Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1903-01-13
TEACHERS OF STATE
MEET IN ANNUAL CONVEKTION
IN MIL WAUKEE.
Most Successful Session Wisconsin As
ISOLATION Has Ever Held-ls. A. Birge
Is New President Portion of Presi-
den: Mathie's Able Address.
Milwaukee correspondence

Milwaukee correspondence
The most successful convent The
Wisconsin Teachers Association hiss ever
held came TO a close Wednesday after
noon with the joint session with the Ma
tional Commercial Teachers Federation
at Plymouth Church Milwaukee, The
delegates and attendants upon tie CON
ventions expressed themselves as nnusu-
ally well pleased with the excellence of
the programs and the reception and en-
tertainment by the citizens Of Ailwau-
kee
Prof. Z. A. Bir=e WAS chosen presi-
dent. the features Of the convention be-
ing discussion Of football. Reuben
Post lIalleck of Louisville defended the
game. He saiG in part: Athletics is
rivalry. II develops just what yol must
meet in the outside life. Football leaches
the subordinat;ea Of the viii of eleven
boys to that of one. 1t is altruistic in
its nature. If a boy Is caught smoking
sigarets. the others tell him you're hurt
ing the whole team and the schools
chances for securing championship
Karl Mathie of Wausau, president of
the association, delivered the presidents
annual address at the Davidson Theater
on the subject, The Freedom Of the
Teacher In it he scored the school
book men and urged teachers aud princi-
pals to throw off that yoke He ssid in
part:
The fifty years that close with this
jubilee convention have given us all that
is distinctive in our modern school sys-
TEN. One thing after another has been
added or changed until revolution has
been wrought. And for what? That the
pupil might be free. free from unnatural
courses of study; barren text books and
arbitrary methods: unhealthful and ugly
surroundings; unwelcome sectarian in
struction, and cruel punishment, The
best schools of to-day are very near the
ideal iii securing freedom for the pupil.
The coming fifty years should bring a
larger freedom to the competent teach
Ell; freedom to serve the pupils highest
reeds ind to follow the truth, without
fear Of political interference, sectarian
bigotry, commercial insolence, early dis
lhiSsal or old age poverty.
Although the boards by no means seek
atheists for Instructors, nevertheless the
name 'f God has been cut out of the vo-
cabHlary of the teacher. The fact that
the FIRST syllable of Christmas is so often
spelled with an Y. or the Roman TO- is
emblematical Of the temper Of our time
that cares more for mathematics than for
manhood, more for finance than for faith,
more for speed than FOR spirituality!
"And yet knowledge as it is organized
to-day, under the maSterful touch of evo-
luton, is nothing if not a revelation of
deity. The thoughtful mind cannot rest
in the presence of the wisdom. order and
beauty revealed in the universe without
seeking that great first cause. And what
ever The true teacher sees that Is ennob-
ling he wants his pupils TO see. When
he shows them how the mountains were
brought forth or how the great flood
plains were spread out like garment,
he may feel that these tremendous forces
speak more clearly of Almighty power
than doth holy writ. But he is not per-
mitted to lay these foundations for
faith!'
At the Davidson Theatcr Wednesday
morning the association without discus
sion and with scarce dissenting vote
passed a set of resolutions presented by
President Halsey of the Oshkosh normal
school in favor of an "amcGorltion Of
spelling" An annual appropriation was
provided for with which to carry on the
work of a standing committee appointed
to work for this new movement which is
along the lines pursued by other State as
sociations.
Prof G. Y. Gillian made a somewhat
caustic address in which lie ayrGigned
II III
ment for the manner in which Institutes
have been conducted, and Superinten-
dent Harvey, upon being called upon by
the audience, made a telling reply to the
charges.
The report Of the committee. on the
exhibit for the st. Louis fair was APP
proved and adopted and Warden II. IL.
Jacobs reported on Child Labor in the
Factories" and resolutions were adopted
ndorsing the proposed legislation in re-
gard to compulsory education AID child
labor A. e. Winship Of Boston gave a
stirring address, which was received with
g9at appreciation and applause, cn Ed
ucational Standards in the Nineteenth
and Twentieth Centuries"
The committee oil resolutions recon-
mended action on compulsory education
laws, spelling amelioration, thanks to the
press for its information in regard to
teachers wages and asking further help
from the papers Of the State, approving
the plan to unity the program of the con-
.ention and thanking the citizens who
fave aided in making the session a sue
cess.
His Experience.