New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-04-27
THE CITY AND THE CHILD.
PROBLEMS FOR SCHOOLS.
Pupil Must Study Municipal Prob
lens. Say Educators at Conference.

At the National Municipal League conference III
the lecture hall of the League for Political 1duca-
ton No % West ATHEIST, yesterday Superintendent
Maxwell delivered address on The School ana
Citizenship"
DR.. Maxwell said in part:
No city has an ideal school system; New-York has
not Philadelphia has not. other cities nave noI.
shall be concentrated seems not 10 be settled. IN
New-lork our system so FAR as rs t6a
applies, is good If we have good Mayor; II tmJ
Mayor is not desirable, his influence IN me sehooi
No municipal subject under discussion. whi>h
many opinions exist and which remains unsettled,
10 me the duty of the teacher in elementary or
high schools should be- so far as municipal affairs
are concerned, to encourage the child 10 De clOse
Much still can be done through the legislature
The nevvsboy law, for Instance, providing that no
child under ten years old can sell papers ana that
a license badge, is an illustration OF a bad law.
legislation applying to the NeW-York city schools
The law placed the duty Of enforcement and sH-
school officials have no authoAty.
The report Of the Committee instruction
showed that the present time little instruction
IS given IN municipal government, but that there
is strong interest in the subject. Continuing. it
said:
aims Of the school city some p0sVe s anI
which should broaden the thought of the pupils as
10 social needs. force them TO exercise their JudB
ments and train them to form Some business hab
its in carrying out such a plan
Coordination of Instruction in Municipal Gov
eminent. in Colleges and Universities was the
title OF a paper read by Professor l. S. Rowe. Of
the University Of Pennsylvania, and read by Pro
fessor John A Fairlee Of the University of Michi-
gan, members OF committee appointed last yea
in Chicago to promote the coordination advocated
by Professor Rose The paper was in the nature OF
a report of the work Of the committee and Of its
plans for the future The committee decided TO Sc
lect for the topic of inquiry during the college year
1866 The Relation Of the Municipality to the
Gas and Electric Light Service" This viii lhcluue
a studv Of both municipal and private ownership
Harry A Garfield professor of politics at Prince
ton University read his paper on work
Among College Men" Professor Garfield SAID
that men. young or old. called 10 puOhc me
were officially in Office TO execute not 10 create'
they were there TO carry out public opinion lie
ai6 this thought applied to the legislature and the
judiciary as well TO municipal officers Ihere
was a creative epoch in the country $ carry MS
tory followed by period of development ouI tiie
nresent was a time when government was what
the whole people and not individuals made H. POI
itics was a trade he said, Of politicians ana the
hobby of theorists. There a middle ground
for the sound theories which college men. by equip
ment and training, qualified to deal with.
In her paper on "Woman's Work Tor MUNICIPAL
Progress" Miss Margaret L. Chanler. president OF
the Woman's Municipal League Of New York City
said:
The nippant sentence Politics IS unfit for gen
tlemen leaves little therein for ladies'; put
fortunately we live when the best men in the com
munity have decided TO make politics nj Tor their
| presence, and many of them see no quicker way
! toward achieving this end than by accepting the
! help of every able, dsinterested ana puDhc spr-
tied woman.
President Charles J. Bonaparte in his address at
the City Club in the evening said, in part
How to obtain good government in our American
municipalities Is not purely local problem. The
greatest, may say almost the one great STUN
bling block in the path Of municipal reform is the
corruption politics. and this corruption Is the
fruit Of causes in wise peculiar 70 any one city
even all cities. in the Union. To have a good
city government in democratic republic we must
first Of all and before all else, have good citzens
and without them good State government and good
national government become ends of desire and
effort less disappointing and elusive than in the
most ring-ruled the most bOss-rdden of our great
municipalities.
How far any government shall assume functions
not inherent sovereignty is essentially question
of expediency. 1t would be hard TO find any very
good reason why the United States should monopo-
lie the business of sending messages by post when
would justify similar monopoly as to messages
by telegraph and, in fact, in most European coun-
tries the State takes charge OF this business as 1t
does of the other.