board. The county superintendent and the district board of directors may decide whether a school of higher grade than the ordinary district school shall be established in the district, may locate and erect a suitable house for said school, and may decide the number of teachers to be employed and studies to be pursued, this last subject to the decision of the Territorial Teachers' Institute, which determines ordinarily every 5 years the studies of the like grade of schools in the Territory. This institute must be held annually and continue in session not less than 4 nor more than 10 days, and be free to all teachers and those preparing to teach in the Territory. It must decide upon the books and the system of instruction to be used in the Territory, and also decide upon the manner, place, and time of holding institutes in each county.-(School laws.)

GENERAL CONDITION.

The governor states in his message to the legislature that the public schools in 1881 continued to prosper, that new ones were opened, that liberal sums were expended for the erection of new school buildings and the enlargement of old ones, and that great efforts were made in the larger towns to secure experienced and efficient teachers, who did good work when secured. The graded schools, though laboring under the many disadvantages of a new Territory, compared favorably, he says, with schools of like general character in the States most advanced.

The school system is claimed to be one of the best. As yet there is no indication of any institution belonging to the public school system of a higher grade than the high school. In the absence of corresponding data for two years, few comparisons can be made between 1880 and 1881, and these indicate the same number of schools in the latter year as in the former, but with fewer teachers, a smaller average rate of pay, and a smaller enrolment.

At a few points in the Territory libraries were begun, and it was urged that something in this direction worthy the intelligence and liberality of the people be undertaken without further delay.

One thing which may go to promote education in the future is the organization at the capital, in 1881, of an association for the encouragement of historical and scientific research, the promotion of the practical industries of the Territory, the collection and preservation of authentic records of territorial history, the formation of historical, scientific, and industrial museums, and the enlargement of the territorial library, which was already of considerable size and for 1880 and 1881 received additions of about 700 volumes yearly.

Another important point was an appropriation by Congress in 1881 of 22 sections of public land for a future university.

CHIEF TERRITORIAL SCHOOL OFFICER.

Hon. JOHN SLAUGHTER, territorial librarian and ex officio superintendent of public instruction, Cheyenne.

Mr. Slaughter has acted as ex officio superintendent since 1873. His next term reaches from March 31, 1882, to March 31, 1884.

EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS.

NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE GENERAL ASSOCIATION.

By invitation of Hon. Gustavus J. Orr, State school commissioner of Georgia, the National Educational Association held its twentieth annual meeting at Atlanta, Ga., July 19-22, 1881. An unusual interest attached to this meeting in the far South, and important educational results were expected from it. The meeting was called to order by President Smart, of Indiana, and opened with prayer by Rev. Dr. Gwin, of Atlanta. Governor Colquitt then gave the address of welcome, in which he said: "If I could convey to you a complete sense of our esteem and of our admiration, indeed you would be prompted to believe that in this city and on Georgia soil the schoolmaster is at home, and nowhere else is his noble mission more honored." Responses were made by the president and others, and were followed by the inaugural address of the president, "On the value of schools." Prof. C. C. Rounds, principal of the State Normal School, Farmington, Me., then read a paper on the "Lines of advance in education," showing that teaching is assuming a more definitely professional character; that methods of teaching have advanced; and that courses of study have been extended from classics and mathematics to cover the realms of science, art, and industry; that a transition from principle to application is going on, resulting in an extensive conviction that ability to work is a necessity for all; that the only safe state is that in which work is honorable and well rewarded; and that the training of the hand is as legitimate a function of the school as the training of the head. Then followed a paper on "What shall we teach in our elementary schools?" by Superintendent A. J. Rickoff, of Cleveland, Ohio, who in a long and well arranged paper said that much in the curriculum of the elementary schools, if tested by its practical value in the pursuits of life, would be cast aside as worthless. The discussion which followed developed a considerable difference of views. General Eaton, United States Commissioner of Education, opened the evening session of the general association with an address on "Education and the building of the state," the leading point of which was that to build a state is not to locate a certain number of people in a given territory. It is to build up the whole body politic in its interests, individual, social, civil; its ideas, doctrines, sentiments, laws, customs, and institutions. To understand man, we must look at him in combination with his fellows. It is in society that he first feels what he is and first becomes what he can be. The earliest and simplest form of association is the family. This enlarges itself naturally into the clan and tribe, which then, by combining, form states, federations, and nations. Tracing the history of ancient in contrast with that of modern nations, he said that "the motion of the ancients in the effort to reach truth was like that of the rocking horse, while that of the moderns is more like the course of the thoroughbred racer." This speech closed with some remarks eulogistic of President Garfield, which were received with great applause. After the announcement from the chair of the committee for nominating officers the association attended a complimentary banquet at the opera house, tendered by the citizens and teachers of Atlanta, over 500 invitations to which were issued. The tables were spread with an elegant collation, choice music was furnished, and the social exercises were continued till an early hour in the morning.

