MONTANA, IDAHO, WASHING
TON ANI) OREGON TEACHERS
MEET IN SPOKANE.
ADDRESS BY CHICAGO MAN.
Social Point of View, Culture of Mas
ses and Instruction in Literature
Are Treated by Pedagogue of Na
tional Reputation.
SPOKANE, Wash., April 10.—
School teachers are assembled in Spo
kane in the opening session of the
twentieth annual meeting of the In
land Empire Teachers’ association.
Schools, colleges and the universities
of Idaho, Montana, Oregon and
Washington are represented.
J. A. Churchill, of Salem, Or., sup
erintendent of public instruction of
Oregon, is president of the association
and delivered the opening address.
James F. Hosic, of the Chicago Nor
mal school and secretary of the Na
tional Council of English Teachers,
delivered the principal address of the
convention. He discussed the “Social
Point of View in Teaching.” the de
velopment of “a type of culture for
the masses” and explained “why lit
erature is taught in the schools.”
In speaking of the “Social Point of
View in Teaching.” he said:
“The problem of school instruction
may be approached from either of two
complimentary points of view, the so
cial and the psychological. The lat
ter regards the child as an individual
and describes his activities in terms
of his growth. Thus we say the child
is growing in knowledge, in skill, or
in healthy attitudes We shape our
class-room teaching so as to adapt
it to the laws of learning, which are
the laws of habit formation. This
point of view is likely to neglect the
importance of the choice of subject
matter and it is also likely to ignore
the fact that the child as a member
of a class is a different person from
the child considered by himself.
Two Principal I-actors.
“The social point of view takes into
account two principal factors. One of
these is social need and the other is
social method. By social need is
meant the effort of society to hand
along the solutions of problems which
have been worked out so as to main
tain the social inheritance and so as to
improve upon it if possible. In ac
cordance with this conception all of
the school studies will be considered
in the light of their origin before they
became formalized and logically ar
ranged in textbooks. They will be
considered, also, in the light of pres
ent-day social practices. Even now
very searching studies are being made
to determine what aspects in arith
metic, in history, in geography, in
English grammar are most worth
while. This shifting in order to se
cure the essentials will leave us with
a much more practical body of teach
ing material than we have been ac
customed to use. In a word, a great
deal of the traditional contents of
our text books and courses of study
is well on its way toward the junk
heap.
“The complementary conception of
method regards the school class as a
typical social group. Ordinarily it in
cludes within its membership a wide
variety of individuality and of social
status. Whatever is done in such a
group will produce very much such
reactions as similar activities in the
community outside. All of the teach
er’s planning therefor, will be made
with reference to the fact that there
is to be group activity.
Speaks for Class.
“In English composition, for ex
^ ample, the pupil will write or speak
for the class. In history he will make
his report or argument before the
class. The assignment of work will
take the form of a project in which
the class will participate. The results
obtained by various efforts will be
4) judged, in part, by members of the
class themselves. The ancient situa
tion in which the teacher tells some
thing to the pupil or the individual
pupil tells something to the teacher
will give way to a series of varied ex
ercises in which the teacher will have
many different roles. He will be
sometimes chairman, sometimes spec
tator, sometimes coach, sometimes au
thority, sometimes critic, again court
of final appeal, or perhaps chief per
former. In any case, he will be con
scious that the pupils are going to
grow by their activities rather than
by his.”
l In reference to “a type of culture
for the masses,” Professor Hosic said:
“In order to fulfill its function at
the present time, public education
must serve democracy as a whole.
This means, in the first place, a con
ception of democracy broad enough to
include not only citizenship and gov
ernment, but also the various occupa
tions, home making, and the activities
of recreation and leisure. The appli
cation of the idea of self-government
is fairly clear to a majority of Amer
icans, though even here the schools
have still a large responsibility and
should discharge it by making famil
I iar to all American children the ideals
I which have found expression in such
masterpieces as Lincoln’s ‘Gettysburg
| Address,’ Lowell’s ‘The Present Cri
! sis,’ and the recent speeches of VVood
i row Wilson.
