271-813-5m-3600 BULLETIN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS NO. 291 FOUR TIMES A MONTH EXTENSION SERIES, NO. 36 AUGUST 15, 1913. COMPULSORY EDUCATION BIBLIOGRAPHY AND SELECTED ARGUMENTS EDITED BY EDWIN DuBOIS SHURTER Chairman of the University Interscholastic League PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AUSTIN, TEXAS Entered as second-class mail matter at the postoffice at Austin, Texas The benefts of education and of useful knowledge, generally diffused through a community, are essential to the preservation of a free government. Sam Houston. Cultivated mind is the guardian genius of democracy. . • • It is the only dictator that freemen ac­knowledge and the only security that freemen desire. President Mirabeau B. Lamar. It. is only out of the contest of facts and brains that the right can ever be evolved-only on the anvil of discus­sion can the spark of truth be struck out. Joseph H. Choate. PHEFACE The Executive Committee of the University Interscholastic League annonnces the following qnestion for the debates of 1913-14: Resol-ved, That the Trxas Legislature at ds next regitlar session shoitld enact a Compulsory Ed11cation Lww requiring all children between the ages of seven and fourteen, excepting those physically or mentally inco·mpetent, to attend a public 01· private school at least six months dnring each scholastic year. This bulletin contains a bibliography on Compulsory Education and selected arguments on both sides of the question. Special attention is called to the fact that there is very little di rcct nega­ tive material on the general proposihon of compnlsory cdncation. The negative side mnat therefore chiefly show' wherein the pro­ posed law may fail to meet pre:>ent conditions in Texas. More specific suggestions on this point are offered under the rlivision of "Negative Arguments." For information reg;nding compulsory education in other states, address the State Department of Education at the capital of each state. United States Go-vernment publications can nsnally be obtained through the Congressman of a particular district. The Public Discussion Division of the t:niversity has some miscella­ neous pamphlets and other material that will be loaned to schools belonging to the League. Each school that sends the membership fee of $1.00 is also entitled to four copies of this bulletin. Inquiries and memberahip fees should Le acldrc-;;scd to E. D. Shurter, Chairman, University, Austin, Texas. BIBLIOGRAPHY ON COMPULSORY EDUCATION GENERAL REFERENCES A star ( *) preceding ci reference indicates that the entire article or a part of it has been reprinted in this bulletin. Bryce, James. English Experience in Education, in Proceed­ings of Eleventh Gonferen.ce for Education in the South (1908). Executive Committee, vVickliffe Rose, Ohr., Washington, D. C. pp. 91-105. Compulsory education, pp. 93-4. Brief pointed statement of English conditions and of need of compulsory edu­ cation. Connecticut Board of Education. Enforcement of Laws Re­lating to Attendance and Child Labor (for 1907-8-9), in Report Connecticut Board of Education, 1909, pp. 110-87. *Cook, W. A. Brief Survey of the Development of Compul­sory Education in the United States. Elementary School Teacher, Yol. 12, pp. 331-5, March, 1912. A general but comprehen;;ive treatment, some negative material being deducible. Cotton, F. A. Co1npulsory Education in Indiana, in Proceed­ings National Conference of Charities and Correction, 190-4, pp. 274-80. Dexter, E. G. History of Education in the United States. :Macmillan Co., N. Y., 1904. $2.00. CompulS'ory School At­ tendance in Virginia Colony, p. 8; in Massachusetts, p. 101; in yarious states (table from United States Commissioner of Edu­ cation report), pp. 623-7. *Draper, A. S. American Education. Houghton, Miffiin & Co. $2.00. Boston. 1909. Illiteracy and Compulsory Education, Chap. V, pp. 61-73. A goocl, up-to-date discusaion, giving com­ parisons with Europe and requirements necessary for a good law. Also, The Li11iits of State Control in Education, in Educational Review, Vol. 1, pp. 26-32. Evans, C. E. Ed·ucational Map of T exas; and Statistical Tables Showing Educational Conditions in T exas and Other States. Conference for Education in Texas, Austin. «·Quot<>d from in this Bulletin, Gulick, L. H. Why 2iJO,OOO Children Quit School. World',; \York, Vol. 20, pp. 13,285-9, August, 1910. Lane, J. J. Histoty of Educati'.on in Texas, in r. S. Bureau of Ellucation Heport for 1903, Vol. 2, pp. 1-334. }[onroe, Panl. A Te:rf-uoo/.; in th P History of Rducation, Mac­millan Co., :K. Y., 1905. $Ul0. Pp. -±12-13, -±:H-35, 732, 73!, 738. Brief historical references heginning with faither and the first law in Germany in 1619. *National Ed11cation Association, Proceedings of: Recent Leg­islation Upon Compitli;ory Education in Illinois and Wisconsin, 1891, pp. 393-403; Compulsory Education in llfassac/1usetts, 1891, pp. ±03-22; Value of Truant Schools (Compnlsory Attendance Legislation Rendered Effective), 1901, pp. 820-25; Compulsory Education and Child Labor, 1905, pp. 111-18. *Sew York State Department of Education. 'rhe annual rc­porta of the Xew York Superintendent of Public Instruction "fur­nish a good opportunity for studying the history of the movement for compulsory education in a typical state where it has been car­ried to the point of successful and efficient operation." 