Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1922-03-04
SAYS CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS
HAVE POOR TEXT BOOKS.

Mrs. Lulu NJ Snodgrass, former
member of the School Board, pre-
sided over a big meeting of the
League OF Cook County Woman's
Clubs at which Hart Hanson of the
Chicago School Board spoke.
Chicago has had the poorest text
books in America for the last fifteen
years" he declared And now we
are about To launch a very dangerous
experiment OF putting books in the
schools inferior in mechanical aspects
as we'll as pedagogical. According to
the recommendations of the superin-
tendent of schools, we are compelled
10 90 into the publication of books
written by our own school teachers
To suggest that our own teachers
write the textbooks would be as fatu-
Gus as if Mary Garden should say:
We have in the Chicago Opera com
pany the best trained opera singers
in the world We will not 90 to
France or Italy for our operas, we
will write them here and produce
them That would be as bad as if
Chicago built a fence around its linn
its and refused to recognize the tai
ents or abilities OF any one who lived
outside We would be proceeding on
the false assumption that any one
who knows a subject can write it.
Books should be arranged psyche
logically and logically, with empha-
sis on the former.
only two states have tried the
publication OF their own books. In
Kansas it was a failure, and in Cali
fornia the publishing committee has
been compelled to lease copyrights
and rent plates from publishing
houses in order to provide books of
the right standard.
Il think ours Will be a sad expert
ence if we continue in our present
course l really don't know where it
Will end finally No item in education
or politics has caused more trouble
or caused more officials TO lose their
Jobs and members of the school board
TO be put in disgrace. There is one
chance We expect the matter to be
taken to court in the near future"
On the same program was Dr. John
W. Withers. dean of the school OF
education in New York university
who urged the women at the meeting
to stir their $4,000 constituents il
women's clubs of Cook county to es
pOuse the teaching of loyalty for ones
country, minus the animus of presen
patriotic instruction, as a means o
preventing future wars. He spoke OF
=
ton in America.
The change in the policy Of publ,
instruction has been necessitated b.
the changing conditions of our live
and our outlook" said DR.. Withers
Less than 100 years ago SO per cen
OF our population lived on farms or il
rural conditions. Today one out 0
nineteen persons lives in one of on
great cities, one out of ten lives il
one of four cities and twenty five on
of every 100 persons lives in one o
the other of siXty-eight great Amer
can cities We must change our star
dards to teach people to live INTEL
gently dInGer cOngested conditions
Education is essential to the sOlutio
Of many of our modern problems
We won't have good public leaders
good mayors or good members of tn
school boards unless the people kno7
good mayor when they see one
They won't get one unless they do"
%S&
Mrs. LeOnora Z. Meder, one of tn
Democratic organization candidate
for Judge OF the Municipal court, ha
retired from the contest for person;
reasons. She expresses the hope thu
the Democrats will name a wOma
lawyer TO take her place.
&
John F. Devine has made a sple1
did record as Clerk of the Probat
Court. Everybody who has had bus
ness with that important office praise
Mr.. Devine's administration of
The public and members of the b;