Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1903-08-28
FRIDAY, AUGUST %, 1903.

In a few days the public schools Of
the city will open, and it is important
that every child be in a tendance every
day he is not hindered by sickness or
a like excuse The time is past in
the r osressive west when it is
necessary to discuss the necessity of
educating che rising generation. Such
things might be expected in the moss
back south where children are taught
that blue blood and corn bread aris-
tocracy count more than brains. But
in a progressive community where the
individual and not the family, is the
gist Of success or failure, the educa-
tion Of the young is of first import
ance. This being true, the public
schools should be made to yield the
greatest good for this purpose. The
teachers should be held to a strict ac-
countability of their stewardship.
Laziness, indifferences to their work,
and time killing should be considered
sufficiently grave offenses to give the
one guilty of either, a Russian leave.
But if on the other hand, the teacher
is earnest, ind ustrious, sincere and
progressive, a developer of brain
power, and not a parrot. making
crank, he should receive the most
loyal support. The errors of the head
should be overlooked, and nothing
done in criticism that will for a
moment injure his usefulness. It
should be remembered that he is
human and may err, but if his mo-
tives and purposes are good, he should
be above criticism. But the work Of
the teacher must be a failure unless
he has the earnest cooperation and
assistance Of the parents. Competent
teachers arrange their work that each
days lesson is a mere foundation
upon which the next is built. Prop
'r courses of study are arranged on
a similar plan The child has n
idea developed today, and tomorrow
another n is developed, based upon
that of today. If one link in the
cham is lost the child is not able to
grasp that which follows. The re-
suit is, that he founders mentally, the
subject becomes gloomy, and his power
of srasping it is weakened. This is
the reason why teachers are insistent
upon p~unctuality. 1t is not for the
sake of the record, as so many people
suppose, but for the beneit of the
child. The earnest teacher is con-
fronted with two serious propositions
when an absent pupil returns. One
lis to permit the child to suffer the
consequences as we have stated, or de.
lay an entire class of progressive stu
dents while the blanks in the absent
pupils work are filed. Both cause
endless trouble, but parents never
trace the trouble to the source.
Tarainess is another evil very much
like absence. The teacher is en-
deavoring to secure that discipline of
the mind so essential in after life, of
concentration. The pupils have been
quietly put to the morning tasks and
each little mind is bent to the work.
acquiring not only the information
from the book, but better still the
mental power of applying the
thoughts to the subject. when a
tardy pupil enters, and the work Of
mental application is lost in the
annoyance. The mind has become
weakened instead of strengthened.
When the child is older he will be
less able to apply his mind to the
matter before him than he would
have been had he not been annoyed
and the mind development destroyed.
The Nicarauguan canal route is
again being discussed as a possible
way out of the position into which
this government has been forced nv