"Some essentials in the development of a school system," by Hon. D. F. De Wolf, State commissioner of common schools of Ohio, opened the morning session of the second day. This paper, prepared with great care and ability, urged the necessity and advantage of adding moral and æsthetic instruction to that usually given in the public schools. The work of education, he said, is no longer confined to the teaching of the three R's. It embraces the awakening of ideas relating to success in life. The state is not interested alone in the intelligence of the individual, but much more in his relations to success in his special calling. Society is interested in the thrift of each individual, and demands not only the development of knowledge and skill, but that the virtues which are essential to the comfortable conditions of life be inculcated in the schools, such as self denial, prudence, and temperance, and a high regard for art, music, literature, &c. Men stand aghast at the prophetic rumblings of an unreasoning and relentless communism. and well they may. In a more thorough study of this problem of public education and higher thoughts concerning it than have ever prevailed lies our only safeguard. There must be fullgrown men or women to conduct the public school system instead of undeveloped boys and girls or martinets trained only in the narrow experiences of school

room life. The chief essential to the employment of talent and ability is such a warm social interest as will direct the best and most cultured minds to assume and maintain an interest in the work. Hence the coming system demands such a social position for the teacher as will render the highest culture available in the schools. So long as teachers are taken largely from classes whose narrow means force them to adopt teaching for a living, and are then denied social recognition, they should not be criticised for their shortcomings in the formation of character. Next came a paper by Prof. N. A. Calkins, assistant superintendent of the city of New York, on "The teacher's work in the development of mental and moral power." He asked whether, when the teacher receives the pupil from the hand of nature and leads him into the school room, he takes up the work at the point where nature left it and conducts the youth onward in the same royal road? Knowledge of the being to be taught as well as of the subjects and methods of instruction is indispensable to success in the development of power. Then, given a skilful teacher, with faithful labor and patient waiting, success will crown the work. Hon. M. A. Newell, State superintendent of public schools of Maryland, next read a paper on the proposed "Revision of the common school curriculum," in which he suggested (1) the addition of new subjects of instruction; (2) a new apportionment of the old studies with regard to the time devoted to them; (3) a rearrangement of studies in the order of time. Children should be taught morals, their duties to one other, the virtues of honesty, truthfulness, and purity; also, a few homely lessons in the laws of health. The revision, however, will be incomplete till there be added some form of manual industry.

The evening session opened with a paper on "The necessity for spelling reform," by T. R. Vickroy, of St. Louis, Mo., in which the historical claims of the current orthography were discussed and the hindrance it forms to the acquisition of useful knowledge by public school pupils was demonstrated by a reference to the meagre results of public nstruction in England and this country compared with the outlay made. A valuable paper was then read by Hon. J. P. Wickersham, long State superintendent of public instruction of Pennsylvania, on "The leading characteristics of American systems of education," which, he said, as they exist here, may be regarded as indigenous, there being nothing in the Old World from which they could have been copied. The peculiar features ofthe American school systems generally are that the schools are open to all children of a proper age, without regard to sex, race, or rank, and largely without regard to color; that they are free and unsectarian; that the National Government has no control; that the several States hold this control, and that even they have not much to do directly with the work of education, the real power resting much nearer the people, in the hands of the township and city governments, so near the people as to touch their homes and hearts. This address was followed by one by President L. C. Dickey, A. M., of Georgia, who spoke in opposition to public schools, free scholarships, and monumental institutions, which produced a lively interruption. Mrs. Louise Pollock, principal of the National Kindergarten and Normal Institute, Washington, D. C., in a brief address, presented the advantages of the Kindergarten teaching in the primary schools and called for the introduction of its methods in the primary departments of public schools.

On report of the nominating committee, G. J. Orr, of Georgia, was elected president for the ensuing year; W. D. Henkle, of Ohio, secretary; and H. S. Tarbell, of Indiana, treasurer.

