rasion must have been transported by running water and spread broadcast; and the material thus made, transported, and deposited must have been converted into soil.

After all this has occurred, the other set of factors becomes active. Under the influence of solar energies, earth particles become endowed with that mysterious force called life, and a thousand million forms are modulations of its rhythm.

Let us look first at the earth factors which are concerned in the environment of life -more especially that of man. We have been counseled to regard physical geography as the proper basis for the study of man in his relations to the earth, and indeed the basis thus chosen has much to commend it; especially is this the case when we emphasize the physiographic aspect of the study. Until within a few years we studied practically a fixed earth an earth both unchanging and unchangeable. The interpolation of physiographic geography, and its sister-science meteorology, was a great step in advance, for it carried us beyond the very dead ideas about a very dead earth; it brought us many steps nearer to the now central thought of life and its relations to environment.

But in the study of physiographic geography we are constantly looking for anterior causes and for the greater exhibitions of earth-movements upon which physiographic processes depend. For these we must give precedence to dynamic geology on the one hand and to astronomy on the other. In other words, if geography-if the study of the environment of life-has any earth-science for its ultimate basis, that science is geology pure and simple. Physiography and meteorology have each a place, but the place of each is secondary.

Let us now glance at the astronomical basis of geography and see what it affords in the solution of the problems of man's environment. Both heat and light are necessary to life, and both come from the sun; both are distributed, moreover, under conditions that are essentially the same. To these conditions life and its activities are extremely sensitive. Even a very slight change in the length of the period of the earth's rotation would be fatal to some species, while it would disturb the habitats of many others; all species, moreover, would of necessity be compelled to adapt themselves to the changed conditions, or else perish. Even the curvature of the earth's surface becomes a factor of enormous importance, and because of it a very large part of the earth will always be uninhabitable at any one time.

The self-parallelism of the earth's axis and its angle of inclination give rise to the existence of zones, each pair of which is marked by characteristics very broadly distinct from those which distinguish the others. It also nearly doubles the belt of maximum warmth, setting its limits into latitudes that otherwise would be unhabitable because of intense cold. It puts the northern limit of wheat into the region that otherwise would be arctic. It tempers the heat of a tropical zone, keeps a tropical rain belt in oscillation, sets the limits of a forest belt, and creates a "corn belt." In other words, the astronomical basis of geography is the main factor in making climatic conditions, for it determines the distribution of heat and moisture upon the earth.

Now a brief study of the distribution of life will show that climate has a far greater influence in the habitability of a region than is exerted by conditions of topography; and if this be true, then the astronomical basis of geography should take a rank in importance at least equal to that of physiographic geography.

In the preceding paragraphs man has been considered as a passive factor-as a creature controlled by his environment. To a certain extent this is true; there are certain limits of temperature and moisture-limits of environment-beyond which he cannot long survive; indeed, all life is more or less controlled by conditions of environment. A camel is a camel because of the desert. There would be no fish were there no water; and if there were no impounded waters, ducks would not be ducks—at least they would not be swimmers. So, to, were the grass within a given region to die, the cattle also would die; they are without the kind of knowledge that enables them to move to the region in which grass is to be found.

But man is not merely a passive entity; he is a most active factor in geography. Other animals, other life-forms, are slaves to their environment; man may, and does, rise superior to his. Controlled wholly by the conditions of his environment, he is a savage; having mastered those conditions up to the limit of his mental powers, he is civilized; moreover, he is civilized because of it, and not in spite of it. A region may be naturally too dry to produce foodstuffs; it may be lifeless. Man brings water there and forces it to become productive. The herd of cattle cannot cross the snow-covered highland, because they cannot carry their food supply, but the man will build a railway and carry them across. They cannot swim across the sea, but the man will build steamships and transport them. The camel alone, of all dumb animals, can cross the desert, because he is built that way; but the man will surmount it unaided, because he knows how.

The whole story of the evolution of mankind, from a savage to a highly enlightened condition, is a story of his struggles to overcome the conditions of his environment. The records of unwritten history tell us that primitive man in western Europe needed a cutting tool; and so he made knives and spearheads out of chips of volcanic rock. The chips of basalt were too brittle, and he substituted flint for lava. But jade took a better edge than flint, and so he took jade instead. But jade must be brought from mines five thousand miles away, far beyond the Karakorum, over snowy ranges and burning deserts. The transportation of jade a distance of so many thousand miles was a tremendous effort, but the resistance that was to be overcome was far greater. There was a distinct gain; in other words, it paid. The man was not only better equipped, but his active powers were increased and he knew more. Now, the tools that primitive man used were merely levers and wedges to enable him to overcome the obstacles which beset him; and in getting his jade knifeblades from beyond the Karakorum, he was creating commerce to help him in his struggle. And commerce was to be his greatest helpmeet, because it brought to him knowledge-knowledge that the other man miles and miles away had gathered in his struggle with his environment.

