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use of learning; is canvassed by the substantial citizens of the



present day。 At the period covered by that chapter in ancient



history; a child was; in a way; an article of equipment for the



up…keep of the family and its prestige; and more remotely for the



support of the sovereign and his prestige。 So that a male child



would be rated as indubitably worth while if he gave promise of



growing into a robust and contentious man。 If the infant were a



girl; or if he gave no promise of becoming an effective disturber



of the peace; the use or expediency of rearing the child would



become a matter for deliberation; and not infrequently the



finding of those old…time utilitarians was adverse; and the



investment was cancelled。 The habit of so deliberating on the



pragmatic advisability of child…life has been lost; latterly; or



at any rate such of the latterday utilitarians as may still



entertain a question of this kind in any concrete case are



ashamed to have it spoken of nakedly。 Witness the lame but



irrepressible sentimental protest against the Malthusian doctrine



of population。



    It is true; in out…of…the…way corners and on the lower levels



 and on the higher levels of imperial politics where men have



not learned to shrink from shameful devices; the question of



children and of the birth…rate is still sometimes debated as a



question of the presumptive use of offspring for some ulterior



end。 And there may still be found those who are touched by the



reflection that a child born may become a valuable asset as a



support for the parents' old age。 Such a pecuniary rating of the



parental relation; which values children as a speculative means



of gain; may still be met with。 But wherever modern civilization



has made its way at all effectually; such a provident rating of



offspring is not met with in good company。 Latterday common sense



does not countenance it。



    Not that a question of expediency is no longer entertained;



touching this matter of children; but it is no longer the



patriarchal…barbarian question as to eventual gains that may be



expected to accrue to the parent or the family。 Except in the



view of those statesmen of the barbarian line who see the matter



of birth…rate from the higher ground of dynastic politics; a



child born is not rated as a means; but as an end。 At least



conventionally; it is no longer a question of pecuniary gain for



the parent but of expediency for the child。 No mother asks



herself if her child will pay。



    Civilized men shrink from anything like rating children as a



contrivance for use in the 〃round…about process of the production



of goods。〃 And in much the same spirit; and in the last analysis



on much the same grounds; although in a less secure and more



loosely speculative fashion; men also look to the higher learning



as the ripe fulfilment of material competency; rather than as a



means to material success。 In their thoughtful intervals; the



most businesslike pragmatists will avow such an ideal。 But in



workday detail; when the question turns concretely on the



advisability of the higher education; the workday habit of



pecuniary traffic asserts itself; and the matter is then likely



to be argued in pecuniary terms。 The barbarian animus; habitual



to the quest of gain; reverts; and the deliberation turns on the



gainfulness of this education; which has in all sobriety been



acknowledged the due end of culture and endeavour。 So that; in



working out the details; this end of living is made a means; and



the means is made an end。



    No doubt; what chiefly urges men to the pursuit of knowledge



is their native bent of curiosity;  an impulsive proclivity to



master the logic of facts; just as the chief incentive to the



achievement of children has; no doubt; always been the parental



bent。 But very much as the boorish element in the present and



recent generations will let the pecuniary use of children come in



as a large subsidiary ground of decision; and as they have even



avowed this to be their chief concern in the matter; so; in a



like spirit; men trained to the business system of competitive



gain and competitive spending will not be content to find that



they can afford the quest of that knowledge which their human



propensity incites them to cultivate; but they must back this



propensity with a shamefaced apology for education on the plea of



its gainfulness。



    What is here said of the businesslike spirit of the latterday



〃educators〃 is not to be taken as reflecting disparagingly on



them or their endeavours。 They respond to the call of the times



as best they can。 That they do so; and that the call of the times



is of this character; is a fact of the current drift of things;



which one may commend or deprecate according as one has the



fortune to fall in with one or the other side of the case; that



is to say according to one's habitual bent; but in any event it



is to be taken as a fact of the latterday situation; and a factor



of some force and permanence in the drift of things academic; for



the present and the calculable future。 It means a more or less



effectual further diversion of interest and support from science



and scholarship to the competitive acquisition of wealth; and



therefore also to its competitive consumption。 Through such a



diversion of energy and attention in the schools; the pecuniary



animus at large; and pecuniary standards of worth and value;



stand to gain; more or less; at the cost of those other virtues



that are; by the accepted tradition of modern Christendom; held



to be of graver and more enduring import。 It means an endeavour



to substitute the pursuit of gain and expenditure in place of the



pursuit of knowledge; as the focus of interest and the objective



end in the modern intellectual life。



    This incursion of pecuniary ideals in academic policy is seen



at its broadest and baldest in the Schools of Commerce; 



〃Commerce and Politics;〃 〃Business Training;〃 〃Commerce and



Administration;〃 〃Commerce and Finance;〃 or whatever may be the



phrase selected to designate the supersession of learning by



worldly wisdom。 Facility in competitive business is to take the



place of scholarship; as the goal of university training;



because; it is alleged; the former is the more useful。 The ruling



interest of Christendom; in this view; is pecuniary gain。 And



training for commercial management stands to this ruling interest



of the modern community in a relation analogous to that in which



theology and homiletics stood to the ruling interest in those



earlier times when the salvation of men's souls was the prime



object of solicitude。 Such a seminary of business has something



of a sacerdotal dignity。 It is the appointed keeper of the higher



business animus。(7*)



    Such a school; with its corps of instructors and its



equipment; stands in the university on a tenure similar to that



of the divinity school。 Both schools are equally extraneous to



that 〃intellectual enterprise〃 in behalf of which; ostensibly;



the university is maintained。 But while the divinity school



belongs to the old order and is losing its preferential hold on



the corporation of learning; the school of commerce belongs to



the new order and is gaining ground。 The primacy among pragmatic



interests has passed from religion to business; and the school of



commerce is the exponent and expositor of this primacy。 It is the



perfect flower of the secularization of the universities。 And as



has already been remarked above; there is also a wide…sweeping



movement afoot to bend the ordinary curriculum of the higher



schools to the service of this cult of business principles; and



so to make the ordinary instruction converge to the advancement



of business enterprise; very much as it was once dutifully



arranged that the higher instruction should be subservient to



religious teaching and consonant with the demands of devout



observances and creeds。



    It is not that the College of Commerce stands alone as the



exponent of worldly wisdom in the modern universities; nor is its



position in this respect singular; except in the degree of its



remoteness from all properly academic interests。 Other training



schools; as in engineering and in the other professions; belong



under the same general category of practical aims; as contrasted



with the aims of the higher learning。 But the College of Commerce



stands out pre…eminent among these various training schools in



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