Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1898-01-03

SSN~~
ourselves more heavily for education
tlan other states are accustomed to do,
or we must demand more for tuition,
or we must have less education. Which
! has been done?
Il have seen within the state no
| sign of discomfort or remorse that the
rates of taxation, even for education.
have been too low. On the contrary,
| the strident cry OF excessive taxation
| every now and then assails our ears.
| 1t has always been a convenient cry
for those who would crowd themselves
forward IN the race for political
| preferment.
1 am not going to thrust upon you
that 'non-conductor of thought, al
array of figures; but content myself
with d general observation. 1t is that
all the evidence l have been able to
| find goes to show that taxation for ed
ucation in Wisconsin is now less,
rather than more, than is taxation for
the same purpose IN the neighboring
states. / will, however, add one fact
flor what it is worth. just as | had
| finished my melancholy explorations,
there came TO me the number of the
/ bulletin of the University of Oregon
for Nov. II, 1896. There was there
given ali array of figures purporting
to be derived exclusively from official
sources, by which comparison was
made between the taxes paid for edu-
+ cad inn a II re hxr ho
taxpayers in the several states. The
/ figures seemed to me so significant
that I ventured to write to the presi-
/ dent of the University of Oregon for
! information as to the nature Of the
official information relied upon. The
answer came that the figures were
taken either from the printed reports
of state superintendents or from pri-
vate letters received from the same
sources in answer to personal in
quiries. Whether trustworthy, or not,
/ do not know; but it is evident that
the figures, however unsatisfactory,
were complied with care The main
| features of the table for our purpose is
the alleged fact that Wisconsin now
taxes it's people for education less per
/ capita of the taxpayers than does any
other northern states, with the single
exception of New Jersey. The same
table then proceeded to add insult to
injury by Haunting before its readers
the allegation that in the matter 0.
absolute inability to write or real
Wisconsin has larger percentage O
it's inhabitants than any other north
ern state, with one single exception.
Thus everybody is told that Wiscon-
sin, in the matter Of education, has
been pushed to the back-seat, and is
within single. step OF the Ounce
block.
There never was time when burn
ing questions of educational i'm
pcrtance were so much agitated in
different pats of tie country as at
the present moment. Some of them
touch the very foundations of educa-
tional methods. The kindergarten,
child study, manual training, the
comparative value of different studies,
the methods by which the mind is de-
veloped, the place CT the college
course, all these vital subjects are now
receiving an attention they have never
received before. What is well called
the New Education is upon us.
s'Are we sufficiently alive to all
these questions in Wisconsin? Are
we suffic. emily Identified with all these
tremendoU Interests? 1 say frankly,
/ fear we are net There is always
danger that the great mass OF teachers
In colleges, in high schools, and in
the grade schools alike, will settle
into the dry rot Of humdrum con-
servatism of method and spirit. There
is nothing to prevent this like the
Fl esh breeZeS that come from outside.
Let us show an enthusiastic hos
pitality to all new ideas, come they
: from without or from Within. Let us
Join hands with those who are trying
to advance Let us abjure all isola-
tion. Let us insist upon going to every
possible fount Of knowledge. Let
every teacher sift every bit of new in
formation and strive to apply what
ever of valuable residue he may find
Let every superintendent and every
school board insist upon the employ
ment CT the very best teachers that
can be found. It is in such ways, anC
in such ways alone, that we can
worthily fill the high vocation where
unto we are called"
Prof. M. V. O'Sea of the University
Iof Wisconsin read a paper ON the sci
ence and art of teaching in the uni
versity. Starting with the statement
that it is only within the memory of
the living that the idea that a teacher
needs special discipline in preparation
for the practice of his art found lodge
ment in the minds of men, he pro-
ceeded to the development of that idea
in the growth of the normal schools
and thence to description of the
school of education which has been es-
] tabliShed at the Wisconsin UNIVERSITY