Then the man learned that fire would separate the metal from the dross, and that not even jade was comparable to bronze or to steel as a material for the tool. And so, as man's desires became greater, the tools he employed gave him powers that were growing constantly greater and greater. Each succeeding generation saw him breaking down the obstacles that had defied his forefathers, and he therefore became the dominant force of the earth, until there were but few earth-obstacles left that he could not overcome.

Now, I put in a most positive protest against restricting the study of geography to merely the study of man's environment, because to me the man himself — to say nothing of his commodities—is the active, the intelligent, and the more interesting factor of the two. I grant that the environment is an important feature, but the man himself is the greater one. I can see how the dungeon walls that held Monte Cristo may possess interest, but I gain greater inspiration in the struggle by which he surmounted those dungeon walls. And so the story of the man battering down the obstacles that beset him in the struggle that has civilized him is a far more interesting factor than a systematic dissertation about the bonds that environed him.

The Rocky mountains once prevented a trade between the United States and the people of the Orient. Each had a message for the other, and the delivery of those messages meant knowledge and enlightenment to both. Year after year that great fastness lifted its snowy crests as if to say: "Nay, nay; thus far shalt thou go, but no farther." But the man persisted, and little by little that tremendous barrier was overcome. The greatest of all trade routes has been opened and a tremendous stream of human thought and intellect is flowing between the Occident and the Orient. Each will be a great gainer. And which has conduced most to the happiness and enlightenment of mankind- the study of the physiographic geography of that great earth obstacle, or the story of man's efforts to level it and to bring the two halves of the world into touch with each other?

THE BEST METHODS OF ELECTING SCHOOL BOARDS LEWIS H. JONES, PRESIDENT OF STATE NORMAL COLLEGE, YPSILANTI, MICH.

We do not, in this country, have any national system of education. So far as we may be said to have any system, it is a state system. In fact, when we speak of a city system, we mean certain phases of the state system. The appeal for plans for local management must be made to the legislature of the state. The discussion of what should be the best method

of electing school boards must be the discussion of what should go into the state law.

1. Any good school law passed by the general assembly of a state should limit the possible number of board members to five-no less, no more-whether the locality covered by the board is large or small, because, if all are present, they can act in committee of the whole on every subject, and you can always have three out of the five for a quorum.

2. Each should serve five years, necessitating the election of one member every year, and only one.

3. This election should be by the voters of the city at large. For this there are two reasons: first, it does away with the necessity of having any one portion or committee legislate for a part of the district, and places on all the responsibility for all the district; secondly, it induces better men to stand for election, and one hour per week of the service of a good business man is worth more than all the time of a ward politician. The work of the school board thus elected should be taken out of certain relations with politics. I have no sympathy with the thought that schools should be taken out of politics, but I may have with the thought that the saying expresses. I wish to remove the nomination of school boards from the control of the national organizations. No one should be eligible to the school board who has ever held office under the national organization of the great parties. Something should be done to get strong men not connected with national politics to take service in school boards. We could secure these men by separating the election from national politics. These men should be nominated thru petition. In localities with few electors, one hundred names should place a name on the ticket; in larger communities, five hundred names. No citizen should be allowed to sign more than one petition, and the first three names receiving the number of signers required for the nomination should be put on the ticket. The election should be open to the legal voters of the entire municipality.

Lastly, the function of the school board should be limited strictly to legislative work. The board should take action for the raising of revenue to support the schools, for the building of schoolhouses and their equipment, and for the fixing of the salaries of teachers. They should have

the added function of the election of a superintendent of instruction, and the period of his tenure should be fixed by state law at six years. This is better than the life tenure. It frees him from many of the charges that can readily be made when it is understood that he is in a life position and cannot be removed. No man should fear appeal to his board once in six years, if he has done his work faithfully and well. His powers and duties should be specified in the law. He should have charge of the selection, promotion, and discharge of teachers. No appeal from his decision in this matter should be allowed. There should be definite and fixed means allowing the community to displace a superintendent who should commit malfeasance in office. This would simply involve the specification of grounds on which impeachment might be based. A fair trial should be all he would ask, and thus he would be freed in the administration of the office from the annoyances that come to a man who is talked of as a czar. We must give him temporarily all the privileges and duties of a czar. This is what will produce in him conservative action.

