The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1917-05-18
What School improvement AssOcla'
lions Can DO For The Rural
Schools.

During my student days at tne
Johns Hopkins University n"u
dreams of being an electrical ensinee4
and of Harvesting Niagara falls' pu'
now I would rather direct the greaI
energy of women in the Unlted STATES
who have some degree or leisure anu
wealth to enable them to DO the thlnss
thew like, than to harness all tne
water power in the country. IL ma
been said. The eternally "olndnly
lifts upward and onward, anu Ine
important thing is for 1t 10 kno"
how to organize itself ana "ndt -
upward and onward.
The most fundamental enterprise III
democracy is the education Oh INC
children. Everything IN dellocIdCs
waits on the education of the cnliuieh
industrial advance, soclal pu1 ny
nolitical righteousness and Whatever
else goes to make up the soclal oruer'
The present war is a war or grown
nm men and women, and is no concern
az the children, in this greatest
strongest and wealthiest nation tne
world has ever known. we must
Keen clean of the folly OF "baDy
beef" not only in tic trenches Dut III
our industries ard on our farms.
The children may do many Things
no help in this crisis, but the Things
thew do to help must be maze
educational. There will be years OF
Deace when tie war is over, "hetner
il last a little while or long Time,
and when it is over the leadership OF
the world will have passed to us. IL
comes a generation or two carrie,
than it would have come IN the naturai
course of events, because OF the wreck
~ Enrone There will be a demand
for educated men and women, men
and women of scientific knowledge
and a high degree of intelligence sucn
as never has been demanded OF US
before, and we must not let anything
prevent us from being prepared lot
the duties and responsibilities ae-
volving upon us when the war Is over
I am reminded by your program
this morning of the beginnings or the
School Improvement movement In the
Southern States, when it was pro-
posed that a suitable motto for all
interested in the children and their
schools would be Health, Comfort
Beauty. Attractiveness." A sugges-
ton was Immediately made that II
school - healthful, comfortable and
beautiful, (a3 your Art Chairman has
also just said so wellO it will in
evitabIy be attrac tive. OF course
that is true. In this motto / find the
answer to the question as to what
School Improvement Associations can
do for the rural schools. When
800 1000 children die annually as re
suit Of lack of care and proper santa
ton, the blame should be laid not
upon Providence, but upon our own
improvidence Because a few hun
dred men and women and some child
len were put to death on the sea by
representatives of another country,
the Government has issued $1,000
OOOO bond with the purpose of
assuming all the responsibilities and
troubles of war The hundreds of
thousands of children who die in our
country from preventable causes are
just as dead as if they had been killed
by bombs from aeroplanes or by the
submarine method We must protect
ourselves against our ignorance.
Sometimes there is a feeling among
school officials that Improvement
Associations are attempting to run
the schools" This is not their idea
or purpose, they wish only to see that
the schools do their duty. After all,
it is the people who pay the taxes and