Osage Valley banner. (Tuscumbia, Miller County, Mo.) 1879-1881, 1881-08-25
fHB AEEBAL ADDRESS
to the EULER Cssaty EoJaaI Iasti!ais
Delivered at Pleasant H., Aug. I, 1881 by
-sa
". a. KEEPER.

The speaker rose and sRidi Ladies sod
Fentlemep. This evening" w viii attempt
70 Give, ia brief, the condiiioa Of the public
schools Of our stzia and coGntF. 10 order to
do this u Is nteessHry 70 use 8 few statistics
WHICH We Get from fae , are SupeTintendent's
report, ani from the report Of the Connly
Ike horse ag dnnof7targss8 gave II Ia detail
yet we viii take a recapttGlgiorS view Of the
psrsi when most nearly concefa us. We
viii coa6ua OUTSIDER, principally, 10 the re,
pors 81 ~ and 80, for the report OF 81 has
not been completed ~ yet
Notipiog she present condition Of our
State, ibe reports heretofore havs been favor
sble, but Il seeus that the last =, port giyes
more encouragement TO eGucsioig aud law
makers than The report Tor shy Previous year.
10 reporting 20 tue GsXsfncf, Dt. Shannon
Gays; 1T affords me much pleasurs 10 in-
form YOU that our aehoo3a are much Sun.
proved, public continent iu their favor Il
very healthy and lke EDUCATIONAL outlook &,
goOt"
County Commissioner report that the
couaAcs ere beleg supplied wltb G better
class Of teachers aud viii Iergtheled terms.
To see that this "a tfae We have only 70 ioug
st our oWn county and notice tie iunprove
ment thefeiL. Ia many towns and citie.
whore formally schools contisna1 uhIy fur
or iVe months The length Of term has been
Increased TO eight CT ton mantbs. Where
there have been DO scbooI bOusas and buil!-
tDgs or rooms have been rented Tor school
purposes, or wheFe school hpases wefe IN
comfortable or unit, the psople, a. their su-
nual meeting, have ordered pew buildings
10 be erected The erection OF thsse bull1
ings has DecesSitated q larger t~srlevy khas
Is permitted by tbs constitution without A
vote. This tact gave rise. la several places.
20 q sharp issue and a heated contest, but IN
nearly every case tbs proposition 30 Increase
lhe tax was carried by a large majority.
THIS lacrosse oi tax was not confined 10 any
one part OF the state but IS genefal-all oyer
the state.
The Institutes throughout the states nave
slso done much for the sehoc! interests.
Having proven beneficial they have Interested
from days 70 weeks. Teachers associations
are Increased ia numbsr aud ere better az
tended. Harmony seems 10 prevail ia this
work throughout The state. And indeed
IL should prevail for educational work aud
adYauoeneot 10 tie true corner stone on
which our government rests
Also, our county report shows q favorable
change IA our county, set there is room for
greater change. We have Ia our county
$3.50 children of school bge, I. q. hetyeen the
age OF six and twenty. o. these In 1850
2,85l attend school, leaving d4S or more than
one fourth out e school. We employ sbou.
sky three teachers during the year and
spend about 50 600 for educational purbose,.
yet the children are not all in school. h
seems 10 me tina after We can euforca the
good school laws We already have we must
try to iegislato 10 regard &C. at attendance. I'm
dar the present condition D! things il cost
80 per day IS tuition for each child who
attends public school. Tots Is indeed vert
little but we could give the six hundred who
are cut Of seAonl Is much benefit o. il a. W.
give the rest. We employ q teacher aud put
iuto the school house with atteei or
twenty paPis when be could teach thirty
Just as we'll. II this could 30 doas more
children would get knowledge and 1T q lower
Bat, Notwithstanding our not doing ali we
can we are doing a great deal. Any one
who VIII giYe 4 little attention TO the edueg.
tional affairs Of Miller county will see Al once
lbat there has been a wonderful change With
"a the last two year,, Our schools arc In.
In number, in size and probe eney
and our teachers are becoming better eual aed
and more eble TO teach a good school. Add
10 our Institutes may se sttsihated no llttlv
eH0Ct in The change ia toe ialchiaa.
our i~ptIituta hes been established only A
short ttma but there 70 not 4 teacher who has
attended Will say that i haa not been a bensat
70 tho school Interests af All county.
in the ThHty First Repor, Of The Public
oehoois OF Missouri We have our institute
mentioned. In this report we aud our
county credited with having hid two inst.
In 1880 One at Pleasant Mount ana
Ihe oth3r At %fnscumbla.
Besidns Tho institutes we have t~hrongbout
ne State, there Is a State Assooiatlon 81
which tends 10 The same direction
y tNtaor Doe IA advance OF the Institute
During the last year we have had one
OF the Siats Association and thr
Meeting Of nstslct Associations Ia tour
plseea. -
And AgAIn' as helps to dlfFass knowledge
we nave educational periodicals.. There are
.ix publisbad Ia our state. The AmsFlcan
Journal Of Education, The Missouri Tsaeber
Tue Normal Worker, The School and sctoiAr
md The western. The Amcsi0.a journal al
EIGcsllon has the largest circulation and n
q GOOD journal for sny one 80 take. There
are nEe copies OF this paper tsken Al THIS
place al present 10 addilion 10 tho ioumal,
Just named we have many news papefs which
1eVOie one or mole columns to educational
Pttaer' Nnr county papers All over the state
would publish an educational column n the ,
teachers woald take the trouble 10 write or
even 10 SEND educational hews 10 the editor.
Inc way 70 get the people tnlefesica Ia "a.
70 10 talk education 10 thegn, wfIte Il :
20 zen aud nte the papers every limo YOU .
IN opportunity.
10 looking over the history OF our {
'lste VIC can SEQ that fhe las been ,
sfossly nllreprOsentod As 10 her ,
towrrd public o~dacahos. h IA mIs. ,
epfesenttd on one land, that she e inaaer. T,
~, and upon smother, that she Is hostile 10 ,
helf great vital i~nierest aBd popular cause. !
81 rotpiI z "a ht9qfded by The ttatcment /
~ notwithstanding Der gfieyoaR failures 10 1
cempiib what ought 10 DO done, aud what 4