“A great Need of our Time—who will supply it ? ” 
 
 Andrew D. White. 
 
 OUTLIN®:«^^ 
 
 
 
 OF A PROPOSED 
 
 - 
 
 
 '^tty 
 
 READ BEFORE THE 
 
 Philadelphia Social Science Association, 
 
 BY 
 
 EDMUND J. JAMES, Ph. D., 
 
 PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION 
 
 IN 
 
 THE WHARTON SCHOOL OF FINANCE AND ECONOMY, 
 UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, 1885. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 SPANGLER A DAVIS, BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS, 
 627 <ft 529 COMMERCE 8T. 
 

 PAPERS READ BEFORE THE ASSOCIATION. 
 
 Papers out of Print are not included in this List. 
 
 The work of the Constitutional Convention, By A. Sydney Biddle. 
 
 What shall Philadelphia do with its Paupers ^ By Dr. Isaac Ray. 
 
 Proportional Representation. By S. Dana Horton. 
 
 Statistics Relating to Births, Deaths, Alarriares, etc., in Philadelphia, By John 
 Stockton Hough, M. D. 
 
 On the Value of Original Scientific Research. By Dr. Ruschenberger. 
 
 On the Relative Influence of City and Country Life on Morality, Health, Fecun¬ 
 dity, Longevity, and Morality. By John Stockton Hough, M. D. 
 
 The Public School System of Philadelphia. By James S. Whitney. 
 
 The Utility of Government Geological Surveys. By Prof. J. P. Lesley. 
 
 The Law of Partnership. By J. G. Rosengarten. 
 
 Methods of Valuation of Real Estate for Taxation. By Thomas Cochran. 
 
 Ihe Merits of Cremation. By Persifor Frazer, Jr. % 
 
 Outlines of Penology. By Joseph R. Chandler. 
 
 Hygiene of the Eye, Considered with Reference to the Children in our Schools. By 
 Dr. F. D. Castle. 
 
 The Relative Morals of City and Country. By William S. Pierce. 
 
 Silk Culture and Home Industry. By Dr. Samuel Chamberlaine. 
 
 Mind Reading, etc. By Persifor Frazer, Jr. 
 
 Legal Status of Married Women in Pennsylvania. By N. D. Miller. 
 
 The Revised Statutes of the United States. By Lorin Blodget. 
 
 Training of Nurses for the Sick. By John H. Packard, M. D. 
 
 The Advantages of the Co-operative Feature of Btcilding Associations. By E. 
 Wrigley. 
 
 The Operations of our Building Associations. By Joseph I. Doran. 
 
 Free Coinage and a Self-Adjusting Ratio. By Thomas Balch. 
 
 Building System for Great Cities. By Lorin Blodget. 
 
 Metric System. By Persifor Frazer,*Jr. 
 
 Cause and Cure of Hard Times. By R. J. Wright. 
 
 House-Drainage and Sewerage. By George E. Waring, Jr. 
 
 A Plea for a State Board of Health. By Benjamin Lee, M. D. 
 
 The Germ-Theory of Disease, and its Present Bearing upon Public and Personal 
 Hygiene. By Joseph G. Richardson, M. D. 
 
 Technical Education. By A. C, Rembaugh, M. D. 
 
 The English Methods of Legislation Compared zvith the American. By S. Sterne, 
 Thoughts on the Labor Question. By Rev. D, O. Kellogg. 
 
 On the Isolation of Persons in Hospitals for the Insane. By Dr. Isaac Ray. 
 Philadelphia Charity Organization. By Rev. Wm. H. Hodge. 
 
 Public Schools in their Relations to the Comnnmity. By James S. Whitney. 
 Industrial and Decorative Art in Public Schools. By Charles G. Leland. 
 
 Penal and Reformatory Institutions. By J. G, Rosengarten. 
 
 Nominations for Public Ofiice. By Mayer Sulzberger, 
 
 Municipal Government. By John C. Bullitt. 
 
 Apprenticeship as it Was and Is. By Addison B. Burk. 
 
 I’he American Aristocracy. By Lincoln L. Eyre. 
 
 A Plea for a New City Hospital. By Thomas W. Barlow. 
 
 The Pending School Problems. By Professor M. B. Snyder. 
 
 Municipal Governmezit. By Wm. Righter Fisher. 
 
 Social Condition of the Industrial Classes. By Lorin Blodget. 
 
 Progress of Industrial Edtication. By Philip C. Garrett. 
 
 A Plea for Better Distribution. By Charles M. Du Puy. 
 
 Milk Supply of our Large Cities, etc., etc. By J. Cheston Morris, M. D. 
 
 Alcohol. By A. C. Rembaugh 
 
 Outline of a Proposed School of Political and Social Science. By Edmund T. 
 James, Ph. D. 
 

 0 
 
 
 y 
 
 
 * ^ 
 
 
 •3 
 
 r 
 
 
 OUTLINE OF A PROPOSED SCHOOL OF 
 POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE. 
 
 In few countries in the world is the study of Political Sci¬ 
 ence so universal as in America. It is represented in some of 
 , its branches in all grades of educational institutions, from the 
 elementary school of the rural district to the college and univer¬ 
 sity. It is studied not only by those boys who expect to make 
 a profession of law and politics,-but by those who intend to fol¬ 
 low other professions and callings as well. The future clergy¬ 
 man, physician, merchant, college professor—of whatever branch 
 —have all studied Political Economy and Constitutional Law, if 
 ' they finished a college course before taking up their professional 
 study. The future civil engineer, chemist, geologist and mining 
 engineer have all given more or less attention to these subjects 
 if they prepared themselves for their work in a higher technical 
 ^ school or college. The artisan, carpenter, mason, cabinet-maker 
 and clerk, so far as they have finished the average high school 
 \ course in our towns and cities, are also acquainted with the ele- 
 ments of the same subjects, and in some of our states even the 
 ungraded country schools offer a certain amount of instruction 
 in these branches. Nor do our schools rest content with offer¬ 
 ing such instruction to the boys, but, so far as they are mixed 
 schools, the same advantages are open to the girls, and even the 
 schools exclusively for girls nearly all incorporate these subjects 
 in their curricula. 
 
