment of the boy it is strange that fathers do not see the truth more readily. Lack of leisure and the proper use of it are the chief causes of the drift to the city which has become one of the overshadowing problems of our time. No man can work all the time and do his full work or his best. P!ay is Life to the Child. Practically all the happiness a child experiences is in its play. It enjoys work only as it can make play of it, which is very seldom. To rob a child of play is to rob it of happiness as well as its spiritual growth. * Children not only desire play but they hunger for it, and p 1 ay-hunger is just as imperative as any other hunger. To oppose it is to invite if not compel disaster. Play, then, is the birthright of every child. Without it he cannot be a normal child or grow to normal manhood or womanhood. The child deprived of a happy child¬ hood can never be compensated afterwards. Beyond all question child labor laws are just and expedient. Poverty cannot prevent children from playing, tho it may affect their playing. A rag doll, however, plus imagination may give far better results in development than the finest mechanidal contrivance money can buy. Play and Democracy. All p^y is democratic. On the play¬ ground the aristocrat and the ragmuffin compete on equal terms and the hero is the one who can do things. When they choose sides there is no respect of persons, only ability and worth counts. No finer school for democracy is conceivable. Fairness, team work, equality, cooperation,—what school for these can 94 UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA compare with the playground? We must learn self restraint, we must learn how to use freedom; these, children cannot learn while at work for there all is obedience, restriction, subordina¬ tion. Labor is chiefly valuable for its objective results, its wages, its achievements; play is valuable for its subjective resuds; it develops the worker himself and increases his capacity for work. Children do not play in Germany as they do here. If democracy is to triumph we must give more intelligent attention to play. It is a part of good citizenship. The Use of Leisure. It is not mere leisure that we need, but a wise use of leisure. A playground dominated by bullies cannot realize our expectations. While leisure is a dominating factor in human life its value depends entirely upon*how it is used. The fire which cooks a meal may also burn a city; its value depends entirely on its use. Play must be directed, super¬ vised, if we are to get right results from it. We cannot turn leisure over to the accumulation of evil influences and expect its normal results. Least of all can we commercialize our use of leisure, our recreations and amusements, and escape their complete perversion. The Greeks used their old men in super¬ vising play, for it kept them young while it guided the children. The great Perversion. We must face the fact, then, that while the use of leisure is the most potent force we have in mem- tal, physical, and moral development we are allowing it to be so commercialized that it is failing to fulfill its purpose. In com¬ mercialized amusements no ideal can be considered unless it pays; no excellence is sought unless it is profitable. We are not only faking to use leisure wisely but are allowing it to be used against us. One of the arguments against changing from a ten to an eight hour day was that the two hours would not only be wasted but much of it would be spent in dissipation. Whether a further change to a six hour day would be advan¬ tageous or not depends entirely on how it would be spent. We are prohibiting child labor, and rightly, but are giving but little attention to how the children’s idle hours are to be spent. There is no greater curse than id’eness. Child labor may be far less an evil than child crime. We may undo in hours of leisure what we do in hours of labor. STUDY ON II. Suggested Questions to Aid Discussion. 1. Why are w‘e our real selves only when we are free? 2. Could one be safely trusted in business who was dishonest in play? Why? 3. Why is clean athletics so important? 4. Ex- SOCIAL PROBLEMS 95 plain how we learn to swim in winter or skate in summer. 5. What effect wou’d being extremely busy all winter have? 6. Is keeping up one’s strength and vigor a part of this year’s work or next year’s 7. Show why one’s individuality or per¬ sonality is used more in play than in work. 8, Is use necessary to the development of any power or quality? Why? 9. Can you see any reason why the Greeks thought games were religious exercises? 10. Discuss Joseph Lee’s statement. 11. Why should overworking Jack make him dull. 12. Does athletics get all to exercise? 13. Are athletic sports valued chief y as a spectacle or an exercise? 14. Why should commercializing an amusement render it almost or quite valueless? 15. What purpose must necessarily predominate in commercialized amusements or sports? 16. How would you remedy it? 17. What do you think of the Norway plan as to motion pictures? 18. Must the saloon be replaced- in order to secure the full benefit of its removal? Why? 19. Why are we spending so much to give soldiers whole¬ some recreation? 20. Can a child grow up normally without play? 21. Should we make a provision for it the same as for other necessities? 22. Why do not old people play? 23. What effect would the Greek plan of making the o’d men supervisors of play have on both the young and the old? 24. Can you show that leisure time well used is not lost time? .25. Show that play is especially necessary to children in a democracy. 26. How may leisure be perverted? 27. How may it best be utilized? REFERENCES , Lee: Play in Education, Chapters I—X. XLVI, XLVII. Johnson: Education by Plays and Games, Chaps. I—III. * / 96 UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA III. CONSERVATION OF LIFE. INTRODUCTION Ancient Views. Sickness was once considered a direct visitation from God. It was argued in the book of Job that Satan was the immediate cause, but even then God had per¬ mitted it. Sickness, as well as other misfortunes, was consid¬ ered prima facie proof that th'e sufferer or some one else had done something to deserve it. The sick were sometimes punisht to make sure that the punishment was adequate. Sickness was sometimes attributed to evil spirits and various incantations and charms were used. With such views prevalent the sick could not expect much intelligent sympathy or care. The Modern View. We now hold that health is normal and sickness preventable; altho some causes are not yet satisfacto¬ rily known. The “evil spirits” are germs, malnutrition, failure of organs to function naturally, etc. Mental states may greatly interfere with or modify bodily functions; emotions reverberate thru the entire, body. Most sickness is now held to be pre¬ ventable by cleanliness, proper care, -and correct living. In stead of being due to a visitation of a mysterious Providence it is usually due to natural and preventable causes. Hygiene sanitation, and prophylaxis are counted among the most elemen¬ tary duties- of life. Lengthening Life. Not long ago the length of a generation was estimated at about 33 years. Now it is nearly 50 years. This is chiefly due to the better care of infants and small children. It is very doubtful if the range of life is extending very much. In David’s time it was 70 years (three-score<-and- ten) and sometimes 80 years. Break downs in the prime of life were never so common as now. While medical science has achieved wonders in combating disease, the average person was never more careless of health. Nearly all deaths are premature. While the causes of all diseases are not yet known we know that many of them can be prevented. It is now thought that the normal life should be at least 100 years. Partial Death. But it would be of no advantage to the human race if the span of life were extended to 100 years unless senility were also delayed. In the Greek myth, Eos, the Dawn, obtained from Zeus the gift of immortality for her husband Tithonus, but neglected to ask for perpetual youth. So he grew older and older, more fee^e and helpless, but could not die. Finally as a blessed relief he was turned into a grasshopper! Without strength, vigor, activity, immortality would be the SOCIAL PROBLEMS } 97 greatest imaginable curse. Death-is not the worst calamity. Deferred Penalties. Few violations of the laws of health resu't in immediate death. Youth usually thinks it can ignore things injurious to health because they do not cause immediate death. In many ways men defy the laws of health with apparent impunity till suddenly there comes.a break down, and life be¬ comes a burden and a curse. Its work is stopt just when it is most interesting and important and the years that linger on are fruitless and barren. Not less tragical are the more numerous cases where the powers dependent on health break down grad¬ ually and the capacity for both work and enjoyment decrease until the poor victim prays for deliverance. The Laws of Health. The essential laws of health are now comparatively well known. They pertain chiefly to eating, clean iness, exercise and recreation. A text book of applied physiology or hygiene gives abundant information. A few things only will be mentioned here. Eating; Quantity. Most people eat far more than they need. The general practice is to eat till the stomach begins to com¬ plain. But in normal health you have already eaten too much before the stomach protests. All food eaten in excess of needs exhausts vitality instead of sustaining it. Many foods do not furnish as much energy as is consumed in digesting and as¬ similating them. The stomach cannot be habitually overloaded without a gradual loss of energy and capacity for efficient work. For those who are tempted in this way the only safe plan ig to quit hungry. Essential Foods. The materials required for the subsistence of the human body are, proteins, (pro-te-ins) carbohydrates, minerals and fats. A “balanced ration” is a meal consisting of food containing a proper proportion of these food elements. An average would be approximately as follows :*proteins, 6.4 oz.; carbohydrates, 16 oz.; fats, 6.4 oz.; minerals, 1.6 oz.; total 30.4 oz. or nearly two pounds. Overeating is usually more or less necessary in order to get enuf of the essential elements. Some day, possibly, those who prepare our meals will give just what we need so that we shall save expense and get greater energy, for none will be wasted in digesting useless food. Mastication. If food is not properly chewed a greater amount of energy is required for its digestion. We can live on ’ess food if we chew it longer. What we eat does not become real food until it is digested, so what we do not digest simply wastes energy. Food not pulv'erized by the teeth must be dis- 98 UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA solved in the stomach before the body can make use of it, and the latter requires very much more energy than the former. This makes the condition of the teeth a matter of great import¬ ance to health. Much wretched illness is now traced to de¬ fective teeth. Cooking. The process of digestion begins in the kitchen. Instead of being drudgery,- cooking is one of the very highest and most vital arts of life. If food is not properly cookt all the processes which follow are less effective. It requires less well coolrt food to support the body because more of it can be utilized. Good cooking, then, means not only better tasting food but greater economy, greater energy, and a longer and happier life. Jovial Meals. Eating and matters related to it, then, are among the greatest interests of human life. Not only do health and the prolongation of life depend upon them, but the energy which makes life worth while is even more dependent. But while eating is a somewhat serious business it should be done as hilariously as possible. An enjoyable meal is likely to be eaten more slowly and be better digested; jovial meals may reduce expenses. All unpleasant matters should be resolutely ban is lit from the table. Eating is the fundamental process of life ex¬ tension; it deserves far more attention than it gets. Sanitation. In recent years nothing has surpast in interest and importance the achievements of sanitation. The chief ob¬ stacles to the building of the Panama Canal were not th'e en¬ gineering difficulties, tho they were stupendous, but the disease germs lurking in the miasmic swamps. Human beings could not work there even if they could manage to live there. Both there and in Cuba the yellow fever was a recurring scourge; now it is almost unknown. By the rigid enforcement of sanitary meas¬ ures they have been rendered comparatively healthy. The full significance of such facts is beyond the power of words. We cannot measure what they mean for human happiness and pro¬ gress. Large portions of the earth which have in all past time been given up to disease and the inferior races resulting are now open to human energy and have entered a new service of the r3.ce. The number of American soldiers killed in the Hispano- American war was insignificant compared with the number who died in unsanitary camps. Sanitary engineering has become one of the most useful of professions. Town and Country. It used to be thought that the greater healthulness of the country compensated for its disadvantages in other respects. But the examination of young men under the SOCIAL PROBLEMS 99 selective draft lias revealed the fact that country boys are not as healthy and vigorous as town boys. The difference is chiefly due no doubt to the greater attention given to athletics and usually to sanitation in the towns. Back yards, stables, and privies do not war in vain against the health and vigor of the rural family; they may easily overbalance all the advantages of rural residence. Filth and disease are almost correlative terms; they are inseparable. There must be either disease or a lower¬ ing of vitality wherever there is filth, for it cannot exist without being communicated to air, water land food. Flies. The common housefly is the greatest spreader o-j filth. Their existence is a menace to human life and is more or less a sanitary disgrace, or would be if the facts about them were more generally known. They are the very embodiment of filth in their origin >and in their habits. Not only that, but they are the greatest carriers of disease germs we have. “Swat the fiy” has become a familiar campaign cry, but it is not fami'iar enuf. The truth is not half realized. It is doubtful if any other one agency does as much to shorten human life and diminish its energy and efficiency. Tuberculosis. In the United States, one-third of all who die between 18 and 45 are victims of the “White Plague.” As this is the period of the greatest physical vigor this death rate is ap¬ palling. From one-seventh to one-tenth of the human race die of this? one disease. There are, it is estimated, one million peo¬ ple in the United States suffering with it, and the annual cost is about $500,000,000. 10% of all deaths are due to tuberculosis and all of them are premature. 3,000 die of it in Oklahoma every year, and 230,000 will ultimately die of it in the state. Of 270,000 school children examined in 25 cities nearly 17% had tubercu’osis. And yet it is strictly preventable. If sufficient interest could be aroused it could easily be exterminated. Sanitoriums. Tuberculous patients cannot be allowed to enter regular hospitals for fear of infecting other patients. They cannot be isolated and so must spread the disease to all about them. It would seem brutal to kill every one who became affected w'th tuhercu’osis. Is it any less brutal to compel them to kill others, to murder their own families, to go at large spreading the disease everywhere? A sanitorium with proper facilities cures all cases in the earlier stages and would in time greatly check the disease. New York requires every county of 35,000 inhabitants to maintain one. Inoculation. It has long been observed that persons having 100 UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA had certain contagious diseases are immune to them afterwards. Each disease creates in the body an anti-toxin which can suc¬ cessfully combat the germs of that disease. Inoculation is an attempt to produce those anti-toxins by artificial means and the v results have been remarkably successful. Small pox was once one of the greatest scourges of the race but is nbw no longer feared. Anti-typhoid vaccination has proved equally successful. Up to ten years ago cases of typhoid in the United States army averaged 3 or 4 to the thousand. Since anti-typhoid vaccination has been made compulsory in the army the disease has been almost eradicated; cases now numbering only 3 to the hundred thousand. It was announced recently that in the French army typhoid fever has been entirely eliminated. Serum Treatments. In addition to preventive vaccination there is also the curative type known as “serum treatment.” These are not so fully developt but have already achievd markt success, especially in diphtheria, tetanus, and hydrophobia which no longer inspire the terror they once did. The method is also used in the plague, cholera, meningitis, scarlet fever, whooping cough, and other diseases. Investigations are still in progress, and much greater achievements are doutless possible. Surgery. Some of the most marvelous achievements of our age have been in surgery. Some of the marvels are almost unbelievable. Part of the stomach has been removed—in one case two-thirds of it—and the patient livd. Pieces of shell have been removed from the heart and the wound sewd up. Bones have been replaced, faces restord, portions of intestines and other parts of the body removd. Skin grafting has become common. Bones are taken from one body and grafted into an¬ other, or from different parts of the same body. A large pro¬ portion of the soldiers wounded in battle formerly died or were incapacitated, but now a very large proportion return to the ranks again. Anti-Sepsis. The healing of wounds is chiefly a matter of preventing infection. Surgical success is chiefly due to improvd anti sepsis. Many wounds would heal of themselves if disease bacteria could be kept out. One of the greatest discoveries dur¬ ing the war is the “Dakin-Carrel” anti-septic treatment. Profes¬ sor Robertson of the University of California has recently dis¬ covered a preparation which greatly accelerates the process of healing; it is called “Tethelin,” and is made from th'e pituitary body in the brain. The Nursing Profession. It is now fully recognized that SOCIAL PROBLEMS IOI in most sickness, care or nursing is as essential as medical treat¬ ment. In typhoid fever, for example, little medication is needed except in complications; the doctor’s skill is directed to the nursing. The nurse supplements the doctor; by remaining con¬ stantly at the bedside the nurse makes the doctor’s presence constant by carrying out his instructions. Schools, factories, communities are employing nurses whose work is to prevent sickness, or who will call the doctor before the case becomes serious. Nursing affords a surpassingly useful and honorable profession for women in which she has buV little competition with men. Fresh Air. The chief remedy for tuberculosis of the lungs is fresh air, and it is indispensable in many other diseases. It is especially essential in keeping up the bodily vigor which enables the body to resist disease, and gives greater energy and efficiency. Air-tight houses are comfortable and possibly save fuel but they are not fit to live in. It is especially necessary to have school rooms and sleeping rooms well ventilated. Fresh air will not only increase your energy but prolong your life. Aitruism of Medical Men. “No discovery in medical science has ever been used to destroy an enemy.” Medicine ministers to friend and foe alike. The chronic grumblers who can find so little to praise in their fellow men should study the work of the medical profession. It is they alone who have given pre¬ vention of disease more prominence than curing it. They have taken the sole leadership in sanitation and in all efforts to keep the world healthy. Yet when people are well they do not pay doctor % bills. The doctors by preventing sickness are making their profession less profitable financially. But they are doing it and at an ever increasing rate. It is deemed a part of good business to make trade; the example of the doctors gives one new hope for the future; and the example should not go un¬ noticed and unhonored. A Healthier World. The chief significance of a healthier world is not longer life, tlio that means much for the human race. Its chief meaning for us is that vigor and efficiency of the race will be increased, so that life will not only be longer but will accomplish far more work while it lasts. In this work every one has a duty. Every one can do something to make the world more healthy and wholesome. And the reward is sure: for in this cause one cannot help others without being blest himself. 