El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-07-15
By FREDERIC / aAsKIN

w WASHINGTON. D. C, July IS
Ma If the Carnegie Foundation
w for the Advancement of Teach
ing helps the cause of higher educa-
ton by giving its retirement paw TO
institutions rather than to men. and
thereby being able to insist that cer-
tain standards shall be maintained
the General Education board makes its
efforts to improve educational coudi-
tons as wide as the field OF education
itself. 1t starts with the elementary
school in the rural district, and comes
on up to the biggest university in the
land.
Like all the other philanthropies Of
Mr.. Rockefeller. II strives to make use
entirely of existing agencies and 10
encourage self help. When it an
nounces TO a certain college that it
Will give 100000 to its endowment
fund ii the college raises a like amount
the condition nearly always is met,
with the result that the college not
only has twice as much endowment as
a consequence of the offer, but has
developed a spirit of self help il never
had before. The board aims to do all
its work in the cause OF education in
such way that whenever the work
it is doing ceases, the community will
carry it forward.
Plans to Promote Farming.
Three general lines of activity are
pursued by the General Education
board, the first of which is the pro-
motion of practical farming in the
southern states. When II first began
its work it took up study of educa-
tional conditions in that section 1t
found that the training a child was
getting in the elementary schools had
little reference to any Development Of
its future efficiency as tiller of the
soil. 1t found that six of every seven
children of the south live in the ru-
raj districts, and that but very little
of the practical knowledge Of success
full frac q
millions of dollars by state and fed
eral agricultural departments, had fill
tered down to these people, and tbat
the farmers bulletins they occasional
" received were all but meaningless
10 them. The conclusion was that the
courses of study must be changed;
that a city school course in a country
school never made a successful farm
The problem to which the board ad-
dressed itself was one of training the
farmer so that after awhile he could
achieve his economic independence and
train the children that come after him.
It decided TO write the information in
the soil, and TO invite the farmers to
read il there, written in terms Of bet
ter crops, 6reater profits, and better
living-terms which could be easily
understood and terms full of human
appeal.
Sends Experts to Texas
At this juncture the board sent a
number of experts to Texas, where the
late Seaman y Knapp, OF the United
States department of agriculture. was
showing the people how to turn the
boil WeeVu from a curse into a bless
ing. and how TO grow better cotton
than before, in spite Of its presence
The result of the report of the experts
was a decision to ask the department
of agriculture to accept its own CO.
operation in esta bllshing demOnstra-
tiOn farms throughout the south, where
the people could see with their own
eyes and help with their own hands in
growing better crops A farmer might
be invited to let the demonstration take
his farm for a season and operate 1t
for him. in order 10 show him and
his neighbOrs Just what that partIcu-
lar farm could do Then a series Of
fields on different farms might be
just what results are possible. But
everywhere the principle is the same
showing the farmer on his own soil
what are the possibilities of good
farming. As rapidly as competent men
can be found to take charge of this
demonstration work 1t IS being eN-
tended, and the ultimate hope Is that
no farmer viii be outside of the zone
of influence Of this remarkable propa-
ganda. It is the belief of the board
that the result will be an era of in
creased wealth in the rural districts
of the south and the eventual ability
OF the southern rural community to
give to its children without outside
help the kind of education they need
Urges County High schools.
The second line Of endeavOr to which
the General Education board has ad-
dressed itself is the establishment Of
a system of county nigh ScnoOlS
throughout the south. This work is
being carried on in connection with
the state universities, and the al I'M is
to complete the educational chain IN
each state; providing adequate elemen-
tary schools which prepare pupils for
the high schools, and adequate nigh
schools which graduate their students
1T eli IN r5a Irsa
board has made appropriations for the
salaries and travelling expenses of
corps of travelling professors Of sec
OnGary education, whose duty ii is to
search of localities where high schools
ought to be established, and there to
lead in a campaign for the establish
ment of such schools. 1t is estimated
as a result of this movement that
more than 1000 high schools in the
south have been established and that
100000 for their construction and
equipment President Eliot, after trav-
cling through the south, has pro-
nounced it the most valuable piece of
constructive educational work now go
ing on in the United States.
The third line of endeavor in which
the board Is engaging Is that OF as
sistin.< Institutions of higher educa-
tiOn-CollCges and universities-tO ex-
tend and make more efficient the work
they are doing 1t does this almost
WlEllV through CnQoWQlenLS- A ScuOO4
which IS cesirCUs Of extending its in
fluence first decides how much money
it will need to carry out its purposes,
and then makes application TO the
board for help. The board thereupOn
investigates the educational and finan-
cial strength of the institution, de-
termines its Importance as a part of
the educational system Of the state
III which it is located, and If the school
measures up 10 the required standard,
help IS fOrtht oning, with the under
standing that il is not available until
the school itself has raised the re-
mainder. When the board gives money
TO a school it is given absolutely to
the trustees and not a single string
is re tanned to the gift The bard as
sumes no supervision or control what
ever ever the educational work in the
institutions which are the recipients Of
its b5unty.
More Funds Than Kings Ransom.
The funds of the General Educa ton
board are more than a kings ransom.
The first contribution was made by
Mr.. Rock feller in 1902, and amounted
to $1,000 600 In 1905 he increased it
by 10000, 900. Later he added to it
gift of more than $4,000, 900.
The remarkable success that has at
tended the efforts of the board to
make its activities yield a spirit Of
self help is shown by a few random
examples. In one year S1,7O2,5O0 was
given for specific purposes The bece-
-