 The study of such subjects is not by any means confined to 
 the schools. Besides those individuals, to be found in every 
 society, who take up the study of Political Science merely from 
 love for it, there are several organizations in the United States 
 which have been formed for the special purpose of encouraging 
 
 { 3 ) 
 
4 
 
 such study in the mass of the people, and several other organiza¬ 
 tions which give more or less attention to the same general end. 
 The newspapers, debating clubs and lyceums all contribute 
 powerfully towai'd exciting and maintaining a general interest 
 in Political Science. 
 
 The reason for such wide-spread interest is, of course, not 
 far to seek. In a republic based upon universal suffrage, it is 
 but fair to demand that every voter should possess at least an 
 elementary knowledge of the institutions and laws under which 
 he lives, and it is still more important that the schools should 
 contribute their share towai'ds the spread of such knowledge 
 among the pupils attending them. 
 
 Although the study of Political Science is thus wide-spread, 
 yet it has never been very detailed and thorough. Extension 
 and intension have been in this case as in so many others in 
 inverse ratio. While nearly every one has learned something 
 about such subjects in school, no one has learned very much. 
 The work done in the average schools and colleges, so far as it 
 is anything more than a mere presentation of the facts of our 
 political system, is extremely superficial. 
 
 There is a reason for this fact which is not far to seek. In a 
 new country where social and economic conditions are still of a 
 somewhat primitive type ; where there is an abundance of fertile 
 land ; where the population is still mainly agricultural and widely 
 scattered, there is not likely to be any great pressure upon the 
 people to study the methods and principles of public administra¬ 
 tion. A loose, unscientific, wasteful method of doing public 
 business can be easily borne where the total amount of wealth to 
 be wasted by public officers is very small, and where it is much 
 more lucrative for the average citizen to attend to his business 
 and let some one else who has no business of his own attend 
 to that of the public. Under such circumstances few can see 
 any advantage in studying problems of government and society 
 which seem to be solving themselves as society progresses. 
 
 Of late years, however, a demand has arisen for better 
 opportunities for the study of Political Science. This has been 
 met to a partial extent by our higher schools. Nearly all the 
 colleges have tried to add something to their curricula in this 
 direction. The most marked advance, however, has been made 
 
as might be fairly expected by those institutions which were 
 able to adopt elective systems of study. These elective systems 
 are of two types: that of elective studies which is characteristic 
 of Harvard, and that of elective courses which is characteristic 
 of Cornell. At both these institutions of late years marked ad¬ 
 vance has been made in the opportunities offered in these 
 branches, and the large number of students entering the classes 
 in these subjects, gives evidence of the increasing interest in 
 their pursuit. 
 
 Three institutions have gone still further in the cultivation 
 of these subjects. The University of Pennsylvania, Columbia 
 College and the University of Michigan have established special 
 departments of Political Science, with what practically amounts 
 to prescribed courses of study. The increasing number of 
 students at all these centers, gives added evidence of public in¬ 
 terest in these branches. 
 
 The reasons for this great advance are to be found in the 
 changing character of our national economy. The last twenty- 
 five years have brought a great and growing complication into 
 the political and social problems of our national existence. We 
 have become a great manufacturing people of enormous wealth 
 and of growing poverty, with an exceedingly mixed population, 
 of which a large per cent, dwell in cities. Our political institu¬ 
 tions which took their shape when the country contained a fairly 
 homogeneous population, mostly engaged in agriculture, and 
 with no great extremes of wealth or poverty, have proved them¬ 
 selves no longer adequate to satisfy the complicated conditions 
 of our present life. A form of government well suited to a 
 small community of farmers of equal wealth, of the same origin, 
 of similar education, possessing th.e same traditions, has broken 
 down completely when applied to the crowded population of a 
 great city, composed of the very wealthy and of the wretchedly 
 poor, of Anglo-Saxon, Latin, Celt, Chinese, Hungarian, White, 
 Black and Yellow ; of men of high education and of no educa¬ 
 tion ; of Roman Catholic, of Protestant, of Heathen. The no- 
 torious failure of our political system when applied to large 
 cities, has excited the gravest apprehensions and wide-spread 
 attention, which could not but result in a wider and deeper study 
 of our social problems. The growing complexity of national and 
 
local administration has contributed to the same result. The 
 enormous increase in the burden of public taxation as well as the 
 rapidly growing amount of public indebtedness, have also set men 
 to thinking along these lines. It is now beginning to pay better 
 for the average American to give a'little attention to efficiency 
 and economy in public administration, than to devote all his 
 time to his own business, that is to say, he can make more 
 by saving than earning—a very new state of affairs in the 
 United States of America. All these things have co-operated 
 to direct the attention of college authorities to the necessity of 
 favoring those studies bearing directly on such questions, and 
 the attention of the public to the necessity of furnishing college 
 authorities with the funds indispensable to this work. The 
 result has been the great extension above described in the 
 facilities offered for such study. 
 
 Great, however, as this increase has been, it has not kept 
 pace with the growing needs of our society. We stand face to 
 face to-day with a vast number of social and economic problems 
 which are almost vital in their nature ; which, for their proper 
 solution, demand the most detailed and patient investigation of 
 facts and principles. And yet, in all this broad country, we 
 have no center where such questions are the leading objects of 
 investigation. When we are obliged to act, as at times act we 
 must, the lack of knowledge is painfully apparent, and as such 
 knowledge is not acquired in a day or an hour, the blindest kind 
 of experimentation takes the place of intelligent and thoughtful 
 action. 
 
 Take for example the subject of education. The last census 
 revealed the astonishing fact that there were in 1880, nearly 
 5,000,000 of persons over ten years of age who were unable to 
 read. Now comparatively few children who have not learned to 
 • read by the age of ten years, ever acquire the facility afterwards, 
 so that we may say in general that thirteen out of every hun¬ 
 dred voters in the United States, confessed in 1880, that they 
 could not read the ballots which they were entitled to cast. 
 When we consider further, that every one was classed as able to 
 read who could spell b-a ba; b-i bi; b-o bo, we can get some 
 idea what vast numbers of our fellow citizens are practically shut 
 off from any intercourse with the intelligence of the modern 
 
7 
 
 world. It would not be too much to say that twenty-five per 
 cent, of the legal voters of this country should be classed as 
 illiterate. If we regard moreover the fact that almost none of 
 our large centres of population provide adequate school-room 
 and fairly good teachers even for the children who wish to at¬ 
 tend school, while thousands and tens of thousands of children 
 in our great industrial centres are growing up without ever see¬ 
 ing the inside of a school-house, we must surely acknowledge 
 that we are front to front with one of the greatest problems of 
 the time. Now, where in this country is there a centre at which 
 this problem is being investigated ? Where are there men who 
 are giving any great amount of time and thought to ascertaining 
 the fact or to considering the remedy ? Numerous proposals 
 have been made in Congress to grant aid from the national 
 treasury for the support of elementary schools. But it is very 
 evident that many of them have been made by men who never 
 gave any great attention to investigation of the problem. 
 