102 UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA STUDY ON III. Suggested Questions To Aid Discussion. 1. Is suffering ever the result of wrong doing? 8. Is air¬ sickness caused by violation of laws of health? 3. Is it ever * causd by the sins of our ancestors? 4. Why is taking care of health one of the first duties of life? 5. Can one violate the Sixth Commandment by carelessness of his health? 6. Is every violation of health laws punisht? 7. In what ways may such violations be punisht? 8. Give examples where violations of laws of health by one person cause sickness and suffering to others. 9. Should one ever intentionally expose himself to contagious diseases? Wily? 10. Is it better for children to have the measles, whooping cough, chicken pox, etc., and be done with them? 11. What is the deeper meaning of the old Greek story of Tithonus? 12. Why should the Dawn desire an % endless day? What part of life corresponds to the “Dawn?” 13. Would we be more careful of our health if we could see the penalty of every transgression of its laws? 14. Why can a bal¬ anced ration be smaller than'an unbalanced? 15. Why is cook¬ ing a high art? 16. Why are good teeth so important to child¬ ren? 17. Could one live without appetite? 18. How do you account for the fact that town boys have better physique than country boys? 19. What is the remedy? 20. Write an out¬ line for a speech on “Swat the Fly.” 21. What is the best prevention and treatment for tuberculosis? 22. How can you account for the decrease in cases of sr^ill pox? 23. For the decrease in cases of typhoid fever? 24. What has made the improvements in surgery possible? 25. Should every girl be taught nursing? 26. As the world gets healthier what will be¬ come of the medical profession? 27. What is the chief reason for care of the health? REFERENCES Lee: Play in Education, Epilog. Towne; Social Problems, Chapters XVI, XVII. Hart: Educational Resources, Chapter V. O’Shea & Kellogg: Making Most of Life. Marden: Be Good to Yourself, Chapters I, II, III. SOCIAL PROBLEMS 103 IV. PUBLIC FINANCES. ilN X nU.L>U U J. lUiV. Inefficiency. Nowhere else does representative government show greater weakness than in collecting and expending funds Citizens of monarchies tell us that they can support all their royalty and aristocracy and still run their governments much more cheaply than we run ours. The trouble with us is not so much dishonesty as slipshod and inefficient methods. There is not only no inherent reason why democracies should cost more than other governments but they should cost less. ' The real trouble is that so many people are not informed as to the prin¬ ciples of either collecting or expending taxes. The people can rule but they cannot use their power wisely. Tax Maxims. One is that “All property whatever should bear the same proportion of the burdens of taxation.” This is apparently just, but it is utterly impossible. Property should be classified for taxation, each class with a different rate. Property which pays only 3 per cent cannot be taxt 2 per cent, while property earning 20 per cent could pay that rate easily. Another maxim is, “Each should be taxt according to the benefits he receives.” Sounds just, but how can the benefits be measured or estimated? Another is, “Each should be taxt according to his ability to pay.” Shou'd a merchant cha ge his customers according to wha L they are able to pay? Even if this principle were entirely just how could “ability to pay” be measured? It is not a simp’e mat¬ ter. Some argue that the best measure of “ability” is expendi¬ tures. That would depend on what the expenditures were for Unprofitable expenditure would not indicate the same ability as profitable expenditure. It would not be expedient to tax large expenditures if they were for charity, or for doctor bills, etc. Another maxim is: “Taxation should not increase the cost of the necessaries of life,” for then it would fall too heavily on the poor; it should be much heavier on luxuries. Another maxim is, “Taxes should be indirect,” so the people will not find them out. Or, “Raise the taxes in any way that will arouse the least opposition.” These are mere confessions of ig¬ norance and impotence. Shifting of Taxes. Most taxes are shifted, and must be shifted. A merchant must add his taxes to the price of his goods just as he would any other expense. He does not pay his taxes out of profits any more than he does clerk hire, insurance, rent, or any other expense. He must quit a business unless it pays all 104 UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA his expenses and more; that is, unless he can make his customers pay them. When a people tax their merchants, then, they merely tax themselves. Every man must shift his taxes if he can, so that all taxes are finally paid by those who cannot shift them,— those who cannot fix their prices, but must take what they can get. The wisest tax, then, w'ould be one which cannot be shift¬ ed. By levying a tax which is sure to be shifted we do not really tax the one we seem to tax. Inheritance Tax. The citizen N has enjoyed his property dur¬ ing his life time; the state helped him to accumulate it, collect¬ ing his debts, enforcing his contracts, standing guard over his life and property. When he is thru with it the state should be fully reimbursed. A direct inheritance to near relatives should not be taxt as heavily as collateral inheritance'to more distant relatives. An inheritance tax cannot be shifted, the receiver \ is ‘able to pay” it; it is proportioned to benefits received, etc. This is the fairest and most expedient of all taxes. A small in¬ heritance should of course be exempted. Income Tax. The next fairest tax is the income tax. The % chief objection is the difficulty of finding out what it is; this affects the expediency of the tax, not its justice. The income tax amendment to the constitution establishes this method of taxation, but as yet it is not largely used. England raises nearly fourteen times as much in proportion from this source as Vfe do, and it seems to be generally considered there as the most popular form of taxation. Income tax cannot be shifted. Corporation Tax. The state creates a corporation at the request of its members and for their benefit. It is but fair and just, then, that they should pay in taxes a large part at least of that benefit. Since it is very difficult for the individual business man to compete with a corporation, the corporation can afford to pay for that advantage. While part of a corporation tax can be shifted much of it cannot. Business of great magnitude can only be undertaken by corporations so we cannot afford to dis¬ courage them too much by taxing them too heavily. Unearned Increment Tax:__This is coming into general use in Germany, England, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. It is one of the least burdensome of taxes. A tax on speculation is more expedient than a tax on labor, and especially since labor bears the chief burden of shifted taxes. Unwise Taxes. The above are among the most expedient and just taxes. Perhaps the most unwise tax is a tax on enter¬ prise, which is so important in every department of the life of SOCIAL PROBLEMS 105 the people that to discourage it is almost suicidal. We need more of it; we cannot get too much. A very little tax on enter- prize may be fatal unless it can be shifted, and in that case it had just as well not be levied because some else would really pay it. Tax Philosophy. The question cannot be fully discust here; these facts are mentioned only to show the need of studying taxation. Our comparative failure in taxation is due chiefly to our assumption that it is a simple matter. All that is at¬ tempted here is merely to show that it is an immensely intricate and complicated matter. The best remedy within easy reach is a State Tax Commission composed of men of successful business experience and who are profound students of tax problems. The National Purse. This is filled chiefly by indirect taxes such as tariffs, revenues, excises, and by fines, fees, taxes on in¬ comes, corporations etc. Congress only levies direct taxes in time of war and those levied during the civil war were after wards refunded. Expenditure. Emptying the national purse is entirely in the hands of Congress. Its expenditure is the most inefficient and extravagant in the world. In no other nation are “Pork Barrel” methods so tolerated, or “log-rolling” so common. We tolerate the theory that congressmen are expected to “get something” for their districts as an aid to their re-election. A large proportion of the bills past by each congress are “private bills” which are of little or no importance to the nation but are often little less than legalized robbery of the public. Out of over 2500 bills past by the senate in the last session, all but less than 200 were private bills, most of them appropriating money. A Budget System. The only way to stop this is by some kind of Budget System, but it seems very unlikely that such a change will ever be made unless public opinion compels it. In placing adequate checks upon each department of government the constitution has made it impossible to locate responsibility. Only a modified budget system could of course be possible where the president and congress might be of different political parties. The statesmanship of a representative may be gauged by his attitude towards a budget system. In this respect we are far behind every other enlightened nation. Local Finances. Local taxation is based chiefly on real and personal prop'erty. This is augumented by fluctuating amounts from the state. The theory of the real property tax is sound if carried out. It is easily assest and hard to shift. As a rule 10 6 UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA speculators demand a lower tax rate on their land on the ground that they are not deriving an annual income from it. But their only object in holding the land is to get a larger price than they paid for it, so their profit is a deferred income. By holding land for higher prices they are rendering no public service and are making it harder for poor people to get homes. General Property Tax. Concerning nothing are economists more unanimous than that a general property tax is not expedi¬ ent. Much personal property is hidden and the assessor has no way to find it but by inquisitorial methods which are intolerable in a free country, and often unlawful. In Massachusetts assess¬ ments on personalty increast about three fold in forty years, while assessments' of realty increast nearly five fold. That means that personalty is paying less in proportion than forty years ago, and yet it has doubtless increast far more than realty. There are more stocks, bonds, money, and credits in New York City than any where else in the country, but the taxes from those sources are only about one-eighth of those on real estate. In Chicago a few years ago the richest man in the city paid taxes on only $20,000 of personality, tho he was worth millions. Assessors have to be elected by the votes of those whose prop¬ erty they assess and cannot afford to make enemies, and if they should sacrifice themselves it would never be appreciated. Assessments. Nothing that we do is more inefficient and unscientific than our assessment for taxation. The same articles such as horses, wagons, etc., are sometimes assest nearly twice as high as some parts of the state as in others. The law re¬ quires property to be assest at its market value but it seldom is. Every property owner must swear that the valuation is correct. The present system often compels an honest man to commit perjury but who deems it a lesser evil than valuing his property higher than his neighbors. The blame is, chiefly at least, on the system. In some states the assessments are pub- lisht. This is vehemently opposed by those who are shirking, which goes to show that the publicity is desirable. Permanency. The expenditure of local funds in small com¬ munities is usually more honest and efficient than in cities. The* chief fault is trying to get along too cheaply. An aggregate of millions is squandered in merely temporary improvements that should have been made permanent at the beginning. This is notably true in roads, bridges, etc. The ultimate cost is far greater than making such improvements permanent to begin with; and besides they never render the public the service need- SOCIAL PROBLEMS 107 ed. Most of such improvements should be built by bonds so that those who use them hereafter could help pay for them. Tho prejudice against bonds is very expensive to those who hold it Home Rule in Taxation. Many advocate home rule in taxa¬ tion so that its problems could be brought more clearly before the individual citizen, which would cause more study and give better opportunities for it. Many complain more of taxes than of any other burden. But ifis by far the cheapest investment we make. In nothing else does an equal amount of money give anything like such returns. For the taxes we pay we may live in a civilized community, have life and property protected, have the children educated, with roads, bridges, courts, records, things which no money could buy in any other way. The State Purse. State finances overlap both local and na¬ tional The state revenues come chiefly from specific taxes on corporations, oil, etc. Many think that the income tax should be levied only by the state except in time of war. This would be greatly to the advantage of the richer states. The state levy on general property is usually very small. Last year it was 2*4 mills in Oklahoma. Abolishing state taxes would make but little difference with tax bills. Emptying The State Purse. State funds can be expended only by the legislature; it is one of its most important functions. Much complaint is made of every legislature, but the fault is far more with the system. The opportunity of the legislature to at¬ tend to the expenditure of so much money involving so many interests is entirely and even absurdly inadequate. It meets but once in two years and then only for sixty days, and half of that or more is required to get organized and in running order. The state does not furnish adequate information, either of the needs at home or of what is done in other states. The honest and capable efforts of the legislators are seldom appreciated. The selfish legislator who gets the most swag for his constituency is likely to be better rewarded than the faithful and patriotic public servant. The greatest bane of legislative procedure is legislative bargaining. Legislators must support each other’s bills in order to get anything at all. The trouble is not with the legislators but vf.ith the system. If we demand ef¬ ficient expenditure of public funds from the legislature it would seem that the first essential would be to give it a fair chance to do it. Importance of Expenditure. Not only is the legislative func¬ tion of spending the state’s money important because of the im- io8 UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA mense sums of money expended; but the legislature must choose the objects for which it will be expended. So the rate of pro¬ gress the state makes depends on legislative support of new movements. Oklahoma does not yet have a Library Commission, nor a Tax Commission, nor a Legislative Reference Bureau There is but little time to consider such things in a legislative session. Nothing can be done successfully or satisfactorily with¬ out adequate financial support. «* But these themes are far too great to be discust in this brief introduction. The only object is to show the necessity of study¬ ing them. STUDY ON IV. Suggested Questions To Aid Discussion. 1. Why should business methods be more ineffective in de¬ mocracies? 2. Ar'e there advantages which compensate? 3. Discuss each of the Tax Maxims named. 4. Why should lux¬ uries be taxt most? 5. Is it wrong to shift taxes? 6. Upon what classes do you think taxes are finally shifted? 7. Discuss the justice, expediency, etc., of Inheritance Tax. 8. Ditto the Income Tax. 9. Ditto the Corporation Tax. 10. Ditto the Unearned Increment Tax. 11. Ditto taxes on Enterprize and Labor. 12. Discuss the advantages of a Tax Commission. 13. What is “log rolling?” 14. What is meant by "pork barrel” legislation? 15. How would a Budget System work when the executive was of one political party and the majority of the legislative body another? 16. What would be some of the ef¬ fects of taxing unused land the same as improved land? 17. Would cement roads be economy in the long run where they are used very much? 18. Are wooden bridges cheaper than iron? 19. What advantage would there be in publishing as¬ sessments? 20. Show that a General Property Tax is a tax on honesty. 21. Discuss Home Rule in Taxation. 22. Show how state taxes overlap national and local taxes. 23. How could the legislature be given a better chance to do its work? 24. Show how education is dependent on the wisdom of legis¬ lative appropriations. 