Similarly, the necessity of studying civics, economics and social science is acknowledged; because citizens must know something of these subjects in order to react intelligently to the serious problems brought up by the war, to choose representatives who will vote for wise laws, and devise machinery for the solution of the great questions growing out of the war and reconstruction. Because of the war, our democ racy is confronted with the need of more in telligent and better educated citizens in the political and social sciences than ever before were needed. For already the political, in dustrial and social practices and institutions of this country have been greatly changed. Whether the process will go on or whether we shall retrace our steps is a question which the generation now in our schools must help to decide. It is agreed that •pupils must have a comprehension of the problems,' difficulties, and tendencies facing us, in order to arrive at a wise solution and avert possible disaster. No more important questions could confront the people than those which relate to the permanent control of public utilities, railroads, telegraphs, telephones; the production, distribution, and consumption of food and fuel; the regulation of prices, and government control or ownership of other resources or agencies, and its relation to capital and labor.
'The second type of echication emphasized by the war is the industrial-scientific. The deeper causes leading to the war, especially those of an economic character, have called attention to the fact that industrial nations like those of western Europe, and even the United States, i cannot prosper in peace or war without great attention to that phase of education which de velops exact knowledge of and skill in the trades and processes on which an industrial civilization is based. The United States, broadly speaking, has been living on its capital, on the stored-up wealth represented by the natural fertility of the soil and the bountiful supplies of minerals and raw materials such as coal, iron, copper, lumber, etc. With such ready-made wealth, little technical skill, effi ciency, or knowledge was needed for the supply of immediate needs or even for accumulating wealth. This era, however, has passed and this country, even now, must increasingly conserve its wealth and even depend on other lands for part of its raw supplies. It must apply more skill, knowledge, and efficiency in obtaining wealth from the soil, and in transforming raw materials into finished products.• This condi tion, in connection with the competition of other racial groups who have attained still greater knowledge than we have, is at bottom the basis for the emphasis on technical, scien tific, and vocational education. The 6,000,000
farmers in this country, and those who take their places, cannot succeed without more scien tific and technical knowledge involving the chemistry of soils, problems of fertility, the science of growing larger crops, knowledge of the enemies of plant life and how to overcome them, the care of farm machinery, the produc tion of better food and service animals, and the principles of scientific management of farms from the viewpoint of profit and loss. The reason for a great extension of agricultural education is obvious. But this means a very different rural system. for education from that now prevailing, one that can only be introduced at great cost, and with the aid of the resources of all the people administered by the national government.
The intricacy of modern industrial processes, the greater and greater skill needed to obtain the required amount of wealth out of resources continually growing less, and the necessity of providing the great mass of industrial work ers with the kind of education which will not only increase their skill and earning power, and hence the wealth of the nation, but also give them that broader vision and wider knowl edge of their position and work, their privi leges, duties, and obligations — all this is at the foundation of the demand for vocational educa tion. It is significant that Congress passed the Smith-Hughes bill for Federal aid to vocational education in 1917, under, the influence of the war and because of its effect on the of education needed for a great industrial nation. This bill provides for the appropriation of large sums from the Federal treasury to stimu late the teaching of agricultural and industrial education, and home economics, and calls for an equal appropriation from the States taking advantage of the bill. It also created a Federal board for vocational education which has im portant powers of supervising the systems established. This bill, if not directly a result of the war, was greatly influenced by it. It is the beginning of a new era in the United States, and must have important effects on national life, such as providing for the in dustrial skill needed for national defense., and for industrial competition likely to follow the war. It also lays the foundation for the voca tional education of those soldiers who return. Particular subjects in the curriculum, such as geography, have been affected by the war. The result is a new interest in world geography, both as to the ownership of land areas and especially the economic resources of nations and their trade and commerce. The decline in the study of German in schools and colleges, and the increased attention to French and Span ish, is another important effect of the war on education.