Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1903-01-21
AN ABLE PAPER
Read by Mrs. B. D. BiIlinghurst at Meeting of the Federation of
 WOman's Clubs.

s A Strong and Logical Plea fol
 Manual Training in the Pub f lie Schools.
 Of all the institutions of our coun l try, none has so firm hold upon ou I affections as the common schools; fo
 in some near or far relation eacl
 home is connected with it. It repre- S sents the youth of our land; the citi 7 zenship of tomorrow, and the propel f training of each of these millions O l pupils, reflects sooner or later in . general uplifting of society. In or 7 der to insure the perpetuity of tn, 9 republic and its free institutions, W, must have an intelligent citizenship
 This condition the public school. ? have helped to bring about and will e yet have a greater share in the future ; Granted that they have their critics
 that attacks are made upon them as tC this or that particular method in use, F if our ''mock aristocracy" speak of them in patronizing and conde- scending manner, yet in spite oi
 its faults-for it surely has some and every alert educator is seek ing a solution for these defects,
 or substitute which shall keep that
 which issgood and do away with that which is undesirable-yet any assault upon the general utility and need of
 such system, would bring forth a
 greater storm of indignation than any other question before the American
 people.
 Ideas as to what constitutes an edu-
 cation are radically different from
 those maintained thirty or even
 twenty years ago. Formerly great stress was laid upon the languages and
 mathematics, and great reverence
 shown to the college bred man or
 woman. But of late years people care
 less for what we know and more for
 what we can do. Indeed education is
 the power to do things, and that edu-
 cation is best which best trains and
 its the child for the conditions which
 may confront him. Gradually from
 the classical idea, necessary to an old
 time education, the standard has ad-
 vanced first by scientific subjects pushing themselves forward, and then
 the useful arts, until now the leading
 universities in the land, d,-Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Ann Arbor, etc. re
 quire only English, and grant but the
 one degree, A. B., no matter which course has been pursued. Recogni- tion is given in many universities for
 actual training in business relations.
 and such training is considered as an
 equivalent for book lore. This same spirit is felt in our public school sys-
 tenn. We are not satisfied to put our children through ten or twelve years
 of mere book knowledge, but we feel
 the need of preparing them to be able in some measure to meet the responsi- bilities of life when thrown upon their own resources. In speaking of the educational needs of the terri tory, 1t is not to be assumed that our territorial needs are very different from those of the states. Our schools are not in deplorable condition, and we would not lose sight of the good | foundation already laid by our prede- 1 cessors. On the contrary in most re- | spects the educational matters have | been well looked after, and we have a | substantial and sensible school law. | It has established common schools | all over its area wherever eight chil- 1 dren- can be gotten together. We | have two excellent normals, and one | territorial university which receives | equal recognition with other of the | smaller state universities.
 The laws of the territory invite | we'll trained teachers by recognition | of diplomas, and hence the qualifica- tions of the teaching profession in | the territory is above the average of | most of the eastern states. They also | have been among the first to recog- nize the value of kindergarten train ing, and have made provision for the establishment and maintenance of | such schools wherever the will of the people so dictate.
 Let it be understood. in speaking of our educational needs. we refer as well to the great educational move ments throughout the country. as to our own territorial needs. With this understanding, this paper will discuss four great movements about which, in the opinion of the writer, educa- tional activities are directed.
 So much has been written and said upon the subjects of music and na- ture study as necessary and impor- tant, and they have met with such a degree of success wherever they have been introduced, that it seems use less to put forth any arguments in their behalf.
 The first of these four movements that l shall mention, is the need of better and more effective compulsory laws. The per cent of iI- literates in this country varies from one in five hundred in some favored sections, to as much as one in three in some localities in the south. A writer in the Worlds Work recently says, that illiteracy in the south is as great now as it was in 1850. or in other words that the white man is as today as fifty years ago.
 l am aware that laws in reference to compulsory school attendance have always excited more or less hostility. In such states as have maintained laws the attendance of children. the number of months attendance during the school year has rarely ex- ceeded three. It occurs to the writer that there is very great waste when We maintain school eight, nine, and ten months in a. year and require children to attend but three months. The Arizona compulsory law is : about as good as most of the state laws, and about as bad (
 Starting right is so much easier I than reforming, that as our territory 1 is yet in its infancy, so to speak, it | seems an opportune time to bring be- ( lore the women of the various clubs Or discussion and thought. the plan c 90 successfully carried out in some l parts of the middle states. that of I of school districts.-my [ second point for discussion. It is through the medium of the clubs of I he country that very much may be C in the way of missionary e york. l saw striking sentence a few d lays ago,-"The purely literary club n s fast becoming a thing of the past. md philanthrophy and usefulness in \ Hub lines taking its place. Not U or ourselves but for others'' is a Il nottO for several clubs and might we'll U ,e for the general movement And a O We look to the women to push for yard and call to the attention of our e Dusy men many of the good things a hat are surely coming. e
 Fifteen years ago rural mail delivery b 'ould have been pronounced as wis f,