North Carolina journal of education

              rSORTM CAROUIINA
journal of Ebucation.
Vol. III. GREENSBORO, N. C, FEBRUARY, 1900. Number 7.
There is only one cure for public distress—and
that is public education, directed to make men
thoughtful, merciful, and just.
Mighty of heart, mighty of mind—magnanimous
^to be this, is indeed, to be great in life; to be-come
this increasingly, is, indeed, to advance in
life, in life itself—not the trappings of it.
The first use of education is to enable us to con-sult
with the wisest and the greatest men in all
points of earnest difficulty. To use books rightly
is to go to them for help; to appeal to them when
our knowledge and power of thought fail; to be
led by them into wider sight, purer conceptions
than our own, and receive from them the united
sentence of judges and councils of all time, against
our solitary and unstable opinions.
We once taught our youth to make Latin verses,
and called them educated; now we teach them
to leap and row, to hit a ball with a bat, and
call them educated. Can they plough, can they
sow, can they plant at the right time, or build with
a steady hand.? Is it the effort of their lives to be
chaste, knightly, faithful, holy in thought, lovely
in word and deed.'
The educated man ought to know these things:
First, where ho is—that is to say, what sort of a
world he has got into; how large it is; what kind
of creatures live in it, and how; what it is made of,
and what may be made of it. Secondly, where he
is going—that is to say, what chances or reports
there are of any other world besides this; what
seems to be the nature of that other world.
Thirdly, what he had best do under the circum-stances—
that is to say, what kind of faculties he
possesses; what are the present state and wants of
mankind; what is his place in society; and what
are the readiest means in his power of attaining
happiness and diffusing it.
It is of little consequence how many positions of
cities she knows, or how many dates of events, or
how many names of celebrated persons—it is not
the object of education to turn a woman into a dic-
JOHN RUSKIN.
Born February 8, 1819; Died January 20, 1900.
Poet, Artist, Philosopher. Philanthropist,
Seer and Interpreter ot the Truth and Beauty of the World.
tionary; but it is deeply necessary that she should
be taught to enter with all her personality into the
history she reads; to picture the passages of it
vitally in her own bright imagination; to appre-hend,
with fine instincts, the pathetic circumstances
and dramatic relations, which the historian too
often eclipses by his reasonings, and disconnects
by his arrangement; it is for her to trace the equi-ties
of divine reward, and catch sight, through the
darkness, of the fateful threads of woven fire that
connect error with its retribution. But, chiefly of
all, she is to be taught to extend the limits of her
sympathy with respect to that history which is
being forever determined as the moments pass in
which she draws her peaceful breath; and to the
contemporary calamity which, were it but rightly
mourned by her, would recur no more hereafter.
NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION.
SOME NEW LATIN BOOKS
SELECTIONS FROM OVID. By James N. Anderson.
M. A, I'h. D., author of "On the Sources of Ovid"s He-lu
two parts: J. Selectious from the Metaiiior-
II. From the other works of Ovid. Judicious and
commentary. Vocabulary, x and 25S pages Price,
roiiles.
phoses
helpfu
Sl.OO.
CICERO'S ORATIONS. By Robert W. Tunstall, Prin-cipal
of Norfolk Academy, Norfolk, Va. Es en tially a teach-er's
and pupil's book, having all the qualities to make it
thoroughly " teachable." Various fresh features of helpful
stimulating interest xxix and r)85 pages. Price, SI. 20.
LATIN COMPOSITION. By Professors Gildeksleeve
and Lodge. Designed for use of freshmen at college or the
highest classes of preparatory schools. Has original features
of marked interest and value. 192 pages. Price, 75 cfuts.
QILDEKSLEEVE'S LATIN GRAMMAR, School Edi=
tion. By Professors Gildeksleeve and Lodge. Preparec
in response to the demand for a briefer Latin Gramraai
based on the Gildersleeve Lodge work of 1894. Has aboui
three-fifths as many p.iges as the large grammar, and so nol
abridged to a skeleton. Still suited to serve the average stu
dent thoughout his course in school and college. The sec
tion numbers are the same as in the larger Grammar, v:
and 330 pages. Price, 80 cents.
A FIRST BOOK IN LATIN. By Charles W. Bain
late Head Master of the Sewanee Grammar School in th«
University of the South, Professor in South Carolina Col
lege. Easy Gradation— Veil arranged exercises—Short Vo
cabularies—Practical and stimulating notes— Reading Les
sons. Vocabulary, x and 335 pages. Price, 75 cents.
How do these books stand the test of use in the class room'
University School, Richmond, Va., writes of the Cicero :
W. Gordon McCabe, Head Master of the
I have been unwilling to write you in regard to your edition of " Eleven of the
Orations of Cicero" until I had given the book the only test worth anything—the
test of actual work in the class room.
This I have done, and my deliberate judgment is that it is the best working
edition, English or American, of Cicero's Orations that we now have.
It is an honest piece of work from beginning to end, and evidences on every
page a delicate mastery of the niceties of Latin syntax, happily blended with a keen
insight into the practical needs of an intelligent and earnest student.
The highest proof I can give you of the sincerity of my appreciation of your
work is my decision to adopt it here in preference to the excellent edition o£ the Ora-tions
which I have been using for several years.
Those books are issues of the Gildersleeve-Lodge Latin Series, under the editorial supervision of Basil L.
tiildersleeve, Professor of Greek, Johns Hopkins University, and Gonzales Lodge, Professor of Latin, Bryn
Mawr College ; with the cooperation of Moses S. Slaughter, Professor of Latin, University of Wisconsin, and
Tliomas Fitz-Hugh, Professor of Latin, University of Texas.
Correspondence invited. Address
—
I'NITEEilTf PUBUiHINe C©
43-47 East 10th Street, Ne-w York.
©J)
In dealing with advertisers please mention tlio Norih Carolina Journal of Education.
IWortb Carolina journal ot lEbucation.
Devoted to Education in North Carolina and the South.
Volume III. FEBRUARY 1900. Number 7.
IRortb Carolina 3ournal of ]e^ucation.
Entered as Second-Class Matter at the Post Office at Greens-boro,
North Carolina.
PHILANDER P. CLAXTON,
Professor Pedagogy State Normal and Industrial College,
EDITOR AND MANAGER.
Published monthly at Greensboro, N. C.
Subscription, $1.00; single numbers, 10 cents.
In ordering paper give name, postoffice, county and stale.
Remittances should be made by money order, express order
or bank draft, payable to North Carolina Journal of Education,
Personal checks should not be sent for sums less than $i .00.
Stamps, one.and two cents, taken for $1.00 or less.
Address North Carolina Journal of Education.
Greensboro, N. C.
The Teachers' Assembly.
At a recent meeting of the executive committee
of the North Carolina Teachers' Assembly, Dr. W.
T. Whitsett resigned the secretaryship, and Super-intendent
C. H. Mebane was chosen to succeed
him. Dr. Whitsett was forced to this step by the
increasing business of his school, the rapid growth
of which demands all his time and attention. He
has made a faithful and efficient secretary, and re-tires
with the good will of all connected with the
Assembly. Since he assumed the duties of this
office the attendance on the meetings of the As-sembly
has increased largely, and the income has
increased sufficiently to enable the executive com-mittee
to pay off the debts of the Assembly. The
Assembly is now on a sound basis again and will,
no doubt, continue to be an important factor in the
educational development of the state.
Those who know Mr. Mebane's energy and in-terest
in education (and who in North Carolina
does not.') will not expect him to neglect the inter-ests
of the Assembly. He has already announced
that he will make a personal canvass of a large
part of the state (a work which he can easily do
in connection with the work of the Superintendent's
office), and we may reasonably expect the next
session of the Assembly to be the best yet held.
The place of meeting has not been determined. It
will probably be Morehead or Wilmington.
Secretary Mebane has invited Dr. J. L. M. Curry
to address the Teachers' Assembly at this
meeting. His plan is to have the Legislature,
which will then be in session, attend in a body, and
let Dr. Curry address the Legislature and the
teachers in one great educational mass meeting.
We hope this can be done, and that two or three
thousand leading citizens may be brought to the
meeting. The supremacy of literacy and educa-tional
interest is the great question of the day.
National Educational Association.
The executive committee of the National Edu-cational
Association has selected Charleston as the
place for holding the next meeting of the Associa-tion,
July 7-13 inclusive. The general meet-ings
will be held in the new auditorium, the seat-ing
capacity of which 8,000, and the people of Char-leston
and South Carolina are preparing to give
this large gathering of educators a royal welcome.
The official bulletin ofthe executive committee of the
Association states that no city has ever met more
fully the requirements ofthe managers of the As-sociation
than has Charleston. The local commit-tees
are doing their work in the most praise-worthy
style, and nothing necessary to the con-venience
and comfort of those attending the meet-ing
will be left unprovided. This is the largest
and most important educational association in the
world, and Charleston and the entire South are to
be congratulated upon their good fortune in secur-ing
this meeting at this place. Not often have the
meetings been held within our borders, and to many
of our teachers this is the opportunity of a life time.
Last year California furnished 4357 members at
the Los Angeles meeting. Cannot the two Caro-linas
send as many to Charleston.' At least a
thousand should go from North Carolina and help
our South Carolina brethren and sisters receive.
Let every teacher who can possibly do so begin
now to plan for the trip and make no conflicting
engagement. Dr. E. A. Alderman, Chapel Hill,
is director for North Carolina.
There is nothing so necessary to the teacher of
literature as the ability to express his own thoughts
adequately.
—
Prof. Cook.
NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION.
The return of 300 young women on the re-open-ing
of the Normal and Industrial College shows
this strength of the school and the public confi-dence
in its management.
Mr. B. N. Duke has given $1,000 to the Method-ist
Orphanage at Raleigh, and offers to give
$5,000 if the Methodist Conference raises $20,000.
The Conference accepts the proposition and will
try to raise the money. There is little doubt that
it will be successful. With generous aid like this,
this church should soon be able to provide a home
and education for its orphaned children.
Catawba College, Newton, N. C, will erect a
$10,000 building next summer, the money for which
has been fully subscribed. Of this sum the Synod
of Ohio, of the Reformed Church of the United
States, gives $1,500, the Synod of Pittsburg $500,
the Eastern Synod $3,000, Hon. A. A. Shuford, of
Hickory, $1,000, a friend $[,000. The balance
is made up by a number of smaller subscrip-tions
The Journal rejoices in the good for-tune
and prosperity of the college, which has done
so much good for the state and for the church
with which it is connected. It has furnished the
state two of its most valuable superintendents of
public instruction.
On February 14, William Jennings Bryan lectured
at Chapel Hill. An admission was charged, and
$250 of the proceeds will be used to endow an
annual prize for the best essay on the science of
government.
At a mass meeting of Presbyterians recently
held in Charlotte more than $30,000 was subscribed
for the purpose of enlarging or rebuilding the Pres-byterian
College for Women in that city. Under
the present management and the presidency of
Dr. Bridges this school is having great success,
and more room and better equipment have become
necessary. . It is the purpose of the authorities to
make this the leading college for women in South-ern
Presbyterianism; to increase the efficiency of
the work done and reduce the cost of attendance
to a minimum.
For more than forty years this institution has
been an important factor in the educational life of
the state. Under the supervision of Mr. Robert
Burwell, Dr. William R. Atkinson, and, more re-cently,
a joint board of directors appointed by the
Presbyteries of Mecklenburg and Concord, the col-lege
has been recognized as one of the leading
schools for women. The readiness and ease with
which this large sum has been raised show the
hold which it has on the affections of the people of
Charlotte. It is to be hoped this $30,000 is only
the first instalment of a much larger sum which
the friends of the college will provide within the
ne.Kt few years as a kind of Twentieth Century
Fund. It is a logical necessity that Mecklenburg
should be the home of the greatest of all Presby-byterian
schools in the South. It is fore-ordained.
The Baptists of the state are responding most
liberally to the appeals for money to pay off the
indebtedness of the Baptist Female University,
and the indications are that before the end of the
year the debt will be paid.
On February 8, Durham celebrated the second
anniversary of the opening of its public librar}-.
Dr. E. A. Alderman delivering the address. The
library now reports 4500 volumes, with an average
of sixty volumes a day taken out to be read. As
many more books, papers and magazines are read
in the rooms. The story of the founding and sup-port
of this library is worthy of study by the citi-zens
of other North Carolina towns. Miss Lalla
Ruth Carr and Mrs. Thomas Martin donated the
site, the citizens of Durham subscribed $5000; the
aldermen appropriate annually for its support $600
of the public funds, and an equal amount is sub-scribed
by the citizens. As all institutions of the
kind do when once the people have shown an in-terest
in them and their determination to make
them useful, the library is already receiving liberal
donations in addition to the regular annual sub-_
scriptions. One gentleman has sent his check for
$50 within the last few days. The reading room
has accumulated on its walls and in its cabinets an
interesting and valuable collection of arms, relics,
manuscripts and rare papers,—invaluable aids in
the education of the people. Well does the Dur-
Morniiig Herald say:
Surely there is no better way of diffusing good among our
people than by giving them the benefit of a good public
library, with its unquestionable advantages and privileges
for furnishing, as it does, a free means of education with every
opportunity of reading the very best literature of the
day.
NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION.
A friend whose name is not announced has re-cently
given Cornell University $80,000 for the
erection of a Laboratory of Physiology and Hy-giene.
If any gentleman, in the state or out, wishes
to make such a gift to any North Carolina college,
the officers will probably not object to the condi-tion
of secrecy.
The South Carolina Jockey Club has decided to
donate its property, valued at $100,000, to the
Charleston Library Society. Certainly no better
use could be made of this property than to turn it
into books for the free use of the people of a great
city.
It is reported that Dr. James H. Carlisle will
soon retire from the presidency of Wofford College.
Dr. Carlisle has been connected with Wofford for
more than fifty years, and has been its president for
twenty-five years. Few men have gained a better
reputation or more strongly impresed their person-ality
upon the young men in their charge.
Wilson County Teachers' Association will meet in the
Court House on the ist Saturday in every month at 1 1 a. m.
PROGRAM OF DISCUSSIONS:
Saturday, February 3, " Addition, Subtraction Multiplication
and Division."
Saturday, March 3 " Reading and Spelling."
Saturday, April 7 " Grammar."
Saturday, May 5 " Geography."
You are earnestly invited to attend these discussions
Respectfully,
Committee.
The above is a copy of the card which is mailed
monthly to teachers of Wilson county a few days
before the date of meeting of the association. The
committee has done wisely in fi.xing at once the
subjects of discussion for all the meetings, and in
limiting the discussion of each day to one subject,
thus making possible some permanent result. Too
often the value of these meetings is destroyed by
attempting too much.
Newnan, Ga , Jan. 20, 1900.
You are invited to be present at a meeting of the Kinder-garten
Section of the Newnan Educational League, organized
in connection with Newnan Public Schools, in High School
Hall, next Thursday, 7:30 p. m. Paper by Mrs. T. E. At-kinson,
Motor Education in Little Children. Address by
Supt. C. B. Gibson, Columbus Public Schools, Manual Train-ing
the Salvation of our Youth. Open discussions, speeches
limited to 5 minutes each. Music. Social reception.
J C. Woodward, Supt.
We have received through Supt. Woodward a
number of invitations similar to the above. Some-tiines
the meeting is for the discussion of moral
training, sometimes high school work, sometimes
some paticular part of the work of the elemen-tary
schools,—always for the purpose of uniting pa-rents
and teachers in this most important interest of
the town. Supt. Woodward believes in making
the school an educational centre for the entire
community.
The third meeting of the Home and School Club
of Bailey Street School, Asheville, N. C, was held
in the school building, at four o'clock January 23.
The programme consisted of an address by Dr. R.
F. Campbell, pastor of the First Presbyterian
Church, instrumental and vocal solos, and refresh-ments.
Superintendent A. M. Croxton ends an open let-ter
to the people of Union county with these sug-gestive
words, which should be studied by the
public men of every county in North Carolina. In
the second decade of the nineteenth century Arch-ibald
D. Murphy planned like this for the entire
state, and dreamed of the wealth and power and
happiness which might thereby come to the state.
Almost a century has passed without seeing the
plan put into operation, and the state's loss in
wealth and power and happiness has been incal-culable.
May we not yet hope to see many coun-ties
adopt this plan of one of our wisest statesmen
before the full hundred years have passed away.'
Here are Mr. Croxton's words:
Suppose it were practical to have a first-class high school in
each township and the public schools of that township corre-lated
in relation to said high school. With such an arrangement
all the students of every township would be prepared for col-lege
without being compelled to leave the home schools.
Then these township high schools might be correlated with
one ijood county academy or graded school where a practical
education of higher order could be had at a nominal ex-pense
Of course such a magnificent undertaking could not
be accomplished in a year; butis not something like this worth
the serious thought and effort of all educational workers and
friends of the cause?
Lieutenant Charles F. Fowler, of the United
States Army, has been detailed as professor of mil-itary
science and tactics in the Bingham School at
Asheville.
NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION.
Principal E. L. Middleton, Cary, N. C, chairman
of a committee appointed at the Raleigh meeting
of the Association of Academies, is sending out a
circular to the principals of high schools and acad-emies
with blanks for the following information:
(i) Name of school, county and postoffic. (2)
Name of principal and teachers. (3) Number of
local pupils. (4) Number of boarding pupils. (5)
Average number in attendance. (6) Number of
pupils in literary societies. (7) Number of pupils
now in college. It is the purpose of the committee
to make an accurate catalogue of all schools of this
grade, with correct statistics of attendance. Such
a catalogue will be very valuable if it can be made
complete. If you have not received the circular
write at once to Prof. Middleton for a copy.
insist that the people be given an opportunity to
express their wishes as to this subject after having
been fully informed as to its importance.
The report of the Commissioner of Education for
1897-98, which is now ready, makes two handsome
volumes with a total of 2640 pages, like all the re-ports
sent out by Dr. Harris, full of the most inter-esting
and valuable educational statistics and dis-cussions.
If )ou have not received a copy of this
report, write at once to the Commissioner of Edu-cation,
Washington, D. C, asking him to send you
a copy.
Probably no more valuable volume of educational
reports and discussions has ever been issued in
America than the Volume of Proceedings of the
Los Angeles Meeting of the National Educational
Association. If you are not a member of this as-sociation
send $2.00 to Irwin Shepard, Ser'y N. E.
A., Winona, Minn., for a copy. Only about 500
extra copies were printed, and the supply will soon
be exhausted.
Superintendent Mebane has received from Dr.
Curry, General Agent of the Peabody Fund, $1000
to be distributed as follows: $100 each to the
graded schools at Washington and Mt. Airy and the
negro normal schools at Franklinton, Plymouth,
Goldsboro and Winston, and $200 each to the
negro normal schools at Elizabeth City and Fay-etteville.
Are you a teacher or other citizen in a town of
1000 inhabitants or more but without a good pub-lic
school of at least eight months.' Then don't
fail to agitate for a local ta.x for schools until you
have it and them. Ask your mayor about the letter
recently sent him by Superintendent Mebane, and
The commencement of the professional depart-ments
of Shaw University will take place on March
15, when the annual address will be delivered by
Albert E. Winship, editor of the New England
Journal of Education. The commencement of the
literary, industrial and missionary training depart-ments
will occur on the 9th and loth of May. This
has been a successful year at Shaw. The enroll-ment
to date is 375, exclusive of 150 in the night
schools.
In Switzerland the price of farm lands is from
$600 to $1,600 an acre, and farming pays in spite
of these high values. Switzerland has no pauper
class, no slums in the cities, and no tramps. The
roads are almost perfect, the streets are clean, and
there is little need of police or soldiers. It is a
country of universal education, and the best house
in any village or town is the school house. Effect
and cause.
Denmark, almost exactly one-third the size of
North Carolina, with sterile soil and severe climate,
exports $30,000,000 worth of butter every year.
North Carolina, with its rich lands and genial cli-mate,
buys butter. But Denmark has universal
education; public high schools for the sons and
daughters of farmers are found at a rate which
would put two or more in every county in North
Carolina, while industrial and technical schools,
public libraries and farmers' clubs are liberally sup-ported
and attended. Denmark knows on which
side her bread is buttered and how to butter it.
We have not yet learned the lesson—but we will,
sooner or later.
Charity and Children says, " North Carolina is
likely to become a very rich state, but it is not
likely -soon to become an intelligent one." If not
intelligent, then not rich; unless it prove an excep-tion
to an otherwise universal rule. There is "not
anywhere in the world to-day a state that is rich
except through the intelligence of its people. In-telligence
is an indespensible factor in the wealth-producing
power of a state.
There is a wide difference between elementary
knowledge and superficial knowledge—between a
firm beginning and a feeble smattering.
—
Ruskin.
NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION.
It now seems probable that Hon. C. H. Mebane nois, who offers courses in Civics and Political and
will be nominated by more than one party as his Social Sciences; Prof. E. B. McGilvary, lately of
own successor in the office of Superintendent of the University of California, who offers courses in
Public Instruction. It would be only a well-de- Ethics. But the feature of the session of most in-served
compliment if the conventions of all parties terest to teachers of elementary and secondary
would rise as high above mere partisanship as Mr. schools is the unique courses in Nature Study, by
Mebane has done and unanimously nominate him Professors Roberts, Bailey, and Comstock. We
for this office, which should ever be held above the know of nothing equal to this in America,
level of partisan squabbles.
It is not our purpose to detract from the noble. Sir John Lubbock, the great English philoso-efficient
and self-sacrificing work of any of Mr. pher, is urging that instruction in the elementary
Mebane's successors in the office. John C. Scar- branches of natural science bearing on agriculture
borough and Sidney M. Finger did heroic service be made compulsory in the rural schools of Eng-at
a time when helpers and sympathizers were land. He also asks that such instruction be ac-much
less numerous than now. They advocated companied and illustrated by experiments and
the cause of the children before the people and the practical work on plots of ground attached to the
people's representatives when such advocacy was schools. If this is desirable in England, how much
no sure road to popularity. They did much toward more desirable is it in North Carolina. This school-inducing
a poor and unwilling people to increase garden idea is becoming common to all countries
the tax rate for public schools from time to time that consider education from the national stand-until
the fund was fully three times what it was when point, and in several countries of Europe the gar-
Mr. Scarborough entered the office for the first den is found in connection with all elementary
time. The work done by them was foundational, schools. Every reason, and more, that can be as-and
is not likely to be overestimated. signed for manual training in the elementary and
But Mr. Mebane has been a worthy successor, secondary schools of the city, can be urged with
For nearly four years he has worked with an energy equal force in favor of the experimental garden in
and enthusiasm rarely equaled. He has shown the schools of the village and country. It will be
himself a wise executive. In a time of bitter par- the beginning of better things for North Carolina
tisan and sectarian strife he has kept this office when her rural schools run ten months in the year
above it all, seeming to realize fully that his duty and this work in laboratory and garden is made a
is to the state and to the children,—and not to any part of the required course.
party or faction. The office needs the services of A recent number oiColinans Rural World con-such
a man, and his administration should have tains a very practical suggestion for introducing
the endorsement of all parties.
The study of forestry must soon assume the same
prominent place in our colleges and universities
that it has so long held in the higher institutions
of learning in Europe. Probably nothing would
serve more to promote this than the establishment
of a great national forest park in the southern Ap-palachian
mountains. Every teacher should use
his influence in obtaining the proper action in Con-gress.
At least write your representative and see
that the influential men of your community do the
same.
this work in our rural schools. A half dozen
school districts might combine and employ a
teacher who would spend a part of one day and
an evening of each week at each of the schools.
At night the young men and young women who
do not attend school in the day, and even the older
farmers, might easily attend. On Saturday af-ternoons,
which most farmers make a holiday, the
whole community might meet at the school-house
for two or three hours. In this way much good
could be accomplished at very little cost. Any-state
might well make an appropriation for this
purpose direct from the treasury, to be supple-
In our advertising columns will be found the ad- mented by local contributions. Many excellent
vertisement of the Cornell University Summer text-books are now published, and the bulletins of
Session. In the announcement of courses which the Agricultural Stations and Departments may
we have received we note the names of Dr. Hiram be had for the asking. The plan is worth trying.
Corson, who will give a course in English Litera- •
ture; Prof. David Kinley, of the University of Illi- Education is the generation of power.
NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION.
School-room Decorations.
Probably no tendency is more noticeable in the
better schools of the towns and cities than that to-ward
artistic and tasteful decoration. It amounts
to a revolution. Walls that were bare and un-sightly
a few years ago, or covered with splotches
of advertising cards, are now tastefully hung with
good copies of the best works of the greatest mas-ters.
The school children of to-day are familiar
with all the best works of artists whose very names
were unknown to the children ofyesterday. Teach-ers
and school officers are waking up to the fact
that money spent for these reproductions of great
pictures may do more good than larger amounts
spent for books or school apparatus. We are
learning that "Art manifests whatever is most ex-alted,
and manifests it to all." The character and
sentiment of the great works of art impress them-selves,
silently andunconsciously it may be, but none
the less surely, on the minds ofthe children who have
them constantly before their eyes. And then, there
is pleasure and education and power of discipline
in the tastefully decorated walls of the school-room,
apart from the influence of the individual
pictures.