The state law should provide for one other officer in the election on the general ticket at the same time as member of the school board. This should be an executive officer, known as "director," "business manager," or something of that kind; and his term should be three years.

These are really the essential elements belonging in any school law, and an early application for such a law should be made directly to the assembly of the state.

There is a local interest in Ohio, because the people of this state must seek from the general assembly a modified enactment of the system for the government of the state. This law should include, not only the city system, but that of villages and rural communities. The supreme court has decided that the present city charters are repugnant to the constitution of the state. This will involve the rural systems, if they are attacked. This is liable to occur at any time. There should be an appeal to the general assembly at its next session.

I believe that, if the principles I have pointed out were made applicable and adapted to the differences among communities, we should find the best methods of electing school boards.

I believe I have pointed out the direction in which all reform movements in the next few years must proceed.

DISCUSSION

SUPERINTENDENT JOHN W. CARR, Anderson, Ind.: In discussing this subject it seems appropriate to ask two questions: (1) What are the characteristics of a good schoolboard member? (2) What is the best method of election in order to secure the services of good men on school boards?

I doubt if two of us would agree on an answer to the first question. I sometimes

think, when listening to a discussion of this topic, that the summation of all school-board virtues consists in the board electing a superintendenta professional expert, if you please; just such a fellow as I was when first elected superintendent; or am yet, for that matter—and then saying to the newly elected: "Here, Mr. Superintendent, are our schools; take them and run them after your own fashion; nominate, elect, and retain teachers; levy taxes, pass on questions financial and pedagogical; and we will ratify whatever you do. We will even anticipate your wishes, if you will only indicate them, and then take all the kicks and cuffs that come this way. We feel that we fulfilled our entire duty to the schools when we elected you!"

But this is travesty. None of us believe such things, and we only talk this when away from home. We are meek enough in the presence of our boards. We all know that no other part of the school system is more important than the school board. It is the school board that has the power to collect and expend money. It is the board that decides who shall and who shall not superintend and teach in the schools. It is the board that determines the policy of the schools; whether merit and efficiency, or politics, nepotism, and favoritism shall be dominant. It is for the members of the board to decide for themselves whether or not, with the advice and assistance of their own experts, they will control the schools, or surrender their rights and prerogatives to crafty and designing, but irresponsible, men, who seek power for plunder or the gratification of other selfish ambitions. The members of the school board are the trustees, the guardians, of the rights and privileges of little children, and their duties as such cannot be neglected or surrendered without betraying a most sacred trust.

In order to make a good member of the school board, a man must be honest, fearless, discreet, firm, unselfish. He must have business ability, sound judgment, commonsense, and the good of the schools at heart. He must also be able to command the respect of the community. As a member of the board, he should know nothing but the interest of the children, and, so far as his official acts are concerned, their welfare should be paramount to party, family, church, or even self. He should be progressive, willing to build and equip schoolhouses, willing to buy necessary apparatus and school supplies, and especially willing to employ and retain competent teachers. He should have the courage of his convictions-courage to support superintendents and teachers, courage to pay good salaries, courage to withstand the importunities of friends and the threats of enemies, courage to tell the political boss to his teeth to keep hands off, courage to do what he knows to be right and for the best interest of the schools. It is not difficult to find men who know enough to make good school trustees; the chief difficulty is to find men courageous enough to do the right under pressure.

The second question is: What is the best method of election in order to secure the services of such men on school boards, and to retain them when once elected? This question has not and cannot be fully answered. No system can be devised that is so perfect as to insure the election of good men at all times; neither is any system now in use so poor as to prevent good men from being elected occasionally; yet some methods of election are superior to others. I agree with President Jones that the board should be small. He suggests five members. For all towns and small cities I think three preferable. The advantages arising from a small board are obvious. Responsibility is fixed; each member becomes acquainted with his associates, with the superintendent, and with many of the teachers. Meetings can be held in an informal way, which is the best for the transaction of business with care and dispatch. Each member becomes acquainted with all departments of school administration, which is highly advantageous. The superintendent is able to consult with each member of the board without consuming too much of his time and energy. I also agree with Mr. Jones that each member should represent the city, and not a ward or district. Each member would then feel responsible for the schools of the entire city, and not simply for those in the locality in which he resides. His services would not be valued by the amount of improvements and the number of