The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-12-19

Hundreds Of young Danish farmers III this brief time have been so awaken ed and aroused that the whole cur rent of their lives has been changed. They have not perhaps stored up vast amount of information, but they have learned the value of Knowledge and have been taught now to learn from books and men.
 As in the first folk high school at Rodding, the teaching of patriotism continues to have an important place in these schools. The study of the history and literature of Denmark contributes especially to this end The singing of folk and patriotic songs is also a very important part of each day'S program.
 In the morning before the regular work of the day begins, the students assemble for prayer and song. At the beginning of each lecture hour a, song is sung, the teacher leading. In the evening also, when the regular work of the day is done, it is not uncommon for teachers and students to spend an hour in singing.
 The patriotic teaching of the high schools is not of the sentimental or boaStfuI kind. The patriotism of be- ing true and noble Danes and of living lives of service in times of peace is emphasized more than the patriotism of serving the country in times oF war. The men most frequently com mt em orated by portraits, tablets and statutes in the high schools are men who have rendered service to the peo- pie in social and economic improve ment and moral reform.
 Cooperation in Education.
 The folk high scho1s have not been established by the government but are the result of private initiative sup ported by a strong popular desire for education. Some of them owned and 11x1 1~ nj by high school societies. These have been aided by gift and loans from the people of the communities in which the schools are located. They there fore represent the cooperative effort of the people to provide for them selves the kind of education they need. They are inspected by the government, however, and when they come up to certain requirements are recognized by the State department of education and receive small annual grants from the national treasury. Deserving stu dents who are not able to bear. their own expenses while attending g. high school may receive assistance from a fund appropriated by the government for that purpose. The maximum amount of assistance allowed to a stu dent is 25 kroner ($6-75) per month. Students pay 35 kroner ($9.45) per month in winter and 32 kroner ($S.64 per month in summer for tuition, board, and lodging. The accommoda- tions provided are plain but comfort able.
 The influence of the folk high schools upon the life of the people of rural Denmark has been remarkable. Bjornsen spoke of the Danish peas antry as f'the most intelligent in the world This is generally accepted as true; and their enlightment is in no small measure the work. of the popu-A
 
 taught the Danish farmer to think and to apply science to the cu1tiva- tion of the soil. They have brought together numbers of young men from all parts of the country and have created among them spirit of mutual trust and confidence. The influence of those schools reaches practically all the people of rural Denmark. Each autumn meetings are conducted by m ost of the high schools that continue for three four days and are at tended by hundreds of people from the neighboring farms and villages.
 Everywhere in Danish education, as in agriculture, there is the closest CO., operation. In this cooperative move ment for education among the rural population many of the cities and towns unite. In Copenhagen, for in stance, there is society that aTranges excursions from the country to the capital for educational purposes. The excursionists are conducted by mem bers of the society to the great muse urns, art galleries, botanical gardens, and other institutions of the city, where lectures are given concerning these institutions and what they con tain. In the national theater at Cop enhagen plays are sometimes given especially for the country people. On such occasions a merely nominal ad- mission fee is charged.
 Turning Out Real Leaders.
 High school men play an important part in government affairs and in other fields of activity in Denmark. Five members of the present Danish cabinet are from the folk high schools the Prime Minister, the Minister of Education, the Minister of Agricul- ture, the Minister of the Interior, and the Traffic Minister. Four of these are farmers. Many members of the lower house of the Danish Parliament are also high school men. Of those who fill positions as superinfendents. | managers, and officials in the cooper ative agricultural societies and enter | prises 80 per cent. have been in the l folk high schools.
 The great work that the folk high l schools are doing for the people of rural Denmark can not be summed up | better than in the words of one of the 1 foremost of Danish high school prin- | c1pdlS. The mission or the IOik nlSn schools he said, 'is not to give the people a few facts of this science and l a, few facts of that science, so much 1 as to awaken the minds of it's pupils, l to arouse in them feeling of broth | erhood, to give them a, Knowledge of 1 themselves and of life, to help them l to realize their worth. We want our pupils to say when they leave, Now l I will go back to my work and more 1 clearly see the meaning of it and more deeply feel the dignity of it'.''