'rhe annual rcpo1t of the X ow York Education Department (Albany, N. Y.), for 1906, pp. 527-28, contains a good discussion of illit­eracy, with statistics; the 1913 annual report, pp. 291-300, con­tains a review of the progress of compulsory school attendance and chilQuoted from in this Bulletin. -8­ AFFIRMATIVE REFERENCES Blewett, Ben. Compulsory Education, in Education, Vol. 4, pp. 25-34 (September, 1883). The Palmer Co., Boston. Justifies compulsion as consistent with democratic government, and shows how it has succeeded in England, giving statistics. Parker, L. W. Compulsory Education, the Solution of the Child Labor Problem, in Annals of the American Academy, Vol. 27, pp. 322-30, March, 1906. Hand, W. H. Some Arguments for Compulsory Education, in Proceedings Eighth Conference for Education in the South, 1905, pp. 77-83. Washington, D. C. A live discussion of the need, practicability, justice and democratic character of compulwry edu­cation, with statistics and contemporary conditions. Mark, E. H. Compulsory School Attendance, in Proceedings Eighteenth Session Southern Educational Association, 1907, pp. 97-108. Secretary, Chattanooga, Tenn. (Same article also in Southern Ed. Rev., Vol. 5, pp. 119-30, June-July, 1908. A strong presentation with brief history and contemporary status in various states, and arguments in favor. Martin, G. H. Compulsory Education and Child Labor-The School Aspect, in Proceedings of National Educational Association, 1905, pp. 103-11. (Out of print.) A strong plea for compulsory education. Mengel, llfrs. H . W. Compulsory Attendance in the South, in Proceedings of National Educational Association, 1908, pp. 1229­ 31. Secretary, National Educational Association, Winona, Minn. $2.00. *J\IIilton, G. F. Compulsory Education in the South, in Annals of American Academy of Political and Social Science, Phila­delphia, Vol. 32, Supplement, pp. 57-66 (July, 1908). An excel­lent discussion, with statistics. *Milton, G. F., Hand, W. H ., and Craighead, Irwin. Comzntl­sory Education and the Southern States. Sewanee Review, Se­wanee, Tenn. Vol. 16, pp. 25-42, 298-306, 306-308. (January and July, 1908). Two numbers, 50 cents each. Three strong articles in support of compulsory eages 57-58 of this report contain the following on compulsory education :­ "Compulsory school attendance laws have been enacted in prac­tically every one of the leading nations of the world. So extensive and so long has the practice been in vogue that the experimental stage of compulsory attendance might be considered as past. The first law on the subject in the United States was enacted in 1642. Since that time the practice has spread to all parts of the country. According to the report of the United Statea Commissioner of Education for 1911, all of the states except Florida, LouisianaT Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas have compulsory school attendance laws. "In Texas, by the Constitution and the statutes, citizens are required to pay taxes for the education of the children, and it is thought that it would be equally sound stat.esmanahip to require by law that children be permitted to enjoy the educational facili­ties thus provided. 'fhe development in recent years indicates not only a growing sentiment in favor of such a law, but a sentiment favoring the extension of the compulsory attendance school age and the lengthening of the school term required for each year. 'fhe progress of child labor legislation in recent years made in the different states has tended to emphaaize and to reinforce compul­8ory school attendance. In no state has a compulsory school attendance law, after having been enacted and put into operation, been repealed. The need of some effective law for bringing about better and more regular attendance upon the public schools in Texas is recognized by every one. 'fhe question of greatest con­cern on this subject in Texas is, what kind of law is best suited to the conditions and the needs in 'l'exas at this time? 'The length of the school age and the number of months in the year which the children should be required to attend school are matters of impor­tant concern. 'l'wenty-six states of the American Union require attendance for the full term of school of the district. New Mexico requires only three months of compulaory attendance each year, Oklahoma three to six months in the year, and North Carolina four months. The length of the compulsory school attendance age varies from the requirement of eight to twelve years in Maryland to that of seven to sevent.een years in New Jersey. It is thought that a wise law for Texas should require the attendance of children from eight to sixteen years of age for a term of six months. "Perhapa the best agents for the enforcement of the school attendance laws are the school authorities themselves. The super­intendent, the principal, or the head teacher of each school might be required to notify the parent or the guardian of the absent child with a view of determining the cause of absence. If, after proper attention by the superintendent, the principal, or the head teacher of the school, the child continues to be absent, the matter should be reported to the civil authorities. "The whole subjects demands very careful study before any drastic law in thia state should be enacted, but it is believed by many of