The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-09-02
WORK WITH PEOPLE
ORGANIZATION WHERE EDUCATION
 IS GIVEN TO THE MASSES.
East Side EMort to Cultivate Indiyfd- uaiism---Platform From Which Miilionaires Instruct
 ssorkinxmen.

l Mtffo98ffes instruct
 | "orkinxmen.
 i New York, Sept. 1.--(Special.) )-That much talked of institution. a National | University for the people seems to be in fair way of accomplishment in New i York.
 Acting on the advice of a famous stu tdent of social conditions. both here and l abroad. prominent persons are lending their wealth and influence and the la- boring classes their support to the movement looking toward It's reallza- ton. While this work has been going on for years it's final development is largely due to the following opinion of the above mentioned student.
 America" says he. furnishes the most unstable people, politically. in the world. In England a mans politics come to him at his birth. Once a con- servative. always a conservative. through not one but many generations. In Germany and many other countries the people are solidihed. Hence their | power. In this country they vacillate. No ono can tell from year to year how they may feel on any given question. Hence the supremacy of organized ma cEine politics. The very freedom of the | American voter Is his undoinE. He lacks organization"
 In this expression is found the key note of the movement now going on in thisfcity to change these conditions 1 Backed by philanthropists and restrict ed by the method of It's organization. this Utopian scheme is without politics or class Republicans and Democrats. rich and poor. mix in 1t on an equal footing and with equal voice. rail. road king may engage In joint discuf- sion with Q janitor. One of the main effects of the movement Is to educate the people in the duties of citizenship | n{xf d nlal<inL their influence felt in the management of their own affairs.
 Slowly but surely the way toward National education Is becoming plain and it is doubly significant that the so- luton is being worked out in New Iork City, where thousands eke out an ex- istenve scarcely to be called life, where ln summer the masses writhe under t intolerable heat that kills the babies by hundreds and in winter freeze ten or twelve to a room in the tenements. Through spirit of hrotherhood. through education and alert public conscience and the, creation of a stable machinery enabling the masses at all times to express the consensus of thought and feeling upon questions of public interest, an improvement in this Situation Is believed to be possible.
 This Is the belief of some b0,000 peo- ple living their lives in the very cradle of the social unrest, New York's East Side. That this Is 50 is largely due to the work of that peculiar organization known as the Peoples Institute Of New York, which in the nine years or us existence has grown from an experf n,ent to a recognized force both In the metropolis and throughout the State. The platform which outlines the note struck by the movement Is as follows "RcoRnizlng fraternity as the funda- mental social truth, Democracy as tne } highest known form of human govern ment. and National worth as depena' ent upon individual worth. the People'i institute seeks to promote. through ed. , ueation and the cooperation or gooo ynen of all conditions and occupations fine peaceful evolution of society pas ed upon the recognition Of the Inter dependence of man with man A.. The Institute does not expect 70 compass the evolution of society sua. denly and says so frankly to all wht } would enlist in the work. But thai if fla going ahead effectively Is attesteo by the fact that the audiences or tne people who have assembled so Tar thia season at Cooper union ano 1oa at 1,. l. ous clubs. total over 100000. The home of the Institute is in the 1eart of the great East Side. facing ttuy- yesant Park, and there and at Cooper Union and at various smaller ciuns' lectures are given which oner con 1 the movement In real sense peo- ple's university.
 Potentially it is the largest college in the world because it has the whole United states as 6 prospective neld :. Social science is very naturally iFe- quent topic in the lecture courses, put history literature and kindred sup iects which tend to round out the tn- telliEence of the people are By no means neglected.
 On any one of the four nights dur ing the week when meetings are held A visitor to these gatherings will be convinced of at least two cardinal potnts. the earnestness of the audi ences and the educational tenor of the addresses. He will realize that in tense personal interest alone is the motive which serves to draw great audiences night after night to hold the tollers year after year, because no hint of sensationalism or radlcahsm is ever heard.
 Here, too, the visitor may see for himself visible indication of what this work will be when 1t shall have grown to include the whole nation . This Is the Peoples Forum. So well that its denuncIations of any bad measures introduced in the Legislature | or its endorsement of one believed by the people to be beneficial carries a very considerable weight at Albany. and Governor Hughes Is upon record as desiring to hear from this mouth . piece of the plain citizen of the state whenever laws directing the public veal are proposed. He further said of the Institute not long ago In a letter to it's director and founder. T know of no more important work than you are doing"
 Through its alliance with organized labor, the social settlements, various civic bodies, the churches and colleges as well as that strata of society rep resented by the men of note who speak from the Institutes platform. 1t Is pos sible at any time to assemble an au- dience whose expressions of opinion are without possible exception those of the city at large. Best of all. the audiences have been trained and taught over a period of nine years and are able to act intelligently and con- servatively upon questions affecting the public generally. At the meetings which consider pending public issues the particular question involved as