But why sliould not this extend to the village
and country school as well.' Certainly they are
needed as much here as anywhere. And if you do
not believe the country boys and girls delight in
pictures and hunger for them, just try the e.xperi-ment
of hanging a half-dozen good pictures on the
walls of your school-room. Nor need any school
longer be without good large reproductions of the
very best pictures. A number of publishing houses
are now giving all or most of their attention to this
one matter of making good cheap reproductions of
all the best pictures of the world, and the presses are
sending them forth by the million, and at a rate
within the easy reach of all. Great pictures are as
valuable in the school-room as great books, and
they can now be had for less money. Read the
advertisement of Perry Pictures Company in this
number of the Journal, select at least five pic-tures
from the list given, and send 25 cents for them
as a trial order. You will be quite sure to send for
more. You may also do much good b}' inducing
children and parents to buy five or ten pictures for
their homes. When you have the pictures study
them and let the children study them with you.
Hints to Teaching Reading by the "Phonic
Method."
You study nature in the house, and when you
go out of doors you cannot find her.
—
Agassis.
When the children first enter school see if they
hear distinctly and speak plainly. Many do not.
Place those who do not hear well on the front
seats, close to you, and always make a special ef-fort
to speak clearly and distinctly (not loudly)
for them. For several days a few minutes each
day should be given to drill on the most common
words of the children's vocabulary, the teacher
speaking deliberately and plainly the words, alone
and in short sentences and phrases, and letting the
children speak after her. Some of the children
will have difficulty in speaking cat, rat, rabbit,
look. Show them how to press the point of the
tongue back and down for the sound of c, thus
forcing the sound into the throat. If necessary,
press the child's tongue back and down with a
spoon or the finger. For the / sound the tip of the
tongue must extend upward to the front part of the
palate and the breath should pass over it with a
slight trill. Those children who change r to iv do
so by drawing back the tongue and rounding tlie
lips. The lips should not be protruded but slightly
drawn back. For the /sound place the front part
of the tongue against the front of the palate, the
tip just touching the upper front teeth. Other de-fects
may be remedied in similar ways, provided
you will always speak very clearly and distinctly
yourself Correct pronunciation is only a matter
of the proper adjustment of the vocal organs,
which the child learns slowly through imitation
and numberless failures, gradually appro.ximating
the correct form and then fixing it through habit
If )'ou believe this is an easy matter try it your-self
with German, French or Italian But all you
need to do is to put your vocal organs in the
proper position, and you can speak the foreign word
as correctly as the native. Hearing the words
spoken deliberately, clearly and distinctly will
help you very much. So will it help the chil-dren,
many of whom have never heard the conso-nant
sounds in these words.
While this is going on select a few of the most
common short words and speak them slowly, sep-arating
them into their elementary sounds,—spell-ing
them by sound, as shown by Professor Moses
in earlier numbers of this Journal. Names of parts
of the body and of objects close at hand should be
selected for these exercises. Point to the object
and slowly spell by sound its name, letting the
NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION. 9
children give the name. After a little while spell
out the words by sound without pointing to the
objects, and let the children tell you what you have
spelled. The first words used should not contain
more than three or four sounds; as t oe, ch ee k,
fa ce, h ea d, ar m, kn ee, f oo t, f i sh, etc.
When the children can easily tell you the words
you spell out thus let them spell with you, giving
the word each time which you only spell; thus,
(teacher) cat (spelling by sound), (children)
cat cat (spelling by sound and pronouncing).
The children very soon gain the power to utter the
separate sounds correctly.
As soon as this can be done easily pronounce
the ivords and let the children spell them by
sound, always speaking the woid after spelling
it. This last is very important, and the children
should never be allowed to omit it, since the whole
purpose of the e.xercise is to give the child the
power to make out a word from its elementary
sounds. If the object were written spelling, then
they might stop with the analysis, omitting the
synthesis.
All this will take only a few recitation periods
a day for a very few days, and the children will
then be ready to begin to associate the written or
printed letters with their sounds,—and to read.
Speak the word cat and ask the children to spell
it by sound. Hoiv many sounds in it.' What are
they.' What is the first.' The second.' The
last.' What is the middle sound, the one you
speak so much louder than the others.' Write the
word on the board (the teacher, not the pupil),
separating the letters thus: cat. Point to the
letters as the children call over the sounds slowly.
How many sounds.' How many letters.' What
does c say (pointing to it).' a.' t? Do the same
for b a t and fat, writing them under each other;
thus:
cat
b a t
• fat
What is the middle sound in each word.' What
does a say.' Write this on another part of the
blackboard and let it remain.
Now write the words mat, pat, at, letting
the children match the sounds and letters, and
laying stress on the final sound. What is this final
sound.' What does / say.' Write the / under the
a on another part of the board and let them remain
for the addition of other letters as they are learned.
Now write on the board all the words of list (i).
and let the children spell them (by sound) from
the board and pronounce them. You may need to
help them with the first letters. Do so, simply
giving the sound as yon point to it; the children
will learn them in later lists.
For a second lesson use list (2), first writing
cap, and tap, letting the children match the
sounds and letters as before. The known a
in the first and the known t and a in the second
will help in finding the sound of the final p. Place
this up in the list with / and a, which were learned
in the first lesson.
Treat the remaining lists in the same way, one
or two at a lesson. Writing the new letter of each
lesson alone, as in the lists, will help to fix the
attention on it. Begin each lesson with a little
review of all the letters (their sounds) learned, and
let the children use them in the new lesson, mak-ing
out, without help, as many words as possible,
and helping them only with letters not yet learned.
In list (4) they will need no help on p a d an^i
dab; in list (5) on gag, gab, g a p; in list (6)
on m a d, mat, m a p, in list (7) on t a n, nab,
n a p, n a g. After a few lessons the)' will seldom
need any help except on the new letter, and not
on this after the first word or two, used in learning
the new letter.
Add as many similar words to each of these lists
as you like; the more the better.
Shall you teach the names of the letters.' Yes,
incidentally. What does this / (name) say.' This
p (name) says p (sound). Some teachers make a
mistake in not teaching the names of the letters.
It will not confuse the children. May not the
child know that the name of the boy who plays ball
well is John.' Must it always call him "The Boy
That Plays Ball Well".' May the child read other
words than those given here.' If similar words are
found in the day's reading lesson, must they be
selected and written on the board for drill.' If this
be necessary, then what have the children gained.'
The object is to give children the power to make out
for themselves any similar words, not to teach
them the words as wholes by constant drill. Fur-ther,
if children find words in their early reading-lessons
containing some of the sounds they have
already learned, let them make out as much as
they can by these letters, and help them with the
letters not yet learned. They will thus put into
use at once all they know of phonics, and will be
stimulated to learn more, so as to be wholly inde-pendent.
lO NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION.
LISTS OF WORDS FOR USE IN TEACHING THE
SOUNDS OF SINGLE LETTERS.
[OTHER LISTS WILL BE GIVEN IN SUCCEEDING NUMBERS OF
THE JOURNAL.]
Lessons in Elementary Arithmetic.
(I) (2) (3) (4) (5)
c a t cap cab bad bag
b a t tap dab mad tag
fat P b d S
a map nab had gs
mat nap t a b 1 ad fag
pat 1 a p gab fad nag
a t gap b a t pad r a g
t sap bad sad sag
h a t rap bag dab wag
s a t gab
r a t gap
(6) (7) (8) (9^ (TO)
dam man not cup met
j a m ran g o t pup g e t
m n o u e
ham fan c o t u p b e t
ram can d o t sup n e t
a m tan top cub pet
mad nab pot bug bed
m a t nap pod mud pen
map nag pop
(lO (12) (•3) (H) (15)
b i t a X fed h a t J ug
d id O X fox h t job
i X f h i
bib box fi X hit j o g
fi b f O X f o g h u t j • g
d i g f i X fa t hen jot
P i S s i X fan hem j ib
h i g m i X fun h i m jut
h i m vex fig hum
hop
jam
jump
(i6) (17) (i8) (19) (20)
keg 1 it run sun i s
k i n 1 t ran s e t h is
k 1 r s s
k i d 1 o g r a t sad has
ken leg r ed s i X a s
kept 1 a d r u g sob fans
(21) (22) (23)
wet yet m y
web y by
w yes cry
wax yell dry
wag yon fly
REDUCTION OF FRACTIONS.
Divide a bundle of splints into two equal groups
Now divide each of the two groups into two smaller
equal groups. How many groups have you.' How
could you have made the two groups into six equal
groups? How into eight.' Twelve.' Fourteen.'
Ten.' Can you divide the two groups into three
equal groups.' Five.' Eighteen.' Nineteen.'
Starting with two equal groups, what numbers of
equal groups can you make.'
When you divide a thing into two equal parts,
what do you call each part.' What do you call
each of four equal parts.' Each of six.' Eight.'
Ten.' etc. When you divide each of two equal
parts into two equal smaller parts, each of the
smaller parts is what part of the larger part from
which it is made.' What is one-half of one-half .'
What is one-third of one-half.' -^ of 4^? | of -J-.'
tV of i?
Cut a sheet of paper into three
equal strips. Cut each of these strips
into two equal pieces. How many
pieces have you.' Each piece is what
part of one strip.' What part of the
whole sheet.' Cut another sheet into three equal
strips, and then cut each strip into four equal pieces.
How many pieces.' What is \ of ^.' Having first
cut the sheet into three equal pieces, into what
numbers of equal pieces may it then be cut.' How
can you cut it into six, nine, twelve, fifteen, twenty-one,
etc' Why not into five, seven, ten or nine-teen.'
What do you think when you say or hear
"thirds".' (A single thing divided into three equal
pieces, or a group of things separated into three
equal smaller groups. The child should not only
think, but st'f—visualize—this dividing or separat-ing,—
not the figures that stand for the fractional
parts.) When you say or hear "fourths".' How may
thirds be made into fifteenths.' (By dividing each
of the three parts or groups into five equal parts or
groups.) One of the larger makes how many of
the smaller.' Two of the larger make how many
of the smaller.' Two thirds make how many fif-teenths.'
Why.'
A basket of apples is in four equal piles; what
numbers of equal smaller piles can the apples be
placed in by subdividing these groups.' Why not
in seven, nine, thirteen, twenty-one, etc' The ap-ples
having been first placed in four equal piles,
NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION. 1
1
how can they be put in eight piles? Twelve?
Sixteen? Twenty-four? One of the large piles
makes how many of the twelve smaller piles? Of
the sixteen smaller piles? Of the twenty? Two
of the larger make how many of the twelve?
Three make how many? (Ask the same question
about the sixteen, the twenty, etc.j
A field is divided into five equal lots. Can these
lots be so subdivided as to make the whole field
into nine equal lots? Why not? What is the least
number of smaller equal lots into which it can be
made? How can this be done? One of these ten
lots is what part of the five lots? Of the whole
field? One half of one-fifth of a field is what part
of the field? Into what other numbers of equal
smaller lots can the field be subdivided, beginning
with the five lots?
Divide a sheet of paper into six pieces, and then
subdivide each piece in two, three, four, etc. parts.
How many parts do you get by each subdivision?
In each case each of the first six strips makes how
many pieces? Two of the strips make how many?
Three? Four? Five?
Cut other sheets into seven, eight, nine, ten,
fifteen, etc. strips, then subdivide the strips into
two, three, four, etc. parts. When each of the
seven strips has been subdivided into five parts
how many parts has the sheet been divided into?
What can you do if you have only one of the seven
strips to subdivide, the others having been de-stroyed?
(Think all seven subdivided as you do
actually subdivide the one.) One seventh makes
how many thirty-fifths? Two sevenths? Three
sevenths? Four sevenths? Two eighths make
how many sixteenths? How many twenty-fourths?
How many fortieths? Five eighths make how
fortieths? Six eighths?
This subdivision is sometimes called "reduction
to higher terms." Can you make a rule for reduc-ing
fractions to higher terms? (It is only neces-sary
to think how many parts the whole number
has been divided into to make the first fraction,
then how many parts each of these must be divided
into to make the larger number of smaller parts,
and then multiply this number of smaller parts by
the number of parts actually subdivided. Reduce
five sixths to twenty fourths. (The whole number
or thing is already in six parts; to make it into
twenty-four parts, the six parts must be divided
into four parts each. Five of these groups of fours
make twenty.) Do other problems,—until the
process and principle are thoroughly understood.
Cut a sheet of paper into eight equal parts.
With mucilage put these eight pieces into four equal
pieces. How many eighths make a fourth? Four
eights make how many fourths? Six eighths?
A company of men are marching in twelve
squads. What part of the men m each squad?
The commander wishes to form them in four equal
squads. How many of the twelve squads must
march in each of the four groups? How are
twelfths reduced to fourths? How many fourths
will si.x twelfths make? How many twelfths are
needed for three fourths?