our most intelligent and patriotic citizens that Texas is at present ready for the enactment of a wise law on this subject, reinforced by conservative and practical safeguards. It is, there­fore, recommended that the Thirty-third Legislature give this sub­ject careful consideration and that it enact a suitable law on com­pulsory school attendance for this state." ILLITERACY IN THE SOUTH From an editorial in the Dallas News, March I, 1912. The following impressive statement giving the statistics of illit­eracy in several of the states was made in a communication to the Chattanooga Tradesman by Mr. P. P. Claxton, United States Com­mis..S than socialistic. Let us, therefore, not balk at a further provision by the state which happens to be necessary to make it effective. Let us make our socialistic scheme complete, and consistent, or confess that it ia altogether wrong and abandon it. l£ the restriction of child labor is obviously desired, if compul­ sory education is desirable, and if at the same time large families are also desirable, the state must make up to the :family-at least some part of the income that children could earn if they were permitted to enter freely upon industrial employments. The question, therefore, that we have to face and to anawer is this: Shall the state pay parents for keeping their children in school between the ages of ten and fourteen? This would be a policy of socialism, undoubtedly. I do not pretend to say whether the American people will or will not adopt it. I only say as a matter of social causation, they will be compelled to adopt it, if they attempt to maintain both large families and compulsory edu­cation, whhe prohibiting child labor in department stores and fac­tories. It is not my intention to advocate the measure, or to argue against it. My purpose is served in calling attention to the logic of facts. THE COTTON TAX AND SOUTHERN EDUCATION BY DAVID Y. THOMAS Extract from an article which appeared in The North American Re­view, November, 1909, pp. 691-2. NoTE.-The following extract is interesting and instructive to the student of compulsory education in that it presents so many statistics with reference to the status of education in the South, the difficulties that she has faced since the Civil War, and the differences to be considered in comparing the North and the South. As illustrating the injurious effects of the Civil War and of the years immediately following, the census shows that among the white males of the South the proportion of illiteracy was much higher in 1900 in the age group forty-five to fifty-four than in the older and next younger groups. The children who ought to have been in t>chool during the period of the cotton tax were deprived of that privilege by the war and the years of grinding poverty which followed in its wake. Many of them are still living and have children and grandchildren whom they would be glad to see given better educational facilities than are now at their command. What more befitting act of justice could be thought of than to direct that the tax collected from the cotton growers of the sixties shall go to the rural school fund of those States in which col­lected? Both whites and blacks paid the tax and would now share its benefits. The subject of agricultural education is now attract­ing considerable attention in the South and several states are experimenting along that line. It may be found advisable to use thia fund for the advancement of agricultural training in the schools, but that is a matter of detail which can be worked out when the tax has been returned. Almost without exception the funds would go where most need.:id. In 1904, Georgia, which would get $11,897,094, had 277,865 chil­dren between ten and fourteen years of age, of whom 63,329 were illit.:irate, or 227.9 in every 1000. For the accommodation of her 789,939 children between five and eighteen years of ag~ she had 7082 schoolhcmses, or one to every 111 children and to every 8.4 square miles of t.:irritory. To keep these schools open 118 days, 10,342 teachers were employed, or one to every 78 children, and were paid an average monthly salary of $27.81. In the other Southern states the salaries ranged from $25.96 for males and $23.20 for females in South Carolina to $55.24 and $43.27 in Texas. The per capita wealth of Georgia was $488 ; the smallest in any of the states under consideration was $403 in Mississippi; the largest, $481, in Texas. The school rev.:inue of Georgia for each child was $2.74, or $1.83 for each $1000 of wealth. The low­est was $1.92, in Alabama, or $1.29 for each $1000 of wealth; the highest, $5.37, in Texas, or $2.13 for each $1000 of wealth. In the distribution of the cotton tax Alabama would be entitled to $10,338,072; Texas to $5,505,401. It will be interesting to compare conditions in the South with the same in some of the Northern states. In 1904 Massachusetts had 229,330 children between t.:in and fourteen, of whom only 1547 were illiterate, or only 6.7 in every 1000. In Ohio the show­ing wail still better, 4.9 in every 1000, though it was not quite so good in New York and Illinois. For her 673,690 chilf].ren of school age Massachus.:itts had 4289 schoolhouses, or one for every 1511' children and to every 1.9 square miles of territory. To keep these schoole open 185 days she employed 14,741 teachers, or one to every forty-eight