Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-12-14

WASHINGTON, Dec. II. - The un-
.-scadented attempt to make the annual
rsnort of the Secretary of the Interior
rssdable is made i'm that document, the
az cbapter of which Is published today.
It is divided into sections, or chapters,
one should say, for the literary illusion
,s kent up in the chapter headings, which
hsys all the flavor of a dashing book
n adventure for the use OF Boy Scouts.
For example. young America Is the
,itIe of the first chapter, but just TO
assure those who prefer the OLD dull way
Of doing things there is title IN
osrantheses tackled on Rural schools
for which young America Is the
poetic paraphrase.
There is another chapter in the first
instalment with even more of literary
aavor-"Taming the Rivers for Use
And again there Is sober parcnthctlC
explanation in the old style" Irrigation
and Flood Protection Thereafter the
IAanter headings begin to lose their air
AZ romance. though places of Beauty
az an Asset" is fair; but the others in
lhe "to-be- continued" class fan off To
snch stale-mates as Mining Laws and
'The Balance of the Report
Perhaps the most fascinating chapter
NJ the report is the one entitled Young
America The Secretary of the Interior
vital problems of the land-the education
and training of it's children and their pre-
marathon for a full and abundant life
The report calls the public school sys-
TEN of the United States "the greatest OF
American Inventions" but asserts that
no progress has been made by this
country along independent lines of re-
search and experimentation In the field OF
education for the last 30 years. America,
I hag hpnn phliHpI n resort
10 the advice and experience of foreign
countries for new ideas and then failed
10 put them into practice. The American
people spend three-quarters of a billion
dollars annually on their public schools.
This amount nearly equals that expended
every year in running the Federal Govern
ment There is great waste of energy
the report asserts, and lack of cohesion
In the educational policies Of the schools,
both city and rural. Commenting upon
this situation the report says
"Yet here and there under rare
leadership may be found in this
country the most striking proofs of
what can be done to tie our schools
to our life. The hope Is eventually to
make tine school what it should be,
the very heart of the community
social club and cooperative centre as
well as school,"
To accomplish this Secretary Lane
recommends that the Bureau of Edu-
cation should be ntrusted with the con-
Duct of national campaign for the
Introduction of new educational methods
and experiments. Says MIR. Lane:
"As in the Bureau of Mines we seek
TO save the lives of the miners by edu-
eating them in the use of explosives
and llfe-saving apparatus and by in
structing operators in safe methods OF
building their vast underground work
shops, so 1 would erect the Bureau of
Education into n Bureau of Educational
Methods and Standards, in which would
be gathered the ripe fruit of all educa-
ional experiments upon which the
schools of the country could draw" The
new bureau Is to be a sort of an cdu-
eational clearing house of the nation.
Particular stress is laid in the report
upon the rural school problem. The un-
repayment of teachers and the lack of
interest shown by parents of rural COM
munities are deplored. In the richest
state Of the Union, Mr.. Lane points out,
there are 1000 badly organized and un-
scientifically managed schools, the teach
ers in which are paid less than farm
hands and are almost without status.
This situation, the report maintains
cannot be remedied by the action of local
school boards. but must be handled ON
national scale by the Federal Govern
iment. The Secretary says that with the
expenditure of less than 100000 a year
complete revolution could be worked
out in rural school life. "Our aim would
De, the report says, ITO Identify the
school with the farm and the village, and
develop a new respect in fathers and
mothers for the school as a practical and
not mere scholastic institution. The
problem is only one Of pOpularization.
This thing can be done by methods that
are SO simple and direct that they Will be
startling. The need is immediate, and
surely II would be a shame TO let a
generation waste itself while the idea
slowly creeps ON all fours through
country that has invented wireless teleg-
raphy"
DEVELOPMENT OF RESOURCES.
The advisability of mammoth issue
u united States bonds coupled with
state bond issues, to raise money for
.ne Improvement of American streams
ior drainage, irrigation, reclamation and
mood prevention, is discussed in a sec
non Of the report.
me Secretary declares that the Ameri-
esn river and reclamation question con-
sututes one of the greatest problems be-
lore the nation today. He described the
snount OF money which will be needed
~ make the proposed improvements as
s'asserng' and says there appears 10
oe no hope of getting the work done with
Ses heaNy Investment OF Government
n'ohey. The Secretary points out that 1t
s9uid be unwise to expend money for
uiis purpose from current revenues,
permanent improvements which the
shole people undertake are a legitimate
ehafge against capital account, not
asainst maintenance" the report says
a commission TO devise the ways and
,seahs by which the States and private
anu owners and the National Govern
t sht may Cooperate in paying for the
atA seems to me a more needed body
ing methods"
ms means of financing, says the Sec
iS, VIII distribute the cost of the
t,leels undertaken among the genera
eas which shall enjoy the benefits.
pthe Secretary discusses the Colorado
,hsr situation. He says the people OF
~ imperial Valley in Southern Califor-
s .e must light to prevent the Colorado
l Hlundatlng their homes as the Hol-
hsis hght TO restrain the sea from
-.s.lhs through their dikes. The flood
s should be captured in reservoirs
- stter II descends from the snow
<-epsd peaks OF the Rockies and used
- utlgating desert stretches, thus max
80 me wilderness blossom and saving
NJ lo"iands from destruction by flood.
- work done so far In strengthening
- pehks OF the lower reaches OF the
ihe ihaoo Is little more than patchwork,
As report says.
1ahg other rivers throughout the coun-
80 particularly the Mississippi ana Mis-