Different Types of Vocations.
“In the field of occupations the
schools must provide opportunity for
some acquaintance with different
types of vocation, such as commerce,
industry and the professions, and in
the high school and college, adequate
technical training in preparation for
these kinds of service. Definite ideals
f home making, moreover, must be
instilled, and the young people in our
high schools and colleges must have
definite training for the responsibili
ties of the household.
“As for recreation and the use of
leisure, the great problem of educa
tion today is to develop a type of cul
ture that shall be possible for the
masses. Obviously this cannot rest
upon the requirement of a knowledge
of foreign language or of extensive
acquaintance with art museums, but
must realize itself in literature, in
good though popular music, in a heal
thy community drama, in gardening,
in architecture, and in dress.
“Such social ideals as outlined
I above can be secured only by school
work which is as veal to the students
j as the life outside the school. There
. must be opportunity for initiative on
1 the part of the individual for straight
thinking, for the use of his own judg
ment and power of organization. The
| school must develop those who can
lead, but above all those who can co
operate; it must inspire all with the
! great purpose which constitutes Atn
jericanism; it must elevate the idea of
preparation for some specific service
to the community; and it must con
, tinue to open the door of opportunity
wider and wider to every child, no
matter what the limitations imposed
| upon him by reason of the accident
j of his birth.
School Master of Future.
“The school master of the near fu
■ ture must see American life steadily
and see it whole, not only as a na
tional life, but also as a part of the
great family of nations soon to be
united in common democratic aspira
tions. With the greatest schoolmas
ter of our time in the president’s chair
directing public opinion, there is ev
ery reason for educators to rejoice in
the wonderful opportunity which is
obviously awaiting them.”
In answering “Why We Teach Lit
erature in Our Schools,” Professor
Hosic said:
“There has been some misgiving of
late as to whether the enthusiasm
displayed in the early 80’s with re
gard to the introduction of the Eng
lish classics into the public schools
has been justified by the outcome. The
theory was that children should read
masterpieces of verses and prose and
form a taste for reading of the high
est quality. The theory worked very
well so long as it was applied only to
a small selected group, who would
have become readers w’hether they
went to school or not. When it came
to the masses of the people, the re
sults were, to say the least, not up to
expectations.
“One reason for disappointment is
that teachers have taken the idea of
taste in a narrow sense. Brought up
in college upon the idea that enjoy
ment of literature means the enjoy
ment of literary technique they have
proceeded into the grammar grades
and the high school with this notion
and have sought to have immature
students revel in the skill displayed
by poets and prose writers, in discov
ering the influence of the writers of
one age upon those of the next. The
teachers who sought to have tenth
grade girls discover the so-called ro
mantic elements in the first stanzas
of Gray’s “Elegy” was given an ex
ample of this unfortunate scholar’s la
bors lost.
No Better Time Than Present.
“There could not be a better time
than the present for revising our con
ception of the place of literature in
the school. We would do well to hark
back to the remarks of one of the
founders of the movement, namely,
Horace E. Scudder, who declared in
one of his addresses that the function
of literature is to quicken the spirit
and to cause to circulate throughout
the length and breadth of America
those ideas and ideals which make us
what we are as a people. In other
words literature is in our schools not
because of the way ideas are expres
sed, but because of the value of the
ideas themselves. The form is effect
ive in commending the ideas to ac
ceptance. This is enough. There is
no need to insist that the form be ap
preciated for its own sake.