children, and paid them each month, males, $145.48; females, $55.37. As a source on which to draw for the i!upport of the schools, she had a per capita wealth of $1672, and from this she derived a revenue of $24.20 for each child of school age, or $3.20 for each $1000 of wealth. New York does even better on both items. It may be urged that the South is not doing as much in propor­tion to her wealth as the North, and there appears to be some ground for this contention. It has just been shown that, while Alabama raises only $1.29 for each $1000 of wealth, Massachusetts raises $3.20. But, while by this rate Alabama secures only $1.92 for each child, Massachusetts, by a rate not quite three times as -39­ great, secures $24.40 for each child, a sum of twelve times as larg;i as that realized in Alabama (or more than four times as large as that realized in Texas) . The B outhern man has more children to provide .for and less wealth with which to do it. In Alabama and Georgia for every 100 population there are 33.4 school children, but in Massachusetts only 22.2. WHAT MANNER OF LAW IS BEST FI'l'TED TO TEXAS CONDITIONS AND NEEDS? BY T. H. SHELBY, CHIEF CLERK IN STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Extracts from an address delivered before the Texas State Teachers' Association, at Fort Worth, November, 1912. In the first place, I believe that we do not want a blanket law, covering the entire state, and saying that every child between a certain age and a c;irtain other age, must attend school for a cer­tain number of months, regardless of local conditions, and regard­less of any of those things that might interfere with hi;; attend­ance, and that should perhaps interfere-some conditions over which we could hav;i no control. There are in 'Texas today six thousand one-teacher schools. We have heard a great deal during this session, and in the discussion;; that have been made all over the state, about the conditions that exist in our on;i-teacher schools. The schools are overcrowded. The teachers attempt to do all of the classel} from the a, b, c, up to and including the high school work, and under the present conditions, without any compulsory att;indance, these teachers are utterly unable to accomplish efficient work and to do work that is satisfactory to themselves or to those who are in position to know what good school work is. If we have compulsory education, we will crowd into these schools other children, and we will compel the teacher to attempt to do that which it is utterly impossible for any human being to do. In 120 countie;; of the state, schools are in session less than six months during each scholastic year. If we increase the attendance in these schools, we increase the cost of maintaining the schools, which we will do, how in the world could our schools continue for a sufficient length of time to give satisfactory service and to do satisfactory teaching? There are, furthermore, inadequate whool accommodations in this state for 250,000 children. If -40­ a compulsory education law were enacted today, and all of our children were compelled to enter school tomorrow, 250,000 of them could not find the seats at which to do their work. We are inadequately supplied with equipment. We are inadequately supplied with globes, and maps, and charts, and blackboards, and those things that are necessary to first-class school work, under present conditions, to eay nothing of compulsory education. Then, too, the negro problem is with us. It is far from me to say that it is not the duty of the people of Texas to educate the negro. On the other hand, I believe that we are responsible, and that we will be held accountable for anything that may result from a lack of proper education on the part of the negro, but this objection is valid : That in many communities of Texas the negroes have not been taking all the school facilities that have been provided, and in many instances inadequate facilities have been provided. Should we enact a law that would compel the attendance of the negro on the schools of the state, there are some communities that would be absolutely overwhelmed and unable to take care of the children who would attend the schools. These conditions would tend to demoralize, and would result in the repeal of such a law, in my judgment, and would make it a good ways off before we could have a satisfactory compulsory education law. It has been suggested by many of those who have been thinking a.bout the subject, that we should have a compulsory education law with local option features. There are some objections to this kind of law over the other law about which I have spoken. It perhaps might put off somewhat longer the enactment of a general law throughout the state. I am not sure but that the local option law is sufficient, however. The benefits that would accrue from this would be that in those communities and in those counties in which it is practicable under present conditions, with our school accom­ modations and our schQol facilities, to take care in a satisfactory manner of alf the children of the district or of the county-I say it would be practicable for those districts and those counties, by a local vote, to enact a compulsory attendance regulation or law. In other words, this law would operate something like our local option in the prohibition matters. It might be