Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

passed. These certificates will be executed in Chattanooga, and will be good for return from the respective gateways in accordance with the conditions named below.

The Trunk Line and New England Association grant one and one-third fare for round trip on the certificate plan, to apply for the entire distance from the point of starting to Chattanooga, under the following conditions, which also apply, as stated above, to the certificates of the Western Passenger Association :

First-Each person desiring the excursion rate must purchase a first-class ticket (either limited or unlimited) to the place of meeting, for which he will pay the regular fare, and must obtain from the Ticket Agent a printed certificate of purchase of the standard form, showing fare paid and route or routes traveled on the going trip.

Second-If through tickets cannot be procured at the starting point, parties will purchase to the nearest point where such through tickets can be obtained, and there purchase through to the place of meeting, requesting a certificate from the Ticket Agent where each purchase is made.

Third-Tickets for the return journey will be sold, by the Ticket Agent at the place of meeting, at one-third the first-class limited fare, only to those holding certificates signed by the Ticket Agent at points where through tickets to place of meeting were purchased, countersigned by I. C. McNeill, Treasurer of the National Educational Association, certifying that the holder has been in regular attendance at the meeting, as a member of the N. E. A., viséed by the Special Agent of the South Eastern Passenger Association, who will be in attendance on February 23d and 24th only.

Fourth-Certificates are not transferable. The National Educational Association has agreed to redeem at full fare any tickets found in the possession of a ticket broker for sale or which have been transferred and used by any one other than the original owner. cessions on rates will be made in case of failure to secure certificate of purchase, or of failure to have the same properly executed at Chattanooga, on the 23d or 24th of February.

No con

It is believed that those living in the territory of the New England and Trunk Line Associations will find it advisable to purchase tickets at full fare to the gateways of the Southern and Central Passenger Associations, namely, Washington, D. C., Pittsburg, Buffalo, etc., and thence avail themselves of the one half rate offered by the Southeastern and Central Passenger Associations.

It is also advised that party rates may be secured on favorable terms. In this connection the following announcement is made for the information of those interested:

Mr. A. E. Winship, No. 3 Somerset St., Boston, Mass., has arranged a thoroughly first-class excursion, including fare both ways, sleeping car and meals en route, and

accommodations at the headquarters hotel at Chattanooga, through the entire session, from Boston for $60.00 all rail, $56.00 by boat; from New York for $47.00; from Philadelphia for $44.50; and from Washington for $33.50. Early applications for rooms and sleeping car reservations should be made to Mr. Winship.

LIGHT AND DARKNESS.

HE last report for 1896, of Dr. William

T. Harris, U. S. Commissioner of Education, gives the amount expended for public education in the United States as $184,453,780, or $2.61 per capita of population. The number of pupils in public schools was 14.465.371; in private institutions, 1,531,826; in various special schools, 418,000-making a grand total of 16,415,197. The average daily attendance in public schools was 9,747,015, or 67 per cent. on enrollment. The number of teachers in the public schools was 400,325, males 130,366 and females 269,959. The average monthly wages of male teachers $47.37, female $40.24. number of school houses was 240,968; and the estimated value of all school property, $455.948,164. The number of churches is 142,521, with 23,334 halls, private houses, etc., used as places of worship. The number of clergymen, not including lay preachers, is 111,036. The value of church property is estimated at $679 630,139. These are figures of light; and now for those of darkness.

[ocr errors]

The

The average annual 'drink bill" of the country, that is, money spent for spirituous liquors, is carefully estimated by the best authorities upon this question at eleven hundred million dollars ($1,100,000,000). The bill for tobacco in one year is about $680,000,000. That for bread is about $550,000,000, or just one half that for intoxicating liquors during a single year. The statistics seem to show that the number of drunkards is about 1,600,ooo, of whom eighty thousand die annually, to say nothing of women and children suffering and dying from lack of food and exposure due to the habits of those upon whom they are dependent for the necessaries of life. The number of penitentiaries in the United States is 52, of jails about 17,000. The average number yearly incarcerated for longer and shorter terms is about 900,000. The estimated cost of their maintenance, etc., is $100,000,000; and the value of build

with a feeling of relief to the writings of Bishop Spalding, which emphasize the life of thought and faith and hope and love-the life that is centered in God and that stretches from time into eternity.

ings and grounds about $500,000,000. | perceive why the earnest teacher turns The number of licensed drinking places is 235,500. The capital invested in distilleries is $31,000,000; in breweries, $232,471,200. The combined gross profits, after deducting wages and cost of raw material, is estimated at sixty-seven per cent. More than half the capital invested in these distilleries and breweries belongs to English and German syndicates, and the profits of this direful traffic go out of the country in gold. If this capital were invested in useful enterprises it is believed that employment would be given to 1,300,000 more men than under existing circumstances. This is a great factor in the "hard times" problem. A governor of Ohio said some time ago that the drink habit cost that State $70,000,000, against which there was paid into the public treasury for licenses, etc., about $3 500,000. We do not know what the figures are for Pennsylvania, but suppose their disparity to be even greater.

