The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-04-23
Educational Gathering At Men- phis Takes Up Important
 Subjects
GENERAL LUKE WRIGHT
 MAKES FORCIBLE ADDRESS
President Robert C. Ogden, Although Enfeebled by Illness, Speaks of the Pleasure In Taking Part In
 Plans To UpIift Children,

Memphis. Tenn, April 22.-The feature 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 President Robert C. Ogden of New York; Cheers and handclapping continued several minutes when he arose to speak The fact that he was too i'll to attend at Pinehurst. N. C., last spring. and the further fact that he came this year almost over tie protest of his physicians. served to draw out all the affeetionate regard in which he is held by the men and women who make up the movement. There was an immense crowd in the l Lyceum theatre when the exercises were begun in an address of welcome to Ten
 nessee by Gen. Luke E. Wright. former ambassador to Japan. l The delegates present represented the l north, east and south and were pretty 1 evenly divided between men and women. | General Wright was particularly pleas
 ing in his talk, and the dominant tone
 was for a general uplift of the educaton-
 al spirit and school advantages
 The greetings of the city were pre-
 sented by Mayor J. H. Malone and Chief Justice J. M. Hill brought a word of | welcome from Arkansas. | J. B. Aswell, superintendent of eduea- | ton of Louisiana, spoke on County Su- l pervision.'
 President Ogden appears to be strong
 for a man to have been so seriously Ill
 as he was and appeared mere than ever l oti ,rff I,a b.
 to aid by his counsel, his presence and
 his money the cause of educatiens at tue
 south.
 General Wrights Speech.
 General Wright spoke cordially of the
 work of the conference and expressed
 appreciation of the presence of the mem-
 .jers.
 When visitor enters the home of d Spanish gentleman" he said "he greets
 him with the statement, This is your 1 house..
 T beg to assure you that you are in l the house of your friends" continued l the former ambassador.
 | One of the striking features of the | conference, said the speaker, was that | it's membership is not bounded by sec 1 tional lines but composed of earnest. 1 patriotic men and women from both the | north and the south, who ars moved by l the same unselfsh and patriotic purpose. | Southerners, he believed, will derive much l practical knowledge from northerners 1 and northerners become better acquainted 1 with southern problems closer observa- l tion.
 General Wright referred to the trials l of those who sought to establish popu- 1 lar government, which was but to build ' upon shifting sands "unle-s the people | were both educated and imbued with d Df fnct ftttffn lad | mind that as result the common school l had become universal. He, urged sup port of the schools as a means of off,
 setting social evils, conditions arising 1 from eXcesses that have grow,i up with prosperity and the building of a citizen ship broad enough to meet the ever changing complexities that progress | forces upon country.
 "Grave problems" he said, 'whiel
 fundamentally affect our political, eco- homie and social life are thus being | pressed upon us and if they are to be
 correctly solved. it must be through the | intelligent educated judgment of our peo- ! ple To this end our most thoughtful l people are looking toward the better 1 training of teachers and a system of
 normal schools which will give all an equal opportunity to secure such training 1 at the smallest cost"
 This feeling is dominant in Tennessee, he said the demand being that the teach CT should not only be equipped for the
 work but decently paid iDr 1t, in this is l recognition that education Is a virile force for uplifting and advancing civili-
 zaton.'
 Presidents Address.
 The hopes. aims and purposes of the conference were outlined in the annual address of President ogden, who spoke 1 tenderly of the associations of the mem
 bers He expressed the hope that tie present session, like those of the past.
 would develop a large dynamic force that l will radiate to all the states and com l munities.
 1 "The conference devotes itself more to 1 spirit than form he said, that thus l may be created the public opinion that | will become mandatory upon the body | politic for school improvements. By this l we mean school terms everywhere pro- 1 longed to the proper full school year, the l introduction of all approved school meth ! ods and taxation to support the resulting
 progressive plans But we look beyond these conditions to the creation of a pub lie opinion so interested and so alert as to form an intelligent educational public conscience, as will see to it that the schools everywhere are maintained upon a continually rising and ever forward
 movement.
 President Ogden dwelt particularly upon the duty of the whole people to give the widest opportunity to the child, fitting the growing generations for grappling with ; the complex problems constantly being presented for solution He explained that the organization does not concern itself 10 any great extent with professional meth ods but appeals to men and women of every grade on behalf of the school. Duties of the Future. Looking to the duties of the future and appealing for conditions to meet them, the speaker continued:
 Science money, literature, the fine arts. the mechanic arts. the growth of population with all the possibilities of | thought and of action that they create. | with their effects upon mental, spiritual | and material things. will evolve questions. | numerous and startling, that will confront CONTINUED ON PAGE S.)