 Take another example—the railroad question. We are 
 rapidly getting to a point where action of some kind is sure to 
 be taken by the National Government. And yet even now, 
 there is scarcely an important question of theory or fact in rail¬ 
 road economy which may fairly be regarded as settled. Does it 
 cost more relatively for a short haul than a long one For a 
 small shipment than a large one ? Or if it does; do our railroads 
 as at present managed recognize this difference and act consist¬ 
 ently in regard to it ? What would be the probable effect of a 
 general law, if it could be enforced, which should absolutely for¬ 
 bid discrimination between the large and small shipper, and be¬ 
 tween the long and short haul ? Would the fixing of tolls by 
 the government tend to discourage the investment of capital in 
 railroad enterprises.^ Would the elimination of discrimination 
 tend to favor unduly the growth of small industries ? Would it 
 allow a more natural development of our national industry ? 
 And a score of similar questions all of immense importance in 
 this connection, and yet none receiving to-day any adequate at¬ 
 tention on the part of anybody. There is a large and valuable 
 continental experience in this subject which is to us almost a 
 sealed book. There is no place in this country where a man 
 who wishes to study in detail the relation of the railway to the 
 
8 
 
 State can find such adv^antages as will repay him for a year’s 
 residence. The railway question itself is only one of a large 
 class relating to corporations and their functions, all of which 
 stand very much in need of close and careful study. 
 
 Take still another question. The relations of labor and 
 capital—factory laws, strikes, arbitration, etc. We have already 
 arrived at a point where the industry of the country is subject 
 to periodical attacks of the worst kind, from the positive conflict 
 of .laborers and employers. Mobs and riots are becoming a 
 matter of almost daily occurrence in our industrial centres. 
 Here a laborer is killed, and there an employer is almost beaten 
 to death. Now the travel of a large city is almost entirely sus¬ 
 pended owing to a strike of street car employes ; and again the 
 traffic of a whole section or of a whole country is suspended by 
 the strike of locomotive engineers and brakemen. Are not these 
 serious enough symptoms to satisfy even the most skeptical 
 that there is a social problem, and that no amount of crying 
 “ away with it! away with it!” will solve it ? And yet where is 
 this subject receiving the attention which it deserves ? He 
 must be blind, indeed, to the lessons of history and to the facts 
 of our daily life, who believes that any amount of proving to a 
 laborer by Political Economy that he loses by a strike, is going 
 to do away with the difficulty. Optimistic beyond reason is he, 
 who having proved to his own satisfaction, that the laborer is 
 getting an increased share of the product, supposes that the 
 social problem will solve itself. Suppose the laborer uses this 
 increased share to keep up the fight, will that tend to solve the 
 issue satisfactorily ? Now, at what educational or other centre 
 is this question being investigated on a large scale by such 
 methods as promise to throw light upon it; and where can one 
 go who desires to study it and be reasonably sure of finding the 
 literature on the subject which is necessary to give him a 
 broad view of the labor movement of to-day, which has long 
 since ceased to be of merely local and even of national import¬ 
 ance. 
 
 Thus I might go on and pick out one problem after another, 
 which is pressing upon us for solution, and for the study of 
 which we have as yet but few facilities. But these will illustrate 
 sufficiently the point I have in mind. Now, wherever such 
 
9 
 
 problems exist, (and they exist in every old society and in some 
 new ones), there is a need of encouragement to the stlidy of 
 such problems. Such encouragement in some form or other, is 
 given in every European country. In France, for example, 
 prizes are offered by the government for special studies on these 
 topics, and certain positions in the civil service are open only 
 to those who have achieved distinction in the investigation of 
 these problems. In Germany, Austria and Italy the universities 
 admirably organized are the centres of such study and social 
 distinction, and official preferment are the reward of those who 
 excel in it. 
 
 In view of these facts then, we may, surely claim that in a 
 society like ours; where every sound minded man is allowed to 
 participate in the making and execution of the laws, not only 
 indirectly by being permitted to vote for legislative and adminis¬ 
 trative officials, but also very often directly by being personally 
 chosen to such important posts himself, where public opinion is 
 largely moulded by the press, and where the higher schools and 
 colleges attempt to instruct in the duties and privileges of citi¬ 
 zenship, it is fitting and proper there should be some centre 
 where the subject-matter of society and its government should 
 become the object of special and thorough study and investi¬ 
 gation. 
 
 Such a centre may be created in a properly organized school 
 of Political Science. I believe that the time has come in the 
 evolution of our society, when there is a demand for such a 
 school upon a broader and more generous basis, than any which 
 have as yet been established. Educational progress is measured 
 by the rise and development of new varieties of schools. There 
 is no more striking characteristic of modern as distinguished 
 from ancient times, than this vast increase in the kinds of 
 schools. Antiquity knew practically of only one or two where 
 we have established a score or more. Even as late as one hun¬ 
 dred and twenty-five years ago, we had only one kind of school 
 in this country—the old-fashioned college with its Latin, Greek, 
 Mathematics and New Testament study. No Law school ; no 
 Medical school; no Dental school; no Veterinary school; no 
 Agricultural school; no school of Pharmacy ; no Business col¬ 
 lege ; no Normal school; no school of Mining or of Engineer- 
 
10 
 
 ing ; of Design ; of Industrial Arts ; no special school of any 
 kind with the exception of Theological Seminaries. Every step 
 of our educational progress has been marked by the rise of one 
 of these kinds of schools. Every one of these advances was 
 met by incredulity; by ridicule ; by confident declarations on 
 the part of the many, that there was no demand for such a 
 thing; that you couldn’t teach Medicine or Law or Dentistry or 
 Agriculture. They were all arts, and had to be acquired, so to 
 speak, by hand. 
 