25. Why are legislative sessions lim¬ ited to 60 days? REFERENCES Plehn: Government Finance. SOCIAL PROBLEMS 109 V. THE STATE AND THE INDIVIDUAL. INTRODUCTION. Relations. The proper relations of the state to the indi¬ vidual is one of the unsolved problems. Excessive predomin¬ ance of the state leads to tyranny; of the individual, to anarchy. According to the German view the state is everything; the in¬ dividual nothing. The state is above all else. They practically make it superior to God and to morality. Whatever is neces¬ sary to the state is moral, is their teaching. Much of that kind of teaching is in reality toadying to the ruling class which is practically the state. In the American view the state exists to serve the individual, just the opposite of the German theory of the state. With us all authority to the state is grudgingly yielded. Wherever the constitution grants authority it provides abundant checks upon it. Lloth indispensable. Altho somewhat antagonistic the in¬ tegrity of both must be carefully sustained. Too great subordin¬ ation of the individual leads to moral degeneration as illustrated by the frightful barbarities perpetrated by the Germans in this war and the moral bankruptcy of the German nation. Too great subordination of the state leads to such weakness and corrup¬ tion that the state cannot perform its necessary functions. Weak¬ ening the state too much enables strong individuals to use if for personal ends. The state must be composed of individuals; any deterioration of the individuals must weaken the state. The relations of the state and individual is a problematic one which requires constant adjustment. The State Must Control the Individual. Even if the state exist only to serve the individuals composing it, still within cer¬ tain limits it must control them. Its ability to serve often de¬ pends upon its abiljty to command. The necessity for state con¬ trol of crime is evident. Where the state cannot do this each in¬ dividual must go armed and prepared to defend himself; this is the savage state of society where there is practically no govern¬ ment. Where interests conflict the state must control or there would be continual- strife. Without state control there would be practical anarchy. So even if we hold that the state should serve the individual we must willingly consent to allow it to control us in all necessary ways. Limitations of State Control. Jefferson thought the nation was governed best that was governed least. That depends. The state must govern enuf; how much depends on varying condi¬ tions and circumstances. The poor especially suffer from a no UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA weak government; for it is not able either to protect them or serve them. In our American theory we do not permit state control for the sake of the state, but only where it is to the interest of the individual. There is danger of course that the individual interest may be selfish; that powerful or corrupt combinations may control the state in their own interest; the sole dependence then is upon the incorruptibility and intelli¬ gence of the electorate. The final limitation of the state’s power is the rights and interests of good citizens. The State Must Protect the Individual. No individual can protect himself economically, and very many cannot protect themselves in any way. For those able to protect themselves, to do so is likely to be against public policy, for power to protect may be used to oppress. There are always the helpless which the state must jealously guard; there are the physically or men¬ tally defective who are the special wards of the nation, and one measure of a nation’s civilization is the care it takes of those unable to take care of themselves. In extreme cases the state provides homes or asylums. Our failure to make any provision in most states for mothers left widows with children to rear is far from creditable to our civilization. Self-Protection. Too much protection would evidently weaken or destroy individuality, self assertion, and independ¬ ence. It is better to permit some suffering, even, than sacrifice such qualities as these. Here, as before, no hard and fast rules can be laid down, A too paternal government may in the long run be more injurious than a negligent one. The ultimate test of a government is the individuals it produces. They must have all possible initiative and freedom of action and deve 1 opment: protection should be afforded only where it is clearly needed. The State Must Assist Individuals. A common way of doing this is in the enforcement of contracts, regulation of trade, pre¬ vention of unfairness, dishonesty, and crime. Most of our laws are for the purpose of regulating the relations of individuals. No man can do just as he pleases either to a neighbor or to a stranger. Public employment bureaus are establisht to aid the unemployed to find employment; both state and nation have Departments of Labor to look after the interests of all kinds of labor; consuls find time from their other duties to hunt up trade opnortunities in other lands and get information needful to American business. .The state maintains or supervises various public utilities which serve the public more efficiently and cheaply than private enterprize could. t SOCIAL PROBLEMS in Helping Without Pauperizing. It is clear that too much help paralyzes individual effort and enterprise. To help just enuf without helping too much is a never-io-be-solved problem, for conditions constantly change. The teacher who helps the pupil too much is merely eating his dinner for him,—depriving him of opportunity of growth. The incapable usually clamor for government aid; they want the government not only to protect and assist them in an elementary way but to do every thing for them. Since they are unable to use liberty effectively they are willing to surrender it entirely and compel every one else to. One of the most difficult things in the world is to help the poor without pauperizing them. Those who administer charities find great numbers who soon become dependent on charity and make no further efforts to better their condition. Many will not work while others will furnish them with food, clothing, and shelter. Subserviency. Germany is an example of a people where the mass'es have lost their initiative. The promise of a little pension when they are old holds the underpaid laborers to their poverty. They invent nothing. Politically they are the most incompetent people in Europe, and submit with scarcely a protest to the greatest political injustice and fraud in the world. A paternalistic government does so much for them that they are abjectly dependent on it for everything, and even be¬ lieve everything it tells them. The masses of Germany are said to still believe that she was attackt first at the beginning of the war. At their government’s command they have committed the most unspeakable barbarisms in the world’s history with ap¬ parently but little protest. Fifty massmeetings to protest against war are said to have been held in Berlin the night before war was declared, but the protesters all lined up when they were told, and fought their best. And they fought to rivet the bands of their slavery both upon themselves and upon other nations. The State Must Develop the Individual. The state must not only not repress individuals as in Germany, but should develop them, both for th'eir sake and for its own. This is its noblest duty and highest function; it is the supreme test of a form of government. We recognize this in our public school system. The fathers of our republic taught that education is the corner stone of democracy. It is the chief glory of America that a Lincoln may come from a log cabin and a Garfield from the tow-path; that her boys and girls have a better chance to rise than anywhere else in the world. Emerson said, “America i 112 UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA means opportunity.” A German-American in Iowa, who cam© here ten years ago with nothing, recently bought a $500 Liberty bond for each of his eight children as a recognition of his obli¬ gation to America which had given him opportunity to rise. To him America meant more than to most of us who are born here. Not only do we offer education to every child but parents are forbidden to rob their children of its advantages. We recog¬ nize no greater obligation than the education or development of the children. German Education. This is a stupendous perversion. The children of the working classes are not taught to reason but to absorb and obey; or in other words, to serve the aristocracy. While this system has developt an unprecedented capacity for absorbing knowledge, with it has been developt an unparalleled political incompetence and the lowest inventive skill in the civilized nations. For American labor to support the German system is unspeakable ignorance or worse. Any admirer of that system should go there to live; he has no right to live under our free institutions and be a traitor to them. The State and the Criminal. This helpful attitude of the state applies even to criminals. Formerly prison and punish¬ ment expressed the wrath of society towards crime. It was sup¬ posed that the more severe the punishment the greater the de¬ terring influence. Punishment is now thought of as remedial rather than punitive; the duty of the state is not to punish but to reform the criminal; the punishment is incidental to the greater purpose. So in prisons we are trying to develop crimi¬ nals, to teach them trades, to advance their education. Since few have known the effects of higher education we are trying to give each convict the kind of education he needs, whether technical, cultural, or vocational. In the California penitentiary, more than 1,000 convicts have taken correspondence study from the University and the results are found to be remarkable. We must endeavor to return the criminal to society not more hard¬ ened and embittered but equipt better than ever to make a living and a place among men. The State and the Poor. Dissatisfaction with poverty grows mo'^e acute. Can the state prevent it? Many are the panaceas recommended. Ancient Rome furnisht her poor with/free graiu, and the poor crowded to her. A kind hearted woman in Connecticut left a sum of money to help the poor of her town. A few years later the town petitioned the legislature to annul the will to keep the town from filling with paupers. The state SOCIAL PROBLEMS 113 does not owe the individual a living, but as far as possible a chance to make a living. Pauperizing is akin to murdering. To take away from a man that which makes him a man is little less than taking his life; for without that which gives it sig¬ nificance and value it is a cumbrous gift. Socialism has been called a paradise for the incompetent; would not a paradise for the comp'etent be a better world? And a still better one would be where the competent had opportunity to make their own paradise. But even here the state might furnish opportunities till the job seeker lost all power to find one himself. The mother eagle carries her eaglet to a great height and drops it. As it falls flapping and shrieking towards the abyss beneath the mother dives below and catches it on her back, carries it on high and drops it again. It is severe discipline, but some day that eaglet soars to meet the sun. Patriotism. We say much of the duty of the state to the individual; what of the duty of the individual to the state? Those who demand most from the state are not always the most pat¬ riotic. It is true that the state should exist for the individual; it is equally true that the individual exists for the state. When the state is in danger the individual forgets self. The people must protect the nation for their own sake, not the nation’s. Ger¬ many cannot understand Belgium and England and America: she cannot see why they should fight. The love of country, of its honor, of its liberty, has always been the greatest obstacle to tyranny. And patriotism not only calls for sacrifices in war, but for honest voting and intelligent citizenship in time of peace. Neither can avail without the other. Men will not die to save a nation not worth saving. War Time Relations. In war time the normal relations be¬ tween the state and the individual are disturbd; for men to talk of free speech and other rights when the nation is in danger is irrational and contemptible. A committee of five men control all the railroads in the United States but there has not been a protest or a suit to prevent such control. The government must fix the prices of coal, wheat, iron, copper, shoes, and will doubt¬ less fix many other prices. Supply and demand cannot be de¬ pended upon now; high prices might defeat us in the war by making it impossible for the poor to live or the government to secure supplies. Whatever theories we may hold in time of peace there is but one opinion now. The state must have all; our interests, our loyalty, our treasure, our sons. Individualism and Socialism. The social type which lays UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA 1 14 too much stress on the individual is calld “Individualism;” that which overemphasizes the state is called “Socialism.” There are many types of both; they are tendencies rather than defi¬ nite types. The socialistic type, represented by ancient Sparta and modern Germany, is designated “State Socialism;” this is the only type that has ever succeeded in establishing anything jike a permanent state. Many socialists are as antagonistic as individualists to the state socialism of Germany, and especial¬ ly to its results. Individualism is beset on one hand by anarchy and on the other by the rise of powerful individuals who cannot be restrained by single individuals but only by the state which individualism weakens. Both are types of brigandage, for scien¬ tifically and morally the financial exploiter is as much a brig¬ and as Robin Hood and sometimes less chivalrous. Socialism is beset on the one hand by communism denying the right to property, as twice illustrated in French history and also in the recent Russian revolution; and on the other by autocracy which naturally results from the relativ weakening of the individual, as illustrated in Sparta and Germany. This great war is a struggle between liberty for the individual and the dominance of the state, or democracy and autocracy. Character and Citizenship. These are correlated and must be developt together,—character for the individual, citizenship for che state. Character is the more fundamental because an unworthy character cannot be a worthy citizen; and on the other hand, so-calld good people sometimes neglect the duties of citizenship, or their duties to others. But such men are not really good; they lack the highest and culminating quality of goodness. A goodness which neglects or denies public or social duties is futil and abortiv, salt which has lost its savor. No one can be a good man or a good Christian unless he is also a goo I citizen. Religion must make citizenship. We cannot love God unless we love our neighbor. We cannot have good citizen¬ ship without good character, or good character without good citizenship; they are inseparable, and it takes both to solve the problems arising from the relations of the State and the Indi¬ vidual. Character takes care of the individual; citizenship of the state. STUDY ON V. Suggested Questions To Aid Discussion. 1. Which would be better for the state; to have its rela¬ tions to the individuals composing it settled permanently, or to have them constantly needing adjustment? 2. Which would he SOCIAL PROBLEMS US better for the individuals? 3. In what respects are the German and the American ideals of the state opposite? 4. In a normal world which should be favored more, the state or the individual? 5. Discuss the reasons why the state should control the indi¬ vidual. 6. How may democracy tend to anarchy? 7. Discuss Jefferson’s maxim. 8. Which would great wealth be likely to favor; state or individual control? Why? 9 .Under which would the poor fare better? Why? 10. Should America protect its citizens on the Lusitania? Why? 11. Make a list of the ways the state may assist its citizens. 12. Why is it hard to help the poor without pauperizing them? 13. Which would you pre¬ fer; a poor government with line citizenship, or good govern¬ ment with inferior citizens? Why? 14. Why is there little hope of a revolution in Germany? 15. Why should it be the state’s duty to develop its citizens? Why not the citizens develop themselves? 16. Why should those who admire Germany be required to go back there to live? 17. Can other nations trust them? Why? 18. Why should punishment be remedial instead of punitive? 19. Is the state ever partly to blame for crime? 20. Will a merciful attitude towards crime increase it? 21. Should a criminal after his punishment be restored to his former place in society? Give reasons both for and against. 22. Was ine Connecticut woman really kind to the poor? 23. Can you suggest a better plan than the one she used? 24. Where would you rather live; where the government made the best pro¬ visions for the competent or for the incompetent? Why? 25. fs the mother eagle cruel to her young? 26. What if she failed to catch it sometime, should she change her method? 27. Why should the individual be entirely subordinated to the state in time of war or great peril? 28. Are laws made for peaceful times sufficient for war times? 29. Are there any heroes in times of peace? Who? 30. Should all individual rights be ig¬ nored in war time? What should be retained? 31. If the nation is lost what becomes of the individual citizen and his rights? 32. Define Individualism. 33. Does the subordination of the in¬ dividual weaken his mental and moral powers? 34. How does Germany illustrate this? 35. Define Socialism. 36. Does individualism or socialism give greater opportunities to power¬ ful and unscrupulous individuals? 37. Can anything restrain such individuals? 38. Should religion restrain them? Can it? 39. Which type is more congenial to the weak and incompetent? 40 . Which to the strong and capable? Why? 41. Does the highest character serve itself or others? 42. Can a man be good ii6 UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA in himself, regardless of others? 43. Why is good character futil without good citizenship? 44. Is this war a struggle be¬ tween liberty and autocracy? 45. How is this war a struggle between theories of the relations of the state to the individual? REFERENCES Cunningham: Christianity and Social Problems, Part I, Chap. III. Elwood: Sociology and Social Problems, Chapters' XIII, XIV. Towne: Social Problems, Chapters IX, X, XI. Hart: Educational Resources, Chapter VII. VI. THE WORLD TREND TO DEMOCRACY. INTRODUCTION Aristotle’s Cycle. Aristotle observed that the governments of the cities of ancient Greece showed a tendency to change in regular cycles. First, preceded by chaos without history, there would be a monarchy under a single masterful man. Mon¬ archies tend to become tyrannical and are overthrown by a com¬ bination of leaders and there is an aristrocracy. This tends to become a selfish oligarchy, the worst of all governments, and finally the people rebel and establish a democracy. But in t ime democracy tends to become corrupt and inefficient and there is anarchy. Then a strong leader arises who brings order out of confusion and there is a monarchy again. While this tendency is much less markt in modern history it is still to be reckoned with. The Present Trend. For more than a century the world wide trend to democracy has been rapidly increasing. That. China and Russia could become democracies seemed a few years ago as improbable as anything in human affairs could be; but the revolutions in both countries show great strength and are probably permanent. Both have had absolutism and oligarchy; the cycle naturally brings democracy. If this degenerates into anarchy or becomes corrupt, monarchy, in some form, will come back again. While the trend to democracy is universal we cannot assume its permanence. In countries which still retain the monarchal form of government the monarch is being more and more limited by legislative bodies. In England, for SOCIAL PROBLEMS ii/ example, the king is hardly more than a figure head. Countries already democratic are becoming more so. One indication is the growth of woman’s suffrage sentiment especially in England and the United States.