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The Open Court of Inquiry. T H E ED ITO R . “SCIENCE WITH A LARGE S.” its Pretensions, Its Dogmatism, Its Fanaticism, and Its Tyranny. In an address delivered before the com mittee of the Massachusetts legislature last winter on the matter of the vivisec tion bill, Mr. E. H. Clement, editor of the Boston Transcript, dealt with what he called “ Science with a large S, ” its pre tensions, its dogmatism, its fanaticism, and its tyranny. In the course of his address he pointed out that the day of its domination was drawing to a close. “ Science with a large S ’’ as presented in the popular press is pretty much any thing that anyone chooses to state, pro viding it has something to do wuth the ma terial universe. True science is nothing more nor less th an humble, patient collation of facts in the material universe, with the ultimate hope of deducting therefrom some of the laws that govern the universe. [True scien ce is true knowledge; and absolute science employs both the inductive and deductive proc esses of reason in g ,— Ed . F r a m i n g S w o r d .] It is ever seeking knowledge by the process of induction. Now a perfect induction is possible only when all the facts are known. When all the facts are not known an in duction must remain more or less an hypothesis, although, as in one or two cases such as Newton’s laws, deductive proof has confirmed the original induc tion and doubt is no longer possible. But in most matters and particularly in the case of what is known as evolution the inductive conclusions of science have never attained any greater development than that of a plausible hypothesis, nor should it be forgotten that in this very matter of evolution many hypotheses have been held, practically all being mutually destructive. The idea of evolution was not born with Darwin. It is to be found in the writings of many of the doctors of the church, the thing that Darwin gave to the world was a supposed law of evolution commonly known as the law of natural selection, which “law” is today as dead as Pharaoh. It is reasonable to say that most scientific men concede genetic evolution as a very plausible hypothesis. But cancelling out of the argument the mutually destructive theories that have from time to time been advanced in the cause of evolution, all that remains is a statement that variety of species is ac counted for by a tendency on the part of species to vary! Illuminating, is it not? And yet that is where the theory is today, while “ Sci ence with a large S ” has settled for readers of yellow journalism the origin of matter and force, the origin of motion, the origin of life, the origin and nature of consciousness, the immortality of the soul and free-will, together with all other transcendental problems. Truly as the sage Billings observes, it is better to know nothing than a whole lot of things that are not so.— Wall Street Journal. if* EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. Obvious Defects and Flagrant Evils Existing in Modern Schools of all Classes. One of these defects is the overweight ing of the primary schools with a vast number of studies of various kinds, not bad in themselves, but which take time and attention from what Mayor McClel lan, in his address at Ocean Grove, has aptly called the fundamentals. There can be no doubt that the common schools have been overloaded with a vast number of fads which are inappropriate there. Moreover, it is open to question whether the primary schools are not in a measure kept in subjection to the higher schools and colleges, and if we are not spending too large a proportion of the educational income on things which are not funda mental because not primary. Another defect is one which might be expected in this commercial age, namely, the tendency to commercialize education. Another defect, and a very serious one, is the subject of public education to the evil of political “ pull.” Still another defect is that noted by Mr. Vanderlip at Ocean Grove Thursday, namely, the lack of proper facilities for industrial ed u ca tio n . Mr. Vanderlip points out what is needed are schools to supplement the institutions established for the general education of the people, schools in which millions of industrial workers who have already begun to earn their living, wholly or in part, may de vote a few hours every week to learning more concerning the trades in which they are engaged, and, in addition thereto, some of the vital principles which under lie them, so as to increase their economic efficiency, intelligence and ambition. President Roosevelt pointed out in his Harvard address some of the evils which have developed in the universities of the country, such as the growth of brutality and professionalism in college sports and the corrupting evil of luxury in college life. The greatest defect of all it seems to us is the lack of adequate training in moral philosophy. In our striving to be broad and liberal, and to establish a system un der which people of different races and grades and prejudices may be gathered, we have given up much which is most fundamental to the welfare of the country. There is nothing which is needed more at this time than thorough training in the principles of morality. The present gen eration already reveals the weakness re sulting from the lack of such a training. What will the next generation show, and the generation which shall succeed it, unless an effort is made to remedy this vital defect? It is useless to say that the churches, the press, and the libraries will supply the necessary moral instruction. Fully one-half of the population of the country does not attend church. A large portion of the press is inadequate to guide the people on moral questions, and some of the newspapers are actually vicious and unprincipled in their utterances. The libraries are mainly used for circula tion of works of fiction, most of which are absolutely worthless even as cultiva tors of taste and refinement. The only way to teach morals is in the schools, and unless we are to become mere machines of money-making, instruction in morals must go on hand in hand with the instruction of the mind. Moreover, unless this is brought about, we shall in the end fail to be even makers of money, for the knowledge and practical applica tion of morality are essential parts of that economic efficiency which makes formate- rial prosperity.— Wall Street Journal. THE WEEKLY NEWS-DIGEST. Embracing Important Events of the World and National and Local News. Important Foreign News. Fam ine spreads in the v icin ity of Seville, Spain. M ayors of several towns have notified the im perial au th o rities th a t the resources of the ir people are ex hausted. 200,000 m en are out of em ploy m ent, and labor tro ub les m ake conditions worse. R obbery is com m on, num bers of stores being looted by the fam ine-stricken. The people of Japan, it is reported, stand opposed to division of Sahkalin islan d and relin qu ish ment of indem nity,
The Flaming Sword · Vol. 19, No. 14 · Sep 12, 1905 · PDF p. 12