 Perhaps the greatest single stride was made not so very 
 long ago, when a breach was finally made in the Chinese wall,, 
 which had been built up about the old-fashioned college. The 
 proposed establishment of the scientific course in connection 
 with the classical, the farther proposition to introduce the mod¬ 
 ern studies as elective with the antiquities, were met by a most 
 determined opposition, justifying its action on the ground, that 
 the introduction of these new studies, would be the death-knell 
 of the old. What was the result of the inevitable victory of the 
 progressive party—a diminution in the numbers attending the 
 old courses ? By no means. Simply an immensely larger num¬ 
 ber of young men and women was attracted by these new 
 courses, who would never have been reached by the old. 
 
 There is a profoundly philosophic reason underlying this pro¬ 
 cess. Opening new lines of study which reach down into the 
 mass of the people, is like sinking new shafts in a mining dis¬ 
 trict. It opens up entirely new veins of unsuspected wealth, 
 which might have remained concealed forever if this particular 
 shaft had not been sunk. There is an infinite variety of tastes 
 and types of mind, and an infinite variety of science. The 
 infinitude of the one corresponds to the infinitude of the other, 
 and we shall achieve the highest results in utilizing all the va¬ 
 riety of talent, only when we have placed within its reach all the 
 variety of Art and Science. Just as in a mining district, if 
 you were to sink a single shaft and insist that all minerals mined 
 should be gotten at through that alone, you would inevitably 
 limit your production; so in the wider field of national intellect 
 you will inevitably bind and cramp and smother intellectual life 
 and energy, if you insist that it shall all come to light through 
 one or two or even three channels. I believe that the explana- 
 
tion of the wonderful material progress of modern free com¬ 
 munities lies, to a large extent, in the simple fact that we have 
 begun at last, for the first time in the history of the world, to 
 utilize a small part of the infinite intellectual power of the race. 
 A boy who is a dunce at his Latin and Greek, may, in the field 
 of electricity, revolutionize the future conditions of life for the 
 race, just as another who is a dunce in the laboratory may guide 
 a great nation through times of storm and stress into the harbor 
 of peace and safety. This means that in the field of education, 
 we must have new schools and new courses of study to call forth 
 the tastes and abilities which have not and never will respond 
 to efforts along the old lines. And I believe that the time has 
 now come, when a school of Political Science can fill a great 
 want in calling forth a type of mind which we have not yet util¬ 
 ized, and which we shall greatly need in our future history. 
 
 A school of this kind to' be a success, must do one or both 
 of two things. It must offer liberal courses of study which shall 
 be of more or less interest to all liberallv educated men, or else 
 it must offer a practical training, which is directly or indirectly 
 a preparation for some recognized calling ; or better yet, com¬ 
 bine the two. That is to say it must be either liberal or profes¬ 
 sional in its character. 
 
 A school of Political and Historical Science, properly or¬ 
 ganized, may be both. It would offer courses which would be 
 of interest and value to the man who is looking forward to teach 
 these subjects in our seminaries and colleges ; to the future 
 journalist who is to discuss these questions every day in the 
 columns of his newspaper; to the future lawyer who will be 
 called to legislate on these subjects in our assemblies ; to the 
 business man whose interest is affected at every point by gov¬ 
 ernmental policy in regard to these subjects, and to the liberally 
 minded man of whatever calling, who wishes to perform his 
 duties as a citizen, intelligently, and who may be called upon at 
 any time to legislate and administer upon all the matters. 
 
 There is a common body of knowledge necessary to the 
 highest type of work in all these directions which properly falls 
 within the scope of such a school. A course of study embrac¬ 
 ing : 
 
12 
 
 (a) Political Economy.—The science which treats of the 
 relations of man in society to the physical world about him, and 
 of the conditions which determine the production and distribu¬ 
 tion of material wealth. 
 
 {b) Social Science.—That wider branch which discusses all 
 the social forces and institutions which affect the material and 
 moral well-being of society. 
 
 {c) Constitutional' and Administrative Law.—So-called civil 
 government, with sets forth the facts and principles of govern¬ 
 ment in general, and of that form in particular under which we 
 live. 
 
 {d) History.—Political and constitutional which describes 
 to us how we have become what we are, and thus furnishes us 
 grounds for a judgment as to our future course such a curri¬ 
 culum must lie at the basis of the highest form of work in 
 teaching the duties of citizenship, either in our elementary or 
 higher schools, or in practicing the professions of law and 
 journalism, or in taking part as a legislator in the making of our 
 laws or even in the preparation of every citizen who would take 
 a prominent part in politics in the best sense of the term. 
 
 A school of Historical and Political Science which is to do 
 the best possible work for the community, must be built up on 
 the solid foundation of this common body of knowledge. It 
 should than add to this nucleus special courses looking directly 
 toward the particular callings which its students intend to fol¬ 
 low. 
 
 Now, let us see what a school of this kind could do for the 
 community. To those boys who expect to take up the study of 
 the law, it could offer a valuable preparation or supplement to 
 that work. Besides the courses mentioned above, it should pro¬ 
 vide for this class additional courses in Roman Law, in the 
 general principles of Jurisprudence, and in International Law; 
 also more detailed courses in public law—both constitutional 
 and administrative, i. ^., in those branches which our Law 
 Schools, as at present organized, almost utterly neglect, 
 and yet which are very necessary if the student would 
 get a real insight Jnto the broad principles underlying 
 all systems of Jurisprudence. The place for the thorough 
 study of this class of subjects is not in a Law School— 
 
13 
 
 ► ' 
 