“First of all. then, the schools
should seek to develop a habit of
thoughtful and enjoyable reading by
having that sort. It is simply a mat
ter of habit. In the second place, care
should be exercised to win now and
arrange collections of the best writ
ings to express our crowing young
people those interests which we wish
particularly to cultivate. These are
among others, an interest in Ameri
can landscape, an interest in our past,
an interest in our politcal and social
life and ideals, and in interest in that
inner life of the spirit which we as
sociate with morals and religion. Such
a view will give us a new perspective
and judgment of relative values, and
will cause a very important shift of
emphasis, both in the elementary
schools and in the high schools. In
the former, reading is too largely a
matter of merely pronouncing words,
while in the latter it is something
highly technical anil esoteric and
tends to make pupils verbally learned
but not better acquainted with life
or more fond of great books.”
CONCRETE HAS MANY USES.
Material Is Cheap, Easily Handled,
Durable and Sanitary.
WASHINGTON, D. C., April 16.—
1 Concrete, because of its great resist
ance to lire and to the shock of explo
sions, is adaptable to a wide variety of
uses, according to the United States
geoolgical survey, department of the
interior.
It is cheap, easily and quickly
j handled, sanitary, and durable, and its
. characteristics render it of great mili
1 tary importance. Among the military
uses to which concrete is put are the
construction of armories, barracks,
j roads, bridges, coast and interior
fortifications, gun emplacements,
trench linings, bomb-proof shelters,
j magazines for explosives, tunnels, re
; taining walls, sea walls, wharves, dry
| docks, water reservoirs, aqueducts,
! sewers, sewage-treatment works, in
! cinerators, stables, floors, roofs, muni
tion-factory buildings, wai'ehouses,
fuel-oil tanks, barges, and even in the
interior of battleships.
A SUBSTITUTE.
“So you didn’t get that political
plum from your congressman?”
“No, but he sent me some seeds.”—
Buffalo Express.
Y’our lips are the bow; your words
are the arrows; there are a million
marks. The arrows are of your own
choosing.—Youth’s Companion.
then it happened.
“I wonder if you could?” mused the
Rummy, as he stirred his highball.
“You wonder if you could what?”
demanded the Barkeep, as he reach
ed for a club.
“Why, if a man goes to a pawnshop
with a loud vest and hocks it, I won
der if you could say that he is putting
up a bold front ? ” said the Rummy, as
he headed for the door.
m m not
ENTIRELY ENfiE
INFLUX OF FOREIGNERS HAS
BEEN GREATLY RETARDED,
HOWEVER BY WORLD WAR
DEPARTURES EXCEED ARRIVAL
Indications Are That Flow of Aliens
Will Not Resume Its Former Pro
portions For Decade or More After
Peace.
WASHINGTON, D. C., April 16.—
While war has stemmed the tide of
immigration, it has not entirely stop
ped it. And, as the flow of immi
grants from Europe has been cur
down to comparatively nothing, it has
increased at the Canadian, Mexican
and Pacific stations.
For a decade before the war, the
annual influx approximated a million
a year. From July to December last
year the number fell to 80,222.
Moreover, the decreasing stream of
newcomers is being offset to a re
markable degree by the exodus from
America of those desiring to return
to their native lands. In fact, the de
partures outnumbered the admittan
ces in November and December.
A great many of those leaving the
country since the beginning of the
war have been allied reservists who
have gone back to answer the call to
the colors.
\\ hue war conditions have curtailed
the usual duties of the immigration
service, a new field has been opened
that requires even more intensive ap
plication and effort. Beginning with
the seizure of the German ships, the
service has been called upon to assist
other agencies of the government in
many important lines of work. Es
pecially have the inspectors been act
ive in prohibiting the entrance or de
parture of enemy aliens, in the de
tection of spies, the surveillance and
apprehension of suspects and in cap
turing draft law evaders.
I'sual. Business Decreased.
A great part of the facilities of the
immigration stations, especially along
the Atlantic coast, have been turned
over to other lines of war work. The
great receiving depot at Ellis island
now is devoting only 25 or 30 per cent
of its space to handling immigration,
and somewhat similar conditions exist
at other Atlantic ports.