On the third day, the morning session of the general association was called to order by President Smart, and prayer was offered by Dr. L. L. Rogers, of Tennessee. John B. Peaslee, superintendent of public schools in Cincinnati, then read a paper on "Moral and literary training in the public schools," in which he advocated the study of English literature as a distinct branch in the high schools and wanted classes to begin with the authors of to-day and go back to the older ones, instead of beginning with the early writers and coming down to the present day. He then called attention to some of the errors in our methods of teaching. One is in the amount of time given to arithmetic, which is more than all the other studies combined receive, while little time is given to literature and composition. Another mistake is the pernicious method of teaching history, compelling the pupil to memorize page after page of dates and facts. Still another is crowding into the high school course much that belongs to the colleges and universities. He believed that gems of literature, properly taught in schools, would elevate and make our boys and girls grow up into better and nobler men and women. Dr. A. W. Calhoun, a distinguished oculist of Atlanta, Ga., then read a paper on "The effect of student life upon the eyesight," in which he referred to the fact that it is in the school room that the larger and most important part of the child's life is spent, and that, while the whole energy is bent upon the proper development of the brain, too little attention is given to the importance of a healthy eye, which, while itself is developing, undergoes great changes from the duties it is called on to perform. The near-sighted eyeis too long a ball and is absolutely diseased, the extra convexity making its appearance rarely before the fifth or sixth year, which is about the time children begin to go to school. It is

produced by overwork, and the elongation gradually but constantly increases through all the years of school life, even to the twentieth or twenty-fifth year. Nearsightedness in city schools is more frequent than in rural districts, owing to the better surroundings in the country, where there are less strain and more rest. Colored children are remarkably free from nearsightedness. Some instruction as to the kind of glasses to be used, the amount, direction, and color of light to be admitted into the school room, concluded this address. After a spirited discussion of the two papers read on Tuesday and Wednesday, "What shall we teach in our public schools?" and "The proposed revision of the common school curriculum," a communication from the senate inviting the association to seats with that body in the senate chamber was received and read.

In the evening Mrs. Pollock, of Washington, D. C., gave an exhibition of the Kindergarten system and its working, which was much enjoyed; while at De Give's Opera House Prof. Wm. I. Marshall, of Fitchburg, Mass., in an illustrated lecture, gave a description of the great Yellowstone National Park.

On the fourth day the general association listened to a paper by F. Louis Soldan, of St. Louis, on "The century and the school," a long and exceedingly interesting paper, of which only the central thought can be given. The century makes two distinct demands on schools. One is that the school shall be in harmony with the practical aims and spirit of the times; the other, that it shall help to guard those ethical interests which are as old as the human race itself, which alone constitute man a civilized being, and which make uprightness and charity a part of human nature. Hon. Joseph E. Brown, United States Senator from Georgia, was then introduced, and said: "As a citizen of Atlanta and Georgia, I take pleasure in uniting with what has been said by the governor of our State, as well as by our citizens whom you have heard, that you are cordially welcome to our State and city. Many of you come from the Northern and Western States. We are proud to see you here on that account. The time was when we had differences. That time has passed. We are now one people again, and one people we shall remain forever. The cause of our struggle has been forever removed, and there is now no question that will divide the people in the future. I am proud to know that this is so, and I shall do all I can to promote the interests of the whole nation, and especially the cause of education." He then referred to the remarkable age in which we live, especially in the progress of education; and, while he differed in politics from many of his brethren in the North, he said he was grateful for the educational doctrines they held, enunciated, and applied. He then spoke of the peculiar troubles of the South in this direction, saying that at the close of the war 4,000,000 people had been changed from slaves to freemen and that it is the interest, wish, and duty of the southern people to make them as good citizens as they

But they had lost the value of them, $2,000,000,000. Two armies were supported on their territory. They were left poor, and must have aid. The Senate was a unit on this view of their need, and the outlook was hopeful. He sat down amid great applause, and a vote of thanks was tendered him for his address.

Mr. Bicknell, chairman of the committee on resolutions, reported a preamble and two resolutions in reference to national aid, which were unanimously adopted. Mr. Bicknell subsequently introduced a resolution heartily commending the arrangement to include in the proposed cotton exhibition at Atlanta a representation of education, and pledged the coöperation of the association, which was adopted with much enthusiasm. Mr. William T. Harris, of St. Louis, then read a paper giving an account of his visit to Brussels last August as the representative of the association at the International Educational Congress; and a committee was appointed to prepare the way for a representation of education at the proposed International Exposition at Boston in 1885. John D. Philbrick, Massachusetts; John Eaton, Washington; J. P. Wickersham, Pennsylvania; H. S. Thompson, South Carolina; A. J. Rickoff, Ohio; T. W. Bicknell, Massachusetts, and J. H. Smart, of Indiana, constitute the committee. The committee on resolutions reported a series of resolutions on wider reading of educational literature, on the need of universal education as vital to our institutions, on the necessity for normal schools to train teachers for the common schools, on the satisfaction with which the progress of free school training in the South was witnessed, on the amount of good done by the National Bureau of Education in disseminating valuable educational information, and deploring the mortal assault upon President Garfield.