 A4 
 
 
 at least in any Law School now in existence. The legal 
 point of view and the politico-scientific point of view, are as 
 widely different as the East is from the West, even where the 
 subject matter is the same. The Law School, the world over, is 
 engaged in preparing its students for a state examination, which 
 is made the condition of entering a legal career. This examina¬ 
 tion, at present conducted, is mainly directed toward ascertain¬ 
 ing whether the applicant possesses such a knowledge of private 
 law—statute, common or judicial law as will enable him to 
 take the conduct of cases before the courts. The law student 
 as a law student wishes to know the law as it is for the purpose 
 of utilizing his immediate knowledge in his immediate practice. 
 He does not care particularly whether the law is good or bad; 
 whether it is founded on a just principle or not. He desires to 
 know simply what the law is in order to utilize it for his pur¬ 
 poses, whether good or bad or indifferent. The student of po¬ 
 litical science wishes to know why the law is so, and whether it 
 can not be made better. He tries to ascertain the economic or 
 historic or philosophical basis of a law, its relation to other laws 
 and to other systems, etc. Some one has well described this 
 difference by saying that the law student busies himself de legibiis 
 quae nunc sunt, i. e. existing laws, while the student of Political 
 Science busies himself de legibus ferejidis with the laws as they 
 should be. This is such a fundamental difference that it will 
 prevent any healthy combination of the two objects within one 
 school, so that each shall receive its due weight. The standing 
 of the legal profession in this country is not relatively as high 
 as it once was. This is to be attributed, I believe, not only to 
 the fact that other callings have risen in general intelligence, 
 but also to the fact that the legal profession has not been rising, 
 but has remained practically stationary. It does not seem 
 probable that it will ever be practicable in this country to insist 
 on a long preparatory training along the old liberal lines of study 
 for admission to this profession. But it might be possible to 
 demand and obtain an extensive course of preparation along the 
 lines indicated above, as a condition of admission, if the efforts 
 were made in the right way. Such a course would, in many re¬ 
 spects, be of more value than the former. 
 
 For those boys who are preparing for journalism in addition 
 
14 
 
 to the minimum courses prescribed above, there should be 
 courses in Physical and Political Geography, in the facts relating 
 to the governments and policies of other nations, international 
 law and treaties, in a word along those lines which are of im¬ 
 mediate and prime importance to a man who is expected to 
 write intelligently upon all the questions of contemporary poli¬ 
 tics at home and abroad. For such boys, the school might be 
 made a professional school in a still more narrow sense by add¬ 
 ing practical training in English composition, followed up by 
 actual drill as reporters in connection with a newspaper, and 
 later the art of editorial writing, with a view to developing and 
 perfecting an ability to take in at a glance the salient points of 
 an event or industry, and presenting them in a terse and intelli¬ 
 gible way. Such a course could not fail to have a most healthy 
 influence on the journalism of the country. 
 
 For those wishing to prepare for business, in addition to the 
 minimum courses presented above, facilities should be offered 
 for the study of the theory and practice of accounting, in the 
 management of property, in the principles and practice of com¬ 
 mercial law, in the history, organization and administration of 
 the great departments of business, such as banking, railroading, 
 merchandising, manufacturing and other similar branches. It 
 has been one of the great problems of higher education to secure 
 its diffusion among the business men of a community. It used 
 to be a very wide-spread idea, that if a boy intended to go into 
 business, there was no necessity of his going to college. As a 
 consequence, only those boys went to college who expected to 
 go into the so-called learned professions, and the complaint, in¬ 
 deed, is very general nowadays that it destroys a boy’s usefulness 
 for business even if he be sent through a high school. It can 
 not be denied that the tendency of our so-called higher education 
 is what might be called strictly professional. The fact that 
 most college graduates go into the professions is, of course, not 
 to be wondered at in the light of the fact mentioned above, that 
 only those boys are sent who are expected from the very first to 
 enter the professions and the so-called liberal courses of those old 
 institutions, was originally established as a special preparation 
 for the professions. Of late years with the addition of the new 
 l')ranches, a change in this respect has begun to take place. But 
 
15 
 
 \ve need not hope to get higher education generally diffused in 
 the business community until we evolve a higher education, 
 which stands in somewhat closer relation to their actual work 
 than the Latin, Greek and Mathematics of an old-fashioned col¬ 
 lege course. It is possible to evolve such an education along 
 the lines described above. Business life in any of its depart¬ 
 ments touches at numerous points the great sphere of social and 
 political science—must solve, indeed, in a practical way and for 
 a given time and place, some of the most vexed questions of 
 theory. The tracing out of the relations of one branch of busi¬ 
 ness to others, and to the type of society in which it flourishes, 
 and the study of the relations of employer and employe to each 
 other, and to the society of which they form a part, may consti¬ 
 tute a pursuit no less liberalizing and disciplinary in its tenden¬ 
 cies than the study of literature and art, and a pursuit it must 
 be added which, in combination with a practical course, is much 
 more likely to attract boys of a business turn of mind than the 
 literary or scientific courses of our present schools. 
 
 There is still another and a very large class in the com¬ 
 munity which would find in such a school, a professional train¬ 
 ing for their future work, and they are the teachers of historical 
 and political science in our schools and colleges. There are 
 probably twenty-five hundred institutions in this country above 
 the grade of an elementary school where history and political 
 science in its elements at least, are taught. In a large number 
 of these, special teachers for these two subjects above are em¬ 
 ployed. Until a very recent date, these teachers had almost no 
 opportunity to prepare themselves for their special work. And 
 oven now the opportunities as I have shown above, are still very 
 limited. These teachers would get the professional preparation 
 which they need in such a school. Additional courses in meth¬ 
 ods of historical and economic investigation, in the history and 
 educational aspects of these sciences should be added for the 
 benefit of this last class. It is from those who expect to devote 
 their lives to the study and teaching of these subjects in our 
 colleges and universities and special schools, that we must 
 largely look for an advance in the methods and theories of these 
 sciences, and it is mainly to the public school teacher that we 
 must look for a general diffusion of this knowledge in the com- 
 
i6 
 
 munity at large. Both classes must, themselves, however, re¬ 
 ceive an adequate training in the methods and principles of im¬ 
 parting this knowledge if they are to do the best work along 
 these lines. There is only one institution so far as I know in 
 this country, where the soundness of this view is practically 
 recognized, and that is the University of Michigan. In their 
 department of Political Science, a course of lectures is offered 
 in the History of Education. 
 
 There is another class which may be mentioned here. In 
 the course of educational progress in this country, we have 
 evolved a peculiar officer—unknown, I believe, in any other sys¬ 
 tem—known as City Superintendent of Schools. In our edu¬ 
 cational condition, he is a necessity, and his numbers are rapidly 
 increasing. Such an officer should be rarely well equipped in 
 all educational knowledge. It is only within four or five years 
 that any provision has been made for his special education, and 
 those provisions are still very meager. Such a man should have 
 not only a special knowledge of education in its professional as¬ 
 pects, relating to methods of teaching, school organization, etc.^ 
 but he should have a broad view of the relation of education to 
 all the departments of national life and of the connection of edu¬ 
 cational institutions with the other institutions of a people. 
 Such a view can be best attained by a comprehensive study of 
 society, its basis, its growth, its institutions. A school of his¬ 
 torical and political science, by adding to its general courses 
 special courses in educational organization, could offer a most 
 valuable professional preparation to this important rapidly grow¬ 
 ing class of public officers. 
 