* Everywhere there is a tendency to dis¬ tribute power more widely. While wealth tends to pass from many to the few, political power is passing from the few to the many. Even in countries with the most autocratic governments more attention is paid to public opinion and increasing efforts are made to direct and mold it. Republic and Democracy. The distinction between a repub¬ lic and a democracy is less pronounced. The introduction of the Initiative and Referendum in republics makes it possible for them to be practically democracies. With this political device a republic may become a pure democracy whenever there is need, thus securing the advantages of both. In our own history the two leading parties at first were the Federalists and the Repub¬ lican. The Federalist became the Republican party and the Republican became the Democratic party of today, and the drift still continues. Autocracy Efficient. It must be admitted that autocracy is more efficient than democracy. The centralization of authority and responsibility is an elementary principle of good business management. When men are free to think they will think dif¬ ferently and there will be divided counsels. Division, paralysis in the presence of the enemy, is not democracy but suicide, as Russia is learning. Autocracy has an infinite advantage in in¬ ternational trade; the nation is one instead of being divided into competing units. All the power and purse of Germany is back of every German exporter. Individual business in other coun¬ tries cannot compete. Any price can be made regardless of cost in order to kill off foreign competition, and necessary standards of excellence can be maintained which freer nations cannot at¬ tain. Autocracy can promise old age pensions, check emigra- tion, prevent graft, appoint experts to administrative positions, and so secure unparalleled efficiency in business and municipal management. Democracy Growing More Efficient. In countries with the freest political institutions there are constant efforts to make democracy more efficient. One is the Preferential Ballot which will greatly aid the people in expressing their will and in getting competent officials, and will correspondingly weaken the power of demagogs. Another is the Short Ballot in place of the pres ent long ballot which so often defeats the popular will. Legis- IIS UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA lative reform tries to locate responsibility so the people may know just how their representatives are representing them. Civil Service Reform aids the public in getting more efficient service and in getting public business done on business princi¬ ples. Defects of Democracy. Democracy can seldom elect its best men to office; it allows itself to be manacled at the ballot box and the demagog flourishes; it is difficult to get sufficient unani¬ mity; men will play for selfish advantage when their country is in extremest peril; cities are governed by shameless rings which are prodigies of greed and corruption; government is enormously expensive and inversely proportional in efficiency. Often democracy must compromise with crime, it is useless to pass laws which cannot be enforced; the worst have an equal voice with the best, and the best find excuses for fraternizing with the worst. New York City has not reelected a good admin¬ istration in 50 years, and other cities have a similar record. Such facts must be faced; we cannot afford to disregard them. It is no defense to say that these faults need not be, so long as they are. We cannot afford to disregard the tendencies to dis¬ integration and anarchy,—they are democracy’s greatest peril. Democracy the World’s Hope. And yet democracy is the world’s chief hope It permits and develops the individual initia¬ tive which makes individual morality possible. Its ultimate ideals are the same as religion’s,—the culmination of human development. It stimulates the noblest patriotism; it gives significance to sacrifice because there is something to sacrifice. Only democracy can make a great people; that is its mission, that is its test. Compare German brutality and American benevo¬ lence in Belgium; it is the natural difference between the effects of autocracy and democracy. Democracy loves brotherhood; au¬ tocracy spurns it. The test of a form of government is not its efficiency, but the great souls it develops. Duties of Democracy. Every act which weakens democracy helps to establish autocracy. Democracy must learn self-re¬ straint, efficiency, reverence for law. We have the saying, “The Lord cares for widows, orphans, idiots ana the United States.” We have no right to appeal to Providence for what we should do ourselves. We are free, but not free to do wrong, not free to destroy our heritage. One candidate would rather be right than be president; another would rather be president than be right; the people must discriminate, use more care in voting. We must distinguish between the statesman and the demagog, SOCIAL PROBLEMS 119 the patriot and the time-server. The man who for any pretext whatever votes for an unworthy man for office is a traitor t« democracy; the ballot of the freemen is his most sacred trust. Individual Responsibility. In a democracy each citizen must feel responsibility for his country’s acts, must share responsi¬ bility for his country’s welfare. It is common for office seekers and politicians to do things which, if enuf of their fellow citizens also did them, would jeopardize their country’s existence. One man buys a vote; suppose everybody did it? One man defeats or evades a law; suppose everybody did it? One man neglects to vote, cheats in business, slanders a good citizen, dodges his taxes; suppose everybody did the same—and all have an equal right to—what would become of us? The man who will do wrong, expecting that the virtues of his fellow men will prevent the natural results, is a cowardly sneak and slacker. If our free institutions are to endure we must have good citizens and their efforts at progress and uplift must not be neutralized by the selfish or anti social. Democracy can lead in the world’s progress only as it approximates a theocracy,—the rule of right, justice, and intelligence; and this must come thru the character of th© private citizen, not thru any miracle from the skies. Democracy and Peace. Democracy loves peace and demands it. Pericles, the culmination of Athenian democracy, proposer- arbitration to prevent the Peloponnesian war wnich ruined Greece. Autocratic Sparta rejected it. Sparta, Germany, Turkev are well mated; their barbarities show the real spirit of au¬ tocracy. Democracy is not yet safe; never was it so assaulted as now. Give autocracy a chance and it will crush freedom again as it often has before. We are waging this war to mak* the world safe for democracy. As President Wilson said in his war message: “A steadfast concert for peace can never be maintained ex¬ cept by a partnership of democratic nations. No autocratic gov¬ ernment could be trusted to keep faith within it or observe its covenants. It must be a league of honor, a partnership of opinion. Intrigue would eat its vitals away; the plotting of inner circles who could plan what they would and render an ac¬ count to no one would be corruption seated at its very heart. Only free peoples can hold their purpose and their honor steady to a common end and prefer the interests of mankind to any narrow interests of their own.” 120 UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA STUDIES ON VI. Suggested Questions To Aid Discussion. 1. Would a stable government, which never required any exertion to preserve, be better for us? Why? 2. Make a list of all the tendencies to democracy you can find. 3. Make a list of efforts to make democracy more efficient. 4. Which ones would be the most effective if tried? 5. Why was it that a few years ago labelling articles “made in Germany” helped to sell them? 6. Were German manufacturers more honest and capa¬ ble than ours? 7. Account for the rapid growth of German commerce. 8. Why does not autocracy triumph over all? 6. Make a list of the weaknesses of democracy. 10. Can they all be remedied? 11. Which do you prefer, an inefficient democ¬ racy or an efficient autocracy? Why? 12. Make a list of the methods or means by which a representative democracy—a re¬ public—may secure the advantages of a pure democracy. 13. Why is democracy the world’s hope? 14. Make a list of the chief duties of citizens in a democratic state. 15. Make a list of the advantages of being a citizen of a democratic state. Also the disadvantages. 16. Make a list of the advantages of being a citizen of an autocratic state. 17. Also the 'disadvantages. 18. Why does the individual citizen of a democracy bear a greater share of responsibility for his country’s welfare than a citizen of an autocracy? 19. Why must a democracy have better citizens than any other form of government? 20. How would God rule a democracy? 21. How might the millennium come? REFERENCES Weyl: The New Democracy, Bk. II, Chaps. XI, XVI—XX. VII. RURAL PROBLEMS. INTRODUCTION. The Drift to Cities. One of the most disquieting facts of the modern world is the drift of the population away from the country. “Back to the land” has been a popular slogan but those who shout it most do not practice it. It is common to all other countries as well as ours. It seems to be increasing and there is nothing yet in sight which seems able to check it. The belief is common that it must be stopt or social progress will be seriously checkt. Farming is the fundamental occupation; nothing can prosper unless it prospers. If the farmer suffers SOCIAL PROBLEMS 121 there are few who do not suffer with him. The simple fact that so many are leaving the farm shows conclusively that they think other occupations offer greater rewards. The City Drift Not Wholly Bad. So far as the drift to the towns and cities is caused by unfavorable rural conditions it is to be deplored and must be remedied if possible. But it is not altogether due to that. It is evident that those who live in the cities must be fed by the farmer, so the greater the city popu¬ lation the greater the market for his products. The farmer certainly could not be helpt by the lack of prosperity of the towns. They exist largely to serve him, and the more prosper¬ ous they are the better they are able to serve him. The Effect of Farm Machinery. One influence is the effect of the increast introduction of improvd farm machinery. 100 years ago it required 64 hours of man labor to raise on'e acre of wheat; now, with the help of machinery, it is sometimes reduced to as low as 3 hours. The amount of labor required for pro¬ ducing our most important crops has been decreast four-fifths since 1850. Between 1880 and 1890 the number of acres per male worker increast from 23.3 to 31 acres, or 34 per cent; and the value of the crops per man from $286.82 to $454.37. Such facts show that fewer workers are needed in the country and they naturally drift to other occupations. At present, of course, the labor shortage is serious owing to the number of men in the war. Intolerable Uncertainty. In most countries farming is more or less a gamble with seasons and prices. The farmer may work ever so skillfully and faithfully, he may do everything that agricultural science and experience suggests, he may toil early and late, but lack of rain at critical times may annul all his efforts. Prices may go up but he has no products to take ad¬ vantage of it. On the other hand if the season is good prices are off and he gets no profit. He has no assurance of anything. Such conditions are nerve racking and disheartening. If he have a lucky crop occasionally there are losses of other years to make up. The state might furnish drouth insurance so that the whole population -would share the farmer’s loss from drouth. Hard Life. The farmer enjoys few advantages that are not offset by something. Work hours are longer than in any other industry; ther'e is no possibility of an 8 hour day on most farms. There is no shelter from the hottest sun nor the coldest winds, nor always from the rain. In the worst weather stock must have more care not less. When a crop is ripe it must be gathered 122 UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA by day or night. There are few times when more than one thing should not be done at once. There is almost constant overwork, worry, and physical and nervous strain. With few exceptions the farmers fare is coarse and monotonous. Few laborers will work on farms if they can get other employment. No other occupation involves greater hardships than the farmer’s. isolation. Not only is the life hard, but meliorations and compensations are limited. At night the farmer and his family are too tired to read or study; distances, bad roads, and tired teams render social life almost impossible. Neighborhood meet¬ ings are impracticable in busy times; it is difficult to finish the chores and get to the meeting place before 9 o’clock, and no one has to rise earlier than the farmer’s boys and girls. With the enforced renunciation of such things the taste for them dete¬ riorates, and often the desire for them, so that farm life often becomes a sort’ of solitary confinement. The father and mother "get used to it” but the young folks cannot and should not; it is the starving of the social instincts in the country that makes the town so overwhelmingly attractive to boys and girls on the farms. High Price of Land. Another cause of the drift to the cities is the increasing price of land. It is doubtful if there is a greater economic delusion than the belief that this benefits the farmer. It benefits speculators in land only, and the farmer can only be benefited by becoming a speculator. High priced land increases the farmer’s taxes but does not produce any larger crops. The only way the farmer can profit is by selling out and going into other business, for if he buys another farm he must pay an equal price. Iowa is the only state that showd loss of popula¬ tion between 1900 and 1910. The loss of rural population was so great that the growth of the towns did not offset it; but not¬ withstanding the loss of rural population the price of farm lands increast greatly. One of the chief causes of the increase in ten¬ ancy is the increasing price of land. Men rent farms because they cannot own them; they cannot own them because they cost so much; they cost so much because of speculation in land. Land and life are so intimately connected that neither can be subjects of speculation without injury to some. Cooperation. The only solution of most rural problems seems to be “cooperation.” The isolation makes cooperation very difficult and often impossible on large enuf scale to be ef¬ fective. This deprives the farmer of many alleviations and he must struggle on as best he can under burdens which might be SOCIAL PROBLEMS 123 greatly lightend if not remov'ed by cooperation. While co¬ operation has accomplisht wonders in Europe it does not seem to be gaining much among American farmers. Community gath¬ erings as at threshing, corn “shuckings,” house raisings, quilt¬ ings, etc., are rarer now than formerly. The lack of cooperation weakens the farmer to an isolated individual who is practically helpless in competition with highly organized business interests. Cooperative Marketing. The value of this both to the pro¬ ducer and consumer has been fully demonstrated in the case of melons, apples, oranges, peaches, strawberries, and other fruits and vegetables. It has made profitable businesses where without it no business was possible. It is certain that farming can never realize its maximum profit until cooperative marketing becomes general, and it is fully as necessary to the welfare of the con¬ suming public as it is to the farmers. Cooperative Borrowing. The isolation of farmers makes it difficult for the money lender to keep well informed about the character of his security. It is with difficulty that a farmer’s neighbors can keep reliably informed as to his solvency; for the banker in the distant town it is impossible. The most success¬ ful cooperative borrowing plan ev'er discovered is the “Raiffeisen” system in Germany. It depends entirely on the cooperation of neighboring farmers. The agricultural loan law recently passt also depends on local organizations which are only a form of neighborhood cooperation. The individual farmer cannot com¬ mand cheap capital promptly but a group of them can do so easily. All that is needed is some kind of “Credit Union” which experience in many lands proves to be safe and practicable. Cooperative Machinery. In great wh'eat regions in Oregon and Washington small farms are being absorbd into the great farms owned by large companies which can afford machinery out of the reach of small farmers, who cannot compete for lack of large capital. The agricultural achievements of Denmark are the greatest the world has yet known, and one of the chief causes is their method of cooperation in buying and using ma¬ chinery. Every farmer cannot afford a tractor, but several could, and in urgent times could keep it running day and night. The main thing is a spirit of cooperation; if that be not lacking the difficulties are by no means insurmountable. Few individual farmers can afford electric light or irrigation plants, but several farmers cooperating might do so easily and safely. Good Roads. Since isolation is the farmer’s greatest foe we are interested in anything which will diminish or remove it. UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA 124 Doubtless' the greatest single burden or tax on the farmer is bad roads. Ten miles of bad roads makes prosperous farming all but impossible in addition to all the social and individual losses it causes. Formerly the farmers were expected to keep up the country roads at their own expense. Since the entire population is equally interested in good roads, both the state and nation should assist in building and maintaining them. The goal should be graded cement roads. In Illinois it is proposed to borrow $100,000,000 for road building and set aside the auto tax as a sinking fund to meet it. While the plan is practicable it would be both expedient and just to add other taxes to the auto tax. The annual value to the farmers alone would be far more than the interest and annual payments. Exploiting The Farmer. The farmer is exploited, tho no¬ body will admit that he does it. An Oklahoma farmer started to deliver his wheat to an elevator when the price went up. Immediately the price dropt 10c a bushel. The difference in the price of wheat is sometimes 6c a bushel in neighboring towns on the same day. By arbitrarily grading the farmer’s wheat the buyer often robs him of part of the price and there is no appeal. One year when farmers and stockmen sufferd greatly from vari¬ ation in the price of cattle the market price in Glasgow, a great European market, varied less than lc during a whole year. An association of farmers tried to charter ships at every American port, but were everywhere told that all the cattle space had been engaged months before. Farmers will not always submit to such wrongs. Price Control. One great need of the farmer is stableization of prices so he w r ould know what he could depend on and so remove one of the gambles from farming. Prices on a farm pro¬ duct always go down when the farmer has it to sell, and go up as soon as it is out of his hands, and the profit goes to the middleman and speculator. Farmers loyally submitted when the price of wheat was fixt as a war measure, altho they lost mil¬ lions by it. A thing so necessary and salutary in war time is not without value in time of peace. The nation has ruthlessly fixt the price when it injured the farmer; it should not object to fixing it so it would profit the farmer. It would be equally bene¬ ficial to the consumer for he pays so much more than the farmer receives. No one can witness the howling mob in the Chicago wheat pit without marvelling that such is the instrument evolvd by modern civilization for making prices for farmers. The farmer should have a voice, either directly or thru his repre- SOCIAL PROBLEMS 125 sentatives, in making the prices of his products. He has none whatever now. Problem Spiritual Not Material. Altho the facts already re- ferd to are important, they are not the most important facts which concern our theme. The chief rural problems are spir¬ itual rather than material. We have seen how important is cooperation, but it is a mental not a material fact. The mind can triumph over even distance and bad roads. We turn then to the more clearly spiritual phazes of the rural problem. Much of the failures of our atempts at rural betterment are due to ignoring the spiritual forces. The ultimate forces of human life are spiritual. Social Life in the Country. The social is often the connect¬ ing link between the material and spiritual, but it faces towards the spiritual. We have considered the material effects of isola¬ tion, but the worst isolation is to be surrounded by persons who are unfriendly or uncongenial. The effects of isolation may be revolutionized by changing the condition of the mind. Provision for social life would mitigate most of the material evils. For lack of social opportunity aspiring youth grow up on the farm dissatisfied, unhappy, and determind to leave it as soon as pos¬ sible. Farmers who barely know each other cannot cooperate. It is for lack of pleasant social intercourse that they cannot form credit unions, or in any way organize successfully. For lack of social experience rural youth fail to learn how to get on with others and develop powers of leadership. For lack of social life education languishes and interest in it is hard to sus¬ tain. The social and spiritual are phazes of the same thing and are of fundamental importance in rural life. Society and