As ever, the service is employed
actively in preventing surreptitious
entry into the country of objectionable
aliens, chiefly Chinese coolies. Al
though the traffic has been cut down
materially by vigilance, the great fi
nancial inducements offered those
who successfully can run the block
ade prevent a complete curtailment of
the practice.
The number of stowaways on ships
was twice as many in the last half
of 1917 as in the preceding twelve
months, ninety-three altogether hav
ing been detected and debarred. In
cluded in the number were several
German soldiers who deserted, fled
to neutral countries, then sought to
find a safe haven by hiding on Amer
ica-bound vessels.
Although the tide of immigration
dropped from 1,000,000 to 300,000 the
first year of the war and has since
steadily been on the decline, thei-e is
every prospect that the flow will not
resume its pre-war proportions for a
decade or more after the treaty of
peace.
Land of Promise.
America, practically since its dis
covery, has been the land of promise
for the ambitious, the adventuresome,
or the oppressed people of other
lands. Beginning with the argonauts
of the early seventeenth century who
established colonies along the Atlan
tic seaboard, the tide steadily had in
creased until the first part of the
present century saw millions eagerly
setting their faces towards the new
world.
They came principally in the steer
age of the great ocean liners, ever
with determination to win fortune and
enjoy liberty. The immigrants still
come from Europe, but in small scat
tered groups, mostly of women or
children joining relatives here. The
Ravages of war have made it an abso
lute necessity for the belligerents to
retain within their own borders all
useful manpower—not alone for act
ive fighting or imperative non-com
batant tasks behind the lines, but for
the great work of rehabilitation that
must start when hostilities cease.
Even the neutrals—Norway, Swed
en, Denmark and Holland—are dis
couraging emigration, recognizing
that the loss of even small portions of
their populations may prove a mate
rial aftgr-war economic loss.
With the great stream of immigra
tion curtailed for awhile, the nation,
even in the rush of war, will find ad
ditional time to break up, educate
and Americanize the polvgot group?
in the larger cities. There are many
of these elements which, it is assert
ed, have not yet begun to be assimi
lated in American national life. Their
language, customs and ideals remain
practically unchanged in their new
surroundings.
Americanization of an emigrant of
this class offers great problems and
greater rewards for the social worker.
GERMANS ACTIVE
ON AMERICAN LINE
DISPATCHES FROM BERLIN DE
CLARE TEUTONS SCORED
SUCCESS ON MEUSE.
AMSTERDAM, April 16.—Wolff
News bureau dispatches from Berlin
say that Sunday night, north of St.
Mihiel, the Germans stormed and cap
tured the main part of the American
j position east and southeast of Maizey
j on the right bank of the Meuse. The
i dispatches declare that a large section
| of the American lines of defense on
! the high road from St. Mihiel to Rou
vrois, for a distance of three miles,
i was rolled up despite the Americans’
] brave resistance.
The Americans suffered the sever
| est casualties and lost a number of
j prisoners, the dispatch added.
i _-___
NAVY WANTS RECRUITS.
Men Subject to Draft May Enlist in
Sea Fighting Forces.
SEATTLE, April 16.—Enlistment
in the naval service has been reopen
ed at the United States naval train
ing camp, Seattle. Any citizen be
tween 18 and 85 is eligible. The camp
is located on the grounds of the Uni
versity of Washington, fronting on
! lakes Washington and Union.
Recruits will receive a thorough
course in naval instruction, averaging
about four months.
Men who are registered and subject
to draft, although having been placed
in Class A-l, may obtain permission
from their local boards to enlist in
the naval reserve force, providing
they are not needed to fill the cur
rent quota.
This camp is now being considera
bly enlarged. Additional recruits will
be taken until the camp is filled up.
GOVERNMENT TAKES
ATLANTIC VESSELS
RAIL W A Y ADMINISTRATION
WILL OPERATE COASTWISE
CRAFTS ON EASTERN COAST.
