Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1913-01-17

i ~
! mail In Australia. Tasmania, Kansas and
elsewhere some of these plans have been
work well / most respectfully recommend
| the enactment OF similar legislation for
/ Wisconsin.
THE INITIATIVE. REFENUNDUM AND
RECALL.
The proposed initiative, referendum and
i recall amendments 70 the Constitution are
before you for final passage before sub
/ mission to the people for their approval
| new. In their present form they are, (
| believe, the best resolutions upon these
All parties are pledged to the constitu-
1 tional changes they propose / therefore
recommea.i that they be passed at this SEES
sion without unnecessary delay.
THE COUNTRY SCHOOL.
Education is one of the principal func-
/ tons of government. That the people GA
| Wisconsin are not indifferent to the claims
it has upon them is strikingly shown by
the fact that more than half the expenses
i of the state is incurred on this account.
| In 1910 there were 7S0,1S1 children of
j school age in this state, nearly equally
/ divided between city and country. Of
those between seven and fourteen years
/ 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 zone fact out
OF many That might be adduced to show
that me country school is inferior to the
/ tenn.
Since the adjournment of the last legis-
iature various committees and boards have
been active in the Investigation of rural
| school problems with the view of making
recommendations for enrichirg the courses
OF study, yItallztng the instruction and Sc
curing better results
In November 1911, the Board of Pub
| lie Affairs invited the Training School for
Public Service of the Bureau of Municipal
research OF New York City to conduct an
investigation of the country schools of Wis
consln. In response to this invitation and
&C a very trifing expense to the state this
investigation has been made. 1t included
a general examination of educational con-
ditions in twenty seven counties in widely
separated portions of the state and more
detailed examination of the facts concern
ing 131 schools in thirteen counties The
| report presents a vivid pietude of all
tlonal and sanitary 1t is vigorous, I'M
biased statement of the facts as the ex-
| perts of the Training School saw them, in
clear, untechnical language. The recon-
mendations given at the end of the re-
port represent also the judgment of lead
ing Wisconsin educators and the members
specially 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 OF the
county board system of school administra-
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
the unstinted praise of thoughtful men
who live outside our borders than the
| University of Wisconsin. This proclaim
ence OF our University is due not to its
| dowment, but principally to its willing
ness to serve all the people of the state,
especially those who have never been with
The example of Wisconsin in organic
/ ing extension work upon a broad and in
elusive basis has already been followed by
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 a
gain in the population of cities and towns
Many country districts actually lost in
population and others made but slight
gains. Nineteen counties, mostly devoted
4 to farming, declined in total population
| and twenty mine in rural population. Mean
while the city of Kenosha, largely devoted
the city Of Milwaukee, the chief industrial
center of wisconsin, increased more in
population than all the rural districts of
the state combined. But the city
| drift of population is not confined to Wis
| consin or any particular section OF the
country. 1t is NATIONWIDE and is due to
these represent social progress but others
indicate the existence of serious defects in
the economic and social conditions OF coun-
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
keting and their credit facilities-in short,
their general economic and social condi-
ton.
The legislature of 1911 took this matter
M In q vprv CON dah
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
cooperative 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 it
has been az group movement not GEN.
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
Il 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 a farm, especially in the thickly
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
i the merchant or manufacturer, even though
he be equally honest, equally trustworthy
, and equally able to meet his financial obi
cations. His credit moreover is always an
: individual matter. Until recently the col
lective credit of a group of farmers had
: not been thought of in America. and even
Ya0E ia laUn nrl IN a limit
: in one or two states. In Europe this prob
! lem is solved by system of rural banks.
Under the auspices of the Southern Com
mereial Congress and the International In
stitute of Agriculture delegation made IN
of two representatives, from each state in
the Union will go abroad in April of this
year to study the operation of rural banks
e and cooperative agricultural credit societies
D in Europe. Wisconsin has been invited to