Franklin's paper the statesman., 1912-06-22
STUDENT RULE
AT TUSKEGEE
Dignity Of Labor and Military
Discipline Prevail.
THE GREAT AIM OF THE SCHOOL,

Inside View Of the Government Of ths
Student Body Of an Institution In
Which Work 10 Nsvsr Prescribed IS
Punishment For Disebedienee.
How the System Works.
The series Of articles by Arthur NJ
Evans on the work of the Tuskegee
(Ala) institute which appeared in the
Chicago Record Herald last spring
were highly instructive. To persons
who are interested in helping the
school In a financial way the success
Of the Institution Is indeed gratifying.
Industry. as every one knows, is the
spirit of Tuskegee, and military disci-
pline is its system of government.
From the moment the rising whistle
blows at o'clock until the lights go
out at night every moment of the
time is occupied. Work is in the at
mosphere: industry is made a habit
the great aim of the school.
At Tuskegee refractory students are
punished. not by setting them at ex-
ira tasks. but by giving them no work
to do. The great idea of the institute
is to drill into the students the princi-
pie thnt labor Is a privilege: hence
work is never prescribed as a punish
ment, for that would be an inconsist-
ency.
Enforced idleness proves penalty
enough. and after less than a day of
lounging. misfit in busy communi-
ty. drone among the workers. the
disobedent student generally goes to
the commnndant and begs to be put to
work like the rest of his comrades
The discipline is admirable. Ever
since the opening of the school the
students have been on military sys-
tenn OF some sort. The first day the
student body assembled thirty years
ago it marched to chapel. and 1t has
been doing SO ever since.
1t is n sight never TO be forgotten to
see LOO students march into the
great dining hall at noon said to be
the largest dining room in the country.
and stand at attention until grace Is
sung
Then the silence is broken. chairs
are pulled out. and conversation starts
up with such n roar that the band is
kept playing in the balcony to drown
the noise. There IL nothing boisterous.
but 1.TOO voices engaged in simultane-
Gus talk make rather a cataract of
sound
Visitors rarely fail to comment upon
the table manners of the students. At
Tuskegee table manners are as much
n part OF the curriculum ns is work In
the shops or recitaiious In the class
rooms The man at the head of the ia
ble does the serving. assisted by a
student on each side The students
are served. and the rule of the school
Is that c1cb shall cat everything that
is placed upon his plate without pass
ing remarks upon the cooking. II. in
deed. such remarks could be made.
The food comes fresh from the insti-
tute farm raised by the students. cook
cd by the students, served by the stu
dents and eaten by the students. and
the variety of edibles placed on the ia
BILE serves as another object lesson of
the benefits derived from skillful labor
on the soil.
The student who goes out from Tus-
kegcc is so accustomed to an excellent
table that. II n farmer. he at once pre-
pares to raise all the vegetables in
their season. his farm becomes an OBJ
ject lesson for the surrounding COM
munity and gradually leads to higher
standard of living.