You cannot obtain a
useful citizen if you only develop his intellect. We take children from
their parents because these cannot give them an intellectual training.
So far, good. But we fail to give them that training in character which
parents alone can give. Home influence, as Grace Aguilar conceived
it--where has it gone? It strikes me that this is a grave danger for the
future. We are rearing up a brood of crafty egoists, a generation whose
earliest recollections are those of getting something for nothing from
the State. I am inclined to trace our present social unrest to this
over-valuation of the intellect. It hardens the heart and blights all
generous impulses. What is going to replace the home, Mr. Keith? And
there is another point which has often forced itself upon me. A certain
proportion of wealthy children tend to fall back into lower grades of
life--manual labour, and so forth. They are born below the level of
their parents. No difficulty about relapsing. But a fair percentage of
the lowest classes tend to rise; they stand, potentially, above their
surroundings.
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