WASHINGTON, D. C., April 13.—
By virtue of an order issued by Presi
dent Wilson, the federal government
railway administration late yesterday
took over for operation American
coastwise vessels on the Atlantic coast
coast and in the Gulf of Mexico.
The presidential order does not ap
ply to the vessels on the Facific coast.
AMERICAN ESCAPES
FROM GERMAN CAMP
FIRST UNITED STATES WAR
PRISONER TO GAIN FREE
DOM REACHES BASEL.
PARIS, April 15.—The first Amer
ican prisoner of war to escape from
Germany has just reached Basel
Switzerland, according to a news dis
patch received by the Paris Temps
newspaper.
rnrnm
HOSPITAL SECTIONS AT CAMP
KEARNEY PROUD OF
CORPS EMBLEMS.
ARTILLERY HAS GRIZZLY BEAR
Designs in Many Instances Are Trac
ed With Cobblestones and Make a
Striking Appearance With Lawn
As Background.
CAMP KEARNY, San Diego, Cal.,
April 16.—Many of the organizations
at Camp Kearny, both regiments and
smaller units, have erected elaborate
insignia before their headquarters or
mess halls so that all who pass may
identify them. The hospital and am
bulance sections have been particular
ly prolific in this regard.
However, what is probably the most
elaborate insignia of any is that
which stands before the headquarters
of the 144th field artillery (California
Grizzlies). This insignia, while sim
ple, is worked out in excellent detail,
and with faithfulness to the natural
objects it depicts.
At the top, on a plaque, standing so
that anyone in the street twenty yards
or more away can see and identify
with ease, is a small grizzly bear,
done in gray cement. At the bear’s
feet is a large space, covered with
white cement and edged with black
cobblestones set in cement. On this
is the American eagle, bearing the
conventional red, white and blue
shield on its breast. The eagle is done
in low relief, in cement, and the red
bars on the shield are raised. Be
neath this are the crossed cannons of
an artillery regiment. There is a
walk on each side of this insignia and
the remainder of the space before
headquarters and along officers’ row
is planted to grass.
Wagon Wheel Made of Stones.
Some of the supply companies, on
the other side of camp from the Griz
zlies, have the supply insignia, a wag
on wheel, worked out in cobblestones
on lawns before their stables. The
cobbles are whitewashed and make a
fine appearance against the green
of the grass.
There, is not a regiment which has
not walks marked out before its offi
cers’ quarters and mess halls with
cobblestones, many of which have
the cobbles whitewashed. The head
quarters of the California infantry
brigade, made up of the 159th and
IGOth regiments, are marked in this
way, and have a fine lawn before
them. Piles of large cobbles, white
washed, hold up the flagpole, and the
standards of the guidons at this head
quarters.
The ambulance and hospital organ
izations have worked out the design
characteristic of the medical corps,
the caduceus, in cement and cobbles
in a variety of ways. Usually this is
painted red, while a surrounding field
of cement is painted white as a back
ground.
Red Cross Frequently Used.
The Red Cross, too, is much used
by these organizations. Crosses four
or five feet wide and high are to be
seen before several of the headquar
ters. Other organizations content
themselves with framing the name of
the unit, in white cobbles, with a row
of other, larger cobbles, also painted
white, on a plain earth background.
One of the companies of the 155th
signal battalion has the flag design,
characteristic of the corps, before its
mess hall. The white portions of the
flags, red with a square white center
and vice-versa, are made of cobble
stones, whitewashed, while the red
positions are of broken bricks.
One or two organizations have
planted cacti in regular order along
officers’ row, and some of them are
cultivating flowers in the middle of
lawns before the officers’ quarters.
One lieutenant has a well-developed
pansy bed in bloom. Others have
transplanted small trees to the lawns.
Subscribe for Alaska’s Leading
Daily—The Anchorage Times.