The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-05
Women Writers of South Form a Permanent
 Organization
BIRMINGHAM WOMAN
 NAMED TREASURER
Editor of Mobile Register Speaks on Civic and Economic Advance
 ment-Equal Suffrage Discuss sion Enters Proceedings

Nashville. April 4.--walter H. Page of New York, St. Clair McKelway of Brook lyn and Warren H. Wilson, superintend- ent of the board of home missions of the Presbyterian church, were the speakers tonight at the second general session of the Conference for Education in the south
 Another great crowd made up chiefly of educators from all parts of the south greeted the speakers and listened eager ly to their suggestions for the betterment of rural conditions and the educational, social and religious opportunities of the farm people of moderate means.
 Mir. Page devoted most of his address munities and urged that the men who have no credit and are in a way a weight on each community should be organized into associations as they are In Europe and assisted by means of loans made to individuals on the credit of the entire group
 The conference on rural credits conduct ed for the last two days by David Lubn as a part of the approaching Southern Commercial congress was declared by MT. Page to be the most important event of the approaching congress and he com mended the plan to send a commission to Europe to investigate rural credits there and make recominendations as to the best means of adapting such systems to American conditions.
 Wilson Speaks
 Warren II Wilson described the conditions in farming districts through out tho United States as revealed by surveys made by his church ana de- clared that the poverty of farm ten ants and farm owners the lack of actual income in money among farmers must be cured before great improvement in social, educational and religious con ditions in the country districts Is ac- oompllshed.
 St. Clair McKelway discussed Teach irg Teachers to Teach." and commend ed the south on the ma gnificent man ner in which 1t has recovered from the losses 1t sustained in war
 The conference will close with an- other general session tomorrow night.
 Dr. John Lee Coulter of the national department of agriculture was the chief speaker today at the sub-confer- ence on agriculture and agricultural ed ucation Rural Industrial Education tion" was his subject and he was list ened to with much interest by a great gathering of educators and farmers.
 Bradford Knapp of tae national de- pa artment of agriculture spoke on "The Work and Some of It's Results"
 O. B. Martin, assistant in charge of demonstration club Wrrk for the na- tional department of agriculture spoke on the work of clubs for boys and girls formed by the department.
 The Middle Tennessee Educational asso- citation launched its session at the same time. The women writers of the south with six states represented met and or ganized for the advancement of education among the poor children of the south The executive committee of the educational had a miscellaneous pro- gramme to work over. Especial interest in this programme was the address of E. Craighead, editor of the Mobile Register, on "The Conference for Education to Civic and Economic Advancement" He spoke in part as follows:
 Civil War Conditions
 'srhe educational facilities were limited to the cities and towns chiefly The ab- sence of good roads made communication tba tcfr D1IlaI schools had small and intermittent pat ronage. Well to do people had their chl- dren taught in private schools or by tu- tors. or taught them at home, and then finished at northern colleges or universl- ties"
 The speaker then compared the past with the present conditions. pointing out striking emaples of great progress that has been made. He spoke of the south's rebuilding. saying that "has now develop ment equal to that of the north'
 The speaker, later referring to i'm said:
 may call it the era of educational. and industrial develop ment. It has been brought about partly by the changed conditions, the new spirit in the south, and partly by the economic movement, the immi grafton into the south. the land seekers having learned that there is really little ground to fear that the south Is no place for them to live in, or their children to be raised in. A point worth mentioning Is that the i'm migrants are for the most part not raw foreigners. without experience, but Americans who have tiled the soil in the west and know what they have to do to establish themselves in a new locality"
 Closing with a reference to govern ment in the south. MT. Craighead de- clared: Tn government there is ev- cry sign that the south--always hon est in its government--is learning more of what is the meaning of popular gov ernment as a people. the southerners are studying economies. They realize that they have considerable ground to cover and that to move quickly and they must make good use of their resources.
 Gibson Speaks
 Need of Industrial Education in the South" was the subject of Presi- dent C. B. Gibson of the Mechanics In- stitute, Rochester, N. Y. He spoke in part as follows;
 ",rhe south, with natural advantages vastly superior to those of other sec- tions, is awakening to the marvellous possibilities that lie in her fertile
 
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