A body of land is divided into twenty-four equal
lots. How may these lots be combined into six
equal fields? Into eight equal fields? Five equal
fields? Four? Seven? Two? Eleven? Twelve?
Why can you not combine the lots into five, seven
or eleven equal fields? If combined into six fields,
how. many lots will make two fields? Three fields?
Four fields? If combined into eight fields, six lots
will make how many of the fields? Fifteen will
make how many?
Divide a sheet of paper into twelve equal pieces,
and lay aside four of them. How many twelfths
have you left? Recombine these, making the new
pieces just as large as possible but still equal.
How many parts have you made of the eight
twelfths? How did you reduce -j% to §? Do nine
twelfths the same way. What do you get? Why
did you not make the nine twelfths into thirds?
Do the same with fifteen eighteenths. What do
you get? Why not make these into thirds?
This process of recombining fractions so as to
have fewer and larger equal parts is called "reduc-ing
to lower terms." Recombining into the fewest
and largest possible parts is called "reducing to
lowest terms." Can you make a rule for each
process?
J
Subdivision (Reduction to higher terms).
( Recombining (Reduction to lower terms).
These two processes are the only distinctive ones
in fractions, and and they are not fundamentally
so; they are only new applications of the multipli-cation
table. In another article we shall see how
the addition, subtraction, etc. of fractions are onljr
repetitions of similar processes with whole num-bers,
with occasional application of the two pro-cesses
just studied.
L
12 NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION.
The Spring Migration Of Birds.
T. GILBERT PE.\RSON, GUILFORD COLLEGE, X. C.
There are no two months when the bird popula-tion
of any section of our southern country is ex-actly
the same. In fact, at one time of the year
an enumeration of the birds which might be ob-served
would be found to be widely different from
a list of the forms which could be made at another
season. Every one who observes birds, of course,
knows that in the winter we have the snowbirds,
and the fox sparrows, and many kinds of wild
ducks; and that in the summer these are gone, but
in their places we have the wood thrushes, the
chimney swifts, and the whip-poor-wills. Then
there are some varieties which we may see only
during a few days in the spring or autumn.
Now, what is the cause of all this movement and
activity on the part of our feathered neighbors.'
To those who may possibly not fully understand
let me offer a little explanation. A very large per
cent of our wild birds feed largely on insects, and
two-thirds of the birds found in North Carolina in
the summer live almost exclusively upon an insect
diet. When autumn comes and the sharp cold
nights are rapidly ridding the air of insects, the
insect-loving birds are immediately placed in a
position like this: they must either change their
diet, or depart for some country where insects can
be found. There are some species which do one
way, and some which act on the other plan. Thus
the robin and the waxwing and the partri'^ge, al-though
they feed so largely on insects in summer,
now turn to the fields and woodlands for such
seeds as the weed-stalks may be holding high
above the snow for them, or for the berries of the
black-gum, the holly and the mistletoe, or for the
fruit, perhaps, of the persimmon.
But the chimney swift, the nighthawk, the whip-poor-
will and many others must have insects, so
they make long journeys, one or two thousand
miles, and sometimes even more, to those southern
countries where summer never ends. Their jour-ney
in the fall of the year is usually spoken of as
their autumn migration. These flights of the birds
are usnally undertaken at night in order to avoid
bird-killing hawks,—those fearful feathered lions
of the air. The flights are often made at consider-able
distance from the earth, many birds having
been observed through telescopes at an altitude of
three miles. The thin atmosphere at this height
must be more easily traversed than the denser air
nearer the earth. Birds, toD, have a much keener
eye-sight than we have, and, even at such a height
they doubtless are able, on clear nights, to make
out the prominent features of the earth beneath,
and then steer unerringly on their course. Their
great highways of migration are generally along
river courses, and especially do the birds of the
eastern United States follow the coast line. On
foggy or rainy nights the little voyagers often lose
their reckoning, and on such occasions they fre-quently
dash against the lanterns of lighthouses,
beacons, or light-ships, and are killed in great
numbers.
Hundreds are thus killed on the North and
South Carolina and Virginia coasts each year.
The Bartholdi statue, standing at the mouth of the
Hudson River, is the cause of many birds losing
their lives. Fourteen hundred were picked up
about its base one morning, having been killed by
striking the statue or the lanterns. Many migrants
lose their lives by being driven to earth by storms.
Large numbers are driven out to sea and perish.
When the weather is thick an murky many birds
are killed by striking telegraph wires; for these
nocturnal travelers fiy low at times. Surely many
dangers beset the great national pathways of the
feathered hosts.
Those birds which leave us when the leaves be-gin
to fade and return when the fresh young grass
and the bloodroots and wind-flowers are about
we speak of as "summer residents," to distinguish
them from the "resident" species which are with
us the entire year. Those which spend the winter
in our midst and retire to the north on the ap-proach
of spring are often designated as "winter
visitors." Examples of these are the snowbird, and
the yellow-bellied sap-sucker.
To a fourth class belong those birds which spend
their summers in the far north and their winters in
the far south. We see them for only a few days
during the fall migration, as they journey south;
or we may catch a glimpse of their handsome col-ors
as they pass us in the spring, on their return
trip. Watch in the groves and thickets and along
the hedges in April and early May for troops of
the little birds belonging to the family of Warblers.
You can find at times bands of these bright feath-ered
strangers who have dropped down in the
morning out of the sky to feed and rest in the
woods all day before resuming their journey upon
return of the friendly darkness. Birds of this kind
NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION. 13
are often spoken of as "transients," because they
are with us only in transit.
The general subject of the migration of birds is
quite an e.xtensi\-e one and affords one of the most
interesting fields of observation in ornthological
study. Anyone can observe interesting and in-structive
facts about it anywhere, and at almost
any time of year. For instance, find out, if you do
not already know, whether the brown thrasher is
found in your neighborhood. If so. is it a resident,
summer resident, winter visitor, or transient bird.'
If a summer resident, how late in the fall of the
year have you seen him, and how soon in the
spring does he first appear in the thickets and
along the hedge-rows.' Again, do you ever see
the robin in the winter.' If you live in Virginia or
in any of the states south of there, you probably
do; and, if food for him is abundant in your neigh-borhood,
you will likely see him almost every day;
otherwise he may be observed but rarely during
this season. Look out for the first catbird this
spring. Note the date of his arrival.
The season will soon be at hand when the birds
which left us last autumn will come trooping back
to their summer homes. Why not keep our eyes
open and watch for the birds as they come in this
spring.' Here are the dates on which I have noted
the first spring arrivals of the following species of
our common birds at Chapel Hill, N. C:
I
Wood Thrush, April 22.
Catbird, April 15.
Chipping Sparrow, April 11.
Crested Flycatcher. April 21.
Chimney Swift, April 12.
Whip-poor-will, April 20.
Night Hawk {Bullbat), April 27.
Teachers usuallj- find their pupils enthusiastic
helpers in gathering data on any natural history
subject. Here is a plan which has been success-fully
employed in some schools for the accumala-tion
of information in regard to bird migration,
i'he accompanying diagram is placed on a chart
or left standing on the blackboard. For perma-nent
record the children copy the chart in their
note books. When fifty pairs of sharp eyes are set
to watching for the coming of birds and as many
keen ears are listening for the first notes, the pass-ing
feathered traveler and the bird that has just
returned to its summer home will hardly fail to be
reported.
SAMS OF CHILD. | DATS. 1 XAKB OF BIBD. BBlUBCa. [
!
1
!
1
! ;
As many parallel lines and spaces may be added
as are needed to record all important observations.
It will be well to have a definite time set apart
for the reports of the children, and enough time
should be given to permit a full report. Under
" Remarks" may be recorded the place where the
bird was seen, the time of day, what it was doing,
whether it was alone or with ether birds, and such
other details as have been observed and are of any
value. Many accidental details will be reported
that need not be recorded.
XOTE — If schools in different parts of the state will keep
this record this spring and send the records to the editor of
this journal, Prof. Pearson will tabulate the results and write
an article showing what they indicate as to the paths and
times of migration in North Carolina. He will also publish
results of records sent from other states.
Severite's Method and a Better.
'•Be not aiercome with ci'il. but m'trcgnu evil ivitk ^ood."
M. V. u SHEA.
Sci.e'rttt' is what you would call a "disciplina-rian."
She pins her faith to the doctrine of instant
obedience to authority, and to the development of
righteousness by keeping from the very earliest
years in the straight and narrow path of rectitude.
While theoretically she believes in 'he spontaneity
of childhood, yet practically she demands that this
spontaneity shall come within the scope of the
code of discipline which she has established. If
the little ones under her care depart from this defi-nite
line of action, she esteems it her dutj- to force
them back promptly and severely; for this is the
only way in which children can learn to be good.
If they do what is wrong, judged by St"tritt-'s
standard of right and wrong, they must suffer the
pains and penalties incident thereto. I suppose
she really has adopted no system of psychology,
but in her practice she shows that she views the
mind as an independent agency which even in in-fancy
may direct its own activities. If it chooses
the evil it must experience pain, which will coerce
it towards the good. Whenever one of her victims
does wrong she gives a warning not to have the
* Condensed tn>m Kindergarten Heview.
14 NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION.
misdeed repeated. She even anticipates the possi-ble
wrong-doing of her children. If she puts a
clean dress on the child, she warns him beforehand
not to creep upon the floor or visit the sand pile;
if she is about to start for a walk, she first tells the
children that they must not be noisy upon the
street, they must not run away from her side, they
must not speak to strangers, and they must not do
many another thing which it is probable they will
do, particularly when commanded not to.
Sfz'i-'n'h'is wrong. She is wrong in principle,
she is wrong in practice. She runs afoul, in her
disciplinary methods, of some of the most potent
forces in human nature. For one thing she seeks
to repress energies which never can be repressed.
She thinks that to negate an activity by word, and
more rarely by deed, is sufficient to inhibit it. If
she does not want her children to play in the
house and " make a great racket," she says to them,
"Don't run any more," or, "Don't play any more,''
and stops there. She does not point out what
may be done; she does not think this is necessary.
Indeed, when I approach her on the subject, she
allows that it is a good thing to develop early in
children a respect for law. They must be taught
obedience; they must be brought to realize that
when they are commanded not to do, they shall
not do. And life is made up so largely of things
which cannot be done that we had better at the
start get into the habit of not doing. Negation is
Se'vcritc's Alpha and Omega of training.
But in reality this does not work; her children
do not obey her, and she is incessantly repeating
her commands. Stern as she is in voice and aspect
of countenance, this disobedience is inevitable.
Nature has endowed the child with energies which
must, during waking life, find expression in activ-ity.
\^ Se'veritchd.d the instincts of a student at
all and would simply observe her children, she
would see, I think, that the Creator desired that
they should be constantly doing, that he never
planned a child to be a negative quantity.
The verdict of the psychological sciences is very
clear on this point; mental activity must, espec-ially
in the early years, be accompanied by physi-cal
activity. A thought is part motor. This hu-man
organism, body and mind, is wonderfully uni-fied.
Every one is now familiar with the fine say-ing
that the child thinks with his muscles. One
distinguished psychologist has gone so far as to say
th.at there can be no thought, no state of consci-ousness,
unless there is motor response. 'We have
perceptions because we react in a motor way to
objects which we see. But, whether we sympa-thize
with this view or not, we must grant that
mental activity cannot be divorced from motor ac-tivity.
And, further, we would not divorce them
if we could; we would not have the mind set off
from the body which it inhabits in such a way that
it could practice one sort of conduct and the body
deport itself in a different manner. Instinctively
we all realize that our physical activity is a reflex
of our mental life; and we have perfect faith that
we cannot have our thoughts run in one channel
and our actions in another.
Now, to surround children with certain condi-tions
which incite action along a given line, and
then attempt to suppress the activities thus aroused,
is, it will be seen, a fruitless, if not a vicious, method
of training. So long as a child's environments
stimulate certain thoughts and feelings his conduct
will be shaped in harmony therewith. To forbid
is to furnish an occasion for disobedience. To
attach pains and penalties to one's negations may.
indeed, inhibit action for a time; but suppressed
energy will be liable to break out in some form; it
may be in a good way, but it is liable to be in a
wrong way. There is a point here which Severitc
never seemed able to comprehend, and she is like
many other people in this respect; she believes
that a word of negation is equivalent to the prohi-bition
of an action. I can not convince her that
negation is purely verbal; it has not any body,
any substance. There is no such thing as a neg-ative
idea. The mind abhors vacuity; it must be
full of some thought, and that thought will al-wa)'
s be positive. We can have no //(^-thoughts.
The only way in which one can negate an idea is
by driving it out of the mind with another idea;
so there is no way to negate an action but to sup-plant
it with another action.