 I have thus far spoken of classes which exist in our society, 
 and which need the advantage of such a school. Let us turn to 
 another class—which is not quite here, but is certainly on the road 
 •—the professionally educated public servant. We have begun to 
 put our civil service on a sound basis. It will never be fully there 
 until it is generally recognized that a man, who has had a special 
 training in the study of civil society and its government, is, as a 
 rule, better fitted for an important administrative position than 
 one who has not had that training. A school of Historical and 
 Political Science can become a professional school for certain 
 branches of the public service. 
 
1 / 
 
 It has not been very long since the President of the United 
 States looked the country over for a man fitted to take charge 
 of a national bureau of statistics, and after long months of 
 search, was finally compelled to take a man whose time was 
 already fully occupied with the care of a state bureau. Now 
 such a school as I have described, by adding special courses in 
 the principles and methods of statistics, and in the organization 
 and working of statistical bureaus, could turn out a set of stu¬ 
 dents who would be amply able to fill the highest demands 
 which we could fairly make in this respect. 
 
 It could prepare men for other important administrative 
 positions by adding courses in the principles, and methods of 
 public accounting, and in the organization and management of 
 government departments—national, state and local. There is 
 certainly need of such instruction in a country where it is almost 
 impossible to make bead or tail of the average financial reports 
 of public bodies, and where even the accounts of the National 
 Government itself can scarcely be understood by the President 
 or his 'Cabinet officers. 
 
 Two objections may be raised to this feature of the plan. One 
 may say, what is the advantage of having educated men of this 
 type for our ordinary administrative positions ? They have to 
 learn the business practically, anyhow, before they can perform 
 the duties of the position, and they are generally of such a character 
 that every man of ordinary intelligence and fair education, can 
 perform the duties satisfactorily. I would answer, that it makes 
 an infinite difference to a country, as a whole, whether its ad¬ 
 ministration is in the hands of mere routinists, such as unedu¬ 
 cated men nearly always are, or whether it is in the hands of 
 educated and thoughtful agents. The latter, it is true, may 
 sometimes, though this is not generally so, not perform the routine 
 duties of the position any better than the former, but the attitude 
 of the two toward their work, and the result of this attitude is 
 enormously different. The routinist is satisfied with things as 
 they are, and as owing to his lack of intelligence, he finds it 
 difficult to adapt himself to other ways of doing things, he is by 
 nature, bitterly opposed to every reform, which must always be 
 forced upon him from the outside. His work to him is drudgery. 
 
i8 
 
 The collection of a particular kind of tax in a particular way, is 
 to him simply the levying of a tax. 
 
 A yellow primrose by the brink 
 A yellow primrose is to him 
 And nothing more. 
 
 The educated man, on the contrary, sees even in these dry 
 details of routine work the far-reaching effects, the economic and 
 social advantages and disadvantages connected with this or that 
 particular mode of doing things. He is always on the lookout 
 for new ways of improving his service. And it is, at this point, 
 that his training in historical or political science becomes of 
 immense—of untold advantage to him and to the country. An 
 educated civil service means an army of professional students of 
 the methods and principles of government. And this means an 
 enormous contribution to the problems of civil society, a contri¬ 
 bution which we shall not be long able to dispense with. The 
 advantage of such a service we do not fully appreciate, because 
 we do not fully appreciate the loss we incur from our present 
 form. A man in walking through a mining region, may pass a 
 nugget of gold, which would have made him rich for life if he 
 had only glanced in its direction. He passes on and in utter 
 unconsciousness of what an opportunity has escaped him, wan¬ 
 ders through life a tramp and a beggar. So a community, a 
 state, a nation lives on for generations with an ignorant people 
 and an ignorant public service, utterly unaware of what higher 
 levels are open to it, until by accident, power drifts into the 
 hands of intelligence when a revelation of the possibilities first 
 comes to their minds. 
 
 Such a school would become a centre where the great prob¬ 
 lems of government in every department would receive careful 
 and continuous study, which could not but result in many valua¬ 
 ble contributions of a theoretical and practical nature toward 
 their solution. It would send forth a set of men well acquainted 
 with both the practical and theoretical aspects of such questions 
 as the care of the poor and of the unfortunate classes, education, 
 etc., etc., from whose numbers those could be selected who 
 might be best fit to assist in the practical work of managing 
 our public institutions or serving as members of supervising 
 
19 
 
 boards. Unfit men are now too often appointed because the 
 number of really well prepared candidates for such positions is 
 very small, and when all are equally unprepared, there seems to 
 be no reasons why political considerations shall not decide the 
 question. 
 
 But some one may say, suppose we grant the truth of these 
 considerations, what students could you attract to prepare them¬ 
 selves for the public service ? What inducements under our 
 present system of civil service, can you offer to young men to 
 prepare for this career ? I am sorry to say, that they are not as 
 yet, very great or very numerous. But they are still very sub¬ 
 stantial, and I believe would attract a number of young men. 
 
 In this case, as in many others, supply not only follows demand, 
 but supply creates demand. Given a number of specially educa¬ 
 ted young men, let them come in competition with a number of 
 half-educated young men, and I believe, that even with our civil 
 service as it is, for very many positions, at least, the latter would 
 have no chance at all, and the number of positions coming ^ 
 within this category, will increase with every advance in the 
 standing of our civil service. 
 
 Such a school should turn out many men able and skillful 
 in investigating economic and social facts: men who would be 
 in great demand for commissions of various kinds, such as our 
 legislatures and Congress are constantly creating for the study 
 of certain topics like taxation, city government, railroads, Indian 
 Question and the like ; commissions whose reports seldom have 
 much value, because their members seldom have much fitness 
 for the work. 
 
 Let us now, in the light of the preceding considerations, 
 again briefly describe the kind of school we have in mind. It 
 will be a school with a certain minimum prescribed course in 
 Political Economy, Social Science, Civil Government and His¬ 
 tory ; and in addition, a number of special elective courses, look¬ 
 ing toward the particular calling which the student expects to 
 take up. Each student for graduation will be expected to take the 
 minimum course, and one of the elective courses corresponding to 
 his future work. The course would be three years in length ; the 
 first year or more being given to the prescribed, and the last two 
 years or less to the elective courses. The degree to be given,. 
 
