The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1911-09-19

want to give you these figures and
want you to think upon them. J want
You to 80 into the matter a little and
see whether Oregon is any better than
| Minnesota, or as good In Minnesota,
/ in 1909 we had $4,000 boys and girls
in our schools, and with that 1875 900
in the schools, less than one-third OF
the states tillable soil was under cul-
/ tivation. Onethird of Minnesota's en-
tire population lives in three cities. =
In Minnesota i'm 1909 were were spend
ing fourteen millions of dollars TO |
educate these $4,000 school children,
and less than 1900 OF them were at
tending the agricultural schools and |
colleges. In other words, Minnesota
today is educating 1915 per cent of
the coming generation to be consum.
ers, and four-tenths of / per cent to !
be producers. Is it any wonder that
the boy from the farm drifts into the
city? There is nothing in the country
schools to interest him
What They Did in Minnesota.
Now what is the result of this M
vestigation we have made in Mime
sofa, and what is the message I am
going to bring to you today? Simply!
this: That we have been endeavoring
in Minnesota, through the Bankers
Association to improve the education
al facilities along the lines we have
mentioned for the country boy and
- the girl; and if conditions are similar
in Oregon, this is the organization to
do the work. You know that l per-
sonally don't take any stock in boost
= ing organizatiOns-fello that just
- boiler and don't do anything of real
. vital importance. To do anything of
real vital importance we have got to
- begin down at the root of it, and the
u, root of this whole matter is the chill
dren. 1t is going to be long job and
~ nobody but the long-headed conserva-
tive banker will have the patience to
. stick to the job.
The legislature OF Minnesota met
:, last January. The month before the
. Legislature met l called a meeting of
q the principal educators of the state,
81, some of the head men of the legisla-
- ture, one of the principals of an agri-
70 cultural high school in Minnesota, and
the legislative committee of the Bank.
!, ers' Association. This educational
= committee that l speak of spent d
~, whole day in the directors room going
~, over that question of what laws could
-, be passed to better the educational
= facilities in Minnesota and make them
- more practical; ana we found this
a that the average country school, the
70 one-room school house, with it's lily
D., paid teachers, is one of the things
~ that has to be remeded. We had 4
or bill drawn, which was passed by the
~, Legislature and which does away witt
~, the one-room school and puts a four
40 room school in its place. In thai
ri school agriculture is placed on the cur
90 riculum Two years ago in Mime
RI sofa under the Putnam Act we hat
of established ten agricultural higI
ri, schools. Now we have got grea
10 agricultural college in Minnesota. We
oil had to bring education a little neare
nd the boys and girls on the farm, ant
no as an experiment we put ten agrl
nj cultural high schools in operation, TO
nd which we secured $4,000 a year stat,
lpiH And In no in
be cultural state of Minnesota we coulC
not find teachers enough to man thes
ten schools? We have drifted that ia
~, from the land; and not only that, bu
~. we had to go to Iowa, Illinois, In
~ diana, Wisconsin, North and Sout
.ra Dakota and Nebraska before we go
in enough competent teachers to ma
ira those ten agricultural high schools, i
inf an agricultural state.
do Thirty Agricultural High Schools.
arc l noticed in rather large head line
,ia in the Portland Oregonian yesterda
mo- that twenty-seven had graduated frol
We the farm course at your agriculture
o. college. A wonderful piece of news
itb Twenty-seven in an agricultural en-
ann pire such as Oregon! Just what of il
,on Aren't you just about equally wrong
i+b that as Minnesota? | want you
oot think about that. With millions upo
is millions of acres of agricultural lane
ber in this state and nobody on them, an
no you had this year but twenty-seve
suI graduates? When you look at Il
of growth of Portland and other cities
ing this country you will begin to thir
ess something is wrong with this sectiC
If of the country the same as in Mimi
sofa. do not want to tire you, gent
mo men. When l get started on this que
ian ton it is pretty hard to stop, and
his want to read to you from a letter I