the university of hard knocks(重击大学)-第12部分
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The University of Hard Knocks
〃Hep〃 and 〃Pep〃 for the Home Town
But so many of the home towns of America are sick。 Many are dying。
Many are dead。
It is the lure of the cityand the lure…lessness of the country。 The town
the young people leave is the town the young people ought to leave。
Somebody says； 〃The reason so many young people go to hell is because
they have no other place to go。〃
What is the matter with the small town？ Do not blame it all upon the
city mail order house。 With rural delivery； daily papers； telephones；
centralized schools； automobiles and good roads； there are no more
delightful places in the world to live than in the country or in the small
town。 They have the city advantages plus sunshine； air and freedom that
the crowded cities cannot have。
I asked the keeper who was showing me thru the insane asylum at
Weston； West Virginia； 〃You say you have nearly two thousand insane
people in this institution and only a score of guards to keep them in。 Aren't
you in danger？ What is to hinder these insane people from getting together；
organizing； overpowering the few guards and breaking out？〃
The keeper was not in the least alarmed at the question。 He smiled。
〃Many people say that。 But they don't understand。 If these people could
get together they wouldn't be in this asylum。 They are insane。 No two of
them can agree upon how to get together and how to break out。 So a few
of us can hold them。〃
It would be almost unkind to carry this further； but I have been
thinking ever since that about three…fourths of the small towns of America
have one thing in common with the asylum folksthey can't get together。
They cannot organize for the public good。 They break up into little
antagonistic social； business and even religious factions and neutralize
each other's efforts。
A lot of struggling churches compete with each other instead of
massing for the common good。 And when the churches fight； the devil
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stays neutral and furnishes the munitions for both sides。
So the home towns stagnate and the young people with visions go
away to the cities where opportunity seems to beckon。 Ninety…nine out of
a hundred of them will jostle with the straphangers all their lives； mere
wheels turning round in a huge machine。 Ninety…nine out of a hundred of
them might have had a larger opportunity right back in the home town；
had the town been awake and united and inviting。
We must make the home town the brightest； most attractive； most
promising place for the young people。 No home town can afford to spend
its years raising crops of young people for the cities。 That is the worst kind
of soil impoverishmentall going out and nothing coming back。 That is
the drain that devitalizes the home towns more than all the city mail order
houses。
America is to be great； not in the greatness of a few crowded cities； but
in the greatness of innumerable home towns。
The slogan today should be； For God and Home and the Home Town！
A School of Struggle
Dr。 Henry Solomon Lehr； founder of the Ohio Northern University at
Ada； Ohio； one of Ohio's greatest educators； used to say with pride； 〃Our
students come to school； they are not sent。〃
He encouraged his students to be self…supporting； and most of them
were working their way thru school。 He made the school calendar and
courses elastic to accommodate them。 He saw the need of combining the
school of books with the school of struggle。 He organized his school into
competing groups； so that the student who had no struggle in his life
would at least have to struggle with the others during his schooling。
He pitted class against class。 He organized great literary and debating
societies to compete with each other。 He arranged contests for the military
department。 His school was one surging mass of contestants。 Yet each
student felt no compulsion。 Rather he felt that he was initiating an
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individual or class effort to win。 The literary societies vied with each other
in their programs and in getting new members； going every term to
unbelievable efforts to win over the others。 They would go miles out on
the trains to intercept new students； even to their homes in other states。
Each old student pledged new students in his home country。 The military
companies turned the school into a military camp for weeks each year；
scarcely sleeping while drilling for a contest flag。
Those students went out into the world trained to struggle。 I do not
believe there is a school in America with a greater alumni roll of men and
women of uniformly greater achievement。
I believe the most useful schools today are schools of struggle schools
offering encouragement and facilities for young people to work their way
thru and to act upon their own initiative。
Men Needed More Than Millions
We are trying a new educational experiment today。
The old 〃deestrick〃 school is passing； and with it the small academies
and colleges； each with its handful of students around a teacher； as in the
old days of the lyceum in Athens； when the pupils sat around the
philosopher in the groves。
From these schools came the makers and the preservers of the nation。
Today we are building wonderful public schools with equally
wonderful equipment。 Today we are replacing the many small colleges
with a few great centralized state normal schools and state universities。 We
are spending millions upon them in laboratories； equipment and
maintenance。 Today we scour the earth for specialists to sit in the chairs
and speak the last word in every department of human research。
O； how the students of the 〃dark ages〃 would have rejoiced to see this
day！ Many of them never saw a germ！
But each student has the same definite effort to make in assimilation
today as then。 Knowing and growing demand the same personal struggle
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in the cushions of the 〃frat〃 house as back on the old oak…slab bench with
its splintered side up。
I am anxiously awaiting the results。 I am hoping that the boys and girls
who come out in case…lots from these huge school plants will not be rows
of lithographed cans on the shelves of life。 I am hoping they will not be
shorn of their individuality； but will have it stimulated and unfettered。 I am
anxious that they be not veneered but inspired； not denatured but
discovered。
All this school machinery is only machinery。 Back of it must be men
great men。 I am anxious that the modern school have the modern
equipment demanded to serve the present age。 But I am more anxious that
each student come in vital touch with great men。 We get life from life； not
from laboratories； and we have life more abundantly as our lives touch
greater lives。
A school is vastly more than machinery； methods； microscopes and
millions。
Many a small school struggling to live thinks that all it needs is
endowment； when the fact is that its struggle for existence and the spirit of
its teachers are its greatest endowment。 And sometimes when the money
endowment comes the spiritual endowment goes in fatty degeneration。
Some schools seem to have been visited by calamities in the financial
prosperity that has engulfed them。
Can we keep men before millions； and keep our ideals untainted by
foundations？ That is the question the age is asking。
You and I are very much interested in the answer。
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Chapter VII
The Salvation of a 〃Sucker〃
The Fiddle and the Tuning
HOW long it takes to learn things！ I think I was thirty…four years
learning one sentence； 〃You can't get something for nothing。〃 I have not
yet learned it。 Every few days I stumble over it somewhere。
For that sentence utters one of the fundamentals of life that underlies
every field of activity。
What is knowing？
One day a manufacturer took me thru his factory where he makes
fiddles。 Not violinsfiddles。
A violin is only a fiddle with a college education。
I have had the feeling ever since that you and I come into this world
like the fiddle comes from the factory。 We have a body and a neck。 That is
about all there is either to us or to the fiddle。 We are empty。 We ha
