done without laboratories such as that of the Rue de la Grange-aux-Belles, and it is for that reason that Prof. Alfred Binet hopes to see them some day scattered all over the land.”

The Carnegie Foundation Restrictions.

* * *

The recent annual meetings of many college trustee boards brought forth various agitations over questions raised by the Carnegie fund established to pension retiring professors. It will be recalled that all professors who are teaching in colleges that are technically under denominational control are excluded from the benefits of the fund. In order to make provision for these professors it is noticed. in some quarters that efforts were made to clear given institutions of their denominational alliances. Such efforts were attempted at Brown University, but failed, as a majority of the alumni voted not to amend their charter, which requires the president and a majority of the corporation to be of the Baptist faith. Harper's Weekly, in commenting upon this fact, asserts that "this is a decision that a theory shall prevail against the truth." Because:

"Brown is really undenominational. Sectarian beliefs do not prevail in her teachings. While the letter of the charter is observed, its spirit is not. An Episcopalian may teach there. Indeed, the Providence Journal declares that the 'control of the university is really lodged with Episcopalians.' Jews as well as Christians, Roman Catholics as well as Protestants, are among her students. A Jewish philanthropist has founded there a prize to be bestowed annually for the best essay on religious belief. The charter alone makes her professors ineligible for a Carnegie pension.

"The vote of the Brown alumni to maintain a tradition which is but a tradidition, at the expense of the old and faithful professors of the institution, shows more the successful galvanization of an old and dormant life than a lively and intellectual gratitude for the services of men who have at least presided at the birth of whatever education these conservative voters possess."

The Congregationalist and Christian World (Boston) notes this decision of Brown and the inconsistency of the situation created, when comparing the fate of her professors with that of ex-professors of Oberlin Theological Seminary, which furnishes this year an instructive example. We read:

"So the professor of geology or of astronomy there, who may never himself attend a Baptist church, will be debarred from the privileges of the fund, while a man like Prof. A. H. Currier, who has for twenty-six years been connected with Oberlin Theological Seminary, from which a steady stream of Congregational preachers have been pouring out, receives from now on his annual stipend. His good fortune, at which we heartily rejoice, is due to the fact that Oberlin College, with which the seminary is affiliated, has no formal relationship to the Congregational denominations though the service rendered to it in the persons of such men as the late President James H. Fairchild, Dr. Currier, President King, and Professor Bosworth is beyond computing."

The Western Christian Advocate (Cincinnati) insinuates that "there is some sort of indefensible discrimination made against many colleges of the land by the trustees of the Carnegie Foundation," and expresses the hope that some change of policy will be made by them in the administration of the fund. This subject was brought before the trustees of Ohio Wesleyan University by President Herbert Welch in his recent report to that body, and though there is no indication of any definite action being taken, President Welch's words may perhaps stand for the attitude of a number of institutions conditioned such as his. read:

We

""The executive committee of that foundation decided that the election of the majority of our trustees by annual conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church constituted denominational control in such a sense as to exclude us from any share in the benefits of the foundation. There has been apparent a disposition, among those who are charged with this trust, to interpret with increasing

strictness the limitations placed upon them by Mr. Carnegie in his gift.

""The result up to this time is the exclusion from the approved list of about nine-tenths of the colleges of the country. The test applied seems to be a purely formal one, as a number of the accepted institutions are thoroughly well recognized as denominational in their sympathy and relationships, while others, fully as free from sectarian bigotry, are excluded purely on some question of organization. Much unrest has arisen among the colleges because of this seemingly arbitrary division, and several movements are under way to bring more urgently to the attention of the trustees of the foundation, and of Mr. Carnegie himself, the justice and wisdom of some modification of the present plan.'

*

*

"Just as some people in the United States claim that the Negro will be spoiled if he receives an education, so there are critics of schools for the natives in South Africa. Travelers are told over and over again that the missionary is the curse of the country, that a Kaffir who wears boots is never worth employing, that education spells the ruin of the native and that the great majority of educated natives turn out to be criminals. These and similar sentiments are expressed on shipboard, and by men on the street. Even a member of the Natal Parliament said in one of its sessions that missionaries are the curse of South Africa. It is not strange, therefore, that the popular verdict in reference to the value of education among the natives is, in many places, an adverse one. Now what are the real facts in the case? Is it true that the ranks of criminals are recruited from the pupils of the mission schools? If so, the Christian men who are devoting their lives to teaching those black boys would better throw up their job and go home.

"In order to find out the exact truth, a careful investigation has recently been made concerning the students who have been connected with Amanzimtote Seminary, a high-grade school for young men. established by the American Board in Natal. This is the oldest missionary society in the United States and is supported by the Congregational churches. The result proves the truth of the old adage, that "a lie will travel round the world while truth is putting on its sevenleagued boots." About twelve hundred, all told, have been connected with the school, and stay varying from one term or two to five or six years. There are now living over eight hundred of these pupils whose lives can be traced, and the most diligent inquiry concerning them shows that only eleven of this number have ever been convicted of crime. Sixty of the graduates are now engaged as teachers in the schools of South Africa; one of them, Rev. John Oube, by his own enterprise, has organized and is carrying on successfully a Christian industrial school. He is also editor and publisher of a leading native paper. Another graduate has recently obtained the degree of A. B. from Columbia University, and in addition has won the coveted prize in oratory, taking as his subject 'The Regeneration of Africa.' The investigation made it clear that ten per cent of the lives of the young men, judged both morally and industrially, might be called worthless; twenty per cent are good workers, but not Christians; while seventy per cent are reliable men, a credit to the school and to the Church. Can our preparatory schools for boys in the United States make a better showing than this?