that only one school district in the county would feel that it could afford at the present time to havd a compulsory attendance law. The qualified voters of that district vote on the proposition and enact a law, and the children of that district are compelled to attend. The benefits that would accrue from that would extend out in other districts, and other districts might vote on the matter. In the meantime, they could be preparing themselves to take care of the increased attendance upon the schools, and then finally it might extend over the entire county. There may be counties in the state at the present time that are situated in such a way as to population and so on that they could take care of the children and vote the com­pulsory attendance at the present time. It would !:>a a law that would meet local conditions and would not become operative except by a vote of the people. The next question that should be considered in the enac~ent of such a law is the extent of the compulsion-the len$th of period in years, or the ages between which all of the children would be required to attend school. In twenty-six of the forty-nine states of the Union the law requires that the children shall attend for the full term of the school. In a few of those states they follow that requirement with a certain minimum of school term. In only three states which have compulsory school attendance is the require­ment less than five months-in New Mexico three months, in Oklahoma three months, in North Carolina four months. The smallest number of years during which the child is required to attend school is to be found in Maryland, where the requirement is between the ages of eight to twelve-only four years. The long­est number of years in any state is New Jersey, where the child must attend school from the age of seven to seventeen, or an attend­ance of ten ~ars. In every state which has enacted a compulsory attendance law there are certain persons exempted. The tendency seems to be in recent legislation, after the compulsory education law has been enacted and amendments are found neceasary, to compel more and more of these persons who were originally exempted to attend school. In the cases of those who on account of poverty cannot attend, in some instances the new laws provide that the board of school trustees shall furnish those children with books, and in some instances with clothes, and then compel them to attend. In some instances the poverty cases are turned over to the charity organi­ zations. -42­ Certainly a law enacted in Texas at the present time would have a number of exemptions. I shall not attempt to go into details along that line. Then, to sum up, I would be opposed to a blanket law in 'fexas at the present time. I believe that we can, and that we will shortly, enact a law with local option features. The extent of compulsion can be worked out, but certainly should not be as short as in some of the states, and should not be as long as in New Jersey. The length of time during the year during which the child must attend, in my judgment, should not be less than five months, and probably not more than six months, and the method of enforcement in my judgment would be the one outlined, with ref~ence to the school authorities notifying the parents, and the law requiring that the parents must send the children, or that the civil authorities can proceed against them for a failure to do so. THE COUNTRY BOY AND COMPULSORY EDUCATION llY A. W. ORR, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS IN SMITH COUNTY Extracts from an address before the Texas State Teachers' Associa­tion, November, 1912. When I began to think about it a little, I was thoroughly con­-vinced that we ought to have a compulsory education law, and have it at once, but the longer I studied over the matter the less vehement I became, and I could not help thinking of a little sug­gestion made by our former Southern philosopher, Bill Arp, who said that in some important things in life it was wisei to make haste slowly. On general principles we want to do well and wisely whatever we undertake. Conaervatism in school legislation should be our aim. The people, at least their leaders, should understand the purpose and the necessity of all new departures. The rough sailing of our county high school law in some localities is charge­able directly to ignorance of its purpose and prejudice against any­thing smacking of the "new fangled." For Texas to become what God intended, she must educate even her ragmuffins and street waifs, but that's just exactly what she's now doing better and better every year without useless friction or additional police expense. And soon when we get to hauling them in bunches to school if a boy were chained at home he'd slip the collar. The average Texas boy is a peculiar genius anyway. Mentally he is a hybrid-a cross between a kicking mule and a climbing goat. He is a born kicker. He instinctively kicks against all social customs, against every admonition to be good, and against every effort of his mother and sisters to keep him nice and clean. He is also a born climber. If possible, he's worse than a billie goat to climb fences, to climb onto moving wagons, to climb up­into trees, to climb onto house tops, to climb anywhere and every­where that has an element of risk and danger about it-and espe­cially is this his delight