With these women the most salient quality in all their
institutions was reasonableness. When I dug into the records
to follow out any line of development, that was the most astonishing
thing--the conscious effort to make it better.
They had early observed the value of certain improvements,
had easily inferred that there was room for more, and took the
greatest pains to develop two kinds of minds--the critic and
inventor. Those who showed an early tendency to observe, to
discriminate, to suggest, were given special training for that
function; and some of their highest officials spent their time in
the most careful study of one or another branch of work, with
a view to its further improvement.
In each generation there was sure to arrive some new mind
to detect faults and show need of alterations; and the whole corps
of inventors was at hand to apply their special faculty at the
point criticized, and offer suggestions.
We had learned by this time not to open a discussion on any
of their characteristics without first priming ourselves to answer
questions about our own methods; so I kept rather quiet on this
matter of conscious improvement.
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