Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1913-01-17

nail In Australia, Tasmania, kansas anu
elsewhere some OF sne sevp pi1 been fonnd 70
i p pus ~ xreli most respectfully recommend
! tha enactment of similar legislation TOT
i wisconsin
THE INITIATIVE, REFENONDcAA 49,
M, v,ronosed initiative, referendum and
/ raraII amendmenrs To the Constitution are
! hafore You for final passage before SUD
mission to the Re99pe e them t6e are mo- oog
now In their present form they are,
Believe. the best resolutions upon these
| s sii narties are pledged to the constitu-
I tinnaf changes they propose. therefore
recomraesi that they be passed at this SEES
] sion without unnecessary deiay.
THE COUNTRY SCHOOL.
| Eanc,tion is one of the principal func.
| lions az government. That the people OF
| Wisconsin are not Indifferent to the claims
| It has upon them is strikingly shown by
| tba fact that more than half the expenses
! AZ the state is incurred on this account.
Tn 1910 there were 7S0,1S1 children Of
, school age in this state, nearly equally
| divided between city and country. VI
| Of age in the country twenty per cent at
| tended no school whatever while only
about two per cent absented themselves
| in the cities. This is but one fact out
of many that might be adduced to snow
that the country school is inferior TO the
more highly organized city edueatlonal sys-
tenn.
Since the adjournment of the last legls-
lature various committees and boards nave
been active in the Investigation OF L9IaI
school problems with the view 90. o. nn,,rsas
of study, yitalizing the instruction anu Sc
curing better results.
In November. 1911 the Board OF Pub
lie Affairs invited the Training Scno3a LOT oI
Public Service of the Bureau or Munclpal
Research of New York City to conducL an
investigation Of the country schools OF WIS VS.
consln IN response TO lnls nv Ststa this
investigation has been made ~ lnGluueu
a general examination of educat1ona1 con
ditions in twenty seven counties IN Wluely
separated portions OF the state and more
detailed examination of the facts concern
ing 131 schools in thirteen counties. Inc
phases of rural school life; fiscal, educa-
ttonal and sanitary. 1t is vigorous, un-
biased statement of the facts as the eX-
perts of the Training School saw them, III
clear, untechnical language. The recon-
mendations given at the end or the re-
port represent also the Judgment OF leao-
of the Board of Public Affairs. | most re-
spectfulIy recommend this report to your
careful study and consideration.
/ am personally well satisfied that no
greater service can be rendered the cause
of education in Wisconsin at the present
time than the establishment by law or the
county board system of school admlnlstra-
ton. This is the key to the whole PROB
lem-the point at which all effective re-
form must begin.
UNIVERSITY EXTENSION.
Among the educational institutions OF
America none more frequently calls Tor
who live outside our borders than the
University of Wisconsin. This preemin-
ence Of our University is due not 20 us
age, its size, nor the richness OF its en-
dowment, but principally to its willing
ness to serve all the people of the state.
especially those who have never been with
IN &c He dnnf cfrHn
The example of Wisconsin in organic
ing extension work upon broad and IN
elusive basis has already been followed py
more than 20 state universities and was
recently copied by number OF privately
endowed institutions, such as Columbia
and Harvard.
AGRICULTURAL COOPERATION.
The federal census of 1910 showed a
substantial increase in the total popula-
ton of the state. This increase however
was not uniform but was due largely to
gain in the population Of cities ana Towns,
population and others made but slight
gains. Nineteen counties, mostly devoted
to farming, declined in total population
and twenty nine in rural population. Mean
while the city of Kenosha, largely devoted
to manufacturing, doubled in numbers and
the city OF Milwaukee, the chief industrial
population than all the rural districts or
the state combined But the city-ward
drift of population is not confined to Wis
consin or any particular section of the
country 1t is nation wide and is due to
numerous and complex causes. Some OF
these represent social progress but others
indicate the existence of serious defects in
try life.
So far as 1t is within our power there
fore, steps should be taken to aid people
who live in the country to improve their
business methods, their systems of mar 4
keting and their credit facilities-ln short,
their general economic and social condi-
ton.
The legislature of 1911 took this matter
up in very commendable way. 1t crea-
ted the State Board of Public Affairs and
directed it to make an investigation of CO.
operation and marketing. This work has
been done. Among other things it covers
co operative buying and selling and CO.
operative credit.
Cooperative marketing is not new in
wisconsin Its history is part of the in
dustrial history Of the state With US y
has been group movement, not cen
tralized coordinate undertaking; and the
success or failure of each group has de-
pended almost entirely upon the initiative,
resourcefulness and business ability of the
members themselves.
COOPERATIVE RURAL CREDIT.
There is real need for agricultural CO.
operative credit. The farmer often finds
it difficult to secure a loan to tide over
the period between seed time and harvest,
to buy stock and machinery or to make
permanent improvements upon his land. 1t
is even more difficult for him to buy and
pay for farm. especially in the thickIy
settled sections of the state Indeed this
task is so hard as to discourage many and
drive them to other states where land is
cheaper or to other occupations where more
immediate If less substantial rewards are
offered for their labor.
At the present time the average farmer
is denied the credit advantages enjoyed by
the merchant or manufacturer, even though
he be equally honest, equally trustworthy
and equally able to meet his financial obli-
cations. His credit moreover is always an
individual matter. Until recently the col
lective credit of group of farmers had
not been thought of in America and even
now it is employed only to a limited extent
in one or two states. In Europe this prob
lem is solved by system of rural banks
Under the. auspices of the Southern Com
mercial Congress and the International In
stitute of Agriculture a delegation made up
of two representatives from each state in
the Union will so abroad in April of this
year to study the operation of rural banks
and cooperative agricultural credit societies
in Europe. Wisconsin has been invited to
send representatives. Believing as / do
that agricultural cooperation is one of the
big things of the future. too large and sig