Happiness. We are social beings; all the high¬ est joys of life are social. To be deprived of society is solitary confinement,—the highest of all punishments. To starve the social nature is to divest ourselves of the noblest possibilities of mind and will. There is no hope of substantial rural improve¬ ment until the social life can be increast and utilized. While this is true of older people in the country, it is very much more true of the young people. The lack of social opportunity is one of the most serious aspects of the rural problem. Amusements. Youth will find amusement of some kind in spite of bolts and locksmiths; but they may not be of a stimu¬ lating or cultural sort, and are often harmful or demoralizing. Where wholesome amusements are lacking vice is inevitable. Of all rural amusements the most wholesome and usually the 126 UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA most popular are games. Of these there is infinite variety and young people need but little help or guidance in learning them. There is one rural community in Oklahoma where the school board members are the champions of the district in playing volley ball, where the young and the old play together, where social joys rank in importance with labor and business. In that community the young people are so happy that nothing could induce them to leave the country for the town. Singing. In human nature at its best the esthetic nature is prominent, and often predominant, hence the importance of art in human life. Music is the one universal art. It takes years to be able to paint a picture, but a child may sing a song into the hearts of the world. In the community referd to above, it was thru music that the community amusements came. They do not have a feud; everybody is friendly; they like to sing to¬ gether. Music is a great harmonizer; people will sing together when they will not speak as they meet, and sing harmoniously too. Stein, the German statesman, had great difficulty in arous¬ ing the German states against Napoleon till he got communities to singing patriotic songs. Our government at Washington has sent out urgent requests to every community in the present crisis to get together and sing, for that would b’e a tremendous force in unifying the people for the great struggle. No social effort will go farther or do more than singing. A rural com¬ munity that sings together will be progressive. Literary Societies. These, while much more difficult to keep up, are of immense value. They afford a very wide range of intellectual stimulus. A debating club is easier and is valu¬ able. One of the best community exercises is a “Current Topics Club.” The interest is more vital, the debaters speak their real convictions and try to convince their audiences; they get fresh, vital information, and the range of subjects may cover every¬ thing that is going on in the world. The course of which this bulletin is a part, is an effort to supply materials for clubs. Consolidated Schools. Rural education will be considered in another chapter. The consolidated school seems to be the goal of rural education. Where there are good enuf roads so that the transportation problem is not so formidable it is by far the best plan now in sight. It is not only a great economy, but its non-educational features are also important. In one rural dis¬ trict in Ohio containing 35 square miles, two auto busses gather up the children in less than two hours, and in the evening they transport the young and old to the school house for lectures, SOCIAL PROBLEMS 127 concerts, singings, games, etc. While the older people are to¬ gether there is opportunity tor business and social organizations, and for all the joys and privileges of social life. Instead of 5 or 6 Third Reader classes, for example, there is only one with ample time for real instruction. But the consolidated school ideal can¬ not be reacht without good roads. The Rural Course of Study. Some are advocating a differ¬ ent course of study for rural schools. Rural education should be as broad as any. To educate rural children differently would compel them either to st&y on the farm or leave it at a great disadvantage. This is the German plan. A child is educated for the occupation chosen for him and he must stick to it thru life. But great improvements are needed in the rural courses of study. There should be much more nature study; there should be more contact with things not pictures of them. Agri¬ culture, Domestic Science and Art should be given a more prom¬ inent place as more nature study prepares the way for them. Botany should be one of the leading studies; zoology, and espe¬ cially entomology and ornithology should rank with botany and the three R’s; the pupil should study the world he lives in, the educational results would equal the industrial. Domestic science and agriculture are applications of botany, chemistry, etc. The results of teaching the former will always be disappointing un¬ less enaf of the latter is taught as a foundation. Leaving Home for Education. This is usually a great ad¬ vantage after pupils are mature enuf; but when they must leave before the high school age it is often a calamity from the stand¬ point of both community and individual. Under present condi¬ tions a very large proportion of those who once leave the farm never return to it. Only the consolidated school can prevent this by furnishing a high school education at home. Those who leave home at the beginning of the high school age are at the most critical time of life, the time when parental care is finish¬ ing its work. Not only do such children lose what the last years at home might do for them, but their going away at that time is an irreparable loss to the social life of the community and to their own homes. Good roads will bring the consolidated school and that will solve the problem. Harmony. A neighborhood fuss is the greatest of rural ca¬ lamities. It paralyzes all social and even business effort by preventing co-operation. The most invaluable citizen is the peacemaker, and to be one is the noblest social ambition. The Church has never taken seriously enuf its function as a peace- 128 UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA maker, an appropriate activity for the followers of the Prince of Peace. In all human society there is no greater service, and no other service is so desperately needed. Church divisions, especially in small communities, are often the greatest obstacles to community unity and co-operation. In rural communities de¬ nominations are evidently impossible; there are not enuf people to go ’round. Each blames the other for the divisions but that does no good and often aggravates the evil. The problem of the rural church is one of the most insistent problems of our day. Denominationalism is evidently depriving rural communi¬ ties' of a large part of the ministries of the Christian religion. Yet the Master prayed that we might all be one. How much longer will the chufch take on itself the responsibility of pre¬ venting the answer to that prayer? Land for Returning Soldiers. Much is being said in this and other lands of trying to discharge in part the debt due the re¬ turning soldiers by settling them on vacant land, and some pre¬ parations have been begun for doing this. When they return there will be thousands of them who will not be able to get ready employment. The money they have saved in the army will soon « be gone for it goes fast while seking work. But if we are to at¬ tempt to establish the returning soldiers in agriculture the pres¬ sure for rural betterment and reform is strong indeed. Unless we can very greatly improve rural conditions it would be singular ingratitude to consign soldiers to a life so many are trying to escape from. Cur Chiefest Problem. No other solution of the demobiliza tion problem seems possible. Rural conditions can be betterd; society can do justice to the farmer, and it must. This is our chief problem; all others can wait. STUDY ON CHAP. VII. Suggested Questions To Aid Discussion. 1. Which is the pleasanter place to live, the town or the country? 2. What does the drift to the cities indicate? 3. What evils to the country result from it? 4. What evils to the towns? 5. Why is a home owner a better citizen of a rural community than a tenant? 6. In what sense does the town exist to serve the country? 7. Which is the more fundamentally necessary? 8. Should the national or state government furnish drouth insurance? 9. Make a list of the hardships of the farm¬ er’s life. 10. Why are social gatherings at night so difficult in the country? 11. How is the farmer benefited by the increas- SOCIAL PROBLEMS 129 ing price of land? 12. How could speculation in land by those who do not live in the country be discouraged? 13. Is co-opera¬ tion among farmers increasing or decreasing? 14. Why is co¬ operative marketing necessary? 15. Why is the spirit of co¬ operation more necessary than good methods? 16. Should those who are now living pay all the cost of good roads, or share the expense with those who are to live after them? 17. If roads are built by bonds, show how they would help pay for themselves. IS. What do you think of the Illinois plan? 19. Must farmers unite to prevent being exploited? 20. How would price control by a government commission benefit the farmer? 21. Are ru¬ ral problems primarily material or spiritual? 22. Why is social life important in the country? 23. Is it more necessary than in the towns, or less? 24. Why is there so much less playing for children in the country than in the towns? 25. Why is com¬ munity singing so valuable in rural life? 26. Why is it harder to keep good order in rural gatherings than in the towns 27. Make a list of the advantages of consolidated schools. 28. What is the chief obstacle? 29. Why should nature study be given a more prominent place in rural schools? 30. Why should the pupil study the world he lives in? 31. Would Church Federa¬ tion answer the prayer of Jesus? 32. Would giving the soldiers free land discharge our duty to them? 33. Would making farm¬ ing more safe and profitable bring the other things needed? 34 Why are rural problems the most urgent and important? REFERENCES Hart: Educational Resources, Chapters IV, VIII—XIII. VIII. THE WAGE SYSTEM. INTRODUCTION. Increasing Unrest. Whether justifiable or not, there is in¬ creasing dissatisfaction among wage earners everywhere. It was one of the most serious and dangerous obstacles to the suc¬ cessful prosecution of the war. When those who are dissatisfied find themselves helpless, they easily become desperate. It was labor conditions which gave traitorous d’emagogs the opportunity to ruin Russia. No nation is safe while a large part of its peo¬ ple are dissatisfied. To meet such complaints with denunciation or a show of force only makes the matter worse, tho it dam up i 3 o UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA the flood for a while. The first need is candid and sympathetic investigation. A Few Definitions. It is not necessary to distinguish here between wages and salaries. The chief difference is that sal¬ aries are for longer periods and are not subject to little losses of time,—this is not essential to the present investigation. A minimum wage is the least wage permitted by law where wages are regulated. A living wage is the least wage that will support the worker and enable him to support an average family. A fair wage from the standpoint of the employer is as high a wage as is paid by his competitors under equal conditions; from the standpoint of the laborer it is a reasonable proportion of the labor product. The wage fund is the proportion of the earnings of a business which is available for wages after providing for other expenses. The closed shop is a business establishment which employs only members of a labor union; an open shop is one which employs any labor. Wage Theories. The philosophy of wages is by no means simple; authorities are not agreed upon even the fundamental principles. The one most commonly held now is the “Produc¬ tivity Theory,”—That wages are paid from the products of labor. On this theory part of the product of labor belongs to the labor¬ er by moral and economic right. On the other hand, wages cm never long exceed the actual earnings of labor, so wages cannot be uniform. The subject is exceedingly involved and compli¬ cated and is not yet fully understood. What Are Wages? The older theory was, that wages is the amount necessary to sustain life. Ricardo defines it as “The price which is necessary to enable the labor'ers to subsist and perpetuate their race.” Against this the laborer rebels. Under it he would have to live from hand to mouth; he would not be entitled to save or to better his condition. While this defini¬ tion is no longer held by economists it still influences the atti¬ tudes and discussions of both employers and employees. If, however, the laborer’s right to a profit were admitted Ricardo’s definition might stand as far as it goes. Nominal and Real Wages. We must not’e this distinction. The former is measured in money only; the latter by the pur¬ chasing power of the wages. If, for example, a man receive $4, a day for two successive years, we ordinarily say that hs wages were unchanged during that time. But if the cost of living was doubled during the second year it is evident that his wages would not purchase as many of the necessaries of life that year; SOCIAL PROBLEMS 131 that is, the purchasing power of his wages was less the second year. While his nominal wages remaind unchanged his real wages were greatly reduced. The employer might justly claim from his standpoint that he paid the same wages both years, while the employee might claim with equal justice that he re¬ ceived very much less the second year. The Different Standpoints. The trouble with both sides of the controversy is that it is so difficult for either to see the problem from the other’s standpoint. This makes negotiation extremely difficult. Such conditions are full of danger and peace¬ ful solution may easily become impossible. Social peace and social justice require that both employer and employe try to do> full justice to each other’s point of view. Partisanship can only widen the breach and make matters worse. That either side should conquer the other in a labor war or any other kind of war should be unthinkable, for in the end they must find some way to work together. Ruinous labor wars, like those of ancient Rome, leave matters unchanged and nothing is gaind. Labor As A Commodity. The theory is often held that labor is a commodity to be bought and sold in the labor market; the laborer must sell his labor for what he can get and should not complain if he cannot get what he wishes any more than one selling stock or merchandise. It seems clear that there is much similarity at least between labor and commodities. But the wage earner insists that the laborer and his labor are insepa¬ rable. If the laborer has nothing but his labor to give him his hold on life it is not clear how labor can be bought and sold unless the laborer is too; that is, if labor is a commodity the laborer is practically a slave, and the wage system a species of slavery. Unstable Wages. The laborer objects that under the wage system it is impossible to make either nominal or real wages uniform. The laborer’s margin is small at best, and when wages vary he is unable to keep his promises, fulfill his agreements, he loses his investments, he cannot do business as others do. He cannot be a man among men. His life becomes a gamble with all kinds of chance and he is not even permitted to throw the dice. He cannot safely undertake to buy a home, take out life insurance; he cannot live a normal life or have a normal chance to get on. Such is the laborer’s view. The Distribution of Wealth. The wage system is a part of the general system of the distribution of wealth. The wage earner contends that our present system is not successful in se- UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA 132 curing a just and equitable distribution. One per cent of the population of the United States own more than one-half of the total wealth, and labor feels that it does not get a share which is proportional to the value and importance of labor to society. They feel also that great wealth is not always fairly or honestly obtaind. The freight on oil from Cleveland to New York was $2.5G a barrel. Rockefeller drove such a bargain with railway officials that he not only got a rebate of $1.06 on every barrel of oil he shipt but on every barrel shipt by his competitors! This was the beginning of the Rockefeller fortune. If society expects that the distribution of wealth will be accepted as final it should insure that the distribution is fair and just. The Law of Supply and Demand. Many argue that wages must be subject to this law and that there is no possible escape from it. Is this true? Labor holds that there is a human side to wages; that it is not merely a matter of economic law, indif¬ ferent, brutal, inhuman. Human life and its significance are in- volvd. The wage earner maintains that if the law of supply and demand crushes millions of lives and makes hopeless the lives of half the human race it must be set aside. Sometimes, too, the alleged supply and demand are fictitious and untrustworthy and such momentious interests cannot be entrusted to laws based upon them. Humanity is far more than its supplies and demands and the right to life must come first. The Subordination of the Worker. Mr. Carnegie, defending the wage system, says of the Golden Age of Industry, “The mil¬ lionaire wiT be the trustee for the poor, intrusted with a great part of the wealth of the community, but administering it for the community far better than it could or would have been done for itself.” Undoubtedly Mr. Carnegie has tried to do this, at least to a creditable extent, but is it entirely satisactory? Such trustees are self-appointed at best and few are as altruistic as Mr. Carnegie. But even if it could be guaranteed that every millionaire wou'd make such use of his money, would it be best for the world? We might make the same argument for autoc¬ racy in government. It is doubtless true that many people would be better off finanacially if some one else managed their business for them, but would it be best for them in the widest sense, or for the world? Unemployment. It is a familiar statement that the unem¬ ployed soon become the unemployable. The threat of poverty should be enuf, but in addition to that is the certainty of deterioration. Nothing takes the stamina out of a man like SOCIAL PROBLEMS t 33 unemployment. To the ambitious, aspiring workman no terror is equal to it, for it not only deprives him of the means of living, but attacks his personality. It is the way tramps are made. He may be as dependent as a slave, tho in a different way. If he has a family hungry and sick he is likely to grovel at the feet of the employer. It is preposterous to claim that there is anything like equal bargaining between employer and em¬ ployee. Enforced idleness. It is often said that “Any one can get work who wants it.” That was once urged upon a distinguisht American preacher by members of his church. He disguised himself so that his wife wouldn’t know him and called upon the same members with a pitiful story. He would not ask for charity and not one of them would give him work, and some abused him roundly. Next Sunday he read to an amazed audience the exact words which were said to him. It was to the credit of his church that it loved and trusted him more than ever, but no one ever repeated the remark to him. There are doubtless many out of work because of their own fault, (or mis¬ fortune) but that must not prevent our sympathy for those who in desperate need walk the streets day after day with sinking courage, seeking for an opportunity to live in God’s world, with sometimes a hungry wife and children huddled in some dismal cellar. To steel one’s heart against such suffering and degradation is unworthy of a good citizen or a Christian. Labor says that the wage system is