第102章 CHAPTER IV(7)

Articulation and co-ordination is good and requisite where and so far as it is intrinsic to the work in hand； but it all comes to nothing better than systematized lag， leak and friction， so soon as it is articulation and coordination in other terms and for other ends than the performance of the work in hand. It is also true， the coalition of these several school units into a pseudo-aggregate under a centralized control gives a deceptive appearance of a massive engine working to some common end； but， again， mass movement comes to nothing better than inhibition and misdirection when it involves a coalition of working units whose work is necessarily to be done in severalty.

Left to themselves the several schools would have to take care each of its own affairs and guide its endeavours by the exigencies of its own powers and purposes， with such regard to inter-collegiate comity and courtesy as would be required by the substantial relations then subsisting between them， by virtue of their common employment in academic work.

In what has just been said， it is not forgotten that the burden of their own affairs would be thrown back on the initiative and collective discretion of the several faculties， so soon as the several schools had once escaped from the trust-like coalition in which they are now held. As has abundantly appeared in latterday practice， these faculties have in such matters proved themselves notable chiefly for futile disputation； which does not give much promise of competent self-direction on their part， in case they were given a free hand. It is to be recalled， however， that this latterday experience of confirmed incompetence has been gathered under the overshadowing presence of a surreptitiously and irresponsibly autocratic executive， vested with power of use and abuse， and served by a corps of adroit parliamentarians and lobbyists， ever at hand to divert the faculty's action from any measure that might promise to have a substantial effect. By force of circumstances， chief of which is the executive office， the faculties have become deliberative bodies charged with power to talk. Their serious attention has been taken up with schemes for weighing imponderables and correlating incommensurables， with such a degree of verisimilitude as would keep the statistics and accountancy of the collective administration in countenance， and still leave some play in the joints of the system for the personal relation of teacher and disciple. It is a nice problem in self-deception， chiefly notable for an endless proliferation.

At the same time it is well known -- too well known to command particular attention -- that in current practice， and of necessity， the actual effective organization of each of these constituent school units devolves on the working staff， in so far as regards the effectual work to be done. even to the selection of its working members and the apportionment of the work. It is all done "by authority" of course， and must all be arranged discreetly， with an ulterior view to its sanction by the executive and its due articulation with the scheme of publicity at large； but in all these matters the executive habitually comes into bearing only as a (powerful) extraneous and alien interference， -- almost wholly inhibitory， in effect， even though with a show of initiative and creative guidance. And this inhibitory surveillance is exercised chiefly on grounds of conciliatory notoriety towards the outside， rather than on grounds that touch the efficiency of the staff for the work in hand. Such efficiency is commonly not barred， it is believed， so long as it does not hinder the executive's quest of the greater glory. There is， in effect， an inhibitory veto power touching the work and its ways and means.

But even when taken at its best， and when relieved of the inhibition and deflection worked by the executive， such an academic body can doubtless be counted on to manage its collective affairs somewhat clumsily and incompetently. There can be no hope of trenchant policy and efficient control at their hands； and， it should be added， there need be no great fear of such an outcome. The result should， in so far， be nearly clear gain， as against the current highly efficient management by an executive. Relatively little administration or control would be needed in the resulting small-scale units； except in so far as they might carry over into the new r間ime an appreciable burden of extra-scholastic traffic in the way of athletics， fraternities， student activities， and the like； and except so far as regards those schools that might still continue to be "gentlemen's colleges，" devoted to the cultivation of the irregularities of adolescence and to their transfusion with a conventional elegance； these latter， being of the nature of penal settlements， would necessarily require government by a firm hand.

That work of intimately personal contact and guidance， in a community of intellectual enterprise， that makes up the substance of efficient teaching， would， it might fairly be hoped， not be seriously hindered by the ill-co-ordinated efforts of such an academic assembly， even if its members had carried over a good share of the mechanistic frame of mind induced by their experience under the r間ime of standardization and accountancy.

Indeed， there might even be ground to hope that， on the dissolution of the trust， the underlying academic units would return to that ancient footing of small-scale parcelment and personal communion between teacher and student that once made the American college， with all its handicap of poverty， chauvinism and denominational bias， one of the most effective agencies of scholarship in Christendom.