20 
 
 should be either Bachelor or Doctor of Political Science, accord¬ 
 ing to the previous preparation and courses taken in the school. 
 
 Now, what would be the relation of such a school toward 
 our existing institutions ? It has already been indicated in the 
 word so frequently used above—professional. It would stand 
 on the same footing as the Medical or Dental or Law schools, 
 except that it should insist on a higher grade of'acquirement for 
 admission, than these schools. In the case of candidates for its 
 <iegree, it might fairly enough insist upon such a degree of men¬ 
 tal maturity and knowledge, as the average Junior in our better 
 eolleges possesses. The Doctor’s degree might be open only to 
 those who had graduated at college or some similar institution 
 before coming. But. the courses should certainly be open to 
 those who possess mental maturity enough to profit by them, 
 whether they have been in college or not. It should cleave 
 a way for itself, down into the heart of the masses, and outline 
 special courses of preparation for itself, such as might attract 
 the type of mind peculiarly fitted for such study. 
 
 Two objections will be made to this plan : One will come 
 from the practical man, and one from the college president. 
 The practical man, upon whose munificence in the present state 
 of the public mind we shall have to rely for funds to establish 
 this school, will say : What is the necessity for such an institu¬ 
 tion ? What moral obligation rests upon me, as one who desires 
 to use a part of his wealth, to furnish public ends to provide a 
 professional education for the journalist any more than for the 
 butcher or baker ? I would answer, only the consideration of 
 more imperative necessity in the case of the former. The latter 
 can wait for his turn. It is to be sincerely hoped that, in course 
 of time, provision will be made for the education of the butcher 
 and baker also. In the meantime, the success of our present 
 social order, rests upon correct views of government and its 
 business in the minds of the people. As our society is at pres¬ 
 ent constituted, the teacher, the lawyer and the journalist are 
 peculiarly powerful in influencing and controlling public opinion. 
 They occupy, to a certain extent, the position of moulders and 
 leaders in affairs of public interest. It is doubly necessary, 
 therefore, that they should be well trained in the investigation 
 of all those vital problems. As matters now stand, however, 
 
21 
 
 they have no opportunity and but little inducement to prepare 
 themselves properly for this work, and when their advice is 
 sought on practical matters, it is generally of a hap-hazard and 
 crude character. Let the opportunity of such education once 
 be given, and let its value be clearly seen, as it undoubtedly will 
 be, and then it may be trusted to take care of itself. In the 
 meantime, however, in this field, as in every other department 
 of reform and progress, good things do not come of themselves. 
 Good wheat does not grow of itself like the tares of the field. 
 It must be planted and watered and tilled. Social progress 
 along the higher lines, is achieved by the efforts of the better 
 class in the community ; by the far-sighted and liberal and self- 
 sacrificing. And it is to them that every appeal for better 
 things must be made. 
 
 The second objection comes from a great friend of educa¬ 
 tional advance—the progressive college president. He asks 
 why organize a special school ^ You are going to divorce sub¬ 
 jects which should be kept together. Political Science belongs 
 with Philosophy, and Art, and Literature and pure Science. 
 Why not develop all these subjects within the limits of an ex¬ 
 panded Faculty of Arts ? My answer is, that I should be very 
 glad, indeed, to see any Faculty of Arts in this country expand 
 wide enough to take in this scheme. But I see no signs of any 
 leaning in that direction, and I am free to confess, that I have 
 but little hope that any will develop itself in the future. Edu¬ 
 cational progress is accompanied, as noted before, by an ever 
 increasing differentiation in the kinds of schools. This fact is 
 obscured, to a large extent, by the external form of certain higher 
 institutions. The experience of German universities is often 
 quoted as demonstrating in a striking way, the desirability of 
 keeping all branches of pure science together within one close 
 organization or faculty. It is well known that the typical Ger¬ 
 man university consists of four faculties—Law, Medicine, The¬ 
 ology and Philosophy. The latter includes all branches, not 
 clearly falling within the limits of the other three. It is a wide¬ 
 spread and, in my opinion, very erroneous idea, that the Philo¬ 
 sophical Faculty is a faculty of liberal arts ; that its students 
 are engaged in the pursuit of pure science for its own sake, and 
 that every student has the opportunity to elect what branches 
 
he pleases, and divide his time as he pleases. The real fact is,, 
 that the Philosophical Faculty consists of a large number of 
 special courses which are practically prescribed to the student,, 
 though in form, they are elective. Few German students enter 
 the Philosophical Faculty for the purpose of obtaining a liberal 
 education. They go to get a special preparation for a given e.x- 
 amination, which they will be tested in certain set subjects.' The 
 university, it is said, does not prescribe these courses. That is 
 done by the State, but the result to the student is the same. 
 
 Suppose the State of Pennsylvania were to pass a law, re¬ 
 quiring that all persons who desire admission to any branch of 
 its civil service, should spend three years at the University of 
 Pennsylvania, should then prescribe a state e.xamination in such 
 a number of subjects represented in the curriculum of that in¬ 
 stitution, as would keep the student busy for three years, and 
 should appoint the university professors who instructed in those 
 subjects, to be examiners in the state examination. How much 
 liberty of choice would be left to the student ? He would come 
 to Philadelphia with the expectation of remaining three years,, 
 and then entering the civil service. He is theoretically entitled 
 to study what he pleases, but practically he is limited to the 
 subjects in which he must be examined. Now, nearly every 
 German student enrolled in a Philosophical Faculty, is looking 
 forward to entering the civil service of his country in one branch 
 or another, and must consequently fit himself in the subjects 
 required in the corresponding examination. In this is to be 
 found the explanation of the universal complaint in Germany,, 
 that the students are giving themselves up to Brodstudium, and 
 of the further fact that every professor is trying to get his 
 particular subject required in some state examination. The 
 testimony of many eminent German professors, is to the effect 
 that the Philosophical Faculty is but little more than a collection 
 of prescribed courses, and some of them think that the efficiency 
 of these courses is greatly hindered by the fact, that they are all 
 organized within one faculty, instead of being divided as they 
 should be into several, as, indeed, is done in some of the institu¬ 
 tions. I have mentioned this point, because I believe that the 
 experience of the German university, rightly understood, favors- 
 the view underlying this paper, as to the best means of securing 
 
23 
 
 the highest development of any given department or knowledge, 
 though it is often quoted in favor of a very different view. 
 