Conduct is determined by positive and not neg-ative
influences. Good action is secured by filling
the mind with good thoughts; bad conduct is pro-hibited
by displacing it with a positive sort of con-duct,
not by verbally forbidding it. No teacher
ever had much success in preventing her boys from
throwing snowballs at the schoolhouse by warning
them, before they went out at recess, not to do it.
If, on the other hand, she leads them into games
which are permissible and which employ their en-ergies,
she will then save them from transgressing
law. Scveriti' would have so much greater
success if she would only rely more on positive
NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION. 15
measures of control; if, fearing misdeeds, she
would stimulate good deeds; if, wishing that the
children would not play in the house, she would
in a vigorous, inspiring way lead them out on the
playground and organize interesting games with
them there.
But there is thrown up to one every time he
suggests this to her the old dogma of developing
obedience through requiring of her children com-pliance
with her commands. They will not have
" moral fiber" if they do not experience a great deal
of this sort of thing in childhood. Here again she
i-5 wrong, and woefully wrong. No one ever devel-oped
moral fiber by living in an atmosphere of
negation. No child will ever acquire respect for
authority by having his spontaneous actions in-cessantly
prohibited; rather he will grow to hate
authority. You cannot run athwart nature much
of the time without creating disturbance, disease;
and the most destructive disease of the moral na-ture
is antagonism to rightful authority. Seve'rite
is the sort of person who will make law breakers
of her children.
What we want in the training of our children is
to habituate them to right lines of action. Science
reveals to us that character at any moment is de-termined
by the ways in which one has acted in
the past. The organism gets adjusted to a certain
kind of reaction, and it goes shooting along in
maturity in the direction in which it was started in
childhood. Education ought to give it the right
direction; it ought to stimulate the young to be
active along good lines, and the impetus thus given
will carry the individual safely along the right road
to the end of his days. If this will not do it noth-ing
can. Most of us have not begun to realize the
significance of habit in education, and the tremen-dous
importance of constantly inciting in the young
activities of a wholesome, upright character, thus
inhibiting conduct of an opposite sort. We do not
really believe sufficienti}' in overcoming evil with
good. But modern science is, from every point of
view, indorsing and emphasizing our Savior's great
lesson.
But shall there be no inhibition.'' Children must
learn respect for law. They will in their daily
lives meet negation, and they will need to respect
it. They can of course do this better as they grow
older, when nature develops the mechanisms for
inhibiting impulses to action. Then they should
have the experience of restraining activity in
conformity to command; but the danger is that
authority will be exercised too frequently, when
instead of respect there will be bred disrespect for
it. It is a calamity for any child to be continually
commanded not to do a thing which he proceeds
at once to do. Here, again, is this great law of
habit; becoming accustomed to disobey, he gets
set in a direction from which it will not be easy
to turn him. The maximum of training seems to
be, then, authority exhibited rarely^and then en-forced
at any cost. This will secure all that is de-sired
in developing regard for the authority which
will be encountered in later life, and which must
be obeyed.
Severity errs seriously in another way. She goes
around looking solemn, stern, and critical, when
she might easily wear an aspect of gladness and
good cheer and optimism She little realizes that
her personal characteristics will with absolute cer-tainty
determine the characteristics of her chil-dren.
.Many of us who direct the lives of others
would be more careful of what we display through
our personalities if we realized that imitation is the
most active quality of human beings. People have
always known this; but their beliefs have not be-come
formulated into doctrines, at least till within
our own day. Now we appreciate that the mind is
incessai tly taking the things about it as copies and
modeling itself upon them. I reproduce in my
own face what I see in the faces ofothers—whether I
wish to or not for the most part. There are sub-conscious
agencies in my personality which attend
to this matter, and my conscious self has little to
say about it by way either of encouragement or
prohibition. So, virtually, I must become like the
company I keep. How imperative then that peo-ple
like Sevcritc should exhibit what is most hjpe-ful
and optimistic in their characteristic expres-sions.
Of course they cannot express what they do
not feel; but yet if one realizes how his expressions
are to influence others, it will help to give the bet-ter
emotions in his own nature force and vigor so
they will become predominant in him.
As I see it, the business of those who direct the
lives of others, whether in the school, in alder-manic
chambers, or in legislative halls, is to pro-mote
the survival of things which inspire good con-duct.
Virtue increases by being made more prom-inent,
by having the circumstances which arouse
it more in evidence; while evil dies out of the earth
by being neglected. We grow away from the
things which we forget, and like the things which
we think about, whether they be good or evil. No
NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION.
one ever rose above his faults who kept his mind
full of them; reform, whether in the individual or
in society, can be secured alone when evil prac-tices
are supplanted by wholesome ones. A sort
of law of education may be stated, I think, in this
way: virtuous character is developed by surround-ing
the individual with influences which inspire
good action, and at the same time removing from
his sight and hearing evil in every form. Chil-dren
grow through and above their many imper-fections,
not by being made to reflect upon them,
in the hope that they will grow to detest them,
but by having paths opened before them which
lead away from weakness up into greater and
greater strength. Thus by a sort of survival of
the fittest, made possible by repetition under guid-ance
of the teacher, the child grows day by day to
establish habitual modes of action which in matu-rity
will bring him into harmonious relations with
his fellows and with his Creator.
Our Visit to Old Town—A Lesson in Local History.
^nSS MARY WILEY, WINSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
Just si.x miles from Winston lies the quaint little
village of Bethabara (or Old Town), the first home
of the Moravians in North Carolina. It was here
we had our first practical lesson in local history.
One pleasant Saturday in January twenty-two of
my pupils and myself started in carriages for
Bethabara. Upon reaching the little village an
old Moravian gentleman came to meet us. For
generations his people had lived in Bethabara, and
he knew every line of its history.
Before going on our excursion, the coming of
the Brethren to North Carolina, their settlement in
Bethabara, and the trials and difficulties of their
early years had all been carefully taught the
pupils. Therefore they had already formed a men-tal
picture of the place, and were able to ask
intelligent questions concerning the old times.
With the sunny little village as our school room,
Mr. Hauser as the kind old teacher, the old time
houses and bits of stones and the trees for books,
we had a most delightful lesson.
An old pear tree marks the site of the little
cabin in which the founders of Bethabara spent the
first year in their new home. Each child was
eager to stand beside the old tree, perhaps in the
very footsteps of the brave old Brethren. Each
one could imagine just how the old place must
have looked so long ago, with nothing but the
great forests on all sides
As Mr. Hauser pointed out the place where the
village "square" originall}' lay, with the church
and Single Brethren's House grouped around, and
as the very foundations of the old houses were
seen and walked over, the children got a better
idea of the old days of Bethabara than ever they
could have learned from books and charts.
As we stood upon the foundation-stones of the
first church and looked around upon the quaint
little village l)'ing in the meadow, with the clear
running brooks shining in the sunlight, the grave-yard
away off on the top of a beautifully-rounded
hill, the words of Mr. Hauser seemed far away,
and, for the time, we, too, were Moravians, living
the peaceful life of the old days in Bethabara.
There still stands in Bethabara an old church,
built in the old Moravian way,—with the parsonage
attached. Each room in the church was carefully
e.xamined, especially the kitchen with its huge fire
place and baker's oven, its rough, uneven floor of
cobble stones, its high windows and curious door
divided into two parts. In the church were many
things which made the children understand better
the olden times. There was the great stove, eight
feet high, and made of potter's clay ; there were old
candle-sticks, tables, cupboards, an old desk with
a secret drawer in it, the old pulpit, and interest-ing-
looking old German books. The wide planks
in the floor were examined and measured, as were
the large bricks on the hearth. The thickness of
the walls was noted, the dark cellar explored and
the bell rung,—the same bell which frightened the
Indians so often.
The children had their note-books and ever)'-
thing they saw or heard was jotted down.
The next week, during school hours, an outline
of our trip was made, our notes were consulted and
discussed and then written up as a chapter in " The
History of the Mora\ians." The sketches macie
by the children while in Bethabara were then put
upon the board and copied in their "Histories;"
while the "relics" (bits of stone, twigs of the pear
tree, etc ) were carefully labeled and put in our
museum. Some of the boys had a kodak, and took
very good views of the old church.
The last place visited in Bethabara was the
graveyard. As the pupils climbed the steep hill,
they wondered how the old Brethren used to carry
the heavy corpses up it, and when they reached
the top and heard how the Brethren used to watch
for the Indians up there and, at the first sign of
danger, hasten down to the village and ring the .
bell as a warning to the colonists, the story seemed
real and full of life.
What we learned at Bethabara cannot be reck-oned
up, but that the pupils gained something that
has a wonderful hold on them is evident, for when-ever
our trip to Old Town is mentioned even the
dullest grows interested at once.
NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION. '7
MARY BEST JONES, GOLDSBORO GRADED SCHOOLS.
School-room Plays. promptu stage. After dressing rooms were cut
off, the stage was divided into two parts by an-other
draw-curtain. On one side of this curtain
Knowledge, real and living, comes only when was shown the "Puritan Home" with its inmates;
its acquisition is a joyous indrawing. The earnest on the other, the wigwam of the Indian with its
teacher strives to bring this condition of mind to surroundings of green reeds, rushes and pine
each and every child. boughs, formed a picturesque scene.
Herea vital question arises. By what best means After the first two scenes were shown, the In-is
the teacher able to bring about this condition of dians came into the Puritan Home for their deadly
mind, when each child before him differs from work; while the fourth representation was of the
every other child and answers to a different treat- white men as they were smoking the peace-pipe
ment.' with their one-time cruel enemies. The last
The natural way to do this is to approach the tableau "The First Thanksgiving" was exceed-children
through the channel of the common inter- ingly picturesque. In this scene, the dividing cur-est
of childhood—pleasure. All children find tain was drawn aside so that the stage was turned
pleasure in play. This is nature's plan. Therefore into one room. The white men and the red men
letthem play what you would have them learn, for were amicably minglinglogether in games, or were
the seeds sown in the full sunlight of pleasure attain smoking and talking; while the women prepared
a luxuriant growth, and many are the fowls of the coming feast,
wisdom that lodge therein. Any scenes may be chosen for these tableaux,
The studies of geography, history and reading but the ones selected should bear directly upon
are full of pleasing scenes and episodes through the work in hand, if a rich harvest is to be reaped,
which the child's fancy may roam with the great- Let the preparation be slow, extending over many
est freedom. These fancies he will translate into days, so that the smallest object needed will im-action
if opportunity be allowed him. press itself upon the children's minds. The time
In every school course United States history has thus spent will not be wasted, for it gives the
a place, and what more dramatic material or what child's fancy plenty of time to work out even the
material better suited to the romantic period of merest detail to make the "show" real,
child-life would you want than this.-" With ingenuity and a little expense one can de-
The early settlers lived as simply as children vise good costumes. A lew bright dresses, fur,
live. With the rudest tools, they were compelled feathers, beads, (pop-corn, berries, etc., if nothing
to work out their ideas. Their struggles and the else is to be had), tabs of cloth, and you have
strivings of the children are along the same lines, pretty and striking Indian costumes,
though, of course, the moving power is more de- The same grade which gave the Thanksgiving
veloped in the older people. How real these rep- tableaux were using the story of the Iliad for their
resentations may be and how interesting to the recitations in reading. These children were in
children has been proven lately in our school. their development just at the period that the Greek
At Thanksgiving the children who were study- race was when firm belief in monsters, nymphs,
ing the colonization period of United States etc., held its sway. To them Hector, holding at
History gave the following five scenes for their en- bay the mighty hosts of the Greeks, Achilles
tertainment on the day before the holiday.
I. The Puritan Home.
II. The Indian Wigwam.
III. An Indian Massacre.
IV. The Smoking of the Peace Pipe.
V. The first Thanksgiving.
mourning for his dear Patroclus, and the tricks of
crafty Ulysses were real. When Hector's ankle
bones are ruthlessly pierced the children's indig-nation
is aroused against Achilles, who until now,
has been their favorite hero. Their sense of jus-tice
is touched to the quick; so with clenched fists
These were tableaux selected from the real work they denounce the iron-hearted man who thus de-of
this grade, but the story told by them was a files his brave antagonist,
continuous one. So real are their feelings for the party whose
The arrangement of the class-room was in this cause they espouse that there is no weak vacillat-manner:
Across the front of the room was ing from the side of the Greek to that of Trojan, or
hung a draw-curtain, behind which was the im- vice versa. It will be seen from the following inci-
NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION.
dent how true they were to their adopted heroes.
The class was once asked the question: "How
many Trojans are there in the room.'" Many
hands were held up in reply. In turn, the Greek
followers were asked to hold up their hands. The
teacher then called on one girl to give her reason
for being a Trojan. "I am no Trojan!" she indig-nantly
exclaimed, and took her seat.
They had grasped the feelings of the Greeks and
Trojans, and the translation of these feelings into
action naturally followed.
