civilization and our society. There is no profession among men that stands higher in its usefulness, or brighter in its possibilities, and more comprehensive in the great good possible in its accomplishment, than that one that is adorned by the people who are now very soon to assemble in the city of Denver." In this presence, I am sorry to say, I am not, now, a teacher. I wish I were. speak in part for the teachers from the South.

But I am here to

The teachers from the South are here in large force. They came, may it please your excellency, because they were assured that a cordial, hearty welcome would be extended to them. Whilst there may have been differences among us in the past; whilst there may have been dissensions among the great people of this country that resulted in bloodshed and disaster in the past, thank God, there are none now. Whilst we of the South may be Southern in our manner, and Southern in our ideas of social interests and social advancement, we are, in every particular, essentially and thoroughly American. We came to Denver because we knew we would have the hearty greeting that has been so cordially extended to us. We came again, as teachers, because we are proud of the record we have made at the South in the great cause you advocate. Representing the South and the teachers of the South, I have great gratification to say, in this presence, that the distinguished commissioner of education for the United States has recently published to the world that there has been greater advancement in educational interests at the South, within the past recent years, than in any other section known to the civilized world.

We come, again, because we are profoundly interested in every purpose, every policy, and every plan that will be inaugurated and carried to completion by this National Educational Association for the advancement of our common interests. We come, furthermore, to say to you who do not know, as we do, that the South is, in all particulars, the best portion of this great country of ours; to say that we want every citizen of Denver and of Colorado, and every citizen of all this great West, to come down South and know us better than you have in the past.

We have reputations abroad, you know, that are sometimes unpleasant and many times untrue. We are here to correct some of those impressions. We have the reputation down South, you know, of voting not only early and often, but sometimes outside of our districts and sometimes outside of our states. I have actually voted in Colorado. A newspaper man approached me this morning, and said, "I want your vote on universal suffrage," and I voted, of course. I want to take occasion here and now to say, if the returning board has already made a report, that I did not vote; and if the board has

not made report, it is my purpose to see that my vote shall be cast for universal suffrage. I say this especially since I have heard the splendid address delivered by Mrs. Peavey, the superintendent of education for this State.

In conclusion, I may say, I am here, Mr. President, not as a teacher, but as the chief of the department of education for the Cotton States Exposition. I am not going to make you a speech on that matter now, but I desire to make this announcement: We want every teacher and every school on the continent of America to make an exhibit at the Cotton States Exposition in Atlanta, beginning the 18th of September and concluding on the 31st of December. want, furthermore, that this association shall have an adjourned session at Atlanta during the exposition, so as to meet with the congress of educators to be held at that time. We invite you to the South that you may know us better and more favorably; that you may understand the great-heartedness and warm hospitality of a Southern invitation and a Southern welcome, just such as we will extend to you in Georgia when you come to see us next fall.

ADDRESSES.

PHYSICAL TRAINING.

BY EDWARD F. HERMANNS, PRINCIPAL OF HIGH SCHOOL, DISTRICT NO. 2, DENVER, COLO.

[STENOGRAPHIC REPORT.]

You have been informed by the president that I was selected only yesterday to fill a vacancy caused by the unavoidable absence of Dr. Hartwell from this meeting; and this, together with the fact that I am limited to fifteen minutes, will account for what I have to say being rather fragmentary and showing a lack of the preparation which such an important subject deserves.

It is a source of wonder that we Americans, who are noted for being able to recognize a good thing when we see it, and for having the energy to use it for all it is worth, have not made a systematic effort to make physical training an essential factor in our public school education. It is true, that, in some cities, and in some schools, great results have been attained in this direction, but nevertheless these cases are isolated. It is also true that there has been a great interest in the so-called athletic sports, but I doubt whether these can take the place of systematic instruction in physical culture, as their object is, not the harmonious, methodical development of the body but the gaining of a victory, for which purpose, I am informed, sometimes the bodily welfare is to a certain extent sacrificed. The Germans, who have investigated educational questions, perhaps not with more intelligence but certainly with more patience and thoughtfulness than any other people, have arrived at the conclusion, that education is not complete-cannot be complete without physical training. The great impetus was given to instruction in physical culture in Germany, when, during the Napoleonic wars, the Turner societies formed such an important and potent factor in shaking off from that country, which was then in its deepest degradation, the yoke imposed by Napoleon. We have a strong illustration of the relation that exists between physical culture and national life in the fact, that, during our own Civil War the Turner regiments, as they were called, recruited from the Turner societies, not waiting to be

drafted into the service, hurried into the ranks, and were among the best and first into the field, thereby demonstrating conclusively that they had transferred, fully and without reservation, their loyalty and their patriotism to the country of their adoption.

