virtue of obedience; but, on the other
hand, no such thoughtful person will attempt to deny that this virtue,
desirable as it is, may be fostered and emphasized to such a degree that
its possessor will become a mere automaton. And this is bad; indeed, very
bad. We extol obedience, to be sure, but not the sort of blind, unthinking
obedience that will reduce its possessor to the status of the mechanical
toy which needs only to be wound up and set going. The factory
superintendent is glad to have men about him who are able to work
efficiently from blueprints; but he is glad, also, to have men about him
who can dispense with blueprints altogether or can make their own. The
difference between these two types of operatives spells the difference
between leadership and mere blind, automatic following. Were all the
workers in the factory mere followers, the work would be stereotyped and
the factory would be unable to compete with the other factory, where
initiative and leadership obtain.

One psychologist avers that ninety per cent of our education comes through
imitation; but, even so, it is quite pertinent to inquire into the
remaining ten per cent. Conceding that we adopt our styles of wearing
apparel at the behest of society; that we fashion and furnish our homes in
conformity to prevailing customs; that we permit press and pulpit to
formulate for us our opinions and beliefs; in short, that we are imitators
up to the full ninety per cent limit, it still must seem obvious to the
close observer that the remaining ten per cent has afforded us a vast
number and variety of improvements that tend to make life more agreeable.
This ten per cent has substituted the modern harvester for the sickle and
cradle with which our ancestors harvested their grain; it has brought us
the tractor for the turning of the soil in place of the primitive plow; it
has enabled us to use the auto-truck in marketing our products instead of
the ox-teams of the olden times; it has brought us the telegraph and
telephone with which to send the message of our desires across far spaces;
and it has supplied us with conveniences and luxuries that our
grandparents could not imagine even in their wildest fancies.

A close scrutiny will convince even the most incredulous that many
teachers and schools arc doing their utmost, in actual practice if not in
theory, to eliminate the ten per cent margin and render their pupils
imitators to the full one hundred per cent l