These appalling figures, with all their frightful significance, contrast strangely, and more strongly than ever, in this day of light and knowledge. The old and deadly strife goes on, of good with evil, light with darkness, heaven with hell.

BISHOP SPALDING'S LATEST
BOOK.*

DURING the

past year we have had frequent occasion to quote from the writings of Bishop Spalding on Education, and in the present issue we insert "Ideals," a chapter from one of his earlier books. To the three volumes mentioned in a former issue of The Journal he has added a fourth. In felicity of style, these volumes surpass the four famous essays of Herbert Spencer on Education. Like the great English philosopher, Bishop Spalding assumes that education is a preparation for life. He would probably find no fault with Herbert Spencer's definition of education as a preparation for complete living. But his views of life are very different. He lays

the chief stress upon the higher life, whilst Spencer deals mainly with the things of the lower life. Let any one recall the latter's classification of the leading kinds of human activity, and he will

* Thoughts and Theories of Life and Education, by J. L. Spalding, Bishop of Peoria. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co. $1.00.

Let us pause to note the contrast. Spencer seeks to classify, in the order of their importance, the leading kinds of activity which constitute human life. His arrangement is the following: 1. Those activities which directly minister to selfpreservation; 2. Those activities which, by securing the necessaries of life, indirectly minister to self preservation; 3. Those activities which have for their end the rearing and discipline of offspring; 4. Those activities which are involved in the maintenance of proper social and political relations; 5. Those miscellaneous activities which make up the leisure part of life, devoted to the gratification of the tastes and the feelings. This classification leaves very little room for the humanities and for the things which really make life worth living. For science, Spencer has the highest regard because it helps man to conquer nature and to utilize the forces of the material world in the struggle for existence. Nature he invariably spells with a capital letter, as if it were a divinity. For literature and history he has little use. Of the life of faith and hope and love he has no adequate conception. Hence from his writings we turn to the pages of Bishop Spalding with a feeling of intense satisfaction. him the things of the mind are estimated at their true value. In his view complete living is possible only through communion with God, with nature and with our fellow-men. "To attempt to gain knowl edge without the faith and feeling that God lives within His universe, that nature is His vesture, and thou thyself a member of the whole human organism, is to take the path which leads to hopeless doubt, and to intellectual despair." "Strive ceaselessly to increase thy power of admiration, enthusiasm, reverence and awe; for God is with thee and in all thou beholdest and knowest; and if thou be great enough and pure enough, thou shalt feel His presence and rejoice in Him and His work." In reading the Bishop's exhortations to faith and hope in God, to the cultivation of love for everything that is great and grand and good in the universe, one feels as if he were breathing the atmosphere of a

By

higher world, and as if life had a meaning fuller and richer than the things of time and space.

Perhaps it should be said that the book does not mention Spencer's views, although indirectly it is the severest criticism upon them that we have ever seen. The comparison that we have drawn. should not lead any reader to infer that the Bishop ignores the need of education for the purpose of earning a livelihood. It is only among college professors whom salaries derived from liberal endowments have raised above the struggle for bread, that we hear contemptuous remarks concerning bread studies. For a large proportion of the human race life is a struggle for existence, and the necessaries of life must be within reach of him who would rightly think and believe. In other words, the higher life is conditioned by the lower. It is hard to think and to pray when the stomach is gnawing with hunger. It is hard to cherish faith and to exercise hope when the necessaries of life are not to be had for wife and children.

Therefore a system of education that does not enhance the earning power of a people, cannot be too severely condemned. On the other hand, we should not forget that the school is as much a part of life as business and society and home, that the public school is but one of the factors which are needful in fitting the individual for complete living, and that the best things in life-yea, the things which alone make life worth living-are not found in what we eat and drink and wear, nor in the houses we inhabit, nor in the luxuries which we enjoy and the amenities which fill our leisure hours, but rather in the higher life of the soul, which centers in God and is linked with eternity. It is fortunate that the teacher of pedagogy can lead his students from Spencer's essays to the writings of Spalding, there to find a presentation of the other things which are needed to give them an adequate idea of what is involved in complete living.

