Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1912-11-29
NEW LAWS PLANNED
Educators Of State Are Formulating
Their Ideas For Use Of Lawmakers
SUGGEST TWEN1Y-THREE CHANGES
important Legislation Mainly Along
the Line Of Rural School Better.
rnent Will be Put Up to the
Next General Assembly.

LES MOlucS- ne mObl lHpOEt0ut
Of twenty-three recommendations for
school legislation in Iowa as adopted
| by the educational council Of the
4 State Teachers association at its re-
cent meeting in Des Moines are az
follows: Voluntary consolidation of
rural schools for q minimum area OF
sixteen sections.
Encouragement Of rural high
schools.
Every high school meeting require.
ment of the normal training course
to receive $500 annually from the
state.
| Establishment of four additional
pormal schools in next five years.
Fix salary Of superintendents at
not less than $1,000 and increase
term to four years.
Abolish office Of school superintend.
ent.
Abolish rural Independent district
9pnd establish township as unit or.
EEanization.
n Simpler methods Of handling school
money by reducing number Of funds.
Complete recodihcation Of school
laws.
improvement Of school boards to
/, contract with superintendent for
Eterms not to exceed three years.
n Part of the foregoing resolutions
Evil be incorporated into q bill which
Evil be presented at the meeting Of
the state legislature this winter. Up
! en a suggestion by Superintendent
Reno of Elkader. Professor Ensign Of
the State university moved for the
appointment Of q special legislative
i committee to work for the success Of
@the proposed measure. The motion
EEEas adopted. Members Of the com.
Snittee are to include well-known leg
#Dslators who are especially interested
"a the betterment Of Iowa schools.
iowa Indians Under Observation.
The State Historical Society Of
s[owa has become intensely interested
In the research work among the Mesk-
waki Indians at Tama, Ia, recently
I begun by DR.. Truman Nicholson,
! member Of the bureau of ethnology,
sNashington, D. c.
h An important discovery has been
&nade in the fact that the Meskwaki
Indians at Tama resemble in every
eeetail tribes Of Indians found in
Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and Wyom-
Ing, leading ethnologists to believe
Important results historically can be
obtained by tracing the division Of
the original group into these four
parts. No attempt has hitherto been
made to dig into the secrets which
the Indians folk lore and tradition
will reveal, DR.. Nicholson being one
pf the pioneers in the work at Tama.
His past months stay on the reserv-
alton has been fruitful of remarkable
discoveries. Indian women Of the
Meskwaki tribe speak differently than
the men. The braves never say my
nephew" as an instance. Rather
they leave such phrase to the
squaws and call the individual "the
son of my brother" Every verb In
the Meskwaki language has a thou.
sand lenses. Practically by exact
count DR.. Nicholson can vouch for
this. At every turn Of time these In
dams have different way Of saying
things in their language.
DR.. Nicholson expresses himself a.
distinctly dissatisfied with the trans.
lation Of the language of the Mesk-
wasi Indians as given by guides and
believes more correct Interpretation
Of the Meskwakies' folk lore will re-
zeal much of value to the Indian his
tory of the middle west.