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proper order than to have them otherwise. It is vastly more attractive to have a sweet breath than to repulse your children by your lack of care in this matter. I might add that when men have a tobacco breath which cannot be confined entirely to themselves, there is just cause for complaint on the part of other teachers and pupils. We certainly should endeavor to be examples in this direc

tion.

CHARACTER.

To be successful we must be men and women of

character. Without this asset learning, physical strength, beauty, culture and all other qualifica

tions are of very little real value to us as teachers. "To be and not to seem," must be our watch-word and to be from month to month and from year to year certainly means daily heroism and constant effort. The true teacher must stand for more than a good class room instructor. She must stand for some positive good and for the social uplifting of a community. We cannot develop high character in our pupils unless we have it ourselves, and it is not long talks or lectures which will develop true character-it is the example of a noble life.

CIGARETTES.

The cigarette evil it seems to me is on the increase. I am not taking a pessimistic view of the world as a whole nor do I believe that it is getting worse, but this great evil is looked upon with two much indifference by parents, teachers and citizens generally. It is an open question whether the smoker of tobacco will shorten or prolong his life as a result of his habit, but so far as the cigarette habit is concerned there is absolutely no question as to the harm it will do boys mentally, morally and physically. And yet it is looked upon with so much indifference by the authorities and even by parents that one wonders why some definite steps are not taken in stemming the tide of this increasing evil.

What can be done is the great question and I am not able to answer it, but I do believe that if any institution can do anything it is the schools and their mission is to bring a sentiment against the cigarette among the boys and girls now attending. Sentiment must be brought against the cigarette evil so that the coming business man, if it cannot be said of the present, will refuse to employ the cigarette smoker. I notice that this seems to be true of the four local banks and other large busi

ness houses of our city. Why not have it generally so?

When boys have to meet with real business responsibilities on this question after they have been warned and talked to by the teacher in regard to the evil effects of the cigarette habit, they will realize that the teacher's word means something and that she is backed up by the business men in eradicating evil generally.

FINANCIAL STANDING.

of finance nor that they should be captains of inThe public does not expect teachers to be kings dustry. In the nature of the case that is quite impossible and I fear that good work as a teacher would soon be a thing of the past if he or she became financially very much interested in industrial and speculative schemes, but as far as knowing how to use the salary which is paid teachers is concerned, they should in fact all be kings of finance.

I fully realize that in many instances much money cannot be saved but I venture to say that with good health and no other unfortunate circumstances intervening, every teacher ought to save something. There are higher and better things than bank accounts, and I would by no means have that the height of your ideal success, but I believe that every teacher ought to have a bank account. If you cannot add twenty dollars to your monthly deposit make it ten or five and do not hesitate to make it one or two. Get in the habit of saving and keep in the habit of it and soon you will find it easy and natural and you will feel a security and an independence that is worth having. Let the handling of your finances be such that even a banker must respect your methods though he cannot become enthusiastic over the size of your deposit.

I also believe that teachers who are quite permanently located in a city or town should own some taxable property. It is one story to say what a city ought to have, the improvements that should be made, etc., and it is another story to be financially interested; to be one of those who is paying for street improvements, for side-walks, for public buildings, for libraries and schools. We will never fail to get the recognition which so many teachers feel that they are not getting, when we share in the financial as well as the educational responsibilities of the community in which we make it our home.

And finally let me say, let us be educators in the

true sense of the word. To be an educator does not mean that we can govern a school and that we can hear a recitation with varied degrees of success. Teachers ought to be educators in a community and unless they shape the educational policy of that community to a large extent they are not fulfilling their mission. It is a misfortune that the large majority of teachers will often let politicians and others shape the educational policies and the only thing they will do is to complain whenever it

is too late about the absurdities which have transpired. Let us not fail to do our share in this matter. If educational interests are at stake let us show that we know about it and that we are interested in them to such an extent that we are willing to work for their best interests. Let us not only be of those who receive but let us in a measure be producers, producers of educational ideas and ideals. Let us be educators in deed as well as in name.

THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT VS. THE STATE UNIVERSITY A Far Reaching Educational Measure Before the State Legislature

TH

HE war is on. All over the country the secondary school is declaring its hostility toward the college. It cries for freedom from dictation above; it demands the privilege of shaping its own course of study to meet the needs of the people; it repudiates the absurd requirements of the college entrance examination; it asks for a free hand in the selection of its faculty members; and it insists upon a release from the university inspection yoke.

The movement has reached Wisconsin and is crystalized in the Wehrwein bill, which aims to bring about the reforms demanded by the secondary school. With State Superintendent Cary as attorney for the plaintiff high school and President Van Hise counsel for the defendant state university, the trial is on before the special educational committee of the state legislature to be reported to that august body next winter for final judgmentbut it must be remembered that at the preliminary examination the lower house approved the bill by a considerable majority.

So fundamentally wrong did this measure seem to the Journal at the time it was introduced, our local columns contained an adverse comment upon the same, and, without any reflection whatever upon Mr. Cary, the present state superintendent, but dealing with the office rather than with the man, the proposition to deprive the university of the power to determine the standard of its own entrance qualifications and place this same power in the hands of a single man in the person of the state superintendent of public instruction, still seems to be a method of getting rid of the college domination of high schools which needs careful investigation and some legal restrictions before it becomes a law.

However, when the whole truth is known, it must be conceded by all familiar with the general tendency of the college toward the secondary school, and of our own university in particular, in the matter of inspection and recommendation of teachers and the accrediting of schools, that the bill is not without many strong features. If enacted into law it would overcome those local domineering influences which have so strongly characterized the higher institutions of learning in this country for many years past.

Inspection and Appointment. That the duplicate system of inspection of high schools now in vogue in Wisconsin should be dispensed with is generally conceded by all parties concerned. It causes conflicts of authority which is not justifiable from the standpoint of economy; and just why the university should have inspectors who recommend teachers for the high school and then officially inspect and pass judgment upon their ability in the schoolroom, is an inconsistency with scarcely a single sensible argument for its defense. The complaint of school boards is that they must take the teachers recommended by these officials in order that their school may first get upon the accredited list, and then remain there through the subsequent favorable reports of the same persons in the capacity of university inspectors. The University of Missouri, for instance, does not permit any of its inspectors to place teachers in the high schools. The passage of the Wehrwein bill would do away with this duplicate inspection and give to school boards a greater freedom in the selection of their high school teachers.

Accredited Schools.

In the matter of accredited schools which this

THE WEHRWEIN BILL

Section 1. Any person having satisfactorily completed a four-year course of study in any free high school in the state of Wisconsin whose course of study shall have been legally adopted by the free high school board and approved by the state superintendent of public instruction and shall have been administered in such manner as to fully meet the requirements of the law, shall be admitted without entrance examination to the state university as a student upon the filing with the registrar of the university a certificate of graduation, good moral character and ability as a student, and a list of his final standings in the studies of the course, signed by the principal of such school; provided that the course of study pursued shall have included two years of mathematics, two years of English, two years of history, two years of science, and that the standings shall be of sufficiently high rank to indicate good work in the high school. Section 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and publi

cation.

bill most vitally affects, the university contends that a lowering of the entrance qualifications would result and the present relative high standing of the institution among its sister colleges would be materially lowered. A careful reading of the bill would seem to leave no grounds for such a claim. Indeed, here is the bone of contention. The secondary school says, "We are preparing ninety-five per cent. of our students for life and five per cent. for college; why is not a course of study suitable for the ninety-five per cent. in preparing them for the world just as good for the other five per cent. who expect to enter college?" Why should not full credit be given, for instance, for manual training and commercial studies in the college entrance requirements as well as for ancient

Latin and dead Greek? Is not President Judson

of Chicago university right in his recent statement when he says,

"Any young man or woman who has graduated from a four years' course in a good secondary school, and in the judgment of the principal of that school is capable of doing college work, ought to be admitted regardless of what subjects he studied during those four years and without examination."

