The herald., 1897-03-14
THE WORK OF THE SCHOOLS
As Viewed From an Outside
Standpoint
THE MAIN ESSENTIALS
= Business Man, the Chief of Police and
a Minister Talk
Good Health, 0oot norais, Sound Bodies
Compulsory Education and Pure
Patriotism

The county teachers meeting hel'i
yesterday morning in the auditorium of
the high school building was not attend
ed by as large an audience as usual, but
IL was one of more than ordinary inter-
est.
The speakers of the morning being
unconnected with the profession Of
teaching talked from the standpoint Of
outsiders on the work being done in the
schools for the children.
The exercises opened with selection
Of music by the Schoolmasters' octet,
after which Mr.. ]. r. Newberry was in
troduced, and spoke of the public
school from a business mans stan1-
point.
mo class of men," said the speaker,
appreciate education so much as the
business man, for therein lies the foua-
dation to busineAs success. If people
are educated too much along one line
they are apt to become cranks.. The
average pupils cannot be expected to
be better than the teacher, and II the
teacher is a crank the pupil will be one
also. The tendency of education in the
past twenty-five years has been to de-
velop crankiness."
Almost every day Mr. Newberry had
applications from people willing to WORK
for small wages, but he could not use
them, for while the mind might be
bright there was often no physical
structure to sustain it. In his judg-
ment the grammar school should be the
limit of free education in America, for
with this fundamental equipment, if
man has the right material in him, he
will succeed. The child should be dis
possessed ~of the idea that intellectual
development Is to be acquired at the ex-
pense of the physical. boy can learn
more business in week in good COM
mercial house than in any school on
earth.
THE CHIEF OF POLICE.
J. M. Glass, chief of police, was the
next speaker, taking as his subject,
Criminal Tendencies in Children
Chief Glass gave an interesting recital
of number of cases of apparently to-
tai depravity in children that had come
under his observation in this city and
elsewhere, but could not point out the
cause nor suggest remedy. One rea-
son he gave, however for children's go
ing wrong is the over-confidence of pa
rents. 1t is not we'll to always believe
all child says. for few children always
tell the truth. Children also inherit ten
denotes, as we'll as acquire them by en-
vironment.
The speaker believed heartily in edu-
cation and thinks there should be en-
acted a compulsory educational law.
THE RIGHT STUFF.
| DR.. Warren f. Day, the last speaker,
gave an admirable address on "The
Stuff of Which the Future Citizen Must
| Be Made"
! You are not here" said the speaker,
fo,. rft,r,1. 1.apf
You are here as builders to ask of what
stuff the structure you are building
must be formed; to inquire what ele-
ments are to enter into the future citl-
zen. This question, OF course, includes
the girl as we'll as the boy. for whether
the girl comes with the ballot or the
bandbox in her hand, she is factor in
our future development. By the weight
of what is dominant in the child Will
his future be determined. Many will get
no further training than what they get
in school, In your handling a great many
future public men and women are re-
ceiving their cast. With the multiplied
ton table, there are other factors in the
class room. You are concerned not only
with the scholar, but with the citizen
with the citizen waking in the pupil
1.-The first element in the citizen Is his
intellectual training, for the most OF
man Is in his head; only one-tenth of a
mans mechanical skill Is in mans
hand. When you measure the volume OF
your work, you ask how much has the
pupil acquired. The fundamental val
ue of education is not for occupation, but
for the citizen. The citizen needs to be
so trained that he will have the ability
to grasp issues to discern what the polit-
ical sneaker holds out as well as to see
what he puts in; to stand for principle
when popular opinion swiris around his
feet. Education means what service the
child can be to the state; 1t stands for
enlightened, conscientious, glowing pa
triotism.
with intellectual training must be
added all the moral culture possible un-
der the circumstances, and in the teach
er must lie the shaping of all this. That
life he is dealing with is some day to be
| a king, a sovereign"
In a recent celebration Of the birthday
| Of Lincoln, in the city OF Ottawa, llls.,
the following pledge was taken by the
| chiidren:
lam citizen Of the United States and
an heir to all her greatness and renown,
I will not fill any post nor pursue any
business where shall live upon my fell
| low citizens without doing them useful
service in return. As 1t is cowardly for
| the soldier to run away from the battle
| so it Is cowardly for any citizen not ia
contribute his share to the well-being OF
| his country. America is my own dear
land. She nourished me. and I will do
my duty to her, whose child, servant and
civil soldier I am. / will do nothing tC
desecrate her soil, or pollute her air. or
to degrade her children, who are my
brothers and sisters. will try to max:
her cities beautiful, and her citizens
healthy and glad. so that she may be a
desirable home for the upright in days
to come. We give our heads and our
hearts to God and our conutry; one
country, one language, one flag
"Of the stuff of which that declaration
tells, may our future citizens be made"