The Oamaru Mail. SATURDAY, MAY 8, 1915. PRIMARY EDUCATION.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XL, Issue 12538, 8 May 1915, Page 4

The Oamaru Mail. SATURDAY, MAY 8, 1915. PRIMARY EDUCATION.

In another part of this issue we publish an article written by Mr John Kelly, of Weston, on our national system of primary education. We commend that article to. the serious perusal of all who have the education of the children of the Dominion at heart. Mr Kelly is not' only a public school'teacher of long experience, with an exceptionally good record of work accomplished as a teacher, but he is a closer observer of results, a deep thinker along true lines, and a stuue'i-, of child nature. He may, thercfjre, k claim to speak with some degvee oi authority upon the subject whc,v\v th he deals, and his conclusions ;.ic u"tainly worthy 'of respect. L'-r mug years it has been the fashion ;:, vicv '.our national education system as something closely approximating to peifeetion, and to treat it as a fetish for wo,~- | ship and to be held sacred from the • violating touch of the hand of tile icformer. Mr Kelly has clearly no sym-. '! pathy with that extravagant and 1111i justifiable view, and he not only boldly I challenges the papular estimate of the | value of the system, but he adduces solid and unassailable reasons for so I doing. He even goes the length of charging the primary education sys- ! tern with having failed to accomplish ! the highest purpose of true education., I We have, he says in effect, devoted our I energies to crowding tlie minds of our children with knowledge—knowledge j upon an infinite variety of subjects, all, : no doubt, good in their way—but we j have failed to educate in the truest and ! most admirable acceptation of the.word. ! We have not given, heed to the mould- ! ing of the plastic child mind in a way to produce the highest, the best, the most noble aud ennobling type of well- ! equipped citizens. The mind has been ! crowded with knowledge, but the feck i ings and the will of the child have, been left to chance. The training of "these; ! fine, far-reaching features of the mind ; . . . . has no definite place in our ' system of education," which Mr Kelly, with full emphasis and a knowledge of tho things whereof ho writes, says "is j no real education at all, in that it asI sumes that only the intellect is worthy iof attention, while the soul may ! starve." Let it not be imagined for a j. moment that Mr.Kelly in littering these j words is putting forward- a i>lca for the ! introduction of the Bible into our pub--1 lie schools. Quite the reverse, for he frankly places himself in antagonism to the proposal. Therein he ruiis counter j to the opinions of a large and. as wo [believe, growing section of the commuI nit-y, who, like Mr Kelly, recognise that Tour education -system fails to aecora- [ plish the highest purpose of real od-uea-I lion. Mr Kelly would attain the desired end by other means, and these he sets forth, briefly, it is true, but with sufficient dcfinitencss to leave no doubt ■as to the methods- he has in his mind as; tho result, doubtless, of mature thought and careful study. He would build up character by recourse to tho-, '.'noble heritage of tho deeds done by 1 the sons and daughters of Britain and other lands, told, in simple story fashion." As to whether, the proces's Mr Kelly proposes would be productive . of tho heart training, the bringing into relief man's duty to himself and. his neighbor, and the many other qualities that a. true education system., should ! provide- for. there may be room.for | divergence of opinion". But there can-r j' not be any-difference of opinion as to I the.-force of Mr. Kelly's demand, that ] the syllabus of instruction should be 'curt-ailed. We are. attempting too ' much and accomplishing too little. Wo J are cn.deavoring to give to'.'our-children J -knowledge npou an infinite variety of "|. things, and failing to educate- in tho /best sense of the' term. As Mr Kelly (points, out, school work is kept at high- !• pressure speed, and it is. impossible to i really educate under such a condition. GERMANY'S TERRORISM. The sinking of the Lusitauia'/was an act of daring to which Germany is accustoming the world. Her arrogance knows no bounds. Ever since she commenced the war and Belgium stood athwart the path of her. insane ambition she has respected nothing and'nooody. Everything that came in her way lias been-kicked or blown to fragments. She admits .that there should be no rule but the force of a superior Power, and that, she. seeks to set up a terrorism. The insolence of such an attitude by a- people who number less than 70,000,000 is I intolerable. "Those who oppose me I will dash in pieces," said the Kaiser in 1890. In 1900, in an address to the troops he. sent ta the Boxer war, lie said: "Quarter will not be given. Who. ever falls into our hands will be forfeit to you, just as 1000 years 'ago the Huns, under King Etecl (the German name- for Attila), made a name for •themselves which is still mighty in tradition and story." That a man who is

maniac enough to be guilty of such utteraiicos is at largo is a greater danger than lotting loose the inmates of all the world's asylums and all the criminals in all the prisons. Perhaps now that Germany has defied neutral America, some good may come as a result of the Lusitania disaster. Recently the Press | of the United States ha.s angrily and ! menacingly denounced the torpedo attacks o" American vessels, but this last act will surely arouse an access of indignation which will lead to a demand for satisfaction. The .sinking of the Lusitania was totally 1111 warranted ironany point of view. Those who were on board were -not responsible for Germany's difficulties ;,but there is Ho principle.or pledge, or person, or anything in heaven or earth that Jias the respect of "Germany. She has no heart and no pity. She has no nerves or human Amotions more sensitive than her guns and her explosives. There will be riotous revelry in Berlin to-day. Not that Germany has achieved .any good for herself through the destruction of the. great vessel, but because she has injured others whom she has made her enemies. But the calmer'world oxitsidc Germany will not pause. The attack J on the Lusitania exhibits' a spirit of. desperation induced by repeated failure. —a state of mind favorable to the Allies. To the layman it might appear that destroyers could, ; by joining the vessel when approaching its destination, have saved the ship and turned the tables on the. enemy. That is a matter which will probably be discussed by experts.