The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-12-27

panorama Will De pFeSeutcu ~ youA
view. To the west stretches the Coast
Range, broken only by the Golden Gate
On the east the Sierras tower to the
sky and glisten in the morning SUM-
Toward the south you may take your
bearings from Mount Diablo and fix the
meeting line of the two great valleys
of the State. AS you look to the north,
far beyond the Marysville Buttes, be-
hold snow-clad Shasta, lone and mute,
the sentry of the ages. Grand OLD
| Shasta! ROBBED in eternal ermlne, ne
there rises in his majesty like mighty
king. HE owns no rival summit near,
no sovereign but the King of Kings.
And down the great valley, through the
broad plain, rich with our winter verdi
| ure, trace the course Of Ell Rio Sacra-
| mento, threading his way and gather
| ing his waters to sweep on past this
| city to the vast Pacific.
Take a promenade through these
grounds where you may see vegetation
| from every country and every CLINE.
| The cedars Of Lebanon mingle their
graceful boughs with the fronds of
| tropic palms; the pine and the pal
metto, emblematic of North and South
| never again to be divided, here grow
| side by side. The cherished acacia, the
| sturdy oak and the English howthorn
| take their nourishment from the same
| soil, while the magnolia and the orange
unite with the flowers in diffusing
| fragrance through and over all.
| When you enter the rotunda, pause at
| the statue Of Columbus and contemplate
America America stretching from the
Atlantic to the Pacific, from the Pa
cific to the shores of Asia. AS you pro-
coed to legislative halls, beauty and
the bear guard your footsteps. On the
walls you may observe the portraits OF
those who have guided this ship OF
State In the State Library are no.
600 volumes, the accumulated wisdom
of the centuries All these are at your
command. The State officials will well
come you to the offices, where you may
examine the machinery of government.
The State School superintendent Of
| flee during your stay will be turned
over to you without any reservation
whatsoever.
No more favored place could be
chosen for the consideration and dis
cussion of educational questions.
Within these walls all your recon-
|
the scrutiny and criticism of the peo-
pies representatives.
May pleasure and profit attend your
gathering here that you may return
| to your work with renewed vigor, bet
ter teachers, more able wisely to guide
the rising generation to higher aims
and nobler purposes. Again, on behalf
of the people of the State, I bid you
welcome to the Capitol
! WEBSTER REPLIES.
When Superintendent Kirk had fin
ished, r. H. Webster, Superintendent
of San Francisco, replied to the well
come He said that nothing was more
| grateful to the feeling or appropriate
than this gathering of men and women
for the advancement of learning and
the gathering of information for coming
| generations. He had been called on to
respond to the welcome of the various
| speakers and it was pleasure to do so.
This is an occasion to be remembered.
1t brings together a number of people
/ from all over the State who have never
met before, but they are not strangers.
In the republic of letters there are no
aliens, and all those engaged in the
common endeavor to elevate the world
are kindred and working for the COM
mon welfare. Next to the brotherhood
of faith is the brotherhood of scholars,
all striving for the benefit of others.
! It is an ancient brotherhood, reaching
back into the dim ages, and will con-
tinue after ages have passed away. 1t
is interesting to see how through the
centuries great minds have been labor
| ing on the construction of an edilce
that shall last for ages, and when they
passed away others have taken the
work up, and will still do SO.
| Now, we must do our share for the
worlds welfare, and he thought the
grandest reward for the work done is
| the recognition of the United States, as
it will by the whole world, that educa
ton is not a charity to be doled out,
but a birthright to which all, from the
highest to the lowest, are entitled. Let
US all, with thought, said he, debate all
questions as teachers and citizens, and
take up the discussion in a spirit that
shall lead to great results. On behalf
of the teachers he thanked the previous
speakers for their welcome.
A fine quartet by Mesdames Copper
smith and Howard and Messrs. ]. A.
Owens and w. e. NJ. Beardslee fol-
lowed and met with an enthusiastic
encore.
CALIFORNIA; DUTY.
| Then came the annual address of the
President, Frederick Burk of San Fran
cisco on CALIFORNIA; Duty to Her Edu-
cational Future" which was listened to
with close attention, and proved full of
|
lows:
CALIFORNIA; PRESENT DUTY TO
HER EDUCATIONAL FUTURE.
| The thirty-third annual session of the
California Teachers Association is held
at the close Of a century Of marked
educational activity. The latter quar-
ter of this century has been what our
Revolutionary brethren would term
period of rapid transition. We feel I'M
der our feet rapid shifting Of educa-
tional foundations. The forces of
science and induction and of social re-
adjustment, which have been racking
all forms of civilization, are also shak-
ing our educational bases, and many
are they who believe that the new
century will usher in a new educational
dispensation-an education which will
strike it's roots into the fresh, young
sciences and industries and send up its
branches into all the ramifying depart
ments of modern civilization: that the
education of the twentieth century, in
theory, will be a chapter in biology as
that of the eighteenth century was a
footnote to metaphysical mysticism,
and that in practical aim it shall be as