Physical training is necessary, first, of course, for the body itself; secondly, for the full development of the intelligence. There are other advantages that come along with it. As civilization advances, with all modern conveniences, there is a tendency to a degeneration of the body. There is a lessening of the necessity for that activity of the body which is indispensable to its perfect health. I can speak from experience on this point. When I was a boy I was puny and sickly; the professor of medicine in the University of Bonn, after examining me, informed my mother that I should die before I reached the age of manhood. No one can tell what anguish that poor woman suffered for seven years after receiving this information. I was subjected to all sorts of treatment, took all kinds of medicine, until I finally fell into the hands of a physician who had that best of all science, common sense, and who ordered at once that physic should be thrown to the dogs, and that I should go in swimming, should ride on horseback, and join the Turner school conducted by the Turner society at Milwaukee, where physical education, I believe, is carried as far as in any other city of the Union. The result was satisfactory, and I did not die, as predicted. The consumption I suffer from now is easily cured. It may be unnecessary to state, also, that I did not come to Colorado for my health. I am inclined to think that Superintendent Gove suggested my name to the president of this association to fill this vacancy for the purpose of showing this audience what the glorious Colorado climate will do for a thin man.

The necessity of training the body, on account of health, although perhaps the last in rank, is not for that reason the least important. If it were on this score alone, it would become the duty of the state to furnish such training on the same ground on which it furnishes any kind of education; that is, of producing efficient citizenship. I am not quite sure whether I believe to the fullest extent the doctrine, "A sound mind in a sound body," if it means that a sound mind cannot dwell in an imperfect body, when we all know of such cases as those of the blind Milton, the lame Byron, Napoleon, whose body was covered with a rheum, which at times caused him intense torture, and others who, in spite of their physical condition, displayed great intellectual activity. These cases prove that there are some minds so strong that they can conquer the imperfections of the body; but such minds are few, and it is a recognized fact that the influence of the body upon the mind is so great that it cannot be ignored. With all our intellectual advancement, the time will never come when we

shall not admire physical culture and physical courage; physical courage that arises out of the assurance that every part of the body will perform its function when called upon. And it is wonderful how this faith in physical power leads the child to have faith and confidence in the power of the mind, which is almost without limit. It is power that we all want, but there are even now some people who do not realize or appreciate their own powers. There are a great many geniuses lost to the world because that sense of power is absent, because it has never been cultivated. The most important benefit, however, in my opinion, that is to be derived from physical culture, is the ethical effect. The accuracy of movement, the prompt obedience to the word of command, the feeling of responsibility in regard to the perfection of the operation to be performed, all these have their moral effects, and this training of the body furnishes one of the most important agencies in moral teaching. Experience, I believe, has shown that good morals can be inculcated only to a limited extent by instruction. If preaching were sufficient to make people moral, you and I should be almost perfect in that respect. No. good morals and ethics must be taught by the doing of them-if necessary, by the employment of the motive of compulsion-until the doing of right becomes a matter of habit, so that higher motives may be employed in the development of the moral nature.

I want to state, that I am not by any means a specialist on the subject of physical training, but perhaps it is not without profit to discuss this matter from the standpoint of general education, rather than that of the specialist, since we know that our friends, the specialists, whether their favorite branches are science, or drawing, or music, or physical culture, are very apt to demand the whole terrestrial globe, surrounded by a strong inclosure, for their own specialties. This is as it should be. Their enthusiasm, their energy will furnish a motive power that will accomplish success, if the check-valve of proper supervision is applied. The question as to what kind of physical culture we need I should like to leave to the expert and the specialist. If you ask me whether I am an advocate of the German system, or of the Swedish system, or of the Delsarte system, I shall answer that I advocate none, or all, just as you please to have it. They all have good in them, and I propose to take that good, so long as it can be made useful. I believe that the advocates of the different systems are doing harm to the good cause, by making war upon other systems than their own. I think it is possible to take the good features of all and combine them. The chief requisite, in my opinion, for instruction in physical training, is a teacher; one who is endowed with good common sense, knows the nature and laws of the body, and realizes that there are some other things in education that are of as