The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-02-24
Conference for Education WEI tssl
 Meet in Memphis April @

lina A large Attendance of the Super intendents is expected. and their meet ing will prove one Of the most impor-' tant of the session. At recent meet inSs held in connection with the Con- ference. the State Superintendent of Virginia has been formally represented. and the State Superintendents of Edu- cation of North Carolina, South Caro- lima. Georgia. Florida. Alabama, Mississippi. Louisiana, Kentucky, Ar kansas. Tennessee and Texas have been present In person Their reports from are always an Inspiring revelation or the actual educational progress of the Southern States.
 Another important provision included in, the plans for the Conference of this year is an arrangement for speciai meetings of the various State delega- tions- There will be an Alabama Meeting.". e. .sosfEh Carolina Meeting etc. the afternoon of Thursday, the 2Srd, being set aside for this purpose. A chairman for each of these state meetings win be 'aIiriounced upon the. program in advance of the Conference, and special committee room will be assigned to the use. of the representa- lives of each State.
 Representatives will be in attendance at the Conference from the, Woman's Interstate Association for the Better ment of Public Schools, and from the Southern Association of College Women The work of the women of the south in the various departments of educational activity will have an i'm portant place in the program.
 Further details concerning the pro- gram. the titles of the addresses and the names of the speakers will soon be ready for announcement.
 A rate of a fare and one-third for the round trip has been granted for the territory covered by the Southeast, ern Passenger Association. Other ar- rangements as to reduced rates will possibly be announced later. The Con- ference will open here in the Lyceum Theatte on the evening of Wednesday, April 22.. and will continue through the evening of Friday, April 24th. 'The Conference," said one of it's representatives In Memphis today, "ex- fists to quicken and arouse popular in- terest in the whole cause of public edu- cation.
 That. expressed in a single sentence, is the purpose of these annual gather fngs. There are two respects how ever. in which the Conference differs l slightly from some Of, our other educa- tional meetings In the first place, it's | personnel is not limited to one sec tfon. While. fully four-f fifths of it's membership are from the Southern States. and while all of it's officials with one exception--are Southern men. the membership of the Conference is
 not sectional but national. This is so
 because the Southern members have always desired it to be so. They have
 Invited, and still invite the counsel I and cooperation of distnterested, pub 1 lic-spirited friends from every quarter of the country. The Conference passes I no binding resolutions. has nothing to l do with politics, leaves local questions absolutely in the hands of local com munities and deals with public educa-
 tion--as q subject of patriotic interest | to every citizen of our country.
 The Conference, however is no solemn segregation of problem solvers. It Is forum for the generous inter- change of suggestions; and in the cor
 oiaI transactions of such an inter change the South has something to 1 give as we'll as something to gain It Is well for us all to profit by the experience of other sections, to learn whenever their conditions run mar
 allel with our own--from their failures and their successes. And it is also well for our friends of the North and West 70 witness the vigorous, development of our Southern communities, to gain with their own eyes a clearer view of our conditions. and to learn of the educa- | tional progress of our, Southern Stafaa
 As Mir. Hamilton Mable has beautffuIIv l expressed 1t, I never come to ona of these conferences that do not xo away feeling less like Northerner and more like an Americana -le VI There ts-another respect in which
 the personnel of the Conferenca. djffars from that of the usual educational i meeting. It is not limited to educators. 1 A business man---Mr Robert c. Ogden of New York, is it's President. It's l membership is made up of men and wo-
 men in every department of activity.
 Lawyers. physicians, Journalists, mer.
 chants are as conspicuous in its coun-
 sells as are our professional 3teachers
 and our educational officials.
 Public education is thus regarded
 as one of the fundamental interests of citizenship The private schools are
 doing work of incalcuIable value
 but it is upon the public school, espe-
 cially through the rural South, that the
 masses of our people must very largely depend for their educational ,opportun-
 tiles. Our chief interest, therefore, is
 the quickening of enthusiasm in be.
 half of our rural schools.
 i Much enthusiasm has already been
 aroused. But if this enthusiasm is to
 be maintained without danger of. reac-
 ton, 1t must be wisely guided to
 practical results. The creation of non-
 ular sentiment is important, but it is equally important that this sentiment shall steadily gain in intelligence and
 efficiency. a,rs
 "The Conference should not be con-
 fused with either the Southern Educa-
 tion Board or the General Education
 Board. With the General Education Board the Conference has no connec-
 tion, either organic or financial. /
 With the Southern Education Board
 there is much closer association, al-
 though the two organizations are quite
 distinct. The Southern Board was
 originally created by action of the
 Conference. and 1t still has the same
 presiding officer, but the organizations
 are not identical. Inasmuch. however.
 as the Board attempts to give execu-
 tive efficiency through the Conference.
 the organizations are in this sense in
 sympathetic alliance."
 The members of the Southern Educa- | tion Board are: President, Mir. Robert
 c. Ogden. New York City; Vice. -Presi-
 dent and Treasurer, MT. George Foster
 Peabody. native of Georgia, now a 1 resident of Brooklyn, New York: Sec
 retary, Mir. Edgar Gardner Murphy of
 Montgomery, Ala: Associate Secretary,
 pr. G. S. Dickerman, New Haven, | Conn.,: Chairman of the Campaign
 Committee. Prof. P. P. Claxton of the
 University of Tennessee, Knoxville; - l pr. Wallace Buttrick. of New York
 Mir. H H Hanna, President of the At.
 las Engine Works, Indianapolis. Ind.
 Dr. Edwin A. Alderman, President Sof
 tho University of Virginia. Chariottes-
 vi1le. Va: Dr. Walter H. Page. a na.
 tive of North Carolina, Editor of "The