responsible. Is it true? War and Unemployment. However skiFful demobilization is managed it will leave many soldiers unemployed. The spectacle of soldiers going thru the experience of unemployment in the midst of a nation whose honor and safety they riskt all to save is intolerable to the patriotic citizen. Most of the so’diers came from the ranks of labor and they will come back with a new claim to justice and fairness. Under our present system most of our taxes are shifted and finally rest upon the wage earner. The present debt is too great for that; some other way will have to be found. Certainly we cannot ask the soldier to pay it. A labor soldier kiTed or disabled leaves a family all but destitute; and while a pension provides bare subsistence it cannot replace the bread winner. The rich will have to face a new appeal when the soldiers come home. Effects of Specialization. When a laborer devotes himself exclusive - ^ to one line of work he becomes very skilled in it, is much more valuable to his employer, and usually receives a UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA 134 higher wage. But the more he narrows his range the fewer jobs there are opend to him; he becomes more uncertain of employment and more dependent on the will and whim of his employer. The wage earner feels that if he can do but one thing his chance to live depends on the few who have that work to offer him, so that his very excellence becomes his peril. Even if the wage earner’s beliefs are often fallacious we must try to get his standpoint. Profit and Wages. Labor is often criticized because it demands shorter hours than men in business usually work. The head of the firm often works more hours and has fewer holidays than any of his employees. There is a wide difference in working for a profit and working for wages. The laborer is not encouraged to have any interest in his work beyond his wages. A man once appealed to Stephen Girard for work. Not having any work for him he put him to removing a pile of stone. The man soon reported the work done and Girard told him to carry them back and he refused. Girard dismist him on the ground that if he was getting wages he had no right to consider whether his work was useful or not. One of the greatest objections to the wage system is that it centers the worker’s interest in his wages instead of in th'e quality of his work. Such workers would never build Gothic cathedrals. Piece Work and Wages. Workmen who are more rapid and skillful can work by the job much more profitably than for wages, because wages can never exceed the average productivity. But the use of this principle gives us the infamous ‘‘sweating” system which by common consent is the most frightful labor condition the world has yet seen. Thoughtful labor leaders favor paying all laborers on a job the same wages rather than risk extension of the sweating system. While the principle is totally wrong they adhere to it as a choice of evils. It seems that there is no principle, however just, that cannot be mis¬ applied and misdirected, and made an injury instead of a benefit. What is a Fair Wage? This is the difficulty. There seems no way to determine a wage that both employer and employee will consider fair under all circumstances. The price of products varies greatly; when high, labor’s portion would be larger than when prices were low. But labor must be paid promptly, and before the sale of goods when the laborer’s share could be known. If labor is overpaid the employer’s ability to hire labor is impaired or destroyed and the laborer is thrown out of em- SOCIAL PROBLEMS 135 ployment or retained at lower wages. The problem is to estab¬ lish a fixt wage for a service with varying market value. The Employer is Not Free. The employer must meet com¬ petition. If his competitor pay too low wages he cannot pay more and keep his business. He must be able to meet the risks of markets, depreciation of goods, bad debts, miscalculations of all sorts, besides all the predictable expenses. Ely says, “Em¬ ployers cannot by any means do as they please; but after a century’s experience, there is a widespread feeling that in all these bargains about wages the workman is at a disadvantage, and does not get the share which it would be well for him to have.” The right wage, then, is not a matter for acrimonious discussion or denunciation; but a matter of conflicting interests where it is seemingly difficult to see what (s right or just. Conditions change so rapidly that even if an adjustment were reacht it would not hold for very long. The Employer and Low Wages. It is generally assumed by labor leaders that of course the employer favors low wages; the lower the better for him. This is by no means the case. It makes little difference to the employ'er what wages are paid so long as he is able to recoup them from the public. Experience proves conclusively that the lowest wages are by no means the most profitable to employers. Well paid workmen are better satisfied, more loyal, more capable, healthier and in every way more valuable than underpaid workmen. Employers know this but are restrained by competition and the uncertainties of business. Here again the destruction of confidence in the validity and honesty of prices is a calamity. The problem is fundamentally a moral one. Wages and Needs. It is evident that on an average labor should be paid enuf to meet all essential needs. But very often a business is not able to do this, and there are times when almost every business must advance money for wages. Business is often run at a loss for a time in order to keep employees from suffering; some do this for a portion of every year. Wages must finally be based on the productiveness of the labor employd. If a business cannot make money enuf to pay labor adequately it is easy to say that that business ought not to be run, but if carried on for awhile it might become profitable. To base wages on needs is impossible, yet needs should not be disregarded in estimating wages. Wages and Improvidence. A sudden rise in wsges is often attended by extravagant expenditure; sometimes much of it 136 UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA for luxuries which the wealthy cannot afford. Factory girls have been known to wear silk dresses to their work; much goes for drink and other vices, so that often the additional wage is more of a curse than a blessing. But wage earners are not the only people who sometimes squander their money. What a workman does with his money makes no possible difference with what his wages should be; if he has a right to it it is his, whatever he does with it. We may regret his folly and hope that when he becomes more accustomd to money he will spend it more wisely. But to the great majority of workmen higher wages means greater thrift, more self-control, and better pro¬ vision for the higher things of life. A Living Wage. It is inconceivable that any good citizen would advocate paying less than a living wage; it would differ little from stealing or murder. We assume that all have the “right to life,” but what does that mean? To take away any essential of life is to partly take away life itself. Investigations in Chicago and New York showd that the least that a family of five ,—2 parents and three children—could live on was $800 a year. Yet four-fifths of such families receive less than $750, and one-thijd ’ess than $500 a year. Tf wages cannot be raised to a living level the laborer claims that the wage system is a failure and can only be continued by wronging labor. But if employers pay all they can, how can they do more, however insufficient wages may be? If they pay more they must fail in business and then pay nothing at all. Wage Competition. The man out of employment soon gets desperate. It is often said that a man is free to work or not as he chooses. This is palpably false. He must work or be punisht; he must work or suffer extremely,—hunger, cold, sick¬ ness, starvation,—than which there are no punishments more terrible. Under such conditions nothing can prevent one laborer from under bidding another nor some employers from taking advantage of it. Employers have much to say about “freedom of contract,” but is the laborer always really free? Wages and Unemployment. Unless a large number of labor¬ ers are unemployed the wage system would not be satisfactory to employers, for it is this which keeps wages down and furnishes extra laborers for unusual demands. The more nearly all labor¬ ers are employd the higher employers would have to bid to get what they want. But unemployment itself is a serious dimuni¬ tion of wages. The man who gets $6 a day for half time is only getting $3 a day, for human needs do not stop with unemploy- SOCIAL PROBLEMS 137 ment. But enforced unemployment is one of the greatest hard¬ ships that can be inflicted upon a human being. It is a fearful thing. Now so far as the success of the wage system depends on unemployment it is clearly not the final solution of the labor problem. Employment Bureaus. Some attempts to meet the evils of unemployment have been made by the establishment of free employment bureaus. When these are conducted for profit laborers are too often exploited. At best it has to pay for the service when it has nothing to pay with, and so must mortgage future wages. They are at best a desperate resort. When sup¬ ported by the public and administered by sympathetic officials they may do something to mitigate the evils of unemployment but cannot remove them. The unemployd workman cannot pay traveling expenses; he cannot even afford to be idle. The Labor Union. Since \vages changes are constantly threatened, on the one hand pressure for their lowering and on the other demands for their increase it is necessary for laborers to form a permanent organization. They cannot be blamed for feeling that in unity there is strength. It is natural, too, that such an organization should not confine itself to collecMve bargaining but try to safeguard every interest of the laboring man. The more wrongs the Union helps to right the greater service it renders to its members the stronger it wiT be, the greater will be its influence over its members, and the more they will sacrifice for it. Opposition can only strengthen them; the more they are persecuted the stronger they will become. The only way to weaken the union is to render it unnecessary. No union, for example, could accomplish much with the em¬ ployees of Henry Ford for he renders them a greater service than any union cou’d. Wage Bargaining. The chief function for which the labor union exists is collective bargaining. It is evident that a large number of laborers are more indespensable than any one of * them. If, then, they combine in bargaining for wages they have a great advantage over individual bargaining. The employer might easily replace any one of them but could not replace all without great inconvenience and often great loss. Employees have an undoubted common interest in their wages and there seems no sound reason why they should not combine in bargain¬ ing if they find it to their advantage. Employers who cooperate 138 UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA themselves have no good ground for objecting to their laborers doing the same. The Menace of the Union. Members of unions are human beings like other people; they are not infalliable. They usually support, for example, a uniform wage regardless of the actual worth of the workman. This is universally condemnd both by ethics and economics as ruinous policy. However much we may admire the solidarity and self-sacrifice which the policy involves, we cannot but deplore the fact that all principles of actual values, of giving fair equivalents, and of just dealing should be disregarded in wage bargaining. When the members of the union go to the store they expect that prices will be proportional to values; they would enforce a rule on others which they do not themselves observe. Of course labor leaders know this, but they claim that their policy is a choice of evils; that it is better to do that than run the risk of divisions and contro¬ versies within their own ranks which would result from any other policy. The Right to Strike. As an abstract proposition it is hard to see how the right to strike can be denied or even questiond. Certainly we cannot deny to any individual the right to quit a job for that would be practical slavery. Even compelling him to complete a labor contract would be dangerous, for he might be inveigled sometimes into agreements which prove very unjust We cannot permit strikes by soldiers; that would be desertion. In national peril the safety of the nation is paramount to the rights of individuals. Unless we are ready to reestablish slavery we must permit an individual workman to quit a job when he feels that he is unjustly treated. But when a thousand men quit at once it is more like a national than an individual matter and the the national principle may have to apply. If 4,000,000 men stop work at the same time it would be coercing the nation. Wages and Charity. It must, of course, be admitted that wages are often insufficient to support the laborer’s family, ©r sometimes even himself. Many who profit at labor’s expense regret this and seek to compensate for it by generous charity. It cannot be questioned that this charity is generally sincere and the result of a real and generous sympathy. The total «f our charities is enormous even if it is too small. But labor leaders have long insisted that they do not desire charity but justice; and that where charity is a substitute for justice labor can not be grateful for it. SOCIAL PROBLEMS 139 Wages and Free Land. All economists agree that cheap or free land raises wages, for if wages sink too low the laborer will betake himself to land, and wages can never go lower than the price which keeps him from the land. On the other hand, as the price of land rises it passes beyond the reach of the poor,' and this deliverance from low wages is denied. It is the immense amount of free land in the United States w r hich has kept wages so much higher here than in Europe. But our free land of any value is about exhausted, and wages must tend to the level of wages in Europe. But wages cannot fall here without serious trouble. Wages and the Tariff. Opinions differ violently about this. There can b’e no doubt that the tariff enables manufacturers to pay higher wages, the only controversy is as to whether they actually do it or not. We do not want to bring our labor into competition with the poorly paid pauper labor of Europe, all are agreed about that. Normal w r ages are undoubtedly much higher here than in Europe, but the cost of living is also much higher so the real wages are sometimes lower here than there. Wages are so much lower in China and Japan that importation of laborers from those countries is forbidden by law. As nations draw nearer together these problems must grow acute. The theoretical benefits of tariff are largely neutralized by free im¬ migration which permits European labor to come here and com¬ pete more to our disadvantage than if they had remained in Europe. The Real Foe of Labor. A buyer of goods seldom considers whether he is paying what they are really worth or not; he wants them as cheaply as possible and if the price is very low he asks no questions. The public is constantly “jewing” prices down by every possible argument and device. Of course this dim¬ inishes the fund from which labor must be paid; the less goods sell for, the lower wages must be. Here comes the effect of the unfortunate lack of confidence. Two shovels are exactly alike, and made in the United States; one sells at hom'e for 90c, the other in South America for 3.6 ^c. Such facts cause the people to lose all faith in the validity and honesty of prices on which the fund for paying wages depends. All business dishonesty and chicanery are a foe of labor. Labor and Machinery. It is evident that as machinery is perfected labor must more and more be displaced, and the wage system will be more severely tested. Even if the proportion •f the product which goes to labor remained unchanged an UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA 140 increasing portion must go for machinery. The labor that re¬ mains will be more effective, more intelligence will be required, there will he more danger, and so wages must increase or ought to. One man now does as much on the average as 13 did 200 years ago, but normal wages have not increased half that much, tho they have inereast some. In the long run ma¬ chinery increases wages; but as in all other industrial readjust¬ ments, labor is the chief sufferer while the readjustments are being made. Legislation. Unfortunately labor has largely lost confidence in the justness and the wisdom of labor legislation. Our legis¬ lative system makes it impossible to tell who is responsible for defective legislation. If there is a minute defect the courts will declare it unconstitutional, and the people cannot tell whether to blame the legislature or the courts. If both these do their full duty the executive department may enforce the law so as to contravene the will of the people thro their legis¬ lature. Our system favors on'y the politician who wants to cover up responsibility for his acts. A Kansas legislator intro¬ duced the 10 commandments as a bill. It did not pass, but if it had the courts would have pronounct it unconstitutional, in some states at least, on account of the 4th commandment. Public confidence in laws is seriously impaired. Wages of Women and Children. When the father’s wages are ,too low to support the family the mother is compeld to earn such pittance as she can by leaving her home and allowing her children to grow up on the streets. Sometimes even the child ren are taken out of school and put to work in order to procure adequate support for the family. Many states have compulsory education laws which compel the children to attend school at least part of each year on the assumption that they never need to work for food and shelter. In New York city it was found that 20,000 children came to school too hungry to study and they had to be fed at public expense. No doubt the children ought to go to school, nothing should be permitted to rob them of that privilege, but how can they do it if wag'es are too low? The wages of women and children are always lower and sc reduce the wages of men, and the evil keeps multiplying itself. Substitute for the Wage System. One of the most promising is “Profit Sharing.” Where a satisfactory basis of division can be agreed upon the plan works admirably, and very little can be said against it. The chief objection, perhaps, is that it is a voluntary concession on the part of the employer, and the SOCIAL PROBLEMS 141 workmen have no legal right to such an arrangement; it is too much like a charity, and depends entirely on the benevolence of the owner. These objections, however do not ho:d against the pr nciple involved. Another plan is cooperative ownership. While this ap¬ proaches still nearer the ideal goal it is not always best for the workmen. It works all right in prosperous times; but if the profits are shared, losses must also be shared. But the workmen se'dom have enuf ahead to stand very serious losses, and such a plan might break down in a crisis just when it needed to be strongest. Most any plan will w r ork in fair weather. Motives for Working. The slave workt because he had to; the motive was fear. The wage earner works because he is paid to; the motive is gain. All agree that fear as motive is ruinous and is to be avoided as much as possible. But is the hope of gain very much better? Human nature is selfish and grasping enuf at best without cultivating the desire for gain. And it is doubtful if gain is always the chief motive of the wage earner. When he works for a bare living he is as much driven by fear as the s’ave, only he fears a different punish¬ ment Higher Motives. Much of the most strenuous exertion is not the result of either of these motives. Men work to support wife and children; they work at public charities; for patriotic causes The soldier goes to the last limit of exertion where neither fear nor gain are considered at all. The consciousness of serving others, of providing for them happiness and welfare is the most powerful motive of all exertion, and its exercise is ennobling and inspiring. Preachers, teachers, sot'die-rs, mothers are always underpaid, yet there are no more heroic, devoted workers. Here a wage is merely necessary to existence but ; s ^ever the primary consideration. It is in this direction, then that we must look for adequate motives for workers. • ?