Arizona republican., 1904-04-25
The Woman Teacher.

Iney RIlOW what lHe NOilaii NCoShCi has done for the schools, and what the cause of education owes to her, and they cannot understand why she is not held in the same high regard in other lands.
 The Mosely commission, which came here from England to observe the schools of this country. devoted all of the past winter to a critical examina- ton of our school system in all it's de- tails. and has just made its report-a very favorable report. Cautiously enough, one of the few criticisms made is that we have too many women teachers. The commission pays a high tribute to the excellence of our schools and the great influence they exert in molding the national character, and it is pointed out that general education in the United States is having a pow erful and far-reaching influence" on industrial and commercial progress, and the commercial competition which is hedging Great Britain about is at- tributed largely to the high average of education in AmeriGa.
 Features which have struck the com- mission most favorably are the willing spirit animating both tea chers and pupils; the hearty manner in which they cooperate; the close connection tice; the attention paid to physical cul ture and sanitation; the important part which manual training is beginning to assume In the schools; the extent tC which the work of education Is organ lzed and its various grades co-ordin ated. and the liberally displayed by the public and by private donors in behalf of education. The intelligence and keen insight which enabled the commission to arrive at these just conclusions was to be expected from a commission of trained educators, friendly to the coun- try they were visiting, and it is extra ordinary that the same commission should have concluded that the gen. eral employment of womelS teachers is detriment to the schools.
 Nothing could better illustrate the conservatism of the Englishman. He Is ever slow to adopt new system. Englishmen have been educated by men teachers, and they are not pre- pared to believe that the cause of ed- ucation may with safety be left al- most exclusively in the hands of wo- men.
 The woman teacher needs no advo- the remarks made by the Rev. Anna Garlin Spencer before the Brooklyn in- stitute. 8 short time ago, before the report of the Mosely commission was made public Had that report been before her. Mrs. Spencer might have been more emphatic in her remarks.
 "As the soul of democracy" said she, stand the five hundred thousand wo- men teachers of America. We can put our finger on the soul of cur democ- racy. It is education. Democracy and the public school system have develop ed together. They cannot exist sep arately. There are these who say that immigration should be stopped. But I am sure that we shall receive more than We shall give to the immigrants if we are only able to do one thing. make the educational opportunities correspond to the need.
 "Right at this point-the danger point, the strategic point, the point of overwhelming importance in our na- tional life-stands that army of five hundred thousand women teachers, the largest body of public servants in America, with it's finger on the soul of democracy. AS its touch is true, It's aim high, its sympathies broad, in that proportion will the soul of democracy be found and developed
 Mrs. Spencer gave interesting statis- tics of the wClnen teachers in her re- view of 'tWoman's Contribution to Ed ucational Interests Of the males over ten in the United States, she said, 80 per cent were engaged in gainful occupations, while of the females over ten only g per cent were so engaged. Yet in the professional ranks men and women are nearly equal in numbers in America. This is because of this great army of five hundred thousand school teachers.
 There are three times as many wo- men teachers as men," said the lectur- CT, including all the schools for men alone, in which there are no women teachers. The disproportion of women fin this profession to all others proves the contention of both Emerson and Pestalozzi, that women are the natur- al teachers of the world.
 "All history bears out their claim. No matter what group of fife one investi- gates, in what epoch or country, he will find the women passing on the traditions and ideals of the race to the rising generation. Go with Americas 8 great woman ethnologist among the Indian tribes, and you will find the etiquette of the wigwam very different from that of the house, but it is just as tenacious, and the stranger, pro- tected by the sacred laws of hospital- ity. may sleep in perfect safety in the tent with a dozen Indians
 "The five hundred thousand women school teachers of America are only doing what would have been. busy at since the beginning of things. It is the same old occupation. only with the growth of democracy and cooperation l and the necessity of widespread public education she is doing it away from