The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1913-01-16

mail. in Austraiin. tasmania kansps ant
| elsewhere some of these plans have be- n
put In operation and have been found b,
| work well 1 most respectfully recommend
the enactment of similar legislation fol
| Wisconsin.
THE INITIATIVE. REFENUNDUM AMI
RECALL.
The proposed Initiative referendum and
! recall amendments to the Constitution are
/ before you for final passage before sub
| mission to the people for their approval
| The ideas embodied In them are no longer
new In their present form they are,
| believe. the best resolutions upon these
| subjects adopted BY any state legislature.
| All parties are pledged to the constitu-
| recommend 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 of
| Wisconsin are not Indifferent To the claims
| ii has upon them is strikingly shown by
| the fact that more than half the expenses
OF the state is incurred on this account.
| In 1910 there were 7S0,lS1 children of
school age In this state nearly equally
| divided between city and country, or
those between seven and fourteen years
| of age in the country twenty per cent at.
tended no school whatever while only
in the cities. This is but one fact out
of many that might he adduced to show
| that the country school is inferior 10 the
more highly organized city educational sys
| TEN.
| Since the Adjournment of the last legis-
| lature various committees ana boards have
been active in the Investigation of rural
school problems with the view of making
recommendations for enriching the courses
of study, vitalizing 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 tn u
Investigation of the country schools OF Wis
consin. In response to this invitation and
AT very tritiing expense to the state this
investigation has been made. 1t included
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 vivid pictude of all
phases of rural school life fiscal educa-
tional and sanitary; Il is vigorous, un-
perts of the Training School saw them, in
clear. untechnical language The recon
mendatlons given at the end of the re
port represent also the Judgment of lead
ing Wisconsin educators and the members
of the Board of Public Affairs. | most re-
specially recommend this report to your
careful study and consideration.
l 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 ut 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 preemin-
ence of our University is due not to its
age its size nor the richness of its en-
ness to serve all the people of the state.
especially those who have never been with
in its walls as resident students.
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 a number Of privately
endowed institutions, such as Columbia
and Harvard.
AGRICULTURAL COOPERATION.
The federal census of 1910 showed a
substantial increase in the total .popua
rion of the state. This increase however
was not UNIFORM but was due largely to
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
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 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 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
the economic and social conditions Of coun-
try life.
So far as 1t Is within our power there
fore steps shoud be taken TO aid people
who live in the country to improve their
business methods. their systems of mar
keting and their credit faciities--ln short,
their general economic and social condi-
ton
The legislature of 1911 took this matter
up in a very commemorative way. II 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. lis history is part of the In.
dustrial history of the state. With Us IT
has been a group movement. not a cen
tralized co ordinate undertaking aud the
success or failure OF each grOup has de
pended almost entirely upon the initiative,
resourcefulncss and business ability OF the
members themselves.
COOPERATIVE RURAL CREDIT.
There is real need for agricultural co
1t difficult to secure loan To tide over
the period between seed time and harvest,
to buy stock and machinery or to make
permanent improvements upon his land II
Is even more difficult FOR him to buy and
pay for farm, especially In the thckly
settled sections of the state. Indeed this
task Is so hard as to discourage many and
drive them 10 other states " mere land Is
cheanor or 10 other occupations where more
i'm mediate If less substantial rewards are
cfaTsi for their labor.
AT the present time the average farmef
Is denied the credit advantages enjoyed by
the merchant or manufacturer, even though
he be equally honest, equally Trustworthy
and equally able 70 meet his financial obli-
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
now IL Is employed only to Il 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 delegation made up
of two representatives from each state in
the Union will go 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 az | do
that agricultural cooperation liz one OF the
big things of the future, too large and sig
nificant to be ditched by its short sighted
tum, recommend the appropriation OF a
sufficient sum OF money to defray the ex-
penses Of two delegates from this state. IA
requested by those who have the matter In
charge | believe we have sufficient IN
formation 80 enable us to make "A beginning
In the organization of land mortgage banks
to be operated along lines similar to those
OF the German Landscbaften. These asso-
Citations should be under the supervision
and control OF the state banking depart
ment and their powers should be carefully
limited to what is necessary TO nccomDIjsb
the purposes here mentioned.
PRICE DISCRIMINATION.
Equality OF opportunity In industry and
trade Is sound American ideal but like
whether, they be owned by individuals OF
limited means or by cooperative societies
should be protected against tactics OF this
sort. ] recommend the enactment Of a Inv