and
imperfection, he would reach the conclusion at once that something was
radically wrong and would immediately set on foot well-thought-out plans
to rectify the situation. But, seeing that these derelicts are human
beings and not farm stock, we bestow upon them a sneer, or possibly a
pittance by way of alms, and pass on our complacent ways. Looking upon the
imperfect passersby, the observer is reminded of the tens of thousands of
children who are defective in mind and body and are hidden away from
public gaze, a charge upon the resources of the state.

Such a setting forth of the less agreeable side of present conditions
would seem out of place, if not actually impertinent, were we inclined to
ignore the fact that diagnosis must precede treatment. The surgeon knows
full well that there will be pain, but he is comforted by the reflection
that restoration to health will succeed the pain. We need to look squarely
at the facts as they are in order to determine what must be done to avert
a repetition in the future. We have seen the sins of the fathers visited
upon the children to the third and fourth generation and still retained
our complacency. We preach temperance to the young men of our day, but
fail to set forth the fact that right living on their part will make for
the well-being of their grandchildren. We exhibit our thoroughbred live
stock at our fairs and plume ourselves upon our ability to produce stock
of such quality. In the case of live stock we know that the present is the
product of the past, but seem less ready to acknowledge the same fact as
touching human animals. We may know that our ancestors planted thorns and
yet we seem surprised that we cannot gather a harvest of grapes, and we
would fain gather figs from a planting of thistles. But this may not be.
We harvest according to the planting of our ancestors, and, with equal
certainty, if we eat sour grapes the teeth of our descendants will surely
be put on edge.

If we are to reconstruct our educational processes we must make a critical
survey of the entire situation that we may be fully advised of the
magnitude of the problem to which we are to address ourselves. We may not
blink the facts but must face them squarely; otherwise we shall not get
on. We may take unction to ourselves for our philanthropic zeal in caring
for our unfortunates in penal and eleemosynary institutions, but that will
not suffice. We must frankly consider by what means the number