Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-11-16

cluueu llooU miles OF stone or marc
surface roads, 557 miles of flint. grave
and shale roads. 5.s24 miles of earth
| roads, or a total of S,262 miles. He
: told of the other work, such as guard
rails, oiling and the whitewashing OF
poles along State highways.
Mr. Cunningham referred to the
/ moneys appropriated to his depart
ment and told of how each sum was
/ being used and then said that it was
all too small for the vast amount oi
| work to be done He said that the
| S1,400.OO0 available for highway work
! from the automobile licenses from
/ January / to June ! had been a won
| derful help, but deplored that the law
| will not allow such moneys to be avail
! able again until the next session of the
| Legislature. He predicted that
I S2,000,00O will be the sum from auto
mobile licenses next year that will not
be available for road work.
He referred to the roads taken over
at the close OF 1919 under the Sproul
act as being badly neglected and caus-
/ ing a great deal of work to make them
passable. He referred to these roads
as S0-cent highways, term coined by
Governor Brumbaugh during the re-
cent good roads trip throughout the
State.
Commissioner Cunningham came out
openly against toll roads when he said:
Toll roads on State highways are a
public nuisance and should be abol-
ished at the earliest possible date
Superintendent of Public instruction
Nathan c. Schaeffer told of the old
procedure of collecting taxes and how
the money was expended for roads and
outlined the steps of the appointment
of county school superintendents to
see that the school laws were obeyed
and the money properly expended.
There was antagonism between the
school people and the township super
visors. but to-day there is harmony
between the advocates of good schools
and the advocates of good roads.
Mr. Schaeffer outlined the growth of
the school system and the work OF the
school uperintendents. Dr. Schaeffer
declared:
The colossal proportions which the
public school system has attained is
further evident from the 41,2S3 teach
ers employed, from the 1, ,461 .937 pupils
enrolled. from the S25,6S7,143 paid in
teachers wages and the total expendi-
ture of S5S,l14,225 during the year
1914-1915.
Pennsylvania has solved some
school problems with which other
States are still struggling. One of
! these is the textbook problem. Other
States have tried State publication,
State regulation of prices and other
/ devices. but no one of these plans
equals our method of furnishing text
| books free to all the pupils.
The latest field in which Pennsyl-
vania is destined to win laurels is that
OF vocational education. The Outlook
says that there are over a hundred
vocations which a pupil can never
enter if he lacks high school train
ing. l have never been able to list
more than forty. From this point of
view you must admit that the high
school is prevocational. If not vo-
| cational, school, and you can easily see
the cause for the phenomenal growth
! of our high schools.
I'VE are trying to distinguish be-
tween skilled and unskilled vocations
There is little use in educating a youth
| for a vocation that is like a blind alley
| which leads nowhere. The boy works
a few years in unskilled occupations
at low wages and then finds himself
displaced by another boy. and then
there is nothing between the first boy
and starvation except his muscle and
Il pick and a shovel"
Bearing upon the subject of military
training in the public schools, DR..
Schaeffer said:
The schools are doing more to
abolish the hyphen in the mind OF the
foreigner than all other agencies COM
bined. BY singing our patriotic songs
the children sing themselves into love
OF our country and its free institutions.
History and civiCs are so taught that
the pupil is filled with the emotion of
patriotism and resolves that he will
serve his country and fight for his
country and, if need be, die in its de-
fense. This does not mean that mill
tary drill must be introduced into our
public schools. Military drill should
be given, in so far as it is necessary
Tor national defense, in the years
which follow the high school period
n hal hot H.,
spirit of the Red Cross and the spirit
of militarism cannot abide together
forever, that one will finally stamp out
and destroy the other. I have the
faith to believe that the time is COM
ing when on the banks of the Rhine
the mother will no longer be hitched
to the milk cart aside of the dog while
the son is drilling in the barracks
getting ready to kill. The day will
surely come when mothers will no
longer offer their sons upon the altar
of Mars as food for machines and sub
marines. As soon as the three million
five hundred thousand shall teach his
tory from the peace point of view. war,
like slavery and other evils, will be-
come thing of the past. In a word,
do not believe in making the occu-
patton of the soldier an integral part
of our vocational education"
McCalef Presides
pupSi w. ID. MCCdleD
the Philadelphia division of the Penn
sylvania railroad, and former presi-
dent of the Engineers Society of
Pennsylvania, presided at the after
noon session.
William d. B. Ainey, chairman of
the Public Service Commission, was
the first speaker
Mr.. AIney dwelt upon the grade
crossing elimination in the State. He
said that there was II 900 grade cross
ings over public highways and that the
program OF elimination was not one
of a day or year but of a course of
years.
Mr.. Ainey declared that the elimin-
alton of grade crossings will mean
the expenditure of from $500, 900, 900
to $5O0.OO0,000. He declared it so
great an amount that in fairness to
municipalities common carriers and
the State, all of which must share a
part of the expense. progress must be
made slowly but firmly. He said that
an endeavor to ascertain the method
OF best results was now being made
Chairman Ainey spoke of the Lin
/ coin Highway and the urgent effort to
remove crossings. He said the Lin
coin Highway movement was entitled
| to the earnest consideration of all
the people.
Nathan r. Butler, Commissioners OF
! Fisheries. spoke of the work of his
| department and it's many details and
increasing obstacles. He said that
! with the present field force and appro-
] priation 1t was impossible to carry out