The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1880-06-25

commerce, nor the mineral, nor the an
cient prestige. nor the forest. but central
in that mighty sisterhcOd Of states
which. in the dream of ultimate Amer
lea. ill this continent from ocean to
ocean with the power, the wealth, the
thought, the faith and the hope of the
world, Kansas, the School State. the
leader and glory of them all.
The duty of the hour is to perpetuAIe
and improve the common school. Do
not let US make the mistake of con-
founding the school with the building
| in which it dwells. Fine feathers do
rot make fine birds, neither do fine
buildings make fine schools. Not that
either are 20 be despised. There is in
| the taste and beauty of home or school
| one educational power, that which leaves
| an impress of gSod on the sensitive ma
| tnre of the young Child. | admire u
handsome schOaIl house rs much rs any
one. wish that every district in the
state might have one, built in the latest
style and with architectural symmetry
and beauty, with ample grounds filled
| with trees and flowers, furnished with
| the most improved desks and complete
| assortment of school apparatus. But
| better than building is teacher. II is
| the living force which incarnates his
| tOric splendOr into even unsightly walls
mental home of immortal fame. A
countless thrOng of loving pilgrims
press TO look upon the little house
| where Shakespeare lived and died and
the world holds among its chOicests
| treasures Mt Vernon and Lincoln's
| tomb, but who knows or cares where
ROthschild and Vanderbilt were buried.
1t is the idea which lives and ennObles.
The intellectual and moral are the forces
1 xyhiah anAnra hnVnr fNN ha 3fG,Vi
al and lose ourselves in the struggle for
acres of cattle and dollars. we shall see
| the historic splendors Of our past van
/ ishing away, and all that is fresh and
| grand in man and life weighed in the
balances of trade and found wanting
| So if We put little less into brick and
q little more into brain, we shall do
well by the comon school; we shall
make it mightier, better and more en-
during force.
This, then is my argument, short and
clear. We uphold, defend and per.
petuate the common school by giving it
the most efficiency. That which, more
than all things else, secures such efflci-
ency is the trained and skillful teacher.
The Normal supplies such q teacher.
Therefore the Normali
| I am not insensible of the fact that
there are two great difficulties in the
practical solution of the Normal school
problem. One is the brief continuance
of Normal graduates in teaching 1t is
an unQuestionable fact that many who
; pursue a complete Normal course, after
teaching year or two, turn to some
other occupation, and 1t is sadly true
that among this many are some OF the
brightest, the most competent to win o
name for themselves and become power
for good in the school room. The young
man who has received careful
: training and is conscious of
capacity, sees in other .profes-
sions a chance for higher preferment
: and larger reward Self interest insists
upon a change, and if there is any road
which the average man is sure 70 travel
, it is that to which the finger on the
guide board of selfinterest points.
'"Tis true, tits pity; and pity it's, tits
true"
So the young woman similarly furnish
ed for good educational work, finds her
self an object of pursuit not merely by
| school directors, but by young men
without families and soon abandOns the
public school for 4 little domestic insti.
, tuition of her own, preferring an employ
ment for life to one which continues or
: falls with the changing within of a vary
! ing board Of trustees. Here again we
meet one of those irrepressible laws OF
| human nature, for when the matrimonial
2 fever strikes one, there is no medicine IN
E the universe to purge the system of the
: disease. 1t is idle to talk TO such q one
' of public duties Or the value of common
: schools. AS a lawyer once said to me, in
t language more forcIble than elegant, il
reference TO his difficulties in appealing
/ to the sympathies of q judicial mind
( "You might as well sing psalms to dead
v horse" Is it strange that the taxpayer
I queries whether il is q public purpose
o to furnish q superior Normal education
! to one, who, instead of being the teacher
s of his children is the wife Of his neigh
4 Dor, and asks If the Normal be after al
e anything more than a matrimonial
e bureau, which by giving young women
superior accomplishments simply mar
IT ries them off the sooner. The other diff
u ficulty lies in the locality question.
O majority of Normal pupils come from
o the vicinity of EmporIa and after gradu
II alton teach in their own neighbOrhOods
8 SO that the circle of Normal influence Il
r limited and not co-extensive with tn
e state. To Obviate this difficulty SOM
u years since a system of Normal school
i was devised and established. It wa
y thought that NOrmsl centres wOult
We thus be created and the whole stat
e reached. But the legislature saw D
l. thought it saw the growing of an edu
a catiOnal ring and the whole system wen
d by the board. An early renewal of tn
IF experiment is doubtful and hazardous
Ie Normal institutes during the summe
n vacation seem 10 be the present reliance
At What can be done to relieve us from thes
Il difficulties! The problem is how diffus
n. the influence of the Normal, TO make
= more emphatIcally a state institution
he state not merely in its control, its sur
10 port, but also in its pupils and its in
a fluence, and also to secure continuanc
re in teaching service of Normal graduates
le Let me suggest these measures in th
he way of Legislation; First, loan out {
~ the state school fund 10 every pupil {
es the Normal of his or her travelling e.
g penses to and from the school. Second
n payment Of a certain sum out of th
oil same fund to each Normal graduate Of
st full course who has taught in the publ
I'd schools the prior year. Let this be .
rs annually increasing sum, so that th
1 graduate who has taught ten consecuttV
n years shall, for the tenth year, receiv
ed double the amount paid for the MI
o. year; and let this allowance be limite
to a certain number of teachers. say te
! in each county.
he In reference to the loan of traVelin
sy expenses, this could well be made col
re ditional, to become q donation, an abs
OSSG
lie plete the Normal course and teach faN
lie years thereafter in the public school
IL. otherwise to be repaid without interes
on / know that loans like this, insecure
rs by mortgage, are ordinarily Of little Walt
I'll and seldom collected. Some addition
in value might be given by providing tn
m, no property, real or personal. should
he exempt from levy in payment thereo
rs. and in the case of the young wOma
| 81, - ,EDo 70
ie- her husbands property should likeWi
of be bounden for this loan. You kno
to that under the old common law q man. {
Mt. marriage, became bound for all his wife
us antecedent debts, and we should only
&c. restoring the old law in q single
, a stance, and in the interest of publ
ng schools. In reference to the annu
payment, its regular increase is for q
Dis purpose of making continuance in ed
he catiOnal work increasingly prOfltab
sw thus turning the teachers thoughts aW,
from other professions To his own, al
the limit of ten in q county is to distri
ute Normal graduates through the sta
ill for any one will move across q coun
TO line to- increase his salary.
ng With this legislation person in T
n.y. public county intending to teach cOu
nd attend the Normal with as little person
nd outlay as one in EmPoria. In 9th
of words, the Normal would be brought
i've the door of every would.be teacher In {
lie, state. This would rapidly enlarge {
to number of your pupils, for many "
es; desire TO teach are deferred from . NJ
300 NAL course only by the expense. Y
OF would thus each year roll upon I
u.s. state larger volume Of trained aud (
all ucated teachers, who would natura
ALL soon displace the unframed and I
ge- skilled. You know the law of the d
TO is the survival of the fittest More tn
Ost that, every good teacher in . county ,
EN- ueates the Others. You place skill