The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1919-11-20

time all these houses become old
They must be either rebuilt and
made modern, or they must be torn
down and replaced by new and bet:
ter structures. Some of these ole
houses have been made out of such
good material, and constructed sc
perfectly, that much of the materia
may be used with advantage in the
construction of the new house
Others are SO poor that scarcely
good piece of lumber can be founc
be relegated to the scrap heap. AL
though the material may be the bes
that can be purchased, the Workme Ell
the finest and best known to that day
and generation, if poor, insufficient
and Inadequate tools are used the
structure must be crude to say the
least
Our public schools are the great
workshops in which the future com
munity houses are made. Our chill.
dren constitute the material School
teachers are the carpenters; ON
school equipment are the tools with
which our teachers are expected to
work. The material that must be
used comes from various homes
some good, some poor, some medium
but it is all we have, and must be
used to the best advantage. Some
Of the material may be compared to
the straight grained walnut, easy to
work and develop, polishes readily,
lasts we'll, looks beautiful and can
be used anywhere. Some of it is
like the oak, hard to work up, but
if the proper tools are used it takes
on a beautiful polish, and is as en- en-,
during as the eternal hills. Still
other material is like the elm, hard
to keep in place, easily warped out
of shape by influence and surround
ings, is unreliable, and at the best
is only fairly efficient. We bring all
this mass of material to our work.
shop and throw it down before our
workmen. If this Heterogeneous mass
of human material is to be properly
worked out, and every piece brought
to it's highest degree Of usefulness
there must of necessity be skilled
workmen. Workmen who can sort
out the material and find exactly
where it can be used to the best adj
vantage, what tools must be used
in order to develop it, and the proper
time and place to put on the polish
that is so desirable. Our teachers
must be more than living, walking
they must be able to
think, they must not only be eff
cient, but constructive. Such teach
ers do not come by chance. neither
are they hunting places. We must
hunt them. If you desire to buy
bingham you do not go to the black
smith shop to find it, neither do you
go to the barber shop, to, buy grocer
les. If one expects to buy a stock
of shoes, and start a shoe store, he
would not go to the steel foundries
Of Pennsylvania to purchase his
stock, but he would go where shoes
are made. If you want school
teachers you must go where school
teachers are educated and trained,
and not to the picture galleries:
Paint, and the work of skilled
will last long enough
TO take respectable. and in some
instances, beautiful photograph,
but they will not last nine months in
the school room. Are the carpenters
who are working up the material TO!
Us selected with sufficient care? Do
We look into their work and their
histories and their finished products
with the same diligence that farm
or uses in selecting a man to care
for his live stock? Do We pay suffi-
cent ges SO that we may go bold
Iy into the educ at;Onal centers and
select and employ the kind of work
men we should have IS the fact
that a man or woman is employed
in the Leon schools for number OF
years sufficient evidence to guaran--
tee their efficiency? IT our school
comes up TO the standards thus
then we are to be con-
graduated, but if it falls below these
why does it do so? We
have money for other purposes. Our
children are no worse and no better
than the children of other schools.
and our duty as parents is no less
than the duty of parents in other
communities. Now, having furnish
ed the material for this great com
munitv house, having procured the
best teachers to be found as our
skilled wOrkmen, we must next fur
nish the best equipment for our car
penterS to use.
What sane man or woman would
consider for one moment building
a house when all their carpenters
had to work with was jack-knife,
house might be built with no more
than this, it might even
look respectable, but one thing sure.
it would not endure the rain. and
wind. and sleet. ard hail, and clouds.
and sunshine, that beats upon every
human life that steps out into the
great forum of human activities. If
we expect our house to be built we'll.
and stand like the one which was
built upon a solid rock. we must not
only pay the price, but also furnish
all necessary and modern equipment
with which to do the work AS said
before. we have all varieties of lum-
Der, and to work it to the best ad-
vantage we must have many and
various kinds of tools and appliances.
Are our schools properly equip
ped? Have they all the modern ~
pliances that they need for shap-
Ing. polishing, developing, and equip
ping our children for LIES great
duties and responsibilities? If they
have not; why not? Whose fault is
It? Who should be held account
able?
Ladies and gentlemen, all these
questions are questions for rs to
settle. Each one must do his and
her part. These responsibilities will
not down. They are here knocking
q your door, and knocking at mine.
Fhey walk By 10 By day, they haunt
.ss.s