The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-12-09

plication in the practice life of the day. Furthermore, industrial work for girls has become necessity as well as man. ual work for boys It is fully as es- sential that girls in our public schools be trained In the household arts of cooking and sewing as it is that they receive a training in many academic lines of work If our American com munities are to maintain the industrial importance which they have always held it Is certain that boys must be i trained in such forms of hand-work as will give them a beginning in man. ual pursuits. The study of drawing and art, useful as these studies are for many practical purposes, must receive an important place in the school currl- culum.
 Public schools are great democrat izing agency. There is probably no institution in our community life to- day in which the democratic spirit is so dominant as it Is in the public schools. There are at present about 2l, ,0oO children in our schools represent ing a great variety of nationality, creed sect and social condition. These children meet in school on a common ' level In the main, social distinctions are absent. Such distinctions as exist are due to differences in temperament and ability among the children them selves. Those who are capable, ikea ble, unselfsh and public-spiried, as- sume natural leadership amonk their mates. When social distinctions exist, as they sometimes do. these distlnc- l tions have their origin In the home and not in the school. These children as- sociate with one another in their daily work and daily sports day after day throughout the year, and they learn to understand and to appreciate one an- other for qualities which they possess, rather than from the home conditions from which they come. In saying that the public schools are democratic of course do not mean that they aim to make all children equal in ability and achievement. This would be con- trary to natural laws. The same diff ferences of disposition and ability which are always found among men and women are found also in school and cannot be avoided, What the schools try to do is to receive all chill dren on an equal plane, to give them all equal opportunity, to stimulate them all to do their best, and to aid all in honest endeavor Of course the result is that some fall by the wayside and others meet with marked success This, however, is but the inevitable hu- man experience. In the long run, al though there are notable exceptions people receive their just deserts. Men and women take their places in life as naturally as water seeks it's level The public school aids and stimulates the earnest and ambitious; it cannot pre- vent the failure of those who do not work.
 The public schools are also an im7 portant specializing agency. By this, I mean that by their daily intercourse with one another, in their work and in their play, children learn to live in harmony with one another; they learn to subordinate selfish desires; they be- come a part of their room organiza- ton; they become interested in class room projects; they share in one an. others desires and ambitions. In thi. way children become fitted for their part in community life when they pas! from the school out into the world. l The school is eominb to be regarded