The Vinita daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1902-1913, 1909-12-30

Guthrie, Okla, Dec. 3O.-That the
world In all it's history cannot show
a parallel to the work done In Okla
homa since statehood in organizing
schools and building school houses
was the declaration OF State Superin-
tendent e. d. Cameron, in his address
as president to the Oklahoma state
teachers convention at Oklahoma
City last night. The constitutional
convention he said divided Oklahoma
territory into "a counties and the In
dian territory into Al counties.
'The forty-one new counties not
only had no public schools, but they
had never had any and We're In a
primitive condition. There was not
an Incorporated town where a free
public school had been organized for
more than nine years. There We're
some Indian schools and few Of
these schools were run for whites. We
have laid all these counties into dis
tricts; large districts, so that In most
of them we will not have to consoli,
date, but can run full high school
course in the one district There are
1900 school districts in the forty-one
counties and the county superintend-
ent's reports show that we have built
more than $500 school houses since
statehood. the most convenient and
costly rural school houses in the Unit
ed States. We have built in the old
counties of the state about $40 county
school houses since statehood. This
makes between $500 and 1900 coun-
try school houses that we have built
In Oklahoma since statehood, costing
from 81 500 to $780, 900 each.
"Our time is too limited to tell you
Of the high school and other school
buildings built in cities of the first
class Many of these are the most
modern and up to date buildings in
the United States, There is now a
school house IN reach of every child
of every color in the state. We have
a scholastic population Of a little
more than 100000 and we have en-
rolled in our schools more than S00,-
600 boys and girls. We have done this
in two years. There are states in the
Union more than hundred years old
that are not up with us
Superintendent Cameron reviewed
also the state institutions, declaring
that II state educational institutions
had been provided for in the two
years; normal schools at Durant, Tah-
lequah and Ada; school for the blind
at Fort Gibson; for the deaf at Sui
phur; reform school in Garvin coun-
ty: industrial institute and college for
girls at Chickasha; school for feeble
minded at Enid orphans home at
Pryor Creek; school Of mines at VIII
burton; university preparatory at
Claremore, negro school for blind,
deaf and orphans at Taft, and dis
triot agricultural schools at Warner,
Tishomingo, Goodwell. Helena. Law
ton and Broken Arrow. In addition,
nearly an alf million dollars is be-
ing expended for new buildings at the
A. & NJ. college at Saltwater. the uni
versity at Norman, the normal at
Weatherford and the colored A. & NJ.
college at Langston.
Superintendent Cameron continued;
There is just one gap left. One tre-
mendously important gap that must
be filed, and that is the gap between
the rural district schools and the state
schools. This gap must be filed with
the rural high school Fully three
fourths of the population of the state
live in the country Our country peo-
pie are entitled to just as good facil-
tiles for their children as the people
in the cities. They are entitled to a
high school to which they can send
their children from home. There is
nothing on this earth that can take
the place of home and mother for the
average boy and girl and it is pre-