if his mother and sisters are begging him to come down. He is never more happy than when teasing and worrying his smaller brothers and sisters, unless it is when he can get up a chicken, dog or small boy fight. Then he's in all his glory compared to which Solomon's little picture show of his 300' mothers-in-law doesn't amount to a hill of beans. Now to crush out such a halo of glory just at this spring-tide of his life and force the bright-eyed, happy-hearted boy into the prison walls of a dull, monotonous school room often presided over by a stale, crusty, first grade or permanent grade mummy, would be sheer sacrilege. The freckled-faced, big-footed, timid, awkward country Texas boy is the salt of the earth, and doesn't have to be forced to attend school where there is a sure-enough teacher. Rather give us a process yet undiscovered, of injecting perso:dhlity into our teachers. There was a time, you know, in the early history of this country when everybody was forced to attend church, which lasted only about three hours, or less than half a school day ; but, did this pro­mote the cause of genuine religion? In that same part of the country compulsory school attendance seems to have thrived, but wherever it has been planted in Dixie it withers, dwindles, and dies. Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Arkansas and Oklahoma have tried it, and in all except North Carolina it has been a mere farce. There it is a matter of local option . .And the brother in black. What could compulsory attendance do for him? With us over in East Texas his name is ''legion,''" but he belongs ''hide and hoof" to the credit merchant; and the credit merchant is going to make him get out that cotton before -44­ he'll let him fool with school. He's right, too. You and I in his place would do the same thing. December, January and February is as long as the average negro is able to send to school. During these months our negro schools are running over--a regular Jim Crow menagerie. And what does it all amount to? Does it make him a better citizen? Does it give him a higher regard for his moral or financial obligation.;;? Does it make him less likely to take and to scatter contagious diseases? If it does, then I'm willing to take compulsory attend­ance in broken doses, each county deciding for itself how much she wants. Considering the facts, that now whosoever will may educate, that -compulsory attendance would entail heavy additional expense, and that all experiments with it south of the Mason and Dixon's line have been failures, wouldn't it be well for us to "go slow" and profit by tha experience of our sister states? COMPULSORY EDUCATION AND TEXAS CITIES 13Y P. W. HORN, SUPERINTENDENT OF THE HOUSTON SCHOOLS A paper read before the Texas State Teachers' Association Meting, 1912. When the President of the State Teachers' Association asked me to say a few words on this subject he stated that if my remarks were to include one or two jokes there would be no great amount of harm done. I have tried in vain to think of an appropriate joke, but I cannot find one that would compare in seriousness with the joke that will be played upon several of the cities of Texas when a compulsory education law is pa.ssed and really goes into effect. Let it be thoroughly understood that there can be no possible doubt that compulsory education is needed all over Texas. It is needed worse in the cities of Texas than in the small towns or in the country. It is in the cities that the handling of the juvenile delinquents becomes a serious problem. The boys who are bring­ ing gray hairs to the heads of the city judges and the police officials are for the most part boys who are not in school at all; but who ought to be. A well enforced compulsory education law would not wholly solve all our questions concerning juvenile offenders, but it would go far toward solving them. The people 0£ the cities are beginning to turn to compulsory education as one 0£ the means for breaking up the street gangs of youngsters who are either crim­inals, or on the road to becoming criminals. Let it be understood that there can be no possible doubt that compulsory education is needed in the cities of Texas. Then where does the joke come in? It comes in the fact that compulsory education will cost the cities more than most of them or probably any of them have figured out. Let us take the city of Houston as an illustration. Last year there were enrolled in the city schools of Houston more children than ever before. The total number was 13,403. This sounds like a large number until you learn that on the census roll at the very same time there were 19,112 children. '!'his means that more than five thousand out of the entire number did not enter the city schools at all. It is probable that about twelve hundred children were enrolled in the Catholic schools, and other private schools of the city. This would still leave about four thousand children of school age who did not attend any school at all. Many o:f these were white, and many were colored. Many were Mexicans, ht;tt some were native born American children. Under any compulsory education law that might be passed, and reasonably well enforced, there would be at least half of these children forced into school. In other words, if there had been a well enforced compulsory edu­cation law affecting the city of