Norwich bulletin., 1916-10-28

I by all in their organized capacity and criticized by all in their individual ca . l pacity.> Heedless alike of praise and | censure, 1t steadily performs its func- | tion to democracy and thrlves by a 1 mystery of growth that baffies analysis.
 What is its function. and how may
 it best be promoted? Democracy Is
 essentially, as Lincoln characterized | 1t, government of the people, bl the people, by the people. and for the peo- l pie" Its hope and destiny are with | the masses. What the masses are de- | tern11nes what democracy can be. If, | then, our democracy Is to be essen | tially and really the pride and glory | of fnen it must rest upon some more l fundamental and vital institution ] whose function 1t is to train individ- | uals for participation in the form of meath the republic. this universal fac tory whose output is to make an ad- vance democracy, is. for obvious rea- sons the free public school.
 Two individuals can participate in common cause only to the extent that
 they possess common sentiment and common knowledge. To increase their effective participation requires broadening of their common knowl- edge. To make participation impossi- mon knowledge. This holds true throughout. Hence. our democracy de- bends upon the possession by all it's individual participants of a fund of common knowledge, which fund is the currency of democracy: and the func-
 tion of the public school is to impart
 such a fund of common knowledge to all that participate in our democracy as to make facile the interchange of
 ideas and the reciprocal regard of each for the other.
 Moreover, the growth of democracy, well a 1anondc
 the widening of this fund of common Knowledge Hence the specific means of promoting the best traditions in our national life will be found to lie in the increased efficiency of our schools.
 Favors Compulsory Education.
 To promote the ends of democracy many states by compulsory laws pre- vent child-labor and also require at | tendance at school between the ages of ] eight and fourteen. These laws should be universal in the republic.
 In maintaining an efficient system of education the state is governed not by sentiment but by necessity. It is not the life of the individual but the life of the state itself that is involved
 In no other form of government is this so manlfeStly trEe since in ours alone 1 is the measure of education the meas ure of democracy. Hence we have lit tie to learn from European states con- cerning the function of our system of education.
 We can never with safety add to the curriculum of the schools until we | have first and always made ample pro- 1 vision in every school to teach the simple rudiments of the universally l essential tools of democracy-a mas | teru ofs the language of the republic and the ability to make record of ones thought ill the symbols of language, and the symbols of Number. The little red school house with its zeaIous teacher and it's drill in the three R's,
 is not a tradition from which to de- part; but an ever present reality around which to weave in loving ap- preciation all the tendrils of future growth. I do not object to education l for efficiency provided only that we achieve efficiency for individual gain.
 First. then, the school exists for the | state and after that for the purely per sonal preferment of the individual in | our industrial competition. The meas | ure Of efficiency is not the earning | power for the individual, but the serv- | ing power for the state. In fact. earn | ing power the bread problem, is con- l dltloned upon a stable and progressive democracy.
 | From study of these views flow certain facts and considerations that | relate rather definitely to the present I status of our educational system. llG DuDllC SEnOO1 Is limited Tn the realization of it's function to demo- cracy by the quality of teaching life it attracts, by the time it devotes to uni versalizing it's fund of necessary com | mon knowledge, by the amount of | money expended in its maintenance and by the effectiveness Of it's legis- i lative provisions in securing regular attsndance on the part of all embryo | citizens between the ages of eight and sixteen years.
 The first patriotic duty is to make the life of the teacher more toferable, | by surrounding him with a complete | physical equipment. by enriching his 1 social life, by promoting his profes- sional welfare. and by increasing his compensation to make possible for him
 higher standard of living. Under | this declaration lies the need for a l more sympathetic supervision, a more | stable tenure of service, a generous | retirement fund, the transportation of | pupils, the consolidation Of isolated schools the lengthening of the mini
 mum mum school year. and the closer ar | tlculat1on of all the social, inteIlec- | tual, and moral influences of the com
 munity with the school
 Takes Time to Educate.
 l We can never serve democracy by l lessening the years of an elementary education, not by the devices that, to save time. really sacrifice efficiency l He only is true to his nations wei | fare who steadfastly pleads for ample
 time to fix and make facile in the pu- | plPs mind the Fundamentals of an or i dinary education, and who has the | courage to declare that thoroughness | in the things done is of more conse- | quence to the state than the haste to
 rush to the college and university a
 product, which in spite of the higher institution, is but imperfectly and su- perf1cially fitted to participate in a ] progressive democracy. The patriot here is courageous enough to say, Tt | takes time. gentlemen, to educate citi- zens for this repulblic''
 The financial support of the school
 must be more ample. and its amount through stable legislation placed above
 the caprice of local betty partisan con-
 trol. We know in advance how many