The news & observer., 1905-08-13
By j. Y. JOINER.

Every great thing is a growth. Most
great things are slow growths. Only
through long slow years by the united
efforts of the many, each silently
working at his separate task are the
mightiest things for mankind wrought
out in the history of the world.
great educational system of
great state, adequate and adapted to
the best education of all the children
of all the people, is necessarily SLOW
growth 1t must grow from within
and not from without. 1t can not be
successfully engrafted 1t must grow
out of the life of the people and be
part of the life OF the people. Ihe
people of every state and of every
community must, therefore. in large
measure, work out their own educa-
tional salvation with fear and trem-
bling In doing this there must be
cooperative effort between school and
home and church,, the teacher and
parent and citizen and taxpayer and
State and county and local officers.
The only help that is serViceahle TO
any people in working out such
problem is that which stimulates sell
effort and encourages and helps them
to help themselves. Since the days
Yancey there have not been lacking
at any time in North Carolina earnest
souls who were consecratedly working
at this task of building up a system
of public schools adequate to the edu-
cational needs of all the children of
all the people. With the passing years
the number of such earnest souls has
been multiplying and under their in
spring touch and shaping hands the
hnc cln lU Gro
taking deeper and deeper root in the
heart and life of the people. During
the past four years. however, there has
been notable progress in public edu-
cation. 1t should be understood in the
outset that this progress cannot be as
cribed to any one man or to any one
set of men. 1t has been rendered
possibly only by the combined efforts
of all the men that have wrought
through all the years. 1t is in truth
only the happy resultant of
all the efforts of ali the educational
forces of the past and the present.
In February, 1902, there was held
in our capital city of Raleigh no
table meeting known as the Confer
ence of Educators. In this gathering
were leading representatives of every
class of educational institutions in
North Carolina. 1t marked an epoch
in the educational progress of the
state. During the preceding political
campaign the chief question at issue
was intelligence as qualification for
suffrage. Such an issue necessarily
made the campaign largely cam
paign for education and the popular
heart was stirred perhaps as
never before upon the i'm
portance and the necessity of
educating the people. great man,
who had the wisdom and the patriot
ism TO see and to declare that the
education of all the people was the
greatest need of the State, had been
chosen as the candidate of one OF the
great political parties for the high Of
flee Of Governor. He was elected by
an overwhelming majority and made
education the chief object of his ad-
ministration. upholding splendidly the
hands, of the man the people had call
ed to the leadership of the education
al forces of the State and cooperating
with all the power of his great Office
his great heart and his great mind
with every proper effort for the ad-
Vancement of every proper sort of ed
ucation i'm North Carolina The condi-
tions were, therefore favorable and the
time was ripe for a great educational
impulse and forward movement and