The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1922-10-12

mess, having been in existence, in a
| nation way, only about rs years.
! The world knew nothing about this
business hundred years ago, and
some of our colonial fathers scoffed
| at it as something which, if it could
be attained, was not worth the having.
As business, let us analyze it for
ourselves, carefully.
A careful analysis is justified. For
this business is one which has great
err capital invested than any other en-
terprise in America. Tremendous
amounts Of real estate are owned.
Great buildings house the shops.
There are officers in every city and
town in the country. An army of di-
rectors and workers is employed. Upon
this business is spent the majority OF
our peace-time taxes. Into its fac
tories goes the most precious material
that our nation yields. Out Of it
comes a product, the value of which
ar exceeds our production of food
stuffs and manufactures combined.
This business is the American pub
lie school system.
The product of this factory" is the
education Of our children--your boys
and girls, and mine. Upon this pro-
duct depends the future of America.
We, as a people, invest more money in
it than in anything else in which we
are interested. The system is a cor
poration-and you and | own and OPP
crate it. When we consider that the
high school enrolment jumped from
$4,000 to 1,645,000 in eight years,
and that only little more than IS
years ago there We're no high schools
in this entire world, we begin to APP
preciate how gigantic an enterprise it
is, and how rapidly it is growing.
You pay in more actual dollars and
cents for the maintenance and up
building of the public school than you
do for any other peace work that you
are interested in as a taxpayer.
Universal education, more than any
thing else, must be the goal of our
republic. Upon this rests the founda-
tions of government, for only through
intelligent citizens can our govern
ment continue in the years to come.
How long since you have attended
any school activities? The enter
prises which the teacher promotes in
order to show the child how to work
with other children fit him for the
part he is going to play in mature
activity and are as important as the
work of the class room.
As individuals we have three ways
in which we can become constructive
force for the betterment of the public
schools. We can do it as voters, sup
porting those measures which benefit
the public schools, and voting against
the measures which are opposed to
their welfare.
We can do it by making our lives
touch the lives Of those directly con-
nected with the schools. This does
not mean working through commit
tee or an association. 1t means find
ing out for ourselves what the schools
are doing. 1t means becoming ac-
quainted with, and learning to know,
the aspirations and the abilities of the
teacher who guides the destinies of
| our child during school hours.
parents. The child is healthy ami
NAL as rule, and has very little
natural desire for an education. We
cess in the world lies down the long
road of education. We must make
this road reasonably attractive. We
must SHOW MIN IhdI euucdtloH IS Ills
greatest asset.
The public school, which brings the
child of the rich and the poor to-
gether, is the one great agency which
makes for responsible citizenship.
| Our children must know that the
! light to go to public school has been
fought for. They must know what it
costs in terms of money and sacrifices.
Do we realize that on the organiza-
ticn and influence of the public school
system depends the perpetuity Of our
! republic?