Manawatu Herald TUESDAY, SEPTEMB, 13, 1921. THE VALUE OF EDUCATION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 2328, 13 September 1921, Page 2

Manawatu Herald TUESDAY, SEPTEMB, 13, 1921. THE VALUE OF EDUCATION.

ADDRESSING the Millions Club in Sydney, Sir Janies Barrett said that it' the. policy of’ a White Australia is to be maintained, and if Australia is to hold her own, there is only one policy to be pursued, and that is to get population and to make that population efficient. Numbers did not count for everything in the present day. Organisation was really more essential and important, and Australia should be so organised that she would be at her best industrially, commercially, politically, morally, and in every possible way. In the way of organisation the extension of educational facilities was of the utmost significance, as it took a trained mind to make the most of the ordinary conditions of life. When essential facts were placed before the untrained man, who had not the gift of imagination, he was absolutely at .sea, and the information before him was useless. The pre-war and the present strength of Germany lay in her education system, which enabled the great industrial and commercial concerns to take the best advantage of the opportunities offered by the markets of the world. England had realised that, and as a consequence they had what was known as the “Fisher revolution,” which meant the continuance of education up to the age of 18. France was proposing to make education compulsory up to 20, and Japan was also extending the year’s of instruction. The reason was that the ages of 14 to 18 were the most important from the instructional standpoint in the life of the adolescent, and whether at work or not thmjftgshoukl be a sound system of education of a practical kind continued throughout these years. They should also bear in mind that the

Government of the British Empire, and especially of Australia, had now passed info the control of the adult population, and the better the adults were educated in the widest sense of the term the better would be the systems of government. They must, of course, guard against the danger of raising up a race of clever scoundrels.