^or and Citizenship. Every good citizen is a laborer of some kmd. be he rich or poor; no idler could be a good citizen. If a men does not earn a living by productive labor of some sort somebody else munst earn it for him. “If a man will not work, neither 7 et him eat” is a sound principle and of universal appMcatiou. Men who make their living by speculation, swind¬ ling. or trading where they do not give honest equivalents, are to say the least “undesirable citizens.” Many very rich men labor harder than the average laborer; there is no ex- 142 UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA <;eption—the good citizen is a laborer. The Labor Problem Insoluble. The object of this study is not to find or advocate any solution, if there be any, of the wage problem. It is rather to arouse a sympathetic attitude towards the great problems which, are to press for solution in the coming years. All men are brothers; the children of the same Father. In all the past, sin against this great .truth has never been forgiven; the result has always been anguish and blood. It may be so in the future. But even if there were no vengeance for social sins, the good citizen should do all he can to alleviate social injustices out of mere fairness to his fellow men. While we talk more or less glibly of human brotherhood, its meaning is as yet but little realized. When it is no one will be selfishly happy while a single human brother is undeservedly poor or wretched. STUDY ON CHAP. VIII. Suggested Questions To Aid Discussion. 1. Why are contented wage earners necessary to national safety? 2. Cannot such classes be made powerless? 3. What difference between salaried men and wage earners? 4. What objection ,to Ricardo’s definition of wages? 5. Can you improve it? 6. Are nominal wages deceptive 7. What difference be¬ tween the meaning of wages to the employer and to the em¬ ployee? 8. Is labor a commodity? 9. Should real wages be made stable? 10. Is Mr. Rockefeller’s wealth a sort of wage society has paid him for his services to it? 11. Is wealth proportional ,to its holder’s social service? 12. Is Supply and Demand a satis¬ factory basis for estimating wages? 13. What do you think of Mr. Carnegie’s idea? 14. Why do the unemployed tend to become tramps? 15. Can anyone get work who wishes it? 16. Can the man always find the job that is waiting for him somewhere? 17. Why will returning soldiers make wage prob¬ lems more acute? 18. Should men be all-round workmen or specialists? 19. Was Girard right? 20. Should a laboring man attend picture shows very often? 21. What do you think of the labor policy of equal wages regardless of the efficiency of the laborer? 22. Should laborers receive a “fair wage?’’ 23. Are employers always responsible for low wages? 24. Should wages be based on the laborer’s needs? 25. Should a man receive high wages if he squanders them? 26. Is a laborer free after he contracts for a certain wage? How do laborers get along who do not receive a ’’living wage “ 28. What can prevent competition between laborers from making wages too low? 29. SOCIAL PROBLEMS 143 Is some unemployment necessary to the successful working of the wage system? 30. If the state always found a job for every idle man would the power to hunt jobs for themselves be weakened? 31. Is the labor union valuable to its members only, or to the entire nation? 32. Should laborers be compeld to bar¬ gain separately for wages? 33. Should the right to strike ever be annulled? 34. Does tariff raise nominal wages or real wages? 37. Why are cheap goods inimical to the interests of labor? 38. Does labor-saving machinery help employers or employees most? 39. Should the law prevent a child from working for better food or clothing? 40. Must “profit sharing” always be voluntary, or can it be established by law 41. If a factory were owned by its workmen how would they live when it was not making money? 42. Which is the better motive, fear or gain? 43. Can higher motives be enlisted? 44. Would we have better missionaries if we paid them better salaries? 45. Are there not some who do not need to work? 46. Can we solve the labor problem? 47. Must we try to solve it? 48. What will do the most to improve labor conditions? REFERENCES Cunningham: Christianity and Social Problems, Part II, Chap. II. Towne: Chapters VI, VIII, XIV. Ellwood: Sociology and Social Problems, Chapter XII. IX. EDUCATION. INTRODUCTION. What is Education? It may seem strange that after so many centuries of educational effort there should be any un¬ certainty as to just what it means, but it is true. Many ex- perienct educators dout if we really know yet how to educate a child. This is not the result of ignorance, for never have the problems of education been studied with as much ability and thoroness as now, and never have we known as much about them. But we know that much which has past as education in the past hardly deserves the name. It is a healthy sign that none are more dissatisfied with educational procedure and results than educators themselves. Definitions. The original meaning of education was train¬ ing, formation of mental habits, or development of mental powers. According to this, no knowledge gaind in school is as important as the processes by which it is gaind. The supreme UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA 144 aim of education is the acquiring of such control of the mind that the individual is able to focus all of his powers on whatever practical problem he may meet with in life. But since minds can be traind only by acquiring knowledge, it is thought .that much practical knowledge is just as valuable for mental training as any other knowledge, so that a pupil might be taught much useful knowledge without sacrificing mental culture. Extremes. Either view may be carried to extremes. Cul¬ tural education often graduates a student who is utterly unable to make a living; his education has not prepared him for life. There are so many things yet to learn that they calld his gradu¬ ation his “commencement” because he really commenct life when he left school. On the other hand it has been held that the chief if not the sole aim of the school should be to fit the pupil to make a living; that school life should be devoted entirely to acquiring useful knowledge, the ability to do .this satisfactorily being taken for granted. The former has long been called “Liberal” education; the latter “Vocational” edu¬ cation. The Two Contrasted. The various liberal or cultural types depend upon the relative predominance of intellectual, moral, or esthetic elements. Since vocational education seeks to pre¬ pare for a special vocation the type must vary with the vocation prepared for, and also with the directness with which the aim is carried out. A vocational school which is limited exclusively to preparing pupils for a single vocation is not in reality an educational institution but a fitting school. A business college, for example, is a very worthy and a very necessary institution but it is not an educational institution. It is no criticism of business coTeges to say that they are not strictly educational institutions. They have their place, and they do a very neces¬ sary and useful work, but their purpose is not to develop mental ability but to prepare for a special occupation. Vocational Education Right. Even from the standpoint of liberal education the advocates of vocational education are largely right tho for other reasons than the ones usually given. A mind is not developt or educated except by studies in which it is vitally interested. Some studies in the school curriculum are not interesting to all children; from such they get but little good. Children are most vitally interested in what is going on in the world and in studies directly connected with life. A live teacher will connect all studies with real life. Very much vocational work, then, can be done without sacrificing cultural SOCIAL PROBLEMS 145 ideals of education. Every practicable effort should be made to fit pupils for a definite career where it is possible, and doubtless more of this can be done than has yet been done. Vocational Education Limited. There are so many different occupations that to teach the rudiments of all of them is utterly impossible and would take up all the time of the school. To select a few of the larger vocations would not be fair to the others, and besides very many would afterwards change their choice. There are those w T ho live by exploiting farmers, for example, who are anxious to keep up a good supply of farmers. They advocate an exclusively agricultural education for rural children so that it wou d be impossible for them to ever leave the farm except at great loss; they would not be fitted for any other ilfe. The intelligent farmer will demand the broadest education for his children so that they may have an equal chance with others. Misdirected Education. Vocational education assumes that the young student comes to school with his life choices finally and wisely made,—a thing which hardly ever happens. It may attempt to fit a child for an occupation for w r hich it has no natural adaptness, for its choice may be only a temporary whim. To train a child for an occupation it will never follow is a waste of time, and sometimes far worse than that. Many a student has realized when too late that he spent his preparation time, all the time he will ever have in this world, in preparing for an occupation he will never follow. If he had given his chief at¬ tention to mental training he could not have lost by it. A Narrow Education. But even if there were never any mistakes of this kind, no one should choose an exclusively vo¬ cational education. All life tends to grow narrower as we grow older so that the broader our interests and sympathies are to begin with the better. A life narrow at the beginning becomes pitiable before the end. All vocational education is of course narrow, in fact, that is its chief value. Its aim is to teach the pupil one thing and all effort is centered on that. A Paradise for Quacks. Again, suppose everybody had only a vocational education, and even knew his vocation far better than the average man does now; this would inevitably mean that he knew less of other vocations. If no one knew anything of medicine but doctors it would be a paradise for quacks, for nobody would be a judge of a good doctor. If no one knew anything of law but the lawyers it would be a paradise for pettifoggers. The progress of the race d'epends largely upon 146 UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA the ability of the community to rightly estimate and appreciate goodness, efficiency, worth; for this no education can be too broad. Athens and Sparta. A classical illustration of these types :s afforded by two cities in ancient Greece. The educational ideal at Sparta was vocational, at Athens the liberal type. Yet Athens excelled in even the things in which Sparta specialized. In all her history Sparta never furnisht a great philosopher, poet or statesman. The fame of ancient Greece is due entirely to Athens who originated the term “liberal education.” She gave all her educational effort to training and developing the minds of h'er youth, who then met the problems of life with the best minds it was possible to acquire, and excelled in everything. Liberal Education. The aim of cultural education is to change a dull boy to a bright one; to enable a pupil to use its faculties skillfully and accurately; to give it a good thinking machine. This is the intellectual part. It should also educate its tastes so that it will not waste time and money on the ugly and unseemly. It should also train it to get along well with its fellows, ,to observe their rights and wishes; to cooperate with its fellows,—that is, social and moral education. The most valuable studies are those which are observed to produce these results in greatest abundance. Practical Subjects. It is said that the child needs to learn how to make a living first. But first of all the child must learn how to learn. One aim of education is to enable the child to learn rapidly and accurately with little or no aid from a teacher. Until the child can do this it is not prepared for life, for in all occupations new conditions and enterprises are constantly com¬ ing up which have to be studied and mastered; those who can do so go to the top. But making a living is not all; making a life worth living is far more. We cannot know what subjects will prepare for life for we do not know what life will be. But developing mental power will fit for any life; the education which does that cannot be lost. Cultural subjects are the most prac¬ tical. Does Higher Education Pay. Out of 11,384 names of success¬ ful men and women listed in a recent volume of Who’s Who in America, over 8,000 had attended college, nearly 1800 high school, 1100 had attended only common schools, while 24 were self taught. This shows that while only about 2% attend colleg’e, this 2% furnishes over 70% of the most successful. There is no explanation possible except that education greatly increases SOCIAL PROBLEMS 147 one’s chances in life. The increase in happiness and satisfaction is in still greater proportion. Specialists. We are told that this is the age of the specialist There is some truth in this but also dangerous fallacy. The exploiter of labor favors specialists. He would get better service, he hopes, and if a workman can do only one thing the man who controls that job has him at a disadvantage and can pay him what he likes. The specialist fallacy is this; a man should specialize, but not till he has a liberal education. Then he can specialize with safety and profit, for he makes a better specialist if he has a liberal education first. Education and Life Choices. Few of those entering college have decided on their life work. One of the greatest values * of a college education is th'e aid it gives in choosing a calling. For this purpose alone it is worth all it costs. A significant illustration of this is shown by divorce statistics. While a smaller proportion of college women marry this is not a reason for b'ame. They are more independent, command better salaries, are better judges of men, and are under less economic pressure to marry. But while between 7% and 8% of all marriages end in divorce scarcely any college women are divorced. This can¬ not be accident. The chief reason is, they make wiser choices. The day may come when to deprive a girl of a cultural 'educatioi will rank with the highest cruelties. Education and the Home. Much of the old education at the home has been transferd to the school; we need not now inquire into the reasons for it. Most of the children spend half their waking hours at school for three-fourths of the years they are at home. Most of their growth and development occurs there. It is evident, then, that a closer relation between the school and home is needed. The school must do more than supp’enm home; it must cooperate with it. The practice, which is begin¬ ning to be common, of giving children school credit for work and chores done at home is excellent from every point of view. Parent Teacher Associations. This is an attempt to bring teachers and parents into closer relations. These have proved of great value except where parents have made them an oppor¬ tunity for interfering in school management or discipline. They afford opportunity for expression of parental interest in the school, and for the discussion of matters of importance to both. The chief problem is the program. It is not best to have them too often; one inspiring meeting is worth hundreds of perfunct¬ ory gatherings. Their chief value is the opportunity they afford T4§ UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA for social contact and cooperation between two classes of work¬ ers with the same children. School Social Centers. It is increasingly evident that the homes cannot conveniently or efficiently minister to the social needs of the commuity; they do not exist for that purpose and houses are seldom suitable. School houses should be de¬ signed and equipt to serve the social needs of the community. Rooms can be pland and furnisht so as to serve both school and commuity needs. There should be a library and reading room, a p’ace for concerts, lectures, stereopticon, and if possible, motion pictures, community banquets, social gatherings of young and old. The school should be the center of the community life, and should be built accordingly. The Community Church. This should be near the school and where possible should be the center of the social life of the community, for which it is much better adapted than the school house. But the community church seems impossible under our denominational system. The center of interest and loyalty of a denominational church would not be the community it serves but the denomination to which it belongs. Too often the com¬ munity is expected to serve the church, instead of the church serving the community. The problem is difficult tho it ought to be so’vable, but cannot be discust here, M^here no community church is possible the school must enlarge its functions so as to cover the moral and social interests of the community,'leaving of cours’e the religious interests to denominational organizations. SCHOOL MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION. District and County Systems. The county or township or¬ ganization generally prevails in the East and Bouth, the district system in about haT of the other states. The District system originated in Massachusetts as a temporary device, and was abandoned after about 50 years trial. Horace Mann said that in that short time it injured the educational interests of Mass, more than anything else in her history. Notwithstanding this it is generally adopted thruout the entire country. It has now, however, been rejected by nearly all the southern states and by many of the most progressive northern states. From an edu¬ cational standpoint there never was anything to recommend it; the reasons for its adoption have been political rather than educational. It is a misapplication of the principle of local self-government, but overlooks the principle that schools exist SOCIAL PROBLEMS' 149 solely for the benefit of the children. The only question that the good citizen can consider is what method provides /the best educational advantages for the children. The Direction of Educational Effort. This is not only one of the most important but one of the most difficult tasks of civiliized life. While i,t has engaged the life thought and labor of thous¬ ands of the greatest minds of the race for thousands of years its problems are still unsolvd, and we are still wasting much of the lives of our children and of future generations. Philoso¬ phers, statesmen, scientists, mothers, as well as teachers have made it their chief interest but still our education is disgrace¬ fully imperfect and inefficient. The opinion somehow generally prevails that most anybody can be a school director. Men are sometimes elected school directors to keep down the school tax! Often when directors do know anything about educational matters they are 30 to 40 years behind the times so that some¬ times i literate men make better directors. Never Knows the Difference. One of the most discouraging features of our system is that the incompetent school director never knows his mistakes or is conscious of his failures. He is often supremely satisfied with and even proud of his supposed attainments. This is pathetic