It has been found to be a good plan to have one
child learn the speeches made by Hector to
Achilles and another learn Achilles' part. If the
reading has been well worked up as they came along,
the child has already acquired many of the words
of the book. These words allow a fuller expres-sion
of their feelings than do their own limited
vocabularies.
When they have fully understood the feelings
that moved these nations and have acquired words
allowing free expression of these feelings, the
children long to represent their heroes.
Now for a real play! Dressed as a Trojan war-rior
or the greatest hero of the Greeks, the child is,
in feeling, the character he represents; and natur-ally
and easily does he act the part.
For other work of this kind one will find the
Tanglewood Tales especially good material, as
the conversations in them are well connected.
Where a break does come, however, the children
will add effective words of their own. The descrip-tions
in these stories are beautiful and natural, and,
for this reason, aid greatly in the preparation of the
stage scenery.
Advance in English in the Secondary Schools.
J. W. C.-\NAn.\, PRINCIPAL CHAPEL HILL SCHOOL.
The position given English in the secondary
schools is the index of their standing. They either
emphasize the classics, Greek and Latin, pride
themselves on their mathematics, push forward
their history or English, give science a prominent
place, or attempt to keep all these subjects together.
The day has undoubtedly passed when nothing but
Latin and Greek, however good they may be in
themselves, may be regarded as an adequate prep-aration
for college or for life. Something more
than a fine drill in mathematics is required of a
school now. There is very little danger for some
time to come that science will be given too much
prominence in the secondary school; but this is
owing to lack of equipment rather than lack of
scientific spirit. History may be said to be keep-ing
its wonted place, while the advance in English
is most marked.
A glance at the study and teaching of English
in the secondary schools gives a convincing proof
of the sound pedagogical theory that is now uni-versally
admitted. Facts bear out this view of the
theory. The impulse that has led to the advance
in the study of English grammar and literature in
the schools is due largely to the numbers of
trained young men who in the past decade have
gone out into the schools of the state. The ad-vance
in English therefore comes from above.
The higher scholarship makes possible the lower,
not the lower the higher. More adequate prepa-ration
for really good work does come and can
come only when our University and colleges have
done their full duty in equipping the departments
of English.
The work in English takes three main lines;
grammar, composition and literature. In each of
these lines the advance in the past ten years has
been very marked. English Grammar has now
come to be treated scientifically. It is susceptible
of such treatment, and certainly deserves more
consideration at the hands of scholars than Latin
and Greek. Not, however, until within the past
decade or two has any serious attention been given
it. The books studied in the schools showed an
ignorance of the fundamental principles that would
not have been tolerated in any other branch of
linguistic study. Now there are some really fine
grammars, showing the highest grade of scholar-ship.
The work of Dr. Whitney along this line
was certainly very valuable in giving a clear, com-mon-
sense, though somewhat prosy and dry, state-ment
of the principles of usage as he deduced them
from the origin of words themselves and their
present use by writers whose use gives sanction.
Drs. Baskervill and Sewell, of Vanderbilt, have
carried this work still further and have given us
by far the best handbook in point of scholarship
and interest that has yet appeared on English
grammar.
English grammar as taught in the secondary
schools ten years ago was not a science, indeed it
had none of the scientific spirit in it. It was a dry
mass of parsing, of rules, of sentence-building that
had little meaning, and no interest whatever for
NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION. 19
the student. In illustration at least, the instruc-tion
in Fnglish, and the construction of English
grammar may be as scientific as chemistry or
physics; in fact it is pure inductive reasoning.
The material is the words of men who have a place
and prominence in literature. The work of the
grammarian is to deduce his rules for general ap-plication
for instruction from the words of such
masters. While, perhaps, the scientist would be
a dull teacher of grammar he would certainly be
a good one, for he would apply to it the methods
which truly belong to it.
The second line of advance in English is in
written work. In subject and in method a radical
cRange has come about in the last dozen years.
The point of view of the teacher has changed
entirely. It is needless to say a corresponding
change in point of view has taken place on the
part of the pupils. Written work concerns itself
with two things: subject matter and form. The
most important of these is the subject matter;
thinkers are wanted, not rhetoricians. Composi-tion
work is most effectively done when the pupil
gains highest development. The formative value of
the whole course of study taken by the pupils shows
most clearly at this point. The clearness, the
reasoning power and the freedom of mind given
by scientific study, all make themselves evident in
the written work. In this line, as in grammar, the
formal or purely intellectual value of English is
very great. The formal must not tyrannize over
the subject matter. The real purpose of all com-position
writing is the emancipation of thought.
Most careful attention must be paid to expression,
but spontaneity and naturalness come first.
This naturalness springs from the acquaintance
of the stndent with his subject and the interest he
takes in giving expression to his thought and feel-ing.
This leads to the third line of advance in
English: literature. Here, perhaps, more has been
done in a shorter time, and a greater revolution in
matter and method brought about than has ever
occurred in any other line of study in equal time-
Less than a score of years has seen literature take>
perhaps, the most prominent place in the scheme
of education in the secondary school. The
reasons for this are to be found in the pedagogy of
to-day. Perhaps, because of its abiding interest,
literature would have won its way without the help
of pedagogy, but certainly it has come to its inher-itance
earlier because educational thought has been
directed to it.
Mathematics ministers to the purely formal and
coldly intellectual side of the student's nature. In
the classics, in the secondary schools at least, little
progress is made further than to give a good drill
to the memory. Science, even in its most element-ary
stages, teaches to observe closely and to state
accurately; it gives conciseness, clearness, reason-ing
power and freedom to the mind. Literature
comes in for work that is done by none of these.
It has to do with a side of the nature that is of more
importance still than the pure intellect. Its prov-ince
is a broader one and its work more important.
It comes into the life of a student when he is most
susceptible to the genial influences that spring
from it. Other lines of study may make him known
to others, but it is through literature that he knows
himself.
The deep purpose of life is to know one's self.
This is possible only as the self is most fully de-veloped.
A strong force in the development of
self, or rather the real value of the self-developed,
is the moral character produced. This moral char-acter
is the life of man. From the time of Socrates,
many of the wisest and best of teachers have held
that the ultimate end of education is this moral
character. If this be so, and certainly no thought-ful
educator will question it, the really vital
question is, What shall be done to give strength and
wisdom and experience to the forming character.-"
Just here two schools of educational thought arise.
The one holds that the will is controlled through
ideas in the mind, that the necessary way to edu-cate
the will and develop character is to instil in
the pupil right ideas of conduct and life. In a
measure the will is a product of these ideas; and
the product makes the man. These ideas can be
given to the pupil only as his interest can be
aroused and his apperceptive powers quickened.
To give him something that appeals to his love of
sport and adventure, to his vivid imagination and
his day dreams, and through this to get into his
head certain ideas of right doing, and thus to direct
his will, is a loose but fairly correct statement of
the aim in view in the use of literature.
But there is a still deeper meaning and reason
here. While the day has passed in which certain
subjects are used as material for certain kinds of
training, yet certain ends are in view in a scheme
of education. The intellectual value of science and
of grammar as a scientific study has been spoken
of. as also the impulse to creative activity in written
work as it is given in the best schools of to-day.
20 NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION.
and the ethical impulse as affected by literature.
There remains the culture value of literature as a
fine art. It is the only one of the fine arts availa-ble
in the schools generally; hence its importance
from this point of view can hardly be overesti-mated.
It is to the seat of the emotions, the
reason, the deep feeling, that the arts appeal for
their justification; and for the satisfaction offered
the properly qualified emotional nature is due
place accorded to the creation, of the imagination,
whether it be painting, music, house or poem. As
this part surpasses in excellence that part which
knows and acts, inasmuch as through it comes the
highest impulses of love, reverence, worship and
religion, so that part of our educational scheme
which ministers most directly to this is of most
value. Beyond question the only subject in our
whole realm of school work that has most to do di-rectly
with this side of our nature is literature.
The pedagogy of to-day has become conscious
of this value as well, hence literature finds a still
more important justification of its position in the
educational scheme. This last advance is the most
noteworthy and is possessed of the most far-reach-ing
results. It goes to the very source of educa-tion.
The outward form and manifestation will
take care of themselves provided the springs of life
are pure. It is an easy task to guide and direct
and shape the blossoming young life when the im-pulses
that show the expanding life within are pure
and noble and beautiful. The leaven of pure Eng-lish
literature will do its work, if only allowed to
do so, and we now find in our schools an apprecia-tion
of this work, a knowledge of how it is to be
done and an earnest attempt to do it well.
The Class in United States History.
W. C. ALLEN, SUPERINTENDENT WAYNESVILLE GRADED
SCHOOLS.
At the very beginning of the study of history
pupils should be led to ask themselves such ques-tions
as the following: What am I.' What are
my surroundings.' How am I related to the world
around me.' What are the possibilities of my life.'
If the teacher can produce an inquiry of this kind
on the part of the pupil in an indirect way, then
the means by which answers can be obtained will
be received with interest.
It is not hard to prove to the average class that
history affords the means by which these questions
may be answered. There must not be, of course,
any laborious effort made to exemplify that; for
great efforts produce doubt. But it can be shown
easily that history is the record of the actions of
men in their attempts to adjust themselves to their
surroundings and to work out the possibilities of
their lives. No directions can be given. That
may be dene by different teachers in different way.^.
Relating stories of famous men and women, put-ting
emphasis upon their struggles in behalf of
others and the gains and losses made by them in
behalf of human liberty and happiness, is one of
the good ways of doing this.
So much for the beginning—getting a start in
the race. Now for a method by which interest
may be kept up after a start has been made.
It is not safe to stick to any one method for any
considerable time. Vary the plans of conducting
the recitation. Have the class make out topic
lists and discuss them in class. Let class recite
lesson as a whole, one beginning and telling all
about a certain topic, another beginning where he
left off, and so on till the lesson is finished. Then
put questions, to see if the facts have been under-stood
in their relations.
After the lesson has been recited in that way,
call attention to the fact that other books tell still
more about those facts, and, if there are other books
convenient, tell pupils where to find them. Select
the most interesting incidents of the lesson, and
assign them to different members of the class for
special reference and "reports" for next lesson.
They will look up additional information in other
books, prepare a little speech, and speak it next
day before beginning the regular lesson. Have
some one read a poem, or a speech, or a story
about some feature of the lesson. Such side lights
will sooner or later open the windows of heaven
and pour in a flood of light that will make brilliant
the world of learning beyong.
When a class has gone through the history, they
should never be required to "review" it in the
ordinary acceptation of that term. It should be
reviewed, but not page by page, or topic by topic.
It should be reviewed as a commanding general
reviews his army, from some commanding position
where the whole, or nearly the whole, can be seen
at once—as it were at arm's length.
To exemplify: Make out a list of the important
men and women who have helped to make the
history of this country, give it to the pupils, and
ask two questions about each, namely, Who was
NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION. 21
he or she? What did he or she do? Teach the
pupils how to handle the index, which all books
ought to have, and they will take delight in look-ing
them up.
Then select important events, make a list of
them, ask the questions, When? Why? How?
What? in regard to each, put it into the hands of
your pupils, and watch the result.
Also, review by subjects; that is, have the class
make a list of all the wars the country has been
engaged in, answering the following questions.
When? Why? Who? Result? Likewise all the
battles in each war, answering the questions.
When? How? Leaders? Result? Treat other sub-jects
the same way, varying the questions to suit
the subject.
Enough in a general way. To particularize a
little:
As a review of the period of discovery, have
pupils make a list of the discoverers and explorers,
carefully distinguishing one from the other, and
ask the following questions about each: Who was
each? What did he discover? To what did it
lead? In this way pupils may be lead to see the
result of things.
For the period of colonization, require pupils to
make a list of the original thirteen states and
answer the following questions about each: When?
Where? By whom? How?
ft The history of the colonial troubles with the In-dians
may be made productive of keen interest and
great profit by having the class prepare an outline
showing the names of the tribes that gave trouble
to each colony, being careful to distinguish the
overt act which precipitated the conflict, placing
the blame where it belongs. Also guide them in
seeing the result of each conflict.
Another review can be made by making a dia-gram
showing presidential administrations with
the following facts noted: Limiting dates? Terms?
Political party? Principal events? The congresses
may be reviewed in the same way, the following
questions being answered: Limiting dates? Pre-siding
officers? dominating political party? Impor-tant
questions discussed?
An important lesson on expansion may be
taught in a systematic way, which will be especi-ally
interesting this year. Have the class to account
for all the territory annexed to the original thirteen
states. Let them get firmly fixed in mind the
geographical situation, length, breadth, and area
of the shoestring that stretched along the Atlantic
seaboard at the time of the adoption of the consti-tution.
Then as the years have passed, let them
see the string lengthen and widen until the width
exceeds the length, and the string becomes a sec-tion
of a cable.
