Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1912-01-18

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| A>i ,an hardly be expected that all
a,hci~ win have sufficient initia-
ive 10 accomplish unaided satisfying
nsl'l's a this line of work, 1 believe
thai See ;ime viii come when a super
,is'r it a type not now contemplated
and employed will be neceSsitated
and welcomed by all farming com
ulunities. Our agricultural colleges
and experiment stations are too far
away from and too inaccessible, be-
cause Of the expense, to be of very
general help TO all our farmers. Only
the progressive few reap any adj
vantage from them We shall eyentu-
ally see the ACCESSIBILITY of carrying
by means of travelling experts the re-
suits of the experiment stations right
to the doors of all farmers.
The new type of supervisor, there
fore, which l have in view will be
one who, having a thorough practical
and theoretical training in all farm
ing activities, viii go into a neigh
borhood and settle down for a term
and, while making the schools the
principal center OF her activity, will
also be a general "mixer,' that Is,
Will stir around amongst the people.
preaching the gospel of better meth
DDS in farming and do such other mis-
siOnary and community work as is
demanded by the conditions and cir
eumStaneeS of each ease. l believe
that such an educator would be of
very great help in the improvement of
rural life and would fully justify any
additional expense incurred for such
/ services.
The great obstacle in the way of
attainment Of the highest success in
the rural schools especially is the IT.
regularity of attendance. This is
caused in part by the inclemency OF
the weather and bad condition of the
roads in winter; in part to the gem
eral scarcity of farm labor, necessi-
tating the keeping of the older
children at home to help during the
busy season; but unfortunately also,
to large extent, by the apparent in
Inference of so many parents to the
education of their children. 1t is not
easy TO devise remedies to meet these
conditions. | do not believe that
compulsory attendance law will prove
effective. Forty-two States of the
Union have passed such laws, but
| as the last census shows an attend
ance Of only 68 per cent. of all the
| schoolable children of the country, it
is evident that these laws have been
| largely dead letter 1t is easy to
: understand why. In a free demo
cracy like our, where everybody
claims and, in fact, has the right
to manage his own household as he
pleases, any law which infringeS upon
this right cannot be successfully en-
forced 1t would be futile, therefore,
in my opinion, to cucumber our stat
ute books with any such law, how
ever cunningly devised. l believe
that our only remedy will be found
| in moral suasion. ! am moved TO
this belief by an experiment tried in
| this county. I induced two Of our
teachers to try, by all means In their
| power. TO increase the attendance of
their pupils. This they endeavored
to do by making their schools more
attractive to their pupils in the way
of games and other amusements and
in visiting the homes Of chronic alb
sentees and impressing upon their
parents that the successful education
of their children depended upon their
regular attendance at school. A
marked improvement was noticeable
in these schools after time, and
this leads me to infer that, if such
plan were generally adopted, very
gratifying results would follow. OF
course, some incentive would have
TO be held out TO the teacher TO in
duce her to exert herself, and this
could easily be supplied in an IN
crease in salary, in case she sue
ceeded in holding in regular yearly at
tendance, say, so per cent. Of the
children Of school age in her neighbor-
hood. l am informed by a county
superintendent of North Carolina that
Is per cent. increase in salary has
proved a potent incentive to the teach
ers of that State in inducing them t.
work up the required percentage Of
attendance. Would it not be worth
while TO try some such plan in thi:
| State?
The plan Of having one principal fol
two schools at Brooklyn and Curtis
Bay has now been in operation tw'
!. years, and has been more than JUST
fed by the results attained and at tn,
J same time proves the very great utilit!
of close supervision. The principal i
a thorough-going schoolman of the bes
! type, active, watchful and ubiquitous
, He does not believe in educational fad
) and has no fne-spun theories to ex
! plot. He prefers to let others lead il
I scholastic ventures and follows onl.
when he sees that some substantial
advantage is to be gained by chang
g of methods. BY careful, persisten
: and untiring efforts he has succeede
=, oroa4,,c ao axoalIant nor-,S n