Last year there were 269 free high schools in Wisconsin, eighty-two of which were not upon the so-called accredited list of the state university. When it is remembered that the university is supported by general taxation, it is difficult to understand why graduates from these eighty-two schools should not have the privilege, at least of entering the university and trying for the honors therein along with their more fortunate cousins from the larger cities. Here is where the shoe has pinched for these many years, and this is what is causing the local upheaval in this state. It is true that the university has made many concessions along these lines in late yeaers by allowing credits for some manual training work and a few commercial studies and eliminating the language entrance re

quirements, but its concessions in this direction have not kept pace with the demands of the people.

The Board Plan.

It would seem as if in the discussion of this subject the preparation of high school students for the eight normal schools of the state has been neglected. While probably not so many high school graduates go to normal schools as to college, yet the normals are a mighty factor in the industrial and social life of this commonwealth and must not be neglected in the framing of corrective measurės. This bring us to the suggestion of a plan-call it compromise if you will-which ought to place all interested parties upon a common ground where all these differences could be equitably adjusted. The plan is this: Create a state board of inspection along the lines of Mr. Viebahn's bill; let the membership consist of the president of the university, the president of the normal board of regents (or a normal school president selected by the regents), and the state superintendent of public instruction; this board to appoint the secondary school inspectors, receive reports from them, and decide. all matters now proposed for correction by statute enactment. It has been suggested that an additional member representing the high school be added to this committee, but this would make him both plaintiff and defendant in the case at bar and would also increase the size of the board, thus decreasing the responsibility of its individual members and impairing its usefulness.

Whether the Wehrwein bill becomes a law, or a board is created, or some other method is adopted, -matters but little if the reforms demanded by the secondary schools are secured. Domination of the university must cease through the adoption of a more liberal accrediting system, and the abolishment of the present plan of appointment and inspection of teachers.

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AMONG THE WISCONSIN NORMAL SCHOOLS

The New La Crosse School Opens-Milwaukee Begins in the New Building—
Sims is Victor over McFarland at Stevens Point-Changes in
Faculties-News and Notes

ITH the possible exception of the states of New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, Wisconsin ranks first in the number of normal schools and in the general efficiency of the work which these professional institutions are doing for the teaching profession. Michigan has four normals; Illinois has six, including the Cook county normal; Iowa has one state normal with several colleges carrying on professional work; Minnesota has five, and is agitating the establishment of another. With the opening of the La Crosse normal school this year, Wisconsin looms up with eight strong institutions devoted exclu

sively to the training of teachers for the public schools, while the new one just authorized at Eau Claire will make a grand total of nine.

The President in the Saddle.

At the annual meeting of the normal regents last June a resolution was passed giving the president of a school power to suspend any teacher at any time for not more than thirty days subject to review by the committee on teachers of the board, which committee is to suspend or discharge as the circumstances warrant. A significant act just preceeding the threatened "charges" against President Sims!

Election of Officers.

In the election of officers, of course, Thos. Morris was re-elected president. But C. D. McFarland was not so honored for vice-president-C. H. Crownhart of Superior being chosen-another significant act!

The New Rural Course.

In accordance with the provisions of a law enacted by the last legislature the regents established a country training school course to be operative this year at Whitewater, Oshkosh, and La Crosse. The primary object of the course is to train teachers for the rural schools along the lines now followed by the county normal training schools. The certificate issued upon its completion grants the same privileges as that granted by the county institutions-good for three years in the county, and standings transferable by other county superintendents.

Any person 15 years of age may be admitted to the first year of the course without examination who holds a county diploma or has completed the eighth grade in a graded school. To enter the second year one must be at least sixteen years of age and have either completed two years of a high school or hold an unexpired county certificate with a minimum of six months' teaching experience.

Opening at La Crosse.