Make a list of all the territory annexed to the
"original thirteen," and have pupils find out the
When, the Where, the How, and the Why in regard
to each. The list would start with Vermont and
end with the Philippines. The idea regarding the
style of annexation, which is most American, will
be obliged to come forth.
A review of the convention that adopted the
Federal Constitution and the adoption of the Con-stitution
itself may be made interesting. The
important facts that ought to be impressed are:
That the convention that framed the constitution
was a meeting of prominent men, sent by the
different states as agents, to form a compact,
to make a contract, to enter into business rela-tions,
so that the states could trade and com-municate
with each other in a way that would be
mutually beneficial and profitable; that this con-tract
should be binding after ratification, only so
long as it was mutually agreeable; and that it was
never contemplated in the outset to make a nation,
but to form a union of independent, indestructible,
and co-ordinate states, each to be sovereign and
inviolable. The men who formed that convention
were not empowered to form a nation. Such a
thing had never been contemplated by their con-stituency.
In fact, it was universally desired that
each state should retain its sovereignty and com-plete
independence.
In order to bring out these points, have pupils
mention states represented and the names of the
most prominent delegates; the prime object of the
convention—which was not to form a constitution;
the first proposition or motion that was made, and
how it was accepted and afterward changed; the
first plan offered for representation of the states;
the second plan, and the compromise; how the
constitution was adopted by the states, the oppo-sition
in some, and the reason therefor; the three
independent republics after Washington became
president; the changes asked for by certain states;
and the right of withdrawing from the union re-served
by others.
The plan outlined as given has been tried and
found valuable. Many other devices could be men-tioned,
but these are quite sufficient to exemplify
the method. It is believed that history, properly
taught, forms the basis of a broad and liberal
culture.
22 NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION.
A Discussion of Certain Ideas of School Discipline.
J. D. EGGLESTON, JR., SUPERINTENDENT ASHEVILLE CITY
SCHOOLS.
The subject of School Discipline is too broad to
discuss here in all its phases. Only the moral training
in the school-room can be considered in this paper-
My apology for discussing so hackneyed a subject
is that I am convinced that our schools are in dan-ger
of being flooded with certain ideas which I
believe to be not only subversive of the moral
well-being of our children, but, as a natural conse-quence,
positively vicious in their mental and moral
results.
The subject will be considered under three heads:
I. Corporal Punishment. II. License vs. the
Law of Liberty. III. Spontaneity and Prescription.
I. CORPORAL PUNISHMENT.
It is a condition as well as a theory that con-fronts
every teacher, and the condition is as difficult
as it is grave. Here is the problem: Given a cer-tain
set of conditions and a certain set of theories.
Mold from the two a strong character in the infi-nite
possibility which sits before you in the shape
of a boy or girl. Must the condition be made to fit
the theory, or the theory be made to fit the condi-tion—
or what must be done if the two clash.' For
example: A teacher came to me and said that
one of her boys had spoken to her in rude words
and in a very impertinent manner. She was justly
incensed and believed it would be best if I would
punish him severely. I asked if the boy had ever
been guilty of such conduct toward her before this,
and what his general reputation had been in the
school-room. She replied that he did quite well
for a time, but was impulsive and quick to resent
what he deemed an injustice, lost his temper and
was then hard to manage. The next day, after
school, he was sent up to my office at my request,
and when he entered the room defiance was written
all over his face. I found that he thought, at first
blush, that the teacher had interfered where he
thought she had no right. I soon brought him to
admit that this was no excuse for an exhibition of
rudeness and impertinence. We talked the matter
over quietly—or at least I did,—he soon being
so excited as to be in tears of anger. Finally I
asked him if his mother was living, and finding that
she was and that she had a warm interest in him,
I put this question to him: "Suppose she were
teaching school and you had heard some boy speak
to her as you did to Miss , how would you
have liked it.'" He squirmed, but I pressed the
question and he admitted, glumly, that he would
not have liked it. It was comparatively easy then
to come to the point as to what a manly boy ought
to do. His first answer to this question rather
surprised me—"I suppose I'll do what you make
me do." But I felt that I now had very plain sail-ing
and so I threw myself on his generosity and at
the same time threw him on mine. I told him that
I did not wish to make him do anything, I wished
him to do what a little man ought to do; and I
asked him to go into the next room and think the
matter over and then come back and tell me what
he honestly thought he ought to do. Becoming
absorbed in my work I was really startled a few
minutes later when I heard a voice at my side say,
"I think I ought to ask Miss 's pardon, Mr.
Eggleston." Turning quicklj', I said, "And what
are you going to do.'" "I am going to ask it," he
answered; and the next time I saw the teacher she
told me that, to her great surprise, he had come to
her the next morning and asked her forgiveness for
his misconduct and had done it in a manly way.
She was glad I had not whipped him.
This would not work with every child. His con-duct
would depend to a large extent on his tem-perament,
his age, and his environment. The
question of discipline is a question of the individual
child—a fact which should never be forgotten.
The same road cannot be travelled with all, as we
well know, although we must reach the same goal.
In this case, from the teacher's standpoint, the
condition was there—a boy who had done wrong;
the theory was there—the boy should be severely
punished. Here the theory had to be readjusted,
for it was the wrong theory so far as this boy was
concerned. From the boy's standpoint the condi-tion
was there—the teacher had, in his opinion,
transcended her rights; the theory was there—the
matter should be left as it was, and he would do
nothing unless forced to. But the boy's condition
was wrong, and his theory was wrong. The whole
matter needed readjustment, and he did the re-ad-justing.
Another example: The condition, a boy about
15, spoiled by his father and dreaded by his step-mother;
accustomed to rule his home and do just
as he pleased; a boy of good impulses but surely
going to ruin; lazy in his studies and exceedingly
careless in his behavior; and above the average in
brain power. When I opened the school as Prin-cipal—
not yet 21 years old—I found that both the
NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION. 23
boys and parents had practically run every teacher
away from the place except one, and he had gone
into another profession. This was the condition,
and here was my theory: To get Sam to like me
personally and to look up to me, and gradually to
win him to study better and to behave better. I can
say with a clear conscience that I did my utmost
to carry out my part of the contract. But, though
Sam liked me as long as it did not interfere with
his selfishness, he would not study and he would
not behave himself. The theory and the condition
clashed; must I throw one of them away.' To
throw away the condition meant to expel the boy,
to turn him on the street, the place of all others
that was fast leading him to the devil. The possi-bilities
in this boy were above the average, and I
wanted to save him. Then, I must throw away
the theory, for I had exhausted every means that
ingenuity could devise to save the boy by pleasant
kindness. I finally concluded to try unpleasant
kindness, and called him to my desk one day at
recess and told him just the state of affairs—he was
lazy, was not studying. I had tried to make the
lessons interesting, had failed; had tried to arouse
his ambition, and had failed in that. Moreover,
his behavior was not the best, by any means. He
was too sharp to go beyond a certain line, and I
would adopt this plan: I would add up fractions
against him. When he behaved these would be
dimished; when these fractions reached a whole
number I was going to thrash him, and make the
thrashing a very thorough one. Sam did not seem
to grasp the situation. He looked half amused,
half serious, and in three days the whole number
had been reached. I suppose the boy had never
had a whipping, and, of course, demurred that after-noon
when I informed him that I was going to keep
my word. ^Fortunately for him, he had the good
sense to submit, and I gave him a severe thrashing
—not a brutal one, of course—for I may say here
that evecy whipping is more or less severe, but
not every whipping is brutal. Now, according to
the theory of some teachers and parents, thi5 act
was radically wrong, for they declare emphatically
that a whipping under any conditions is wrong
anywhere; while others say that whipping at school
should be abolished. In this particular instance,
it may be said, that all other means had not
been exhausted to save this boy. Granted. A
patient lies at the point of death with appendicitis.
One of the physicians declares that only an opera-tion
will save him. The two consulting physicians
assert that an operation will kill him. The man
dies without the operation. Draw an unbiased
conclusion from this.
This case seemed to me to have reached a des-perate
stage and to need a desperate remedy to
effect a cure. When this boy came under my
treatment he was in a bad way. I do not deny that
milder remedies might have availed earlier in life;
nor do I deny that some other remedy might have
cured him then. But I was confronted with a
serious condition and I applied the remedy not
because I wished to inflict pain, but because I
wished to save the patient. Several years later
this boy sent his kindest remembrances to me by
one of his former classmates and told him that
that whipping had been a turning-point in his life
and had helped to make a man of him. To-day
he is a successful lawyer. Yet this remedy would
not always work in a case of this kind.
Another case: A large boy's will and mine
clashed. The offense was so serious that I felt
compelled to give him the choice between a thrash-ing
and expulsion. He was an orphan boy, and
his older sister with whom he lived had little con-trol
over him. He refused to submit to a whipping
and left. I told him he could return whenever he
would take his punishment, and urged him to take
it and remain in school. In a week he came to me
and asked to be readmitted without the whipping.
I refused to recede from my position, and again
urged him to come to school the next morning,
take the whipping, sta}- at school and make a man
of himself. He left without promising, but the next
morning, to my great joy, he was in his seat in
school. That afternoon I called him forward to
my desk, told him I was very glad that he had
decided to return, and asked him if he was ready
to take the whipping. He said he would take it, if
I would stop when he thought he had enough. I
refused to proceed unless I might be the absolute
judge of this; and told him he could go to my office,
take off his coat and submit, or he could leave school,
and the case would be closed finally then. I impressed
on him the sin he would commit against himself if he
cut himself off from the privileges of school. He
stood in front of me for about three minutes, evi-dently
in a big battle with himself, then went into
the office. I waited a minute or two, then walked
in, whip in hand, and found him withh is coat off.
"Are you ready to take this whipping.'" I asked
him. "Yes, sir," he replied. "Well," I said, "you
have gained a great victory over yourself. You
24 NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION.
have submitted to authority. You have done the
manly thing, and now I am going to do the manly
thing and not whip you," and I shook hands with
him and the case was closed. Was I wrong in
demanding such submission.' Was he wrong in
submitting.' Was I wrong in being generous after
he had fought out this terrible battle with himself
and conquered.' His whole attitude in the school-room
since that event, which occurred last session,
has been gratifyingly different.
I am frank to say that I have no words to express
the wretchedness and pain it gives me to whip a
child. To give pain is not pleasant, and when to
this is added the question in one's mind whether it
will accomplish the desired end, it becomes doubly
painful. It is very unfashionable in some quarters
to defend the necessity of corporal punishment in
the schools. It takes positive moral courage to
face that superior air that too often greets one in
the words and general attitude of those who, when
told that corporal punishment is permitted, at once
assume that such schools are slaughter-pens, where
for every offense the culprit is hauled up and mal-treated.
My position on the subject is this: A
whipping should not be given in school without the
consent of the father of the boy, and then it should
be given only by the principal of the building or
by the superintendent. Again, a whipping should
not be given until every resource is exhausted to
manage the case properly without it. In these
efforts to have the boy do the right thing, there
should be the careful cooperation of the teacher,
principal or supervisor, and parent. In other words,
the whipping should be the last resort before expul-sion.
Again, if the whipping can be given at home
and accomplish the result desired, it should be
given there. Again, there are a few cases where
it is better for the school authorities to ask the
parent to withdraw the child rather than whip him,
even if the parent requests that the punishment be
given.
A case arises where every resource at the com-rnand
of teacher, the principal, and the supervisor
has been tried with no effect. What is to be done.'
The boy is hindering the work of forty other chil-dren
in the room. These have their rights. They
come to school to study—shall they be prevented
from so doing by the disorder of one or two.' " Try
to reach the boy by kindness," says some one.
This has been tried with all the energy, interest,
and ability possible. In fact, he has been treated
with great patience and consideration. "Interest
him," says another. Yes, that's good advice and
has been tried earnestly, but has failed for some
reason. Let me say just here that this is one of
the best methods of solving the problem of order
in the school-room and of regular attendance at
school. The difference between good order and
bad order is sometimes the difference between the
teacher and the recitation-hearer. A few children
will behave under any circumstances; most of them
will behave when interested in their work and kept
busy; a very few will not behave unless they see
that law-breaking is certainly followed by law-mending.
" Put him in a reformatory," says a kind
adviser. But there isn't any reformatory available
in this state that I know of, and this boy is in North
Carolina just now. "Well, send him home, then."
But we teachers happen to know that his home is
not a good home, or that he is allowed to run the
streets and learn vice—what then.' To send him
home makes us tremble for his future; to send him
home sometimes means to send him to the devil.''
