"I look for a storm about Tad's letter," wrote a Household sister, and she was right. The storm has come upon us. Many have pointed out that some of our greatest Americans were members of large families and were very poor -- Franklin, Lincoln, and all the rest. They have pointed out that these men were self-educated. They have pointed out, too, that Leopold and Loeb were members of small families, and were very rich and had education thrust upon them.
It is well to remember that some of our great men and women were well-to-do, and most of our criminals are poor; that many great people were surrounded by intellectual culture from birth, and that many of the criminals went wrong because they didn't have a chance to learn. Considering that there are comparatively few rich families and many, many, poor ones, the proportion of greatness is not so different in the two two classes. And it is hardly fair to conclude that an education which is planned and provided for is worse than one which is wrung by sacrifice from an untoward environment.