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SOURCES OF SUPPORT FOR EDUCATION.

lent distribution of misinformation very many people know a great deal that is not so and can form a correct opinion only by unlearning what they have learned and learning that which misinformation has prejudiced them against learning. This makes their effort to become truly intelligent difficult. Without a correct knowledge of facts there can be no correct public opinion.

SOURCES OF SUPPORT FOR EDUCATIONAL WORK.

An editorial from the New York Journal of Commerce, under the title of "Prejudice Against Wealth,' criticises those who criticise the acceptance of support for educational work from sources which the censors disapprove. Those who refuse support for any educational work they believe should be carried on, because they cannot approve the methods by which those offering support obtained their money, view the proposition from one side only, a narrow sense of obligation to the giver of the support. Admit there is an obligation, what return is to be made for it? Certainly not a return that involves the teaching of that which the teacher believes to be wrong. We very much doubt the existence of a single case in which money has been given to any teacher, or to any educational institution, with the direct or implied understanding that the teaching for which the money was paid was to be of a character which the teacher believed to be untrue.

SOURCES OF SUPPORT FOR EDUCATION.

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Men pay money for educational work because they believe correct education to be necessary to the welfare of individuals and of the state. Men differ as to what is correct education. There are sects in religion, schools in the practice of medicine, parties in politics. Those engaged in educational work, no matter where or how, must be supported, and are entitled to support for the work they do. In no field of endeavor is so much value given for the value received as is given by those who teach.

We do not know of any who teach error, knowing it to be error. We do not know of any who are controlled in what they teach by those who support their teaching. Men who believe in the gold standard would commit a crime against the public welfare if they should support teachers advocating free silver. It is just as wrong for men to support the teaching of that which they do not believe to be true as it is for teachers to teach what they believe to be false.

The true test to be applied to a teacher is not the source of his support, but the correctness of his teaching. If he cannot be convicted of error on the evidence of his own utterances, he must stand approved. If, when shown an error in his teachings, he refuses or neglects to correct the error, he must stand condemned. But who is to sit in judgment over his motives in selecting the things he elects to say and the things he elects to leave unsaid? We can judge motives only by conduct. We cannot invade the mind of

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SOURCES OF SUPPORT FOR EDUCATION.

any man to detect his motives at their birth. What one does is an open book that all the world may read. What one thinks is sacred to himself and God. "By their works you shall know them" is the divine test. for good or evil. Those who question the sources of support for any educational work are investigating the wrong subject. The public, those who are taught, are not concerned in the question of the source of the teacher's support, but they are vitally interested in knowing whether or not his teachings are true. The man who believes a teacher is teaching error and fails to point out the error is as great an enemy of mankind as the teacher. Any man who seeks to teach the truth will prize the kindness of the friend who shows him wherein he is wrong far more than the applause of those who declare he is right. God has not endowed man with infallibility, but he has made him responsible for his conduct. No man can knowingly teach error and be true to himself. Whoever consents to teach error for the support he may gain by doing so exchanges in uneven barter eternal character for perishable property. It is not necessary that any man shall live, but it is absolutely necessary that every man shall live true to himself if he is to partake of the life eternal. Only the good have right to liberty. Only those who speak the truth are free. Men may say, "Lo, here, or, lo, there, is the Christ,” but wherever he may be, whoever he may be, whenever a man utters a truth Gods speaks.

CLEVELAND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

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GOOD WORK BY THE CLEVELAND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

It is a good omen when organizations of business men take time to consider the general welfare of the cities in which they are located. If it is true-and which of them will contend that it is not true?—that they represent the intelligence and the property of the city, then they have the moral and financial ability to organize and carry out plans that will make for the good of the whole community. In this direction is the work of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce in investigating and bringing to the attention of the public the works of the various charity organizations in the city. While human nature is in its present stage of civilization, every one engaged in a work that is supported on the one hand by the generosity of the people, and on the other deals with the unfortunate and the friendless, there will be need for a critical supervision of their work. Unwise giving in the name of charity is exceedingly harmful. Help, to be genuinely helpful, must always supplement, never take the place of, what each recipient may be able to do for himself. The object of all charity work should be, in each individual case, to render charity unnecessary as quickly as possible. When charity is unnecessary its exercise. is a vice of which no one should be guilty, either as giver or recipient. The work of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce is well designed to overcome this evil.

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DELINQUENTS AND CRIMINALS.

CIVILIZED TREATMENT OF DELINQUENTS AND CRIMINALS.

We believe in individualism and disbelieve in socialism as the economic system that will most surely develop good character and promote the welfare of the people. Individualism means freedom for each person, but when the individual is considered as a member of society it is clearly seen that only the good are entitled to liberty. Those who do evil are not entitled to liberty, because they cannot be trusted with it. They commit crimes against society. Society is compelled to punish wrong-doers and to deprive them of their liberty as a means of self-protection. Having assumed control over delinquents and criminals, society, as Mr. Whitman points out in an article, under the title of "The State as a Parent," is confronted with the problem of reforming them. The real thing to be done is to make them trustworthy, so they can be entrusted with freedom. When this is accomplished they cease to burden society with their care or their misdeeds. Those engaged in this work should receive all the encouragement and assistance they may need. No work can be more purely philanthropic than this. To be a friend to the friendless, to give sympathy and a helping hand at the right time and in the right way, is to be the representative of God on earth. "Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it unto me."