Of course, the greatest event in connection with the normal school affairs of this year is the opening of the new school at La Crosse. Under the

presidency of Fassett A. Cotton, formerly state superintendent of public instruction of Indiana, the institution starts out with every promise of success. The new building is complete in every detail, the grounds are adequate for the needs of the students, and in the selection of a faculty President Cotton has had a free hand. It is true that Mr. Cotton has been criticised in the press of the state for choosing his faculty so largely from other states, and yet this criticism seems to be unwarranted and is certainly ill-timed. The mere fact that a teacher jumps over an imaginary state boundary line should not arouse the jealousy of that state's broad-minded educators. The time to comment on such matters is after these outside members have had an opportunity to prove or disprove their worth by actual work in the institution. Let us not presume such a thing as failure in the La Crosse normal school, but let all Wisconsin educators stand by this new institution and give Mr. Cotton their moral support in making it a power for good in the Wisconsin educational field.

Next to President Cotton himself, Badger schoolmasters are most interested in Mr. James 0. Engleman, who becomes the institute conductor representinig this normal school. Mr. Engleman is thirty-five years of age and has had fifteen years' experience in active teaching and supervision in Indiana, including rural schools, township consolidated schools, high schools, and city systems. For the last two years he has been principal of the training department of the Indiana state normal at Terre Haute. Mr. Engleman is a graduate of

J. O. ENGLEMAN Institute Conductor La Crosse State Normal School.

the Indiana state normal school and also of the University of Chicago, having received a degree from the latter institution in 1905.

Herewith is a list of the members of President Cotton's faculty. It will be seen that while Indiana is pretty well represented, Wisconsin has not been forgotten.

Normal School Department.

Fassett A. Cotton, President, School Economics, from Indiana.

J. O. Engleman, Institute Conductor and Department of Education, from Indiana.

Adolph H. Bernhard, Department of Physics and Chemistry, from Wisconsin.

L. P. Denoyer, Department of Geography and Geology, from Wisconsin.

E. D. Long, Department of Latin and German, from Michigan.

David O. Coate, Department of English, from Minnesota.

Miss Bessie B. Hutchinson, Department of English, Assistant, from Wisconsin.

W. H. Sanders, Department of Observation and Practice, from Indiana.

Alfred H. Sanford, Department of History and Civics, from Wisconsin.

E. E. Balcomb, Department of Biology and Agriculture, from Oklahoma.

William A. Austin, Department of Mathematics, from California.

Miss Ada F. Thayer, Department of Physical Training, from New York.

Miss Marion Vos Burgh, Department of Music, from Wisconsin.

Miss Elizabeth W. Robertson, Department of Drawing, from Illinois.

Miss Florence S. Wing, Librarian, from Wisconsin.

Training School Department.

W. H. Sanders, Principal.

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Miss Clara C. Hitchcock, Kindergarten and First Grade, from Ohio.

Miss Lottie L. Deneen, Second and Third Grades, from Wisconsin.

Miss La Varne Garratt, Fourth and Fifth Grades, from Michigan.

Miss Lillian Bettinger, (Wisconsin girl) Sixth and Seventh Grades, from North Dakota.

Office.

Miss Helen A. Hill, Clerk, from Wisconsin.

Sims in the Saddle at Stevens Point.

When early last spring it was being whispered among school men that "Sims was out at Stevens Point," the rumor was not given credence, for his record as a man and as a schoolmaster has been such as to command the highest praise from his associates in the Wisconsin school field. Yet as time went on these reports became more and more pronounced until on June 30, during the annual meeting of the normal board of regents at Madison, it was announced that a special evening session would be held for the purpose of considering charges against President John F. Sims, which would at that time be preferred by the local regent, C. D. McFarland!

It will be recalled that three years ago, following the appointment of Mr. McFarland as local regent at Stevens Point, President Pray, who, for twelve years had presided over the destiny of the school and brought it to a high standard, was summarily dismissed from the service. President Sims succeeded Mr. Pray in office and soon found he was laboring under the same difficulties as his predecessor. Three adverse reports on the work of the supervisor of practice were made by the visiting committees to this normal appointed by the state superintendent, but still she held her position. The hiring of teachers appears not to have been in the hands of the president as provided in the by-laws. The faculty groaned under the yoke. The students loved and respected their president for his true worth, sympathized with him in his trying situation but suppressed an exhibition of their indignation at Mr. Sim's own request-all this since the present normal regent has held sway in Stevens Point.

Whether or not the so-called charges were a "bluff" by McFarland, it is impossible to deter

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