 I would not wish to be understood as favoring any diminu¬ 
 tion in the amount of attention devoted to these subjects in our 
 colleges. It should, and must be, very largely increased. But 
 I desire to see a fuller opportunity offered for their study, than 
 any American college is now offering or is likely to offer within 
 the narrow limits of a Faculty of Arts. 
 
 There is no objection to the organization of such a school 
 in connection with a college or university. There are, indeed, 
 very many cogent reasons why it should be so organized. The 
 other departments have many resources which would be of great 
 aid to such an institution. It would prevent duplication of 
 libraries and of certain courses, which might be open to students 
 of other departments. And above all, the students themselves 
 would derive great assistance from the scholarly atmosphere 
 which should surround a great centre of learning. But the 
 school should be organized on its own basis, as independent of 
 the other departments, as the Medical or Law schools. 
 
 Now, my friends, I have not sketched this outline to you, 
 merely to tickle your imagination with a creature of fancy. I 
 believe that there is a great want in our educational field which 
 is, as yet, unfilled. I think such an institution would fill it, and 
 I desire your active co-operation in securing funds for such an 
 institution. It should be right here in our midst ; in this great 
 centre of industry where the serious problems of modern society 
 are revealing themselves in all their sharpness and terribleness ; 
 and where, therefore, the data for an inductive study of society 
 are close at hand. 
 
 Philadelphia needs such a school, and it would patronize it 
 liberally. The State, nay the Nation, needs such an institution, 
 and if it were worthy they could fill its halls to overflowing with 
 the very cream of the young talent of the country. Phfteen 
 years ago there was no opportunity in Philadelphia to secure a 
 higher technical education, and some people doubted whether 
 there were young men enough in the community to make it 
 worth while to establish a school for this purpose. In 1872 the 
 University of Pennsylvania opened such a school. The attend¬ 
 ance regularly increased, until now it has reached nearly two 
 
24 
 
 hundred and fifty. Such a school as I have outlined above, 
 would reach a larger number than even a technical school of the 
 kind just described. 
 
 Such an institution might be started on a fairly liberal basis 
 with an income aside from tuition of $25,000 per year, provided 
 a suitable building were provided, and every cent of income of 
 $50,000 could be wisely used from the very start. 
 
 The University of Pennsylvania, owing to the liberality of 
 Mr. Joseph Wharton, has been able to lay the foundation for 
 such a school as I have above described. The income from in¬ 
 vested funds amounts, so far, to about $7,000 per year, and it 
 has been so judiciously used, that the institution is now able to 
 apply wisely every cent of money given for this purpose, whether 
 it be five dollars or a million. 
 
 Who, of Philadelphia’s public-spirited citizens, will add to 
 this foundation, or will lay a broader and deeper one for such a 
 superstructure ? 
 
 Appended to this paper, is a proposed curriculum, embrac¬ 
 ing four of the special courses outlined above. This is not in¬ 
 tended to indicate a desirable limit in any course, or even the 
 most desirable form, but simply to suggest the outline of a 
 practicable system, which might be varied to almost any extent, 
 as circumstances might seem to make desirable. New special 
 courses could be added ad libituin with every adequate increase 
 of funds. 
 
 Provision should, of course, be made for the endowment of 
 research in these departments by establishing resident and 
 traveling fellowships, with sufficient income to enable the 
 holders to devote their whole time to study and investigation 
 along these lines. P'unds should also be available for defraying 
 the expenses of special investigations and for the publication of 
 valuable monographs, etc., which should incorporate the results 
 of work done in connection with the institution. 
 
OUTLINE OF A PROPOSED COURSE. 
 
 Required of all. 
 
 1. Political Economy, 3 hrs. 
 
 2. Civil Govt., 2 “ 
 
 1st Year/ 3 - Logic, 2 “ 
 
 4. English, 3 “ 
 
 5. Modern Hist., 5 
 
 Required of all. 
 
 /I. Sociology, 
 
 2. Administration, 
 
 3. American Hist., 
 
 3 
 
 And one of the following 
 ' Optional Courses. 
 
 j Optional Courses, - looking to Teaching, Law, 
 
 2(lYB2ir, Journalism and Business. 
 
 I. —Logic and Morals, 3 hrs. 
 
 Anct. History, 2 “ 
 
 II . —Roman Law, 2 “ 
 
 \ General Jurisprud. 3 “ 
 
 III. —Cot. His. & Geo., 3 hrs. 
 
 Stylistics, 2 “ 
 
 IV. —Accounting, 3 
 
 Com. Law, 2 “ 
 
 Required of all. 
 
 1. Finance, 2 hrs. 
 
 2. Economic Hist., 4 “ 
 
 3. Const. Hist., 2 “ 
 
 4. Internat. Law, 2 “ 
 
 3il Year. 
 
 I. —Pedagogics, 5 hrs. 
 
 II. —Hist. Com. Law, 5 “ 
 
 And one of the following 
 Optional Courses. 
 
 II.—Pract. in Reporting and 
 Editorial Writ., 5 hrs. 
 IV.—Mercantile Prac. and 
 Manag’t of Prop. 5 hrs. 
 
ROSTER. 
 
 SUBJECT. 
 
 i c 
 
 ! 3 ’' 
 
 Political Economy, 
 
 Civil Government, . 
 
 Logic,. 
 
 English,. 
 
 History, Modern, . 
 Sociology, .... 
 Administration, 
 
 American History, 
 
 Finance,. 
 
 Economic History, 
 Constitutional History, 
 International Law, 
 
 Ancient History, 
 
 » 
 
 Logic and Morals, . 
 
 Roman Law, .... 
 General Jurisprudence, 
 
 Stylistics,. 
 
 Cotemp. Hist, and Geog., 
 
 x 4 ccounting,. 
 
 Commercial Law, 
 Pedagogics,. 
 
 Hist. Common Law, 
 Practice in Reporting and 
 Editorial Writing, 
 Manag. Prop, and Merc. Prac 
 
 First Year. 
 
 3' I 
 
 2 j . 
 
 2 I 
 
 3 
 
 I I 
 
 15 
 
 Second Year, 
 
 *tI4 
 
 
 Third Year. 
 
 *i|t2tt3il4| 
 
 15 15 13 15 15 15 15 15 
 
 * Teaching, f Law. J Journalism. T[ Business. 
 
► » • 
 
 %