The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-04-23
A CONFERENCE FOR EDUCATION Memphis Welcomes the
 Guests. MANY DELEGATES PRESENT Gen. Luke Wright and MT. Ogden
 Make Addresses. Pre.ise.t snd His Party Are Greeted With Cheers and Handclapping when They Battered the
 Theatre.

 ture of the opening session tonight of the eleventh Conference for education in the South. was the cordial reception on the part of the members of Presl- dent Robert c. ogden's party of New York. Cheers and handclapping con- tinued several minutes when he arose to speak.
 The fact that he was too i'll to at tend at Ptnehurst, N. C.. last spring, and the further fact that he came this year almost over the protest of his physicians. served to draw out all the affectionate regard In which he Is held by the men and women who make up the movement.
 There was an immense crowd in the Lyceum Theatre when the exercises were begun in an address of welcome to Tennessee by General Luke E. Wright. former Ambassador to Japan.
 The delegates present represented the North, East and South and were pretty evenly divided between men and women.
 General wrishts welcome.
 General Wright was particularly pleasing in his talk and the dominant tone was for general uplift of the educational spirit and school advan- tages.
 General Wright spoke cordially of the work of the conference and ex- pressed appreciation of the presence of the members.
 When a visitor enters the home of a Spanish gentleman" said General Wright The greets him with the state ment: This is, your house. beg to assure you that you are in the house of your friends"
 One of the striking features of the conference to the speaker was that It's membership is not bounded by section al lines. but composed of earnest, pat riotac men and women from both the North and the South, who are moved by the same unselhsh and patriotic purpose.
 Southerners. he believed, win derive much practical knowledge from North ernsrs and Northerners become better acquainted witaa Southern probleine by closer obseev&fzous s<s4
 General Wright referred to the trials of those who sought to establish pop- uIar government, which was ito build upon the shifting sands unless the people were both educated and imbued with "a love of our institutions" and called to mind that as a result of the common school had become universal.
 He urged support of the schools as e means of affecting social evils con- ditions that have grown up with pros perity4 and the building of citizen ship broad enough to meet the ever- changing complexities that progress forces upon country.
 Grave problems" he said, which fundamentally effect our political eco- homie and social life. are thus being pressed upon us and If they are to be correctly solved 1t must be through the Intelligent. educated Judgment of our people. To. this end our most thought ful people are looking towards the bet ter training of teachers and a system of normal schools which will give all an equal opportunity to secure such 4raininR. | the smallest cost"
 This feeling is dominant in Tennes- see, he said, the demand being that the teacher should not only be sduip- ped for the work but decently paid for 1t. in this recognizing that education Is a virile force for uplifting and ad- vancing civilization"
 hTe greetings of the city were pre- sented, by Mayor J. P. Malone and Chief Justice J NJ. Hill brought a word of welcome from Arkansas.
 J. B. Asweil. Superintendent of Edu- cation of Louisiana, spoke on County Supervision"
 President Ogden speaks.
 President ogden appears to be strong for a man to have been so seriously i'll as he was and appeared more than ever aire with the spirit he has so long shown to aid by his counsel. his presence and his money the cause of education in the South.
 Mir. ogden spoke as follows:
 'aThe office of President of the Con- ference for Education in the South is Certain things of a very prosaic sort must be said on each occasion when the Conference presents itself in new To- cality. to audiences largely composed of people not already conversant with its ideals and methods. These things challenge the patience of such as have listened to them on previous occasions. And now another brief trial awaits them as I repeat again the old story.
 This Conference Is very easy or ganism to join. All that Is necessary ister as a delegate. It is very poor organization has no endowment, no fixed income, is always in need of money and is usually cared for by be- 1t falls into a financial pit This com dftion reveals a state of things that decidedly needs consideration and re-
 "The Southern Education Board was called into existence by the Confs-- ence at the Salem Winston meeting seven years since. It also Is impecun- ious with no money to give to any institutions, its purpose is the mainten- ance of campaign. through the infiu ence of committees. women's clubs, betterment of public schools and more especially rural public schools.
 "The Conference and the Board are so much a unit in their purpose that to define the line that marks a sepa- ration would be impossible. But the common purpose embodies an idea so large, an effort so great. that the sim pie little words by which it is de- Scribed seem quite unequal to the pur- s@rhis statement will. hope, dispose of the demands such as made in for mer years by persons coming with good causes and great hopes under the de- fusion that this Conference Is a center for fnoney' and its officers the happy aImoners of largess from overdowing "Personal associations exist with the General Education Board but no orr Tanic unity or community of interest. Inv nersons desiring to pursue this Inquiry further are respectfully re- ferredf to the Report of the Tenth Conference which met at Pinshurst, N. C.. one year since. In that volume is A careful historical study of the South ern Education Board. prepared by It's Executive Secretary.
 iaThe conVening of the Eleventh Con- ference fur Education in the South