The increasing lack of training in our homes here
in the United States appalls me, and the logical
result of this lack is a contempt for law, a substi-tution
of license for liberty, and a restiveness under
any restraining authority. I do not believe that I
exaggerate the evil one whit. Washington Glad-den
says, "I should say that the later product of
of civilization is distinctly less amenable to law
and order, to wise and just control, than the earlier
specimens." And again, "That there has been a
retrograde movement in this respect few will deny.
The boy of fifty years ago venerated authority; the
boy of to-day venerates nothing, unless it be his
athletic heroes."
It is useless to cry out that a whipping would not
do this boy any good. I grant that it may not, I
am not prepared to say that it will not, Is it not
worth the trial before "sending him home.'" Sup-pose
the fear of the rod has a deterrent effect on
him.' His brutal self has the ascendency, over his
better self; and that brutal self fears pain. Is it
not possible that he may behave under fear until
the habit of behaving, or trying to do right, begins
to grow, or until he sees from good conduct a good
conscience follow, or until that better self sees that
the teacher has an interest in him, and his ambition
and desire for the approbation of the teacher are
aroused.' He would be a bold man who would
assert that such cases do not exist. I can point
out children who were kept in school under just
these conditions and who have grown towards the
NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION. 25
right to such an extent that there is not the slight-est
need of the rod in their cases now; some still
struggling with their bad selves; others with the
better self now in the ascendency. Dr. Coan says
that "a switch in time saves nine."
One of the arguments advanced against corporal
punishment is that a child may be whipped unjustly,
and that any rule that would work such a wrong
ought to be abolished. Let us apply this reasoning
to the state: People are sometimes put into the
penitentiary when innocent. Therefore abolish
any law that would send a man to the penitentiary.
Let us apply it to the home: Parents have been
known to whip their children unjustly. Therefore
abolish whipping from the home. Children have
been known to be punished unjustly by other
means. Therefore abolish all these other means
from the home.
Another argument advanced is that all the "best"
schools have abolished corporal punishment. Now,
in the first place, the term "best schools" is very
attractive—also very deceptive. It reminds one of
the platitudinous expression of the infidel, "No
' intelligent man to-day believes in the Bible." It
all depends on the point of view. If by "best
schools" it is meant that those schools that have
abolished corporal punishment are the "best
schools," the position reminds one of Abraham Lin-coln,
when asked whathethoughtofacertain thing,
replying that for those that liked that sort of thing
he supposed it was just the sort of thing they liked.
I am not arguing that good order and good man-agement
and good schools are dependent on cor-poral
punishment. They are not necessarily.
T5ut we will not be caught by a fine phrase. Our
mission in the school-room is to strengthen char-acter,
to encourage good impulses and emotions in
the children to grow into actions and habits; and
when we see a boy on the down-grade, the one
aim of us all is to save hini; and I object to any
theory, however beautiful, that would cause that
boy to land in the gutter, however strongly I may
% object to making whipping the punishment for ev-erv
trivial offense. There is no reason for going to
either extreme. I would rather send a child of mine
to a teacher who uses the rod too freely, than to
send him to a teacher who is a moral jelly-fish and
permeated with a maudlin sentimentality that is a
moral disease. Dr. Dewey has said nothing truer
than that, "next to deadness and dullness, formal-ism
and routine, our education is threatened with
no greater evil than sentimentalism."
I have discussed this phase of school discipline at
such great length not only because it has seemed
to me a very important phase in itself, but because
the arguments used against it when carried to their
logical conclusion, are subversive of all law and
order where the element of force must be used;
and he would be a bold man who would advocate
the abolition of this element in the present state of
society. It seems to me sheer madness, in school
and out of it.
The Purpose of the Public Schools.
C S- COLER, SUPERINTENDENT CONCORD GRADED SCHOOLS.
Canon Farrar, in discussing the things that were
most influential in shaping his character and in de-termining
his life work, mentions first his mother,
and secondly the school that he attended when he
was a boy.
Four ideas are presented here, the noble char-acter,
the useful life, the faithful mother, and the
effective school.
Education must be tested (i) by Character, or
what it does for the individual; (2) by Utility, or
what it enables the individual to do for others.
The public school idea was almost twin-born
with our idea of liberty and republican institutions.
Washington and Jefferson were quick to see the
relation of education to government. A monarchy
may flourish and endure without public education,
but ignorance of the masses is death to a republic.
History has recorded but few lines of greater
importance than those of the "Ordinance of 1787,"
relative to the North West Territory, and which
reads:
"Religion, morality and knowledge being nec-essary
to good government and to the happiness
of mankind, schools and the means of education
shall forever be encouraged."
BETTER CITIZENSHIP.
One purpose of public schools is better citizen-ship.
States, cities, and nations, all realizing that
education is better and cheaper than reformation,
spend millions of dollars every year for schools,
colleges, and other means of diffusing knowledge
among the masses of the people.
There is a golden mean between communism
and individual interest. Our mails are delivered
cheaper and more effectively under the manage-ment
of the government than they could possibly
be if left to individuals.
26 NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION.
Public schools are not designed to interfere with
private schools, and there is a work for public
schools that private schools can never do. Nor is
the public school designed to break down individ-uality
and bring all pupils to the same level. Its
purpose is to elevate, to teach and to emphasize
those things that every citizen should know. The
education which is designed to broaden the mind
and fit men and women for the best citizenship
recognizes no local or secular distinctions. It
knows no Methodist arithmetic, no Presbyterian
science, no Quaker grammar. It recognizes no
distinctly Southern geography. Eastern industries.
Northern methods, nor Western ways. It looks
out over a broader horizon than any that is bounded
by local customs and personal prejudices. Its
motto is to prove all things, hold fast to the best.
As Horace Man has well said: "In a social and
political sense, ours is a free school system. It
knows no distinction of rich and poor, of bond and
free, or between those who, in the perfect light of
this world, are seeking, through different avenues,
to reach the gate of heaven. Without money and
without price, it throws open its doors, and spreads
the table of its bounty for all the children of the
state. Like the sun, it shines not only upon .the
good, but upon the evil, that they may become
good; and like the rain, its blessings descend not
only upon the just, but upon the unjust, that their
injustice may depart from them, and be known no
more."
LIFE WORK.
Another purpose of public schools is, in so far
as is possible, to fit the child for some useful life
work.
This the teacher can do, (i) By disciplining the
mind and training the child to close application in
whatever work is to be done; (2) By practical
information carefully instilled into the minds of his
pupils till it is at last assimilated and made a part
of character; (3) By emphasizing e.v/>ressio/i, so
that the child may not only know, but may also
be able to express what he knows; (4) By
teaching the child to appreciate as he should the
opportunities and advantages that are everywhere
about him; (5) By inspiring his pupils with the
idea of doing something and of being something in
the world.
This power of inspiring young people is a great
virtue in a teacher. You and I can look back and
recall more than one teacher whose "chill petu-froze
the genial current of the soul."
But we count that teacher as above all others
who awakened in our minds and hearts a burning
desire and fixed determination to make something
of ourselves, no matter how much time or labor it
might cost us to do it.
Desire is one of the greatest things in the world.
Hungering and thirsting after knowledge is what
makes the scholar. Hungering and thirsting after
virtue is what makes the saint. Hungering and
thirsting after noble actions is what makes the
hero and the reformer.
Desire leads to determination. Determination
leads to purpose. Purpose leads to success.
Education in the Old South and in the New.
JOH.M W. ABERCROMBIE, SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION
OF ALABAMA. .
There are people who object to the terms "Old
South" and "New South," but there was an old
South and there is a new South. There was a
South of aristocracy and bondage. That South,
which was bounded by sectional lines once traced
in fratricidal blood no longer exists. It has gone
to come no more. We would not recall it if we
could. We rejoice that it no longer lives save on
the page of history. There is a South, free and
loyal—industrious, progressive, prosperous-—a new
South, the fairest region on the globe, the idol of
her people, the pride of all Americans, and the
admiration of the world.
Of the educational conditions that existed in the
old South, few people have a correct knowledge.
It is generally thought that we have always occu-pied
in educational matters a conspicuously sub-ordinate
position when conipared with that section
of the country commonly termed the North; but
this is an erroneous notion, especially is it untrue
in reference to higher education. At the beginning
of the war between the states, in 1861, only one-third
of the citizenship of the United States be-longed
to the South. The South excelled the
North in the number of colleges and college prof-essors,
equalled her in the number of students en-rolled
in academies and colleges and universities,
and approximated her in the amount of money ex-pended
for higher education.
The war between the states not only devastated
the South in the slaughter of men and in the de-struction
of property, but it greatly retarded her
* Paper read before the Southern Educational AsBOciation, Mem-phis,
Teun., December 29, 1899.
NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION. 27
advancement along the line of higher education.
In many instances buildings were demolished and
institutions were destroyed. At the close of that
momentous struggle, which caused the very foun-dations
of our national structure to tremble in their
places, it was necessary for the people of the South
^to begin anew the work of education in every de-partment.
Since that time rapid and wonderful
progress has been made, the enrollment in higher
institutions has increased more than 400 per cent ,
and there are to-day over 40,000 pupils in those
institutions.
The work of the higher institutions speaks for
itself Since the beginning of our national career
men and women educated *in Southern institutions
have taken equal rank with their fellows from other
sections in every vocation and avocation. In war
and in peace. Southern valor snd Southern thought
have led the van. In each of the states of the
South are found colleges and universities supported
in whole or in part by state aid, and in the fields of
science, art, literature, education and statesman-ship
their pupils have not been excelled.
The old South neglected technical skill, but
within the past two decades great advancement
has been made in that direction. Industrial train-ing
is given a place in many institutions, public, and
private, industrial and denominational. Special ap-propriations
are made fur the purpose of establish-ing
and maintaining technical schools. The his-tory
of such training in England, Germany, Switzer-land
and other countries furnishes conclusive proof
that it is an American necessity. It is especially a
Southern necessity. The South i? naturally supe-rior
to European countries in intelligence and pro-ductiveness,
but along with culture should come
training; not only cultivated minds, but trained
hands do we need.
The old South did not awaken to a realization
of the truth that industrial trades are as respecta-ble
as business and professional callings, that the
one requires as high a degree of ability as the
other, and that if, as individuals or as a people, we
would surpass our competitors in skilfulness, we
must possess superior skill. The new South stands
for that doctrine, and realizes that an education of
the eye to see, a training of the hand to do, a teach-ing
of the mind to think, a discipline of the will to
execute, is absolutely essential to progress and
prosperity in this age of industrial development.
Institutions for the purpose of teaching scientific
agriculture were unknown to the old South. Now
every Southern State makes provision for such
training. Successful farming is no longer consid-ered
possible without a knowledge of chemistry
and the nature of soils. Under the influence of
the application of science to agricultural pursuits,
farms are being decreased in size, the lands are
passing into the possession of a greater number of
people, crops are being diversified, waste places
are being reclaimed, supplies are being raised at
home, the volume of e.xports is being increased,
the balance of trade is being transferred, and we
are entering upon an era of unexampled progress.
We have a large number of private and denomi-national
colleges not under state control that rank
with similar institutions in other sections. They
have contributed in a great measure to the dissem-ination
of learning.
In the matter of common schools the old South
did not keep pace with the North. After the war
came the disastrously destructive reign of the car-pet-
bagger, the pernicious influences of whose so-journ
among us are still visible and burdensome in
the millions of bonded indebtedness which hangs
over most of the Southern States. Confronted
with unsolved problems and threatening dangers,
the roar of arms and the tramp of troops had
scarcely died away when the South, poverty-stricken
and despondent, entered upon the work of
rehabilitation. As the work of destruction was
complete, the effort to reconstruct was necessarily
all the greater. Right heroically has the task been
performed, and in no respect has the South's growth
been more rapid and more remarkable than in the
development of common school systems. Uni-versal
education at governmental expense is now a
well-established Southern doctrine.
Common school systems have been established
in every Southern State. Notwithstanding almost
all the taxes are paid by the whites, liberal appro-priations
are made by every Southern state for the
education of all the children, without regard to
race, color or previous conditions of servitude. In
1877 the amount of money expended for educa-tional
purposes was $11,250,000, or 66 cents per
capita of population; in 1887 the amount was $21,-
000,000, or 98 cents per capita; in 1897 the amount
was $31,000,000, or $1.23 per capita. In twenty-five
years the amount invested in school property
has increased more than 300 per cent., and it is
estimated that we now have $60,000,000 invested
in such property.
A menace to society, an obstacle to advance-
28 NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION.
ment, a hindrance to learning and the adversary
of sectional reconciliation, arises the race problem,
and casts a shadow of gloom over the fairest
domain on this earth. From the porticos of high
heaven angels of peace and love watch with fear
and trembling the process of the solution of this
most important problem. We believe that a cor-rect
solution of the race problem lies in a proper ed-ucation
of the people—all the people,—and we are
ta.xing ourselves heavily for the purposes of free
popular education.
Th