practice can become a good writer. But it takes
grit to. learn to write, as it does to do anything
else.
I would like to, hut Ihave' nt got time . Thud !
This falls like a sod on a coffin. It usually closes
the debate. But it is baby talk. The busiest
man I ever knew, a man who constantly did the
work of two, never once, while I knew him, com
plained of not having time. “Haven’t got time”
is a rock that cripples and and wrecks more lives
than most of us suspect. Gladstone constantly
carries a book with him lest any movement should
slip by unoccupied, etc., etc. He who habitually
uses this excuse is a lazy man. Take time.
Finally let me say that the literary spirit of a
college is judged from the journal which it sends
to other colleges. The burden does not rest
wholly on the editors, —every undergraduate is,
in a measure, responsible, and, as the advertise
ments say-r-“this means you.” ,
THE PLACE OF THE TECHNICAL
SCHOOL IN THE EDUCATIONAL
SYSTEM.
At the time of the establishment of the first
Technical "School' in this country, the prejudices
against such an institution were many. Then
comparatively few persons recognized'‘the fact
that there Was’soniething lacking in their mode •’
of education." it was not'until after the great
rebellion had called forth all the resources of the !
nation that the majority' comprehended that the
needs of the country were not to be satisfied by
brilliant speeches and oratorical triumphs. They
rose to an appreciation of the fact that the re
sponsibility devolved upon active, energetic men,
men who could do and dare.
The nation recognized a greatness that does
not manifest itself in fine phrases and moving ut
terances. They began to doubt if the entire pur
pose of education was accomplished in an institu
tion where the student was only permitted to ex-
THE FREE LANCE.
But in justice to the Technical School one
should know its objects, understand its methods,
and appeciate its work before assigning it a
place in the educational system. The Technical
School was never intended for the entire educa
tion of the minister or journalist. ' Nor does the
technical education as practiced in hundreds of
Colleges and Manual Training Schools pretend to
turn out full fledged carpenters or blacksmiths.
Skill at the forge, or at the carpenter’s bench has
to be gained by long years of experienqe.
These institutions are designed to give a prac
tical, useful system of training to the youth who
desires to become an educated engineer or ma
chinist. They propose by their system of shop
work, to acquaint him with the use of tools and
the qualities of the several materials with which
he works. The knowledge thus gained is invalua
ble to him who pursues, any engineering course.
It also serves to give interest to his
work. How often is it the case that a'
student listless and - inactive in a classical
school, considered slow and dull by both class
mates and instructors, when given, the advantages
of a technical education, rapidly advanfces and
finally attains an eminent position in the scien
tific world, honored and revered by those who in
former years considered themselves his superiors.
For several years the superior advantages, as
afforded by the technical schools, havq forced
themselves more and more upon the public; year
after year commanding more attention until at
the present time these institutions offer the only
education to those pursuing scientific branches.
The graduate from a classical institution is utterly
unfit, in this age of invention and scientific re-
F. L. Pattee,
haust his energies in deciphering Greek and Latin.
Many emminent men realized that an establish
ment in which theory and application were inter
mingled would be more beneficial to those who
desire a course of study in a definite line. The
Technical Schools of to-day are the outgrowth of
this sentiment and were founded with this end in