The Dickinson press., 1908-06-06

in democracy and in the organization Of
the great northwest territory, appreciated
fully the prime importance of laying the
foundation of fourteen states broad and
deep. Here as early as 1855 the 10Th
section of every township was set apart
as a perpetual endowment for public
schools. This was a complete recoRni-
| ton of the close relation which was to
exist forever between the state and the
school. 1t is not necessary to dwell up
on these points. AS each new state has
taken her place in the sisterhood of
states, provision for education has been
one of the paramount issues under con
sideration. The public schools have been
and are today the bulwark of our
cherished institutions of government.
Here our boys and girls are not only
taught the rudiments of knowledge but
they have learned to love and cherish
American institutions; here has been
inculcated the ideals of American citi-
zenship; in short, the mission of the
public school during the past century
has been a political one, namely, that Of
training up American citizens, while we
may have to admit that there are some
things in American public life today that
are not altogether lovely still where is
there a government which has spelled
more completely opportunity" to its
people.
The masses of the people are ~intelli-
gent, the children of the hundreds of
thousands of foreign born have each year
found their way into our public schools
and have come out thoroughly American
lied and believers in and defenders of
American institutions. The public school
has fulfilled its mission in the past.
What is late the mission of the future.
In the past its mission has been entirely
concerned with the training of intelligent
citizens. In the future the mission Of
the public school must be economic as
we'll as political. The complex life of
the 10th century demands that we train
up men and women who understand not
only their rights and duties as citizen of
the republic but who are going to be
productive factors in the social econo
my of the state. A few days e there
assembled in the historic East Room of
the White House a conference second
only in its importance to that Of the con-
stitutional convention of 1887. These
men the wisest that our country afford
were there to devise ways and means for
conserving our natural resources. We
are a great and prosperous people yet
we have not yet learned that there is a
limit to those national esource with
which the Creator has endowed US. We
are appalled, to learn that we are rapidly
approaching that limit. What has this
to do with the future mission of the pub
lie school. Simply this, the public school
OF the future must train up men and
women as citizens yet along with that
knowledge Of citizenship must go a GER
tain economic skill which will enable us
to use our recources more wisely and
more economically, a knowledge which
will enable us to do away with the pre-
sent awful waste. to our natural endow-
ments. In short there must come into
our schools more of those things which
pertain to the practical every day affairs
of life. We cannot longer dwell in the
clouds.
For natural and industrial training for
both boys and girls in our graded schools
and elementary agriculture in our rural
schools must be recognized as essential
to the continued prosperity and neatness
OF our land and people. We have but
to look across the seas and see what
Germany is doing today to see what the
results OF education upon the economic
HE oId natlOn, Germany is not LaCng
the exhaustion of her natural resources
because they have taught the skillful and
economical use of such resources in their
schools: Boys and girls alike know the
value Of hard training, of skill in indus
trial life, they know that the permanent
prosperity of a people. depends upon
the knowledge and skill of its workers.
The American school of the future
rn,1cf ror0roi1o roovo and mara that fc
mission is economic as we'll as political.