The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1904-12-28

supplanted by one to lay the matter on
the table, and this was carried.
All this followed an elaborate paper
read by the president on "The Civic Duty
of School Superintendent, Principals
and Teachers He seemed, however, to
have lost his own civic duty chart in the
gale Of debate, for the stormers carried
him hither and thither, and he seemed
greatly relieved when the table was made
haven of rest for the resolution. Then
he was able to take up the peaceful pro-
gramme as it had been properly printed,
and the rest of the session was in the
doldrums.
The auditorium contained nearly 200
teachers when President Cook called the
convention to order at o'clock yesterday
afternoon
The exercises began with vocal solo
Il Know That My Redeemer Liveth,"
by Miss Caroline Barber Biddle of this
city. The Rev. DR.. John D. Fox, of
State Street M. E. Church offered
prayer after which Professor James NJ.
Green, principal of the State schools,
welcomed the teachers He said:
Teachers of New Jersey, | welcome
you to this school which may well be
regarded as the alma mater of the pro-
fession in our state, including in its in
terests not simply teachers who have
graduated from it, but all who are en-
gagged inth ew ork. The school in its
history is practically contemporaneou
with the State Teachers association, and
came into existence largely through the
efforts of this association.
'sThis Is to be conference of the
teachers with a view to discovering not
only the elements of success in the work
they have already done, but in the prob
able conditions of success in the work
they yet shall do.
IF we glance over the pages of his
tory we discover that the teachers who
have been counted great are those who
have been not simply faithful but also
industrious and ingenious. Such men
as Froebel, Pestallozi, Spencer, Horace
Mann, Barnhardt, were men who contrib
uted to the real advancement of the age
in which they lived, men who by this
contribution placed the world under OBJ
legation to them and were largely in
strumental in lifting our profession to
the place of resePeet it~now enjoys.
''If we are to be successful we must
take our suggestions from these names.
We must know the subject SO that we
in our knowledge are in advance of
those who are to be instructed by us.
We must learn to bring from our knowl-
edge that which is most useful for pupils
who are placed under our care, and must
learn to bring it within their interests.
MAY success be your purpose here
and increased strength in all lines of in
telligence be the result of this conven-
ton"
The response was by ]. J. Unger, su-
perintendent of schools at Vineland, who
stated that it was the aim anl purpose
of the association to lift the profession to
the highest point and the make the re-
finement fund greater and stronger than
eever
President Cook then read his address
on .sThe Civic Duties of School Superin-
tendents, Principals and Teachers" He
made strong plea for individual inyes-
tigation of public affairs by teachers, aud
held that the theory or idea that teach
ers should form negative quantity in
ILL Pbi taiite7 PuOiiS oPAAlohS ~ SAAoASVu95
as a negative quantity never produces
lasting results in the directing of the
activities of young men and women.
William H. Eldridge of Williamstown,
chairman, submitted report of the COM
mittee on resume.
Miss Stella Bell Eccles rendered as a
violin solo nocturne by Chopin.
DR.. Thomas Ballet, dean of the
School of Pedagogy, New York Univer-
sity, delivered an address on Fifty
Years of Progress in the Science of Edu-
cation" DR.. Ballet compared the edu
cational advantages of a half century
ago with those of today, and showed
wherein it was so essential to have the
best of instructors if this country would
continue to be a leading power of the
world.
John Telhune, superintendent of
schools Of Bergen county, gave an adj
dress on "The Reading Habit" He
said reading was the greatest educator