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As Stated by Michael Anagnos, Superintendent of the Perkins Institute and Mass. School for the Blind, South Boston, Mass.

The following article consists of extracts from an article published by Michael Anagnos, Supt. of the Perkins institute, and Mass. School for the Blind, South Boston, Mass. The italicized headings, are editorial, and where passages are omitted the fact is indicated.

Through Education to Independence

His tongue was framed to music,
And his hand was armed with skill;
His face was the mould of beauty,
And his heart the throne of will."
-- Emerson.

When Ajax was surrounded with dense darkness and could not discern his enemies and smite them, his most fervent supplication to the gods was for light and nothing more. This he deemed amply sufficient for the accomplishment of his bellicose purpose. "Give me to see," was his piteous cry, "And I ask no more."

The Blind in these days are as eager in their petitions for light to enable them to surmount all obstacles in the pathway of their advancement and to fight the battle of life successfully, as Ajax was; but the illumination for which they plead passionately differs in character from that for which he begged. They do not ask for impossible things, for chances in the laws of nature, which nothing short of a veritable miracle can effect. They stand on the positive point of the magnet and, being aware that the sullen cloud of never-ending night which envelopes them is indissoluble, they do not consume their energies in useless implorations for its dissipation. They know that, when the mechanism of the eyes is destroyed or hopelessly impaired, the power of vision is irrevocably gone from them, and they do not "batter the gates of heaven with storms of prayer" for its restoration. Instead of feeding on illusive hopes and of giving way to nebulous desires and unrealizable longings they yearn for that which it is perfectly possible to give them, for what indeed is their birth-right, for a broad and liberal education, which in their case is a real source of intellectual, moral and spiritual enlightenment, and which alone can release them from the bondage of dependence and link their lives to a dynamic power able to life them to the highest levels of usefulness and happiness.

In the advanced civilization of our era the imperfectly taught and insufficiently trained blind persons are at a greater disadvantage than ever before.

In this country, as well as in Europe, the old order of things has been fast disappearing of late years and a new state of affairs has been taking its place. A momentous crisis is confronting us. Manual labor is steadily decreasing in value and has in many instances ceased to be remunerative on account of the extensive employment of machinery in almost every department of human activity. The wide spread of knowledge of every kind and the rapid increase of general intelligence, the stupendous progress made in the development and utilization of the physical sciences, the marvelous success of the unremitting efforts to harness the forces of nature and to subjugate them to the service of man, the universal tendency to effect gigantic consolidations of manufacturing and commercial enterprises and to concentrate capital and control prices, accompanied by the financial and political consequences that follow in the train of such concentrating, the steady propagation of the spirit of democracy and the wonderful feats which are constantly accomplished in the domain of invention, all those combined together have transmuted thought and have brought about a social transformation and an industrial revolution, which have changed most of the adjustments of the past and of the relations of life, have created new conditions and requirements, and have given rise to various occupations and numerous combinations in business. Indeed, economic arrangements are incessantly shifting from their old foundations and the scientific evolution of human society, is the order of the day.

Owing to their great dependence upon simple manual occupations and mechanical arts for self-support, it is evident that the blind are more seriously affected by these radical changes and developments than any other class of people, and that the problems, which in their case press for solution, are very grave and of momentous significance.

In view of this state of things the chief duty of our school is to take into account the demands and exigencies of the times and to bring its pupils into harmonious relations with their environment, physical and social, as well as intellectual and moral. We must leave behind the past, which is "but the dim shadow of humanity thrown backward by the eternal sunlight," and look steadfastly into the illimitable future, which stretches before us and which is in some degree to be moulded by our own efforts. We must follow the light of progress and break the shackles of tradition and prejudice which hinder the blind from becoming fitted to make the best of themselves and which narrow their sphere of usefulness and helpfulness. We must enable them to keep open their communication with the base of supplies while they are fighting the battle of self-maintenance.