Then, after a few remarks from the president elect, Dr. Orr, the association adjourned to meet next year at Saratoga.-(Journal of Education.)

DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION.

On the afternoon of the second day, the department of higher education met, and President Lemuel Moss, of Indiana, being in the chair, opened the meeting with an address, the leading thought of which was that all questions of human interest are, at bottom, questions of philosophy, and that no competent and honest teacher in this day and nation can be otherwise than serious and anxious concerning the philosophical con

ceptions which are to dominate and direct the thought and life of the people. President I. W. Andrews, of Marietta College, Ohio, followed with a paper on "The study of political science in colleges." Among the principal reasons given for this study was this, that the student would there lay the foundation of this knowledge without partisan bias. Dr. H. H. Tucker, of Atlanta, was then introduced and read an entertaining paper on "The advancement of the higher education," opening with the statement that prominent and influential men are not usually looked for among teachers and stating that the profession, even in its higher departments, involves elements which are apt to belittle the mind and character. Its sphere of thought is narrow. A teacher's life is almost necessarily monastic. His business shuts him out of the world. A recluse never becomes great. Not having means to travel, he becomes provincial in habits of thought. Repeated stooping to inferior minds lowers his stature. Teachers should hold a higher rank, and be worthy of it. The style of this production was unique, its delivery producing a high degree of enthusiasm.

DEPARTMENT OF NORMAL SCHOOLS.

He

At 3 P. M. of the third day the department of normal schools, Jerome Allen, of Geneseo, N. Y., president, proceeded to elect as its officers for the ensuing year C. C. Rounds, of Maine, president; T. C. H. Vance, of Kentucky, vice president; and Jerome Allen, of New York, secretary. After a short address from the president on the "Necessity of a normal school in a public system of instruction," Prof. J. C. Gilchrist, president of the Iowa State Normal School, read a paper on "What constitutes a normal school." said the purpose of a normal school is the preparation of teachers for positions in the school system of the people; it must instruct in the sciences; must teach the science of the mind, the philosophy of education, the systems of instruction for all phases of school room work; must maintain a model or training department; must develop a professional spirit with that of noble manhood and womanhood in all its pupils, uniting to all this true culture in goodness of heart and agreeableness of manners. He would have the normal school point out the sources of all moral knowledge, and would bring to bear on every pupil a moral power by which habits of the purest virtue will be inculcated, both by conscious and unconscious tuition. Mr. Vance, of Lexington, Ky., following with a paper on "The best normal training for country teachers," severely criticised normal schools. Mr. DeWolf, State school commissioner of Ohio, to some extent agreed with him. Commissioner Orr, of Georgia, said that he was older than many present, but was young in this matter. The Atlanta University for colored pupils was the only college in Georgia that professed to be a normal school. The teachers turned out from normal schools are said to be far superior to any others, and he felt very deeply the importance of having in the State a normal school for the white and one for the colored teachers.

THE DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

met on the first day, with Hon. John M. Bloss in the chair as president. A carefully prepared paper on "The philosophy of illustration" was read by Ex-State Commissioner J. J. Burns, of Ohio, and followed by another on "The education of the sensibilities," by Superintendent John W. Dowd, of Toledo, Ohio, in which he said that schools cannot give too much intellectual power, but they may give too little of refined sensibility. School life touches character at every point. You can no more teach school without teaching morality than a mason can lay brick into a grand imposing structure without the aid of mortar.

The department, on report of its nominating committee, elected Superintendents J. M. Bloss, of Indiana, A. L. Rogers, of Louisiana, and J. J. Burns, of Ohio, as president, vice president, and secretary for the ensuing year.

DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION.

On Friday morning the department of industrial education was called to order by President E. E. White, of Indiana. The first business transacted was the election of C. O. Thompson, of Worcester, Mass., as president for the ensuing year; Henry H. Fick, of Cincinnati, Ohio, vice president; and S. R. Thompson, of Lincoln, Nebr., secretary; and a vote of thanks to the retiring president. President White read a short address on the general objects of industrial education, which was a brief statement of the principles advocated in his address on "Technical education in public schools," given last year at Chautauqua. The secretary, S. R. Thompson, in his report, gave the names of the industrial schools established during the year, of new departments in schools already established, new and improved facilities for teaching manual arts in schools for deaf-mutes and the blind, as well as in reform schools, and the general drift of public opinion in regard to industrial training. Resolutions requesting the United States Commissioner of Education to publish certain documents on this subject and requesting the secretary to continue his investigations were adopted; an excellent address, by Prof. L. S. Thompson, of Purdue University, on "The decay of apprentice