The public ledger. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1913-1968, 1918-09-18
FALLING OFF IN
SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
SHOULD NOT Be
Commissioner of Education Issues
Open Letter to the Citizens
Of the Nation.


Hon. p. p. Claxton, U. s. Commits
sioner of Education has issued the fol-
lowing announcement to the people
of the United States:
To tile Men and Women of the Farms
of America:
In his letter to the secretary of the
Interior, approving the campaign of
the Bureau of Education for the sup
port of the schools and the mainten-
ance upon them during the war, Pres
ident Wilson says: "That, in so far
as the draft law will permit, there.
should be no falling Off in attendance
in the elementary schools, high
schools or colleges, is matter of the
very greatest Importance, affecting
both our strength in war and our Ma
tional welfare and efficiency when the
war is over" He then urges, that the
people support generously their
chools of all grades and adapt them
as wisely as possible to the new con-
ditions, ''to the end that no boy or
girl shall have less opportunity for
education because of the war and that
the Nation may be strengthened as it
can only be through the right educa-
ton of all its people"
Fer no part of our people is this
more important than for those who
live in villages, small towns and in
the open country, mostly farmers
Whatever may have been true in for
mer days, it has now come about that
FOR success in their work and for good
living on the farm and in the farm
home. farmers and their wives need a
broader, more comprehensive, and
more thorough education than do men
and women engaged in any other &C.
2upction and living under any other
conditions. They need not only the
life and citizenship which they should
have in common with all men and
women, but they need also training in
science and a knowledge of physics
and chemistry, of soils and fertilizers,
If plants and animals and their dis
eases and how to protect against
hem, of the cultivation and harvest
ing of crops, of marketing, of bal
anccd rations for domestic animals,
If machinery and it's use and care, of
he simple forms of engineering and
architecture, of bookkeeping and
lanking, OF the sanitation of the home
the care of children, and many other
things on which their success and
their health and happiness depend; a
full round of knowledge, such as is
needed for success in no other occu-
patton. Also the farmer and the farm
er's wife must know not only the sep
arate facts of these, but the underly-
ing principles as well, to enable them
to direct their work intelligently and
o adjust themselves to constantly
changing conditions.
Such knowledge and training can
not be given effectively in the ele-
mentary schools alone Much of it
can he given only in high schools and
colleges, and to boys and girls of high
school and college age.
The place which farmers hold in the
affairs of the Nation and the world
and the value of their work have been
revealed by the war The importance
of these will not be less when the war
is over. 1t is of the utmost import
ance that they be able to fill their
places and do their work intelligently
and we'll.
That they may be prepared for this,
the schools for the farmers children
in small towns and villages and in the
oper country should be better sup
ported and constantly improved and
not boy or girl should be kept out of
Wv ''NAhShSaAY SNhooi VI hi6u oIuOOi
wher attendance is possible. In so
far as the draft laws and absolute ne
cessities of the home will permit. ev-
cry country boy and every country
girl, who are prepared for it. should
go to college, university. or normal
school.
There are before us as a people
now Just two tasks of supreme i'm
portance: To win the war for free
dom and democracy, and. let us hope,
for permanent peace, and to 1T our
selves and our children for life and
citizenship In the new world which
the war is bringing in, Both OF these
tasks must be performed with single-
ness OF purpose and whole-hearted de-
votion to the public welfare; and no
sacrifice, however, must be allowed to
stand IN the way OF either,
g.U