"In order to ascertain whether the boys from the mission schools were giving satisfaction, these definite questions were sent to their employers with the request that perfectly frank answers be returned: Are these boys good workers? Are they respectful? Are they trustworthy? How do they compare with the raw Kaffir? The men to whom the questions were sent represented various lines of business. They were grocers, tailors, carpenters, shoemakers, electricians, also lawyers, contractors and financiers. Out of forty

seven boys unqualified approval was given of forty-four. The Yost Typewriter Company replied, 'Rattling good boy, best boy in the place; well educated.' A railroad official said, 'In every way a most trustworthy native, well educated and very respectful and honest. Have known him ten years, having had him. with me in Natal, Rhodesia and Transvaal.' The superintendent of native labor on the Colonial South African Railroad, who had hundreds in his employ, gave this remarkable testimony: These two boys are among the very best we have. Solution of whole labor question is in handling of the men. When there is trouble with the native, nineteen times out of twenty the fault is with the white man who is in charge.' Statements like these from men who are in a position to know, and who hold no brief for missions, furnish the best possible refutation to the falsehood of a retired government official who wrote to an English journal that 'eighty per cent of the pupils turned out as educated in mission stations have turned out criminals.' No wonder that he declined to accept a public challenge to prove his statements! Does not simple justice demand that the real facts be made known?"

The American Board has this to say regarding the education of Chinese

women:

"It is the sense of this meeting that girls should not be taught the last part of the arithmetic.' Such is the record to be found in the minutes of a meeting of the school committee in a certain New England town as late as the middle of the last century. What an advance since then, both in public sentiment and in the provision made for the education of girls in the United States! But progress here is a snail's pace compared with China during the same period. Because there, for centuries, female children have not been considered even worth counting. Ask a man how many children he has and he will tell you only the number of his boys. As for educating girls-why,

one might as well try to teach the pigs! The influence of the mission schools, however, has wrought a radical change. The quality of womanhood developed in them has been an object lesson which the Chinese could not resist. Consequently the government has recently given orders that primary normal schools be established in certain important centres; foreign as well as native teachers are employed. Some of the regulations are rather novel. For instance, pupils are forbidden to wear silks, satins, or jewelry, or to use cosmetics. A simple dress is made obligatory. Evidently vanity is to be nipped in the bud with the new generation of Chinese girls. The imperial regulations also provide for physical culture in the shape of a gymnasium and exercise grounds. The cruel and injurious practice of footbinding is prohibited. Some of these schools are endowed by the wives and daughters of old-time conservative princes.

"Such are the fruits of patient seedsowing by the early missionaries. Amid bitter opposition they began by open day schools for little girls and kept steadily on till Christian colleges for women became an accomplished fact. One of the oldest and best of these is the Girls' College at Foochow, which was started by the American Board, the agency of the Congregational churches, as a small day school. school For many years great difficulty was experienced in securing pupils. Now its graduates are in demand to fill positions as teachers in schools of every grade from the kindergarten upward, as nurses in hospitals, and above all as wives of Christian men in the homes. Efforts have been made in a few cases to meet this demand by sending picked girls to America to be educated. But the ideal training is an education in her own land. Excellent as the new government schools may be in some respects they are weak in that upbuilding of character which has made the educational work of the American Board, and other missionary societies, such a powerful influence for good."

THE SCHOOLS OF JAPAN.

It has often been declared that it was the German schoolmaster who had won the great victories of Koeniggraetz and Sedan and thus established the German Empire. In analyzing the factors and forces that have made Japan so suddenly a great world-power special emphasis is also being laid on the general culture of the people and the rapid spread of the educational system throughout the country. Professor Warneck, of the University of Halle, the leading mission authority in Germany, declares that the schools of Japan have been prime factors in this process of national regeneration. In the Alte Glaube of Leipsic, No. 39, Dr. J. Flad, a well-known authority on Oriental affairs, and particularly those of Japan, enters into a detailed discussion of this interesting topic, and from this source we reproduce the following. After speaking of Japanese imitativeness in other lines, the writer

says:

"In the educational department also Japan has not been creative, but eminently successful in imitation of Western ideas and ideals. They have been very apt pupils and know how to adapt what they learn from others to their Own wants and circumstances. Japan also thoroughly understands what an all-important factor in its prosperity its educational system is, and for this reason, with the extension of its power and influence on the Asiatic mainland, it also extends its schools.

