The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-02-12


 Board of Control have demonstrated that | it is thoroughly competent to attend to | interests of the Boys Industrial Farm" | Mrs Craighead stated that as a member of the Board of Directors and also of the Legislative Committee, she had herself | accepted the suggestion of the committee | as embodying the friendliest of compacts l between the Federation and it's favorite child but was entirely willing to have | this matter left to the Federation. Mrs. | Haroaway explained that she had in- | ferl ed, as had Mrs. Morrissette that this | was an expre ssion of interest that would l be agreeable to Mrs. Johnston, the Pres I ident of the Board. It was with drawn by the chairman. The third | section as to women on school boards elicited most interesting | and animated discussion. Mrs. Morrissette being appealed to as she, while on the Legislative Committee, is chairman of the Education Committee. stated that In two | States of the Union, according to the lat est report of Commissioner of Education, two women are State Superintendents. twelve large cities have women as City 1 Superintendents and 2S4 counties have | women as Superintendents. and in eleven States that may hold any school oft1ce; | that the Hon. J. w. Abercrombie had fre- | ouently expressed himself as in favor of | women as County Superintendents and members of School Boards, and our pres ent Superintendent, Hon. l. W. Hill. his | successor, seemed not averse to the idea, As to the law she could not say. It was not definite, and she had been jokingly l told in reply to some of her enquiries, | finding the text of the law indefinite. that "a woman could run for the office" l Miss Tutwiler was appealed to and stated l that she, in past endeavors to get at | certitude on this point, had asked the | Attorney General and he had assured her l that he did not himself know if they were | eligible, and that she knew there was l in some counties a provision that indi- l cated women were not expected as It dis- qualified those ''who fought duels" Miss TutwIler stated that she had applied for appointment once, offering to devote the salary to the rural schools, but-well- she asked the Federation to guess the reply. AS they declined the conundrum, she had to inform them the reply was | silence. She had never heard a word | from that day to this.
 l "When the motion was made to adopt the resolution relative to women working as members of County Boards of Educa-
 ton, 1t was seconded by Mrs. K. M. | Jarvis of Selma. This lady said, that
 she seconded the motion for two reasons,
 
 l Dallas County, as ia: as she knew, was the first and only county, that up to date had ever placed a lady on its edu- | cational board second, that she. herself
 was the woman who was thus honored,
 and that during her one years connec- ton with that board, she was impressed | with the fact that woman could be Of
 immeasurable value to the county boards
 She found that a womans power and l E,A- 1n& tIa AA a 0 aN for timd, retiring young women teach ing in the rural districts to bring their
 trouHes and aspirations to a woman. and
 to get encouragement and inspiration from her and advice as to the best way of introducing improvements into their | meager surroundings.
 Mrs. Jarvis spoke feelingly of the ap- l preciation many of these young women had expressed by word and by letter. of
 the fact that they could confer with | woman who by her natural instincts | knows the wants of child nature in
 far greater degree than any man can | be he ever so cultured and ever so broad
 minded.
 It was decided finally to postpone &C.,
 ton on this section until some of the | committees could confer with the Educa-
 ton Department of the State and learn It's interpretation of the status of women
 in this field.
 The fourth clause. as to adjustment of
 teachers salaries, Mrs. Morrissette ex- plained, had been suggested by the re-
 quest from many county superintendents, | according to report of MT. Gunnels ex- State Superintendent. This was adopted after revising by inserting the word cer- | tificate to define distinctly that 1t is the
 proficiency of the teacher which is to
 be rewarded for, as Mrs. McConaughy
 brought out very clearly, 1t is very poor
 policy for a system of public education
 not to reward merit and skill.
 The endorsement of State bounty to
 Montevallo was heartily endorsed, as was
 the suggestion that industrial education
 is to be provided as early as possible for
 the children of Alabama.
 | On the child labor clause there was
 unanimity of opinion. and Mrs. Orr called
 for a rising vote of thanks to the Gen.
 tral Committee, of which Mr. Murphy is chairman and MT. Marks is treasurer
 Over the last clause there was earnest
 animated discussion. shared by the pur-
 poseful women of the convention. and all
 the opinions and sentiments expressed proved that while their Ideas might diff
 fer there was one aim guiding each and alto elevate the public school system | of Alabama.
 Mrs. Cabanss of Birmingham objected | to asking too many favors of the Legis-
 lature, and thought 1t discredited the
 Federation and weakened its strength to do so.
 greater importance could be presented.
 Mrs. Cory of Auburn, Mrs. Owen, Mrs. Craig of Selma. Mrs. Duggar of Auburn | all advanced the idea that conservatism and caution were necessary in dealing l with such grave questions, and great care
 was needed not to be wearisome with ap-
 peals to the Legislature.
 Mrs. Morrissette, when Mrs. Orr sug- gested that she might, on the Education | Committee, have investigated the sub
 jeet, said that she had very carefully
 prepared for The Advertiser a summary | of County Superintendency laws in all the States which went to show that Ala
 barna is almost alone in her lack of such
 a law; that the Hon. Gregory Smith and B. F. Graham chairmen respectively of Judiciary and Education Committees of the Constitutional Convention of 1901, had in reply to the enquiries of her committee said that the convention in declining to Incorporate these measures in the new Constitution were guided by expediency, and reflected them not because they were
 not good laws but because the delegates could not jeopardize the ratification of the Constitution by burdening 1t with unpopular measures. but that the LeKisla- ture would have no such obstacles to the enactment of these laws.'A They had
 been presented by Mrs. W. F. Johnston. chairman at that time of the Education Committe of the Federation.