enuf; but when we reflect that it is not he who loses, but innocent children whose only oppor¬ tunity for life preparation has been squandered by his blind incompetency, the case is tragic. If the incompetent school director could realize the facts he would refuse the trust which his fellow citizens thrust upon him. But he usually thinks he is doing well enuf and as well as any one else would. Selecting Teachers. If ever a job required omnescience it is the selection of teachers. A teacher who is a failure in one place is often a success ill another. The problem is first to be sure the teacher has the necessary qualifications, and second, to match the teacher and the school and community. Either fails without the other. In this respect our system is notoriously imperfect. The selection of teachers taxes the wisdom of the most experienct and competent educators and yet the task is often left to those with no knowledge or experience whatever. An Extreme Case. An Oklahoma school director once said to the writer, “I don’t keer ennything fer yer dieplomers an reckymendashuns; I kin size up a teacher in half a minnit by jis lookin at her.” And under our present system the educational interests of a community are entrusted to such a man. A resi¬ dent of a small town in New York state was boasting of the UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA 150 local school board. “Why,” said he, “the president of the Board is a man of the finest judgment you ever saw. He can tell within five pounds just what a heifer will weigh.” And such judgment was in that village proudly supposed to be ample for selecting teachers. These men are doubtless good citizens in their place, but are they educators? Are such directors the very best pro¬ vision we can make for the direction of our children’s education? Seeking a School. One of the most obnoxious and repulsive tasks in the civilized world is hunting a school. To a sensitive, refined teacher it is the most objectionable feature of the pro¬ fession of teaching. The ordeal is severe enuf at best but school boards, especially in the country, often needlessly aggravate it. It is not surprising that most teachers get out of the profession as soon as possible. It is notorious that good looks, pheasant address, and recommendations from friends are more potent in getting a school than evidence of scholarship, experience, or of preparation for teaching. Excellent teachers who are in the profession for life are often relegated to inferior positions, while best positions go to persons who are only teaching for a little money with no intention of making it a life work. The Most Competent. The gist of the matter is this: Does one who has studied a difficult matter for years know any more about it than one who has given it but little or no attention? So many men assume that they know as much about educating a child as a teacher does. While the experienct teacher shudders at the responsibility of the direction of education many who have scarcely given it a superficial thought clamor for control of th'e schools. We must come to this: we must train teachers and select them as carefully as we can, and then trust them with the education of the children. Under the present system neither the teacher nor any one else has a fair chanc'e; every teacher is restrained or handicapped by lack of equipment, inadequate salary, uncertainty of tenure of position; and the board mem¬ bers are equally handicapt by the demands of private business, lack of knowledge of educational science and of what is happen¬ ing in th'e school room, and the helpless children suffer. Education Controld by Teachers. If experienct educators cannot solve educational problems, who can? We should manage it so that the teacher’s profession would attract the ablest and best men and women, and the requirements should be such as to exclude ad the incompetent ancl unworthy. Make the pro¬ fession what it needs to be, and then hold it responsible for the results. France approximates this and has by common con- SOCIAL PROBLEMS 151 sent the bes,t educational system in the world. They have a national board, whose head is a member of the president’s cabinet, composed of persons of the highest character and in¬ telligence, some of them eminent teachers. They have entire control of all educational affairs, even making all school laws. Under them are district boards in charge of the different di¬ visions of the nation. They fix teacher’s salaries which are paid by the nation. Each community furnishes the school building and equipment just as we do. Thus France secures for edu¬ cational management the very highest ability and knowledge she has; thus she secures for her children the very best advan¬ tages possible. Can we not do as well? The County Unit System. This is our nearest approach to the French system. It places all the schools of a county under one school board whose educational qualifications are prescribed by law so that it is composed of thoroly qualified persons. The salaries of all teachers are paid by the state so that no com¬ munity is tempted to rob' its children to keep taxes low. Each community furnishes its school property as now. This board decides all controversies concerning school matters promptly and finally and so avoids the disputes and quarrels which so often prevent good schools and paralyze all educational effort, and which often go on from bad to worse unless settled by dis¬ interested outsiders. This plan considers only the welfare of the children, all else is excluded. The facts that this method is so rapidly coming into use in this country, that it has provd so successful in France, and that England’s new educational bill is in the same direction justifies its advocacy here. The Administration of City Schools. The county unit system is already in use in most of the southern states and the most progressive states elsewhere. Something like it prevails to some extent in the administration of citj r schools. It is becom¬ ing the universal practice of city boards of education to employ a superintendent and entrust him to the entire management of the schools and hold him responsible for the results. Such a policy, however, is entirely voluntary with the school boards; it is seldom provided by- law. It is the nearest approach we have to education directed by educators, and the result is that our city schools are incomparably the best we hav’e. The same policy is spreading to the smaller cities and towns where salaries are large enuf to attract able superintendents. It is UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA 152 little credit to us that our best schools exist in spite of our system, rather than as a result of it. The Townshio Unit System. This is used in the six New England states, and in Northern Mich., New Jersey, Penn., Ohio, Ind., and N. Dak. The County Unit System is used in Md., Ky., Tenn., Ga., Ala., Fla., La. and N. Car., S. Car., Iowa and Utah have a mixt system. In densely populated states the Township system would operate about the same as the County system in sparsely populated states. The principles are the same. Nearly all of these states now having the larger unit once used .the District system. Indiana abandoned it in 1852, Massachusetts in 1882, New Hampshire in 1885, Georgia in 1887, Florida in 1889, etc. The larger unit system is used in all cities. Oklahoma City, for example, has 25 schools under one school board and one sup¬ erintendent. In Ill. there are about 12,000 teachers in the district schools which have about 40,000 directors; while Chicago has over 6,000 teachers and only 21 directors, and would be better off with 7. Compulsory Education. It is evident that parents’ control over their children must have necessary limits; in the nature of things no right can transcend those of the children. A great many calculations show that the cash value of every day a child spends at school is worth to it, on the average, from $5 to $10. It can seldom earn more than a dollar a day at work. When it is kept out of school it is clearly robbed of the difference. There are, of course, such emergencies such as cotton picking when the schools should be closed, for the work is so necessary that the pupils gains in the family welfare more than it loses. But no parent should be permitted to exploit the labor of a child for profit. Pupils Kept In Classes. The recitation a pupil misses by. absence are only a small part of its losses. Irregular attendance makes good classification of pupils impossible; this is a loss not only to the irregular pupil but to all others, so that the irregularity of one family inevitably injures the whole com¬ munity. The greater expense of teaching pupils individually would make popular education impossible without classes. No classification of pupils can be perfect at best so a very little irregularity is a serious matter. Classes in arithmetic, for example, are usually a year apart, so that dropping out of a class means losing a year of school. Our compulsory education t law compels children to attend three months each year; but it is impossible to keep pupils well classified who attend only SOCIAL PROBLEMS 153 that much. The truth must be learned: we cannot educate bur children without keeping up good classification of pupils; it is vital to our educational system. Ethical Education. Far greater effort should be made to make education develop character. The state cannot afford to educate bad characters, or the selfish and corrupt who live only for themselves, and would not if it knew them in advance for it would make them more dangerous to the state. Those who are educated by the state are under obligations to become good- citizens of it; otherwise the state is not justified in supporting public education. But a good' citizen is impossible without good character; that must come first. But a good character in private life is often grossly negligent of public duties; we must develop both character and citizenship. To find more effective ways of doing this is the greatest need of our education. Education our Highest Interest. Over the school house hover all the good angels of the Future; all that Humanity is ever to achieve is latent in the little school desk. No other trust can equal it; no other interest compare with it. To put the least obstacle in the way of educational advance is to renounce all claim to good citizenship in the sight of God and man. It is the ark of God’s covenant with the race; by far our most price¬ less possession. The children are our only real treasure; all else is rubbish and tinsel. Well did the great Master say: “Whoso shall offend one of these little ones, * * * it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he were sunk in the depth of the sea.” To oppose anything that tends to benefit education is certainly offending many of the little ones dear alike to earth and heaven. Education Our Ultimate Hope. This study of a few of our social problems shows how difficult and perplexing they are. Their solution will demand the very highest quality of character and citizenship it is possible to secure. On all sides we are hearing it admitted that we must look to education to do more than we have done, or can do. The demand is not so much for more grammar, arithmetic, or geography, tho they should he taught with the utmost efficiency, the new demand is that our education shall produce higher types of character and citizen¬ ship; not the individual but the social character, the good citizen, the soldier of the common good. It is in the light of this purpose that we must work for educational improvement. 154 UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA STUDY ON CHAP. IX. Suggested Questions To Aid Discussion. 1. Why should greater study make educational problems seem more difficult? 2. What is education? 3. Is the acquisition of all knowledge equally beneficial to the mind, or are some subjects more valuable than others? 4. How would you define a “Liberal Education?” 5. How define a “Vocational Education?” 6. Are they entirely incomputable? 7. If you could not get both which one would you prefer? 8. Which would be the best for a slave? 9. Which best for a freeman? 10. Is there any way to tell what vocation a child should be educated ror? 11. Should each one select his own vocation or would it be better if some one else selected it for him? 12. Could parents or officials select a vocation earlier and so give longer time to prepare for it? 13. Where each selects his own vocation what can be done for those who are unable to decide till after school days are over? 14. Why should ancient Athens have excelled Sparta? 15. Why do you think higher education pays? 16. When should one begin to specialize? 17. Why should fewer college women be divorced? 18. Can the school and home be more closely connected? 19. What are some topics which might be profitably discust by Parent-Teacher Associations? 20. Draw a plan of a building which cou’d be used both for school and community purposes? 21. Why should the “District System” be the most popular one in half the states? 22. Why is it being given up in so many states? 23. Should educational policies be directed by the most competent or by popular vote? Why? 24. Does the average- school director choose a teacher or an agreeable personality? 25. What are some of the advantages of the French system? 26. Why should children who will not behave well be removed from school? 27. What compensation is there for * keeping an unruly child in school? 28. Why can the state not afford to educate those who are not going to be good citizens? 29. Would a parent who earned a fortune for a child be doing it a greater service than giving it an education? 30. Can we ever have perfect education? 31. The first of these studies was the Problem of the Family, the last, Education: does every social problem begin and end with the children? REFERENCES Hart: Educational Resources, Chapters XIV—XVI. Towne: Social Problems, Chapter IV. SOCIAL PROBLEMS 155 CONTENTS FOREWORD . 82 I. THE PROBLEM OF THE MODERN FAMILY... S3 Family fundamental. Prolongation of Infancy. Mother and Family. Failure of the Family. Matrimonial Choosing. Matri¬ monial Aids. Chief Failure. Home the Cornerstone of Civiliza¬ tion. The New Woman. Competing with the Home. Happy Homes. Will the Plome Survive? The Greatest Danger. What is the Remedy? II. CIVILIZATION AND THE USE) OF LEISURE. 89 Nature of the Problem. Leisure the Building Time. Play and Personality. Play and Morality. Chicago’s Experiment. Play and Health. Play and Mental Development. Athletics. Com¬ mercialized Amusements. Saloons. Soldier’s Leisure must be protected. Adult Attitude. An Ancient Testimony. Leisure time not lost. Play is Life to the Child. Play and Democracy. Use of Leisure. The Great Perversion. III. COVERSATION OF LIFE .:. 96 Ancient Views. Modern View. Lengthening Life. Partial Death. Deferred Penalties. Laws of Health. Eating. Essential Foods. Mastication. Cooking. Jovial Meals. Sanitation. Town and Country. Flies. Tuberculosis. Sanitoriums. Inoculation. Serum Treatments. Nursing Profession. Fresh Air. Altruism of Medical Men. A Healthier World. IV. PUBLIC FINANCE ...103 Inefficiency. Tax Maxims. Shifting of Taxes. Inheritance Tax. Income Tax. Corporation Tax. Unearned Increment Tax. Unwise Taxes. Tax Philosophy. National Purse. Expenditure. Budget System. Local Finances. General Property Tax. Assess¬ ments. Permanency. Home Rule in Taxation. State Purse. Emptying State Purse. Importance of Expenditure. V. THE STATE AND THE INDIVIDUAL.109 Relations. Both Indispensable. State Must Control. Limita¬ tions. State Must Protect the Individual. Self-Protection. State Must Assist Individuals. Helping without Pauperizing. Subser¬ viency. State must Develop the Individual. German Education. State and the Criminal. State and the Poor. Patriotism. War Time Relations. Individualism and Socialism. Character and Citizenship. UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA 156 VI. THE WORLD TREND TO DEMOCRACY.116 Aristotle’s Cycle. The Present Trend. Republic and Democ¬ racy. Autocracy Efficient. Democracy growing more efficient. Defects of Democracy. Democracy the World’s Hope. Duties of Democracy. Individual responsibility. Democracy and Peace. VII. RURAL PROBLEMS...1...120 Drift to Cities. Not wholly bad. Farm Machinery. Intoler¬ able Uncertainty. Hard Life. Isolation. High Price of Land. Co-operation. Co-operative Marketing. Co-operative Borrowing. Co-operative Machinery. Good Roads. Exploiting the Farmer. Price Control. Problem Spiritual not Material. Social Life in the Country. Society and Happiness. Amusements. Singing. Lit¬ erary Societies. Consolidated Schools. Rural Course of Study. Leaving Home for Education. Harmony. Land fop Returning Soldiers. Our Chiefest Problem. VIII. THE WAGE SYSTEM..,.129 Increasing Unrest. Definitions. Wage Theories. What are Wages? Different Standpoints. Labor as a Commodity. Un¬ stable Wages. Distribution of Wealth. Law of Supply and De¬ mand. Subordination of the Worker. Unemployment. Enforced Idleness. War and Unemployment. Effects of Specialization. Profits and Wages. Piece Work and Wages. What is a Fair Wage? Employer not Free. Employer and Low Wages. Wages and Needs. Wages and Improvidence. Living Wage. Wage Com¬ petition. Wages and Unemployment. Employment Bureaus. Labor Unions. Wage Bargaining. Menace of the Union. Right to strike. Wages and Charity. Wages and Free Land. Wages and the Tariff. Real Foe of Labor. Labor and Machinery. Legislation. Wages of Women and Children. Substitutes for the Wage System. Motives for Working. Higher Motives. Labor and Citizenship. Problem Insoluble. IX. EDUCATION ......143 What is Education? Definitions. Extremes. The Two. Con¬ trasted. Vocational Education Right. Vocational Education Limited. Misdirected Education. Never Knows the Difference. Selection of Teachers. An Extreme Case. Seeking a School. Most Competent. Education Controled by Teachers. County Unit System. Township Unit System. Compulsory Education. Pupils Kept in Classes. Ethical Education. Education our Highest In¬ terest. Education our Ultimate Hope. '■» ■ I ) / \ * , I > I V UNIVER9ITY OF ILLINOI9-URBANA 3 0112 099012780 DEBATE BULLETINS These are collections of facts and arguments on both sides of public questions. While efforts are made to secure accuracy in statements of facts, none is made to test the soundness of arguments; they are simply arguments which are used. The debator himself needs the discipline of testing arguments. A brief description of these bulletins are given below: Number 12. A Students’ Manual of Debating and Parliamen¬ tary Practice. This is a reprint with a few changes of tjhree bulletins of the University of Wisconsin. It contains, (1) Sug¬ gestions for organization, with a Model Constitution; (2) A brief Manual of Parliamentary Practice; (3) A brief Manual of Argumentation; (4) Instructions to Judges. Sold at 10c per copy. Number 13. The Initiative and Referendum. Giving sev¬ eral articles and digests of a number of others. (Out) Number 15. Unicameral Legislatures. 72 pp. Same plan. Guaranty of Bank Deposits. 80 pages. (Out) Woman Suffrage. 80 pages. (Out) Consolidation of Rural Schools. 32 pages. The Preferential Ballot. 56 pages. Government Ownership of Railways. 116 pp. The Single Tax. 162 pages. Workmen’s Compensation. 132 pages. Selling Munitions of War. 64 pages. Continuing the Monroe Doctrine. 148 pages. Teachers’ Pensions. 52 pages. Compulsory Arbitration of Labor Disputes. Woman Suffrage No. 2. 80 pages. The Citv Manager Plan. 84 pages. Number 16. Number 17. Number 18. Number 20. Number 22. Number 22. Number 24. Number 26. Number 28. Number 30. Number 34. Number 40. Number 43. Others in preparation. All these bulletins except Number 12, are furnished free to any citizen of the state. It is desirable that each debating club should have more than one copy of each bulletin, at least one for each debator. We will send whatever number will be actually used. Address all requests to THE UNIVERSITY EXTENSION DIVISION Department of Public Discussion and Debate Norman, Oklahoma