"Already in 1900 no less than 81.48 per cent of the children of Japan of a school age actually did attend. In the case of boys it was 90.35 per cent.; in the case of girls, 71.73. According to latest government reports Japan in 1906 had 27,383 elementary schools, with a teaching corps of 150,301, and 5,154,113 pupils. In addition there were 266 secondary schools of all kinds, with 4,817 teachers and 100,853 pupils, male and female; and, further, 64 normal colleges,

92

with 1,103 professors and an enrollment of 16,373. Technical schools for business, agriculture, forestry, navigation, etc., existed to the number of 1,838, with 13,300 instructors and 110,091 in attendance. In addition there were special high schools for girls and young ladies, with 28,191 pupils. The Japanese Minister of Education had direct supervision over 2 universities, 3 higher normal colleges, 13 higher technological institutions, I art school, I musical school, and 5 normal lyceums, with a total enrollment of 19,540. In all, Japan at present possesses 32,619 schools of all grades, with a total teaching corps of 171,097 and an attendance of 5,567,008."

The Christian missions, especially those from England and America, have been a leading factor in the establishment and spread of this vast network of schools. This is openly recognized by the Japanese themselves.

The Japanese authorities are modernizing their methods as rapidly as possible. The Chinese script has disappeared entirely from the modern schools of Japan, altho this cumbersome method of writing was exclusively employed there for centuries. In books of a popular nature the more simple system invented by the Japanese is used, but in scientific works the Chinese signs, which are known practically to every educated Japanese, constitute about one-half of the text. In order still further to simplify the system of writing a "Romaji Kai," or a "Roman Alphabet Society," has been active in Japan in recent years, the purpose being to introduce the Roman alphabet throughout the Empire; and rapid progress is being made.

A notable feature of the Japanese school system is the persistent and determined effort to make these schools the means for military education and for the growth of a boundless patriotism. Military exercises of various kinds constitute a fixt part in the curriculum of every school, and the boys are comparative

ly good soldiers by the time they have finished the common school. When a teacher asks a pupil, "Who is the happiest man on earth?" his answer will be under all circumstances, "The patriotic citizen who draws his sword for the defense of his country." In answer to the question, "Who is the greatest man on earth?" a Japanese boy is taught to say, "Admiral Togo!"

* * *

REACTION AGAINST CO-EDUCATION.

Alumni of Wesleyan University, Middletown, Ct., are said to be working to make the choice of a new president and the beginning of a new administration an opportunity to put an end to co-education, a policy which has been losing in esteem for the past decade.

Undergraduate and younger alumni opinion is not likely to control in a matter like this. It is conceded that a substitute must be found for the present plan which will give the women all the opportunities they now have save association with the men in the class rooms, and this practically involves the creation. of a separate college related to Wesleyan as Radcliffe is to Harvard. This requires money; and it remains to be seen whether the money to make the new plan workable can be had, assuming that the plan finally commends itself to the trustees and the new president.

The reaction at Wesleyan is like that at the University of Chicago; but it has not made its appearance at the great state universities of the interior and the West or at Oberlin, and, consequently, it is the more difficult to account for it or to predict what the outcome will be.

* * *

CHINESE CIVIL-SERVICE SCHOOL.

Consul-General James W. Ragsdale transmits the following report from a Chinese newspaper on a proposed school for officials in Tientsin:

"Viceroy Yuan is going to establish a K'ao-lien Chu (examination hall) inside his yamen in the city of Tientsin for the education of Chinese officials for Government appointments in North China. The proposed hall will be divided into five departments, namely: Experience and education; writing Chinese composi

tions upon modern subjects; moral conduct; foreign and Chinese law, and speaking and writing. The object of the viceroy is to prevent ignorant, uneducated officials from getting appointments in Chilhli. Both civil and military officials will be admitted into the hall." ***

NEW YORK'S VACATION SCHOOLS.

More than twenty-eight thousand children took advantage of the vacation schools this summer in Manhattan and Brooklyn, but 7000 were refused admittance because of insufficient accommodations. Thirty-one schools and sixtythree play grounds were opened for the vacation course.

One of the most interesting subjects taught in the summer schools is chair caning. First aid to the injured classes have become immensely popular among the little girls of the east side, who are taught to apply bandages and to administer restoratives. A teacher or assistant is made the subject for the clinic.

Another comparatively new idea which was being widely developed this year was gardening. year was gardening. First of all there. came instruction in planting seeds. For this purpose three large plots of ground were given over to the children, two in Brooklyn schoolyards and one in Manhattan. These plots were divided into many tiny gardens, each of which was assigned to a single child. The pupil would then plant it, cultivate it, harvest it as his own and take home the fruits of his labors.

Eleven roofs on as many schools were opened by the board of education, on which residents of the neighborhood found cool and delightful places of retreat in the evening. On each roof was a brass band composed of six men and a leader, the asphalt-covered roof furnishing a safe and cool place for dancing. Selected teachers from the board of education were in charge at all times. Nurses are kept in attendance at the various playgrounds devoted to women and children to give demonstrations relative to the proper care of babies, including their bathing, clothing and feeding.

Another interesting feature of the