The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1900-10-26
HoN. - 80 80.
STATE superintendent TaIlos on EdueatIon
and Political Rzestions-His Political
PoFnfs Ehr1adbara.


Hon Frank Nelson, state super
fntendent Of public instruction, was In
Goodlsnd Saturday and spoke before
the teachers association IN the school
building at IL o'clock in the morning.
In the afternoon he was heard at the
opera house from a political point Of
view.
A gOodly number Of people were on
the streets Saturday, bat as the day
was rendered uncomfortable by rain
and cold, both places st which Mr..
Nelson spoke were meagerly attended.
His remarks to the teachers ct the
school house we're along an eduea-
tionaI line. He did not announce him
self as speaking upon any particular
topic Of education, but presented
thoughts which we're appreciated.
He said in part:
"We should not forget that the fac
ulties Of mind with which We are
clothed, are the gift Of God. And the
thought of their divine origin should
ever prompt Us to inYest them rightly
invest them such that our store Of
thought should-be refined and clear
and pure. This great gift-this gift Of
inteIlect-is, however, Of relative value,
to every person. 1t must lead and be
led in paths Of justice, love and mercy
If its possessor is to be rewarded with
the full measure Of appropriate re-
suits. The two great highways Of
human travel are the paths Of right
and wrong: divergent psths-the one q
way Of rectitude, the other q way Of
perversity. 1t is the primal duty Of
the teacher, so far as it within him
lies, to inculcate this great idea of
goodness into the heart Of every pupil.
The school is looked to as the con
struetive agency Of our intellectual
being. But so far has it come from
attaining its proper end that even in
the state Of Kansas more money is be-
ing expended for corrective agency,
comprising the different kinds Of penal
institutions, than for the constructive.
AS a strong influence in bringing to a
minimum the necessity Of correction,
by teaching the boys and girls Of to-
day the right relations which the indi-
vidusl should sustain to society-the
school stands in a most important
position.
Snow, then, let me eIucidate the pre-
vious thought by introducing another
move in touch with the idea Of educa-
ton. 1t is this: Why do we educate?
To become scholarly only? No. To
culture ourselves only? Not that. The
acquisition Of these things alone af-
fOrds pleasure, but few there are who
to-day cling to the old doctrine Of
getting pleasure out Of everything for
pleasures sake. Our idea of educa-
ton must be broader than that. Educa-
ton must comprehend utility in the
highest degree-a thing diffusible. The
blossom caunot tell what becomes Of
its OdOr; and no man can tell what be-
comes of his influence and example
that roll away from him and go beyond
his ken. A liberal education frees
men from bigheadiness. It makes him
humble-that is, enables him to know
what he is and what he may be. Wis
dom and pride belong to different
genera. a well balanced mind never
has been nor never will be, one of those
minima out of the eye and considera-
ton of the world; but instead a power,
that ever gathers unto itself momen-
tum to a resistless degree.
an the development of life four
cardinal principles are brought. to
bear: the influence Of the home, Of the
church, Of the school, and OF the state.
The home is founded on love; the
church, on religion; the school, on in
teIligence; the state, on justice. Upon
these corner stones what a society is
possiblel And while it is our part
directly to train the intellect, let Us so
mould the minds Of the girls and boys
that symmetry may abound, and the
coming generation be Well-orbed men
and women"