Houston last year, there would have been at least 2000 children in school who were not in school. Now suppose these children had come. What would have been done with them? There was last year not one single room in the city schools 0£ Houston that was not used for school purposes. Many 0£ the rooms were crowded. Many rooms had been rented outside 0£ the regular school buildings. If these two thousand children had applied it would have meant that four large school buildings would be required to take care of them. Now, it may be stated, and stated truly, that a city like Houston ought to build these buildings which are needed to take care of \ts children. This is true, but it should not be forgotten that Houston is already building new schoolhouses every year. It takes hard work in a growing city to keep up with the natural increase of school children. If compulsory education were to go into effect -46­ it would be necessary for Houston the first year to erect four more schoolhouses than she would otherwise erect, and to provide teachers accordingly. This would mean at the very lowest an increase of 20 per cent for maintenance of schools provided there were no decrease in salaries or in terros. What is true of Houston is true to a greater or less extent of almost every other city in the state. If the people are in favor of compulsory education, they ought by all means to have it, but they must be prepared to pay what it will cost. Still another mild joke would be perpetrated by compulsory edu­cation, this time upon the teachers of the state. Compulsory edu­cation would mean a considerable :readjustment of our ideas o:f discipline. A teacher from Indiana who came to the Houston schools some while back remarked to me that her first impression of strangeness was in the wonderful difference in the problem of discipline here. She missed those hard cases which she had been accustomed to see in her former school work, and was at first inclined to think that Texas children were much more tractable than those of Indiana. She afterwards found, however, that the difference was accounted for by the fact that in Indiana she had in school practically all those children within compulsory school age, while in Texas the very worst ones among them, and those most needing school help, were not in school at all, but were on the streets. Compulsory education in Texas cities will demand greater pow­ers of control, better ideas of discipline, and stronger sympathie11 on the part of our teachers. It will also demand special facilities for handling the small residium of pupils whom we designate as incorrigibles. It will demand truant schools, parental schoola, or rooms for incorrigibles, by whatever name these schools may be dasignated. It will demand truant officers to help in the enforce­ment of the law. It will demand free text-books, so that attend­ance may become possible, if it is to be compulsory. Let us not enter lightly upon this campaign for compulsory education. It is something we ought to have, it will be worth all it costs. Tha only question involved is as to whether we wish to maintain a complete educational system or only a partial one. There can be argument framed for public education which will not carry with it as its legitimate conclusion the education of all the children. If there is any special class that needs to be edu­cated, it is the class that most need,;; education. A great part of this class is not at present in our Texas schools at all. The atti­tude of the school in the matter should not be that of force, but should be rather that of the one who came not to call the right­eous, but sinners to repentance. Let those of us who believe in education stand up bravely for the education of all the people; but let us count the cost before we enter into the campaign. It will cost the cities of Texas moN in equipment and in maintenance than most of us are aware; .and it will cost the teachers more in powers of discipline than they may have thought. Nevertheless, it will be an earnest effort to do a great work for a class that greatly needs it, and Texas citiei! should stand firmly for it with the resolute faith that it will be werth all it costs. Following are extracts from discussions of the foregoing ad­dress:­ By SUPERINTENDENT L. C. GEE, of Greenville: In regard to the cost, and as to whether or not we are ready for it, I want to Hl}' that if I had waited until I had become ready financially to get married, I never would have married at all, so long a.;; I was a school teacher. In regard to the cost, did you see these beautiful pictures last night thrown on the screen, in regard to the schools -0f Illinois? What did the gentleman state, with reference to these rural high schools, and how they had improved their school.;;, with regard to the cost of it? If I remember correctly, he said that 98 per cent of that cost came -0ut of local taxation, and only 2 per cent came from the state of Illinois, and in that very way the people of Texas can meet the requirements of compulsory education. As to another point, I believe that Mr. Horn is absolutely cor­rect when he says this law is needed more in the cities of our state than in the country, and I will tell you why. In the country the child who is not in school is at work. In the cities the child who is not in school is usually not at work, but is out