Four chapters are devoted to the thoughts and theories which life and education suggest; the fifth treats of books, and the sixth is substantially the address delivered by Bishop Spalding before the great Buffalo meeting of the National Educational Association. We have read these chapters again and again, and with each perusal find in them new incentives to effort in the cause of popular educa

tion; and it is only when we take up the pen of the critic and the reviewer that despair fills our heart. To reproduce his ideas in other language is impossible. His thoughts are gems which would be marred in resetting them. That he paints ideals which cannot be fully realized in any system of schools, public, parochial or private, is indeed apparent; but the race will cease to make progress as soon as those who teach the young cease to cherish ideals above anything they have been able to realize in their school work.

COMPARISON OF GOVERNMENTS.

N Washington's birthday and on the fourth of July we hear much in praise of our system of government. Its merits are described in glowing colors. Its superiority is lauded to the skies. Listening to the flow of oratory on these occasions, we are led to believe that we have in all respects the best government on the face of the earth. In the schools we study the federal government as if this comprised our whole duty in preparing pupils for citizenship in a free republic.

Undoubtedly the welfare of the nation as a whole depends upon our knowledge of the government at Washington and upon fidelity to its best interests when we cast our votes at the polls. Outside of the postoffice and the commodities whose price is affected by tariff legislation, we can hardly tell where the administration of the national government affects the daily life of the average citizen. The State government, on the other hand, touches our daily life at many points. The administration of justice, the punishment of crime, the tenure of property, the building of roads, trolley lines and railroads, the support of the schools and of the poor, the care of public health, the payment of taxes and a hundred other things within the province of the State government could easily be named. Hence, the comparison of the State government with the National government, of the State constitution with the Federal constitution, and a study of the functions of each may well claim the attention of every teacher and every pupil. But our study of civics should not end at this point. point. It should embrace a comparative study of the leading governments of Europe for the purpose of ascertaining wherein we have the best form of govern

ment and wherein our government can be improved. If one listens to our stump speakers he will soon be convinced that some things need mending. The daily papers are full of the same thought. And, indeed, it must be admitted that our system of government has not reached perfection. The agitation for reform shows the convictions of the multitudes. Very many believe that municipal government is still an unsolved problem in America. If this be true, we should be ready to accept good advice from any quarter. It is the duty of a patriot to learn from other countries and to allow his feet to be guided by the lamp of experience-be it our own or that of other nations. A knowledge of what has worked well in other lands will be helpful in directing our efforts at reform.

Man is by nature disposed to kick. An object on the pavement he may kick for half a square, provided the kicking does not hurt himself or his neighbors. There is the rub. We always prefer to reform somebody far from home. When the reform is to affect ourselves or the community in which we live, we begin to hesitate. Take the case of the man who is vested with almost unlimited power under our State Government-the supervisor of public roads. He can spend as much upon the public roads as he sees fit and apply the money as he pleases. As a consequence Pennsylvania has been spending annually upon its highways an average of $48.00 per mile; and in most cases there is no improvement from year to year. No one will deny that if the money had been expended in the right way, we might have good roads all over the State, and that if there had been a similar amount of misgovernment at Harrisburg or Washington, there would have been a revolution long ago. But it is not so easy to vote for a reform in municipal and home government as for the reform of the State and National governments. Recently the writer visited a township that boasted of thirteen candidates for the office of Supervisor; and the condition of the public roads was not a whit better than during a former visit twenty-five years ago.

Another office vested with almost unlimited power is that of school director. Said a Judge not long ago: "I know of no body of men possessing greater power than a school board, unless it is some other school board." The extravagance of

some school boards in the purchase of cyclopedias, manikin charts, relief maps, mathematical blocks and high-priced globes, has involved in many districts an expenditure of money that would lengthen the school term from six to seven, eight and nine months without a cent of additional taxation. Here is a splendid opportunity for a comparative study of government and for earnest efforts at reform. When we have made things right in township, county, borough and city government, the experience thus gained will help us to see clearly the things that need reforming in the government of the State and the Nation. Any other policy makes us fall under the condemnation of that portion of the Sermon on the Mount which says: Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."

IN

་་

SOME PLEASANT WORDS.

