The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1911-02-06
A PLEA FOR The
RURAL SCHOOL
WALTER l.. sTockWELL, Ex.
SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC
INSTRUCTION GAVE AN INTER
EsTINe LECTURE LAST NIGHT
AT THE GRAND THEATRE.

the subject Of an excellent address
that was delivered last night under
the auspices of the Grand theatre lee
ture course by Walter L. Stockwell.
superintendent Of public instruc-
ton of North Dakota.
Before the lecture the orchestra gave
a delightful concert that was much en-
Joyed. Doctor Bait of the A. c. intro.
duced the speaker and Mr. Stockwell
said in part:
i know of nothing that means so
much to the state as the question of
education. 1t is of vital Importance
10 the financial, moral and spiritual
welfare Of the entire state.
'Sixty-tive per cent OF all of the
people reside In the rural districts and
1t therefore follows that IS per cent Of
the children of the schools are from
the country. Therefore it is the duty
of the state to make the rural schools
as efficient as those of the city.
I'VE are told that Horace Greeley ha /
very limited education and that
Abraham Lincoln only had year of
schooling, yet we don't want to infer
from that that education is not neces-
had any education, yet we are told
that he COMPOUNDED the doctors and
scholars in the temple. He was in
spired and inspiration in teacher and
pupils is ans adjunct that is most use
full. l believe in inspiration and that
Christ was inspired and so were Gree
ly and Lincoln.
There does not seem TO be a time
when an efficient education was so
necessary as now. Times have chang
ed. We are prone to ideaIize too much
the little red schoolhouse, but I be-
lieve there was better work done there
twenty live or thirty years ago than
there is today. Then bright young
men, filled with inspiration and coming
from colleges were sent out to teach
the rural schools, so they could earn
money enough to finish their college
career. They worked because they
wanted to earn their money and they
working, inspired the children under
them to work. r.
''Times and conditions have changed,
for We have forged ahead in the past
twenty five years. Have made more
progress in that time than in any 100
years in the history Of the world.
There is greater demand now for
better and more efficient education
than ever before. The farmer has
taken hold of all the devices for his
work on the farm. Everything has
progressed, but to my mind the rural
school has not kept up with the times
Roosevelt created a country life
commission. He knew there was some
thing wrong with the country life.
don't believe the people of the country
are getting as much out of life as the
people of the city and there is a reason
for it. The county people are iso-
lated. Why, right in the Red river
valley the last census will show that
there are five counties whose popula-
ton have decreased outside of the
cities and Cass and Grand Forks are
two of them. We can have no endur-
ing prosperity unless we keep the peo-
PIE on the farms. We should have a
man and family on every quarter Sec
ton of land in the state and I be-
lieve the time will come when we viii
see family on every 100-acre tract.
1.-THE rural school has much to do
with the question, for I know scores
of parents who are leaving the farm
in order that their children may get
as good an education as the city chill
Gren. We must make the rural schools
as good as those Of the city. The city
of Fargo depends on Cass county and
the balance of the state for it's pros
perity, so that this city should be
greatly interested in the rural schools.
LET us see the needs of the rural
school. Let us look at the temporary
remedy and then at the solution of the
problem.
1--WE need school buildings that are
attractive and wholesome, with good
environments, for we are creatures OF
our environments. We need a longer
term. The law makes nine months for
the city school and six for the coun-
try We need better trained and bet
ter paid teachers. We want tho boys
and girls of the country to have just
as attractive schools as those of the
boys and girls of the city. We want
better supervision of the rural schools.
You pay a city superintendent $4,000
or $4,000 o year for looking after fifty
or so schools and he can visit them
at least one q week. But the country
schools are looked over by a man OF
WOHtdll WHO 4AdS go 6CItOUfS III CAdTES
and who can scarcely visit those
schools more than once or twice a
year. and cannot therefore do the work
properly"
Here the speaker paid a glowing
tribute to the agricultural college.
For temporary remedy we should
have O regulation for making uniform
schools and the buildings should he
reconstructed with view to their beau
/ ty and sanitation. There should be
county normal and agricultural
schools for the training Of teachers fol
| the rural schools.
1.-THE Office Of county superintendent
of schools should be taken away from
| politics and the person selected foI
this important position should be
chosen because OF his professional
ability rather than because of hi:
politics. Then we should adjust tbs
studies to the needs of the rural school
and the state should give more money
to the rural school.
1.-THE ultimate solution of the prob.
lem of the rural school can be found
in the central or high school idea fol
every township In the state. and Sc.
n,,~a <nV. x1v-;1aasrn1 Far NIarn crhnn1e