The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-10-24

service for the teachers.
Charges that magazine attacks
upon schools of today IRE not
Just: that they are nero bits of
yellow journalism and destruc-
tive in their character.
i. President S. Henry Wolfe Of the
Z North Dakota Educational association
= made several important recommends
lions to the teachers in his annual
address delivered yesterday after
noon. and he also took occasion to
condemn In no uncertain terms, at
tacks which have been made from
time to time by certain magazines
against the American school system Of
today.
II cannot refrain from mentioning
something which has again been
prominently. in the lime light of pub
'hcity during the past two MONTHS
says President Wolfe. EVERY little
while some influential magazine
comes out in flaring headlines, is the
public school a failure and. proceeds
to portray with distorted statistics
and base innuendo, that the public
schools are q complete failure and
going to the damnition bow-wows at
..break-neck speed. .
when an otherwise reputable, mag
AsAA ASoA Wy VI AOaNOA y
all intelligent people. makes such a
savage attack upon the public schools
as one did in its three latest issues.
the time for a united protest against
the spread. Of such a distortion Of
facts ought to be taken up vigorously.
by every educator, every educational
magazine. every educational ~associa-
ton and every parent who believes In
the public school as the greatest in
ctif,finn nm <h~ fono no tho oortH for
the development Of noble character
and loyal citizenship.
Shall We stand idly by and see the
very bulwarks OF this nation malign-
ed, shattered to pieces. dragged into
the very dust by some disgruntled
and fossilized. self-styled critic. whose
sponsor is a great family magazine?
Shall we allow the public mind to be-
come p%rejudiced and poisoned by
reservations or shall we rise al a unit
ed organization and defend such I'M
warranted attacks with the cudgels OF
truth and of facts?.. If 1t is not our
business to resent these attacks whose
is It? All honor to those men like
DR.. Winship of Bottom who has al
ready a public lecture on the subject.
He says: =.
such SANDER Are the fathers se and
mothers in your city to read such
disparaging criticism with believing
eyes? Is the calumny to go unchal-
lenged?" All honor to that .virile
educational magazine in Illinois.
which gave a three-page editorial in
its September issue, exposing the mis-
statements and %fallacies of such yell
low Journalism We. who have beer
on the firing line for the last fifteen
or twenty years fully. realize that the
American public school like any other
human institution is not perfect by
any means. Neither Is any church,
lodge, society. political party nor any
organization whatsoever which is
made up of human beings. To. say
that the public schools have utterly
failed and are beyond redemption is
an easy thing to dc. Destructive
criticism is the result Of a mind out
Of harmony with environment. and
criticism is the result of broad. deep
and sympathetic study, and can not be
given by a~ntagonistic agencies but
only by those who can examine and
Judge without bias"
1.-THE Relation OF This Association
TO Forward Movements in Educa-
tion," is the general subject under
Thfch President WOlIe mace MS al
aress to the association.
=. He discusses the purpose of the as
ISOLATION briefly. showing that the
annual meetings. should he a place
where teachers can discuss teachers
problems, and where. they may be
neard regarding the matters concern
.tng both the teachers and the schools.
He also declares that the member
ship of tho association should be
much greater. pointing to the fact
that there are between 5000 and
1000 teachers in the state. with only
= about 1000 enrolled in the associa-
Ion. D.
Discussing the proposed code of
ethics. the teachers retirement fund,
and tenure of service. President Wolfe
gaid:
A Code of Ethics.
another matter In which the as
g~ociation ought to AXE the initiative
is the development of a code of ethics
!:or the public school teachers of this
state. This would be n of the most
important forward steps in the his
cory Of the association. The teachers
Of North Dakota will always lack
"esprit de corps" so long as we have
no professional ethics. no standards