Na Lancaster newspaper of recent date it was a pleasant surprise to come suddenly upon this paragraph from a letter of an old high school boy, a graduate of Franklin and Marshall College, who is now engaged in the missionary work in Japan. where he has many young men in his classes, teaching them the English language. It is always gratifying to know that boys of sterling quality who go out here and there into the world have such memories of school life. Says The Era:

"Prof. Paul L. Gerhard, writing from Sendai, Japan, to friends in this city, says: 'I was very glad to learn that Prof. McCaskey, of the High School, has published a collection of prose and poetry. He will live in the affections of his pupils and in his literary works long after he has gone to his reward. His Franklin Square Song Collection and his Lincoln Collection have made him known the world over, I suppose, and the good influence of his work in these lines will be lasting. It was almost like meeting an old friend when I found some time ago in Tokio his Franklin Square Song Collection in a Japanese book store. Just think of it! the book so precious to the High School boys of Lancaster, on sale in a Japanese book store in Japan! I bought two numbers, and expect to get the others in due time.'"'

That very live journal in the far

South, The Florida School Exponent, of Jacksonville, says: "The Pennsylvania School Journal for October may with propriety be called a Klondike of educational gems. Sixty-three pages of closely printed inspiration is the size of it. It is beyond question the most valuable number of a school journal it was ever our pleasure to read." Says the editor: "See to it that every child commits to memory each week some literary selection embodying a noble sentiment. In after life these will be remembered and remain sources of power and inspiration when nearly everything else you have taught them may be forgotten.'

[ocr errors]

these articles, with my heart all glowing with its suggestive reflections and noble sentiments, I thought it might not be unwelcome to you to receive this expression of my appreciation of the merits of The Journal which you have stamped with your own ideas of soul-culture, whose value is beyond that of the mere knowledge of educational theories or facts.

Would you like to know what especially pleased me in this number? Well, it is difficult to discriminate when everything is so good. Glancing back over its pages I see that I have marked several articles to be read again; an article that is not worth twice reading is usually not worth reading once. "The Dull Child" contains so much that teachers are liable to forget or overlook that I wish it could be read and pondered by every teacher in the land. "The Value of Education," by Putman, expresses the true gospel of education, and, though not new in thought, presents a very clear and impressive statement of educational philosophy. The article on "Libraries" is but one of many similar articles that you have published to impress upon teachers the value of the reading habit among their pupils. In the "Good Memory Work," an exercise which you know I value so highly, Alexander Smith's "Among My Books strikes chords of memory that fill the heart with the music of by-gone voices that have quickened the heart-beats of humanity and enriched the life of the world. And the leaf of memory you hang upon the humble grave of "Our Old Book Binder"-whom I repub-member very distinctly-moistened my eyes

The Normal Journal of the Millersville, Pa., State Normal School: "The October number of the Pennsylvania School Journal is worth more than the price of this excellent magazine for an entire year. Every article in it should be studied by all interested in the training of the youth of our State and nation. Especially do we desire to emphasize the value to the teacher of the articles on the training of memory by Prof. J. P. McCaskey, whose experience in memory work has made him an authority upon this subject." In speaking of the "Lincoln Literary Collection," the editor says: "It is one of the most valuable collections of poems and prose articles that have been lished in many years, and merits a place in every school. Teachers who desire selections from the most eminent authors to read to their pupils will find this book of great value."

And Dr. Edward Brooks, whose good work as Superintendent of the Schools of Philadelphia will be felt for generations, writes this cordial letter:

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 10, 1898.

MY DEAR DR. MCCASKEY: I lead such a busy life that I have but little time for reading or reflection outside of my official duties. Frequently Sunday is the only time I can find to glance over the various educational journals that come to me. To-day I picked up a teachers' journal of wide circulation, and went through it in about fifteen minutes. I then took up The Pennsylvania School Journal, expecting to leaf through its pages in about the same time; and now at the end of an hour and a half I have just finished it, and I have not read half the good things it contains. It may not be as full of methods" and novelties of different kinds as some of our educational periodicals, but it is rich in those materials that stimulate thought and stir the heart to diviner impulses. Feeling as I do, after reading

as I read it, and teaches the never-to-beforgotten lesson that there often lives an heroic soul in the bosom of those whose daily life attracts but little attention, and for whom no monuments of public praise are reared.

As to the excellent report of our distinguished State Superintendent, Dr. Schaeffer, which I shall read more carefully a second time, I wish to express my indorsement of what is said concerning the valuable services of Hon. Henry C. Hickok, the first State Superintendent of Pennsylvania. I am personally familiar with his work. Hampered as he was by the want of money and clerical assistance, he did a pioneer work in the new office that laid solid foundations upon which others could build structures that may have been more conspicuous, but that show no deeper spirit of devotion to the great cause of popular education in our State.

In thus expressing my pleasure in the reading of the January number of The School Journal, permit me to add the wish that your health and strength may be long spared to continue the valuable work you are doing for education in our State. Very sincerely yours, EDWARD BROOKS, Supt. Public Schools.

« AnteriorContinuar »