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the 〃practical。〃 These various projections of university
enterprise uniformly make some plausible claim of that nature。
Any extension of the corporation's activity can be more readily
effected； is accepted more as an expedient matter of course； if
it promises to have such a 〃practical〃 value。 〃Practical〃 in this
connection means useful for private gain； it need imply nothing
in the way of serviceability to the common good。
The same spirit shows itself also in a ceaseless revision of
the schedule of instruction offered by the collegiate or
undergraduate division as such； where it leads to a
multiplication of courses desired to give or to lead up to
vocational training。 So that practical instruction； in the sense
indicated； is continually thrown more into the foreground in the
courses offered； as well as in the solicitude of the various
administrative boards； bureaux and committees that have to do
with the organization and management of the academic machinery。
As has already been remarked； these directive boards；
committees； and chiefs of bureau are chosen； in great part； for
their businesslike efficiency； because they are good office…men；
with 〃executive ability〃； and the animus of these academic
businessmen； by so much； becomes the guiding spirit of the
corporation of learning； and through their control it acts
intimately and pervasively to order the scope and method of
academic instruction。 This permeation of the university's
everyday activity by the principles of competitive business is
less visible to outsiders than the various lines of extraneous
enterprise already spoken of； but it touches the work within the
university proper even more radically and insistently； although；
it is true； it affects the collegiate （undergraduate） instruction
more immediately than what is fairly to be classed as university
work。 The consequences are plain。 Business proficiency is put in
the place of learning。 It is said by advocates of this move that
learning is hereby given a more practical bent； which is
substantially a contradiction in terms。 It is a case not of
assimilation； but of displacement and substitution； garnished
with circumlocution of a more or less ingenuous kind。
Historically； in point of derivation and early growth； this
movement for vocational training is closely related to the
American system of 〃electives〃 in college instruction； if it may
not rather be said to be a direct outgrowth of that pedagogical
expedient。（1*） It dates back approximately to the same period for
its beginnings； and much of the arguments adduced in its favour
are substantially the same as have been found convincing for the
system of electives。 Under the elective system a considerable and
increasing freedom has been allowed the student in the choice of
what he will include in his curriculum； so that the colleges have
in this way come to refer the choice of topics in good part to
the guidance of the student's own interest。 To meet the resulting
range and diversity of demands； an increasing variety of courses
has been offered； at the same time that a narrower specialization
has also taken effect in much of the instruction offered。 Among
the other leadings of interest among students； and affecting
their choice of electives； has also been the laudable practical
interest that these young men take in their own prospective
material success。（2*） So that this academically speaking；
extraneous interest has come to mingle and take rank with the
scholarly interests proper in shaping the schedule of
instruction。 A decisive voice in the ordering of the affairs of
the higher learning has so been given to the novices； or rather
to the untutored probationers of the undergraduate schools； whose
entrance on a career of scholarship is yet a matter of
speculative probability at the best。
Those who have spoken for an extensive range of electives
have in a very appreciable measure made use of that expedient as
a means of displacing what they have regarded as obsolete or
dispensable items in the traditional college curriculum。 In so
advocating a wider range and freedom of choice； they have spoken
for the new courses of instruction as being equally competent
with the old in point of discipline and cultural value； and they
have commonly not omitted to claim somewhat in the way of an
obiter dictum； perhaps that these newer and more vital topics；
whose claims they advocate； have also the peculiar merit of
conducing in a special degree to good citizenship and the
material welfare of the community。 Such a line of argument has
found immediate response among those pragmatic spirits within
whose horizon 〃value〃 is synonymous with 〃pecuniary value；〃 and
to whom good citizenship means proficiency in competitive
business。 So it has come about that； while the initial purpose of
the elective system appears to have been the sharpening of the
students' scholarly interests and the cultivation of a more
liberal scholarship； it has by force of circumstances served to
propagate a movement at cross purposes with all scholarly
aspiration。
All this advocacy of the practical in education has fallen in
with the aspirations of such young men as are eager to find
gratuitous help toward a gainful career； as well as with the
desires of parents who are anxious to see their sons equipped for
material success； and not least has it appealed to the
sensibilities of those substantial citizens who are already
established in business and feel the need of a free supply of
trained subordinates at reasonable wages。 The last mentioned is
the more substantial of these incentives to gratuitous vocational
training； coming in； as it does； with the endorsement of the
community's most respected and most influential men。 Whether it
is training in any of the various lines of engineering； in
commerce； in journalism； or in the mechanic and manual trades；
the output of trained men from these vocational schools goes； in
the main； to supply trained employees for concerns already
profitably established in such lines of business as find use for
this class of men； and through the gratuitous； or half
gratuitous； opportunities offered by these schools； this needed
supply of trained employees comes to the business concerns in
question at a rate of wages lower than what they would have to
pay in the absence of such gratuitous instruction。
Not that these substantial citizens； whose word counts for so
much in commendation of practical education； need be greatly
moved by self