upon the streets. If a child is at work on the farm, there is some educa­tion in that, and a great deal, but if a child is not in school, and is spending his hme upon the streets of the city, there is not only no education in it, but there is infinite harm, that will probably cost ihe city more to take care of him as a criminal a little later than it -48­ would to put in force a compulsory education law and put him in school. Of course, the law should have restrictions. No one would be in favor of enacting a law that would not have restrictions, and the law should be worked out by the people who have had experience along this line, and, of course, it would have to come, if at all, from the teachers of the state. I believe it could be safeguarded to the extent that we could not only meet the cost, but that it would: be rid of a great many of the objectionable features that have been mentioned here this morning. Another thing is the extra burden upon the teacher on account of discipline. Well, I will tell you : If it were not for the burden already upon the teacher, what would the state of Texas, what would our country do? The more people you bring under the influence of tlte teachers of Texas, the better Texas is going to be, and if you can get these children that are on the streets into the schools, and under the guidance of an efficient, conscientious teacher, it will more than repay £or the trouble that it gives the teacher. By SUPERINTENDENT S. M. N. MARRS, of Terrell: We have in Terrell, upon our statutes, a compulsory attendance law, and along with the compulsory attendance law we also have a law providing for the Board of Education to furnish free text-books, if they see pro:per fo do so. The Terrell city ordinance requires the attend­ ance of children between the ages of seven and fourteen upon the public schools of that city. The attendance must be for twenty consecutive weeks. Three days' absence in one week would con­ stitute an offense. In other words, the child must attend three days in one week to have that week's attendance counted. The city health officer must give a certificate of the exemption, if there is an excuse offered. It is the duty of the police force to take cog­ nizance of any boy or girl on the streets during school hours, and they may require a satisfactory excuse therefor. I wish to say, in connection with that statute and the ordinanc~ putting it into effect, that twenty weeks were selected largely on account 0f the brother in black that has been mentioned. We are in one of the greatest cotton producing sections of the state. In a nine months' session we can begin to enforce our compulsory attendance law about the first of J aimary, and from the first of January until the first of June we can have our twenty weeks•. By arranging it in that way, there is no attempt in the fall of the year to enforce compulsory attendance in our city, so far a& the negroes are concerned. It has a persuasive influence upon the careless, negligent white families, and there are a few of them. We believe that Terrell does not need compulsory attendance any more than any other city in Texas. I agree fully with the state­ments of the gentleman who preceded me, that the cities Gf Texa& needed it more than the country schools of Texas, because the child is getting lessons in vice upon the streets, while the child in the country may be ignorant, but not vicious. What has been the E>lfect? As I said, it has had a persuasive influence upon a great many of our citizens. They have sent their children to school better. They have made inquiry: "Are you going to enforce this?" The school board as a unit says that it will. There is not a member of our board but is enthusiastically in favor of com­pulsory attendance. They have filed two complaints against citi­zens of Terrell for not complying with the attendanca laws. So far it is a matter of experiment. This year we will have some crucial tests, in January and February, and I am glad that we are able to make this experiment before the Legislature will pass a law that will compel the attendance all over the state. A SUBSTI'I'UTE FOR COMPULSORY EDUCATION H. E. MONROE Extract from an article in Education for February, 1894. rrhere miver has been a time in the history of our country when so many working men's families felt the pinchings of suffering and want, and there never was a better time than the present for teach­ing the children of the well-to-do families to be public spirited and patriotic. In Germany when the roll is called in the mQrning, a policeman stands by and if a child fails to answer to his name, the police officer immediately proceeds to the home of the father and, if pos­ sible, captures the child and brings him into school. We have not yet the wealth to follow this precedent even if we so desired. but we have police officers more efficient than legal officers in the children of our schools. Many towns and villages in Pennsylvania and New Jersey have adopted the following plan. They create a public spirit in the school which makes each child feel that he is in a degree respon­-sible for the citizenship of the State and makes him desire to help his country; in order to do that the pupil feels it is necessary that -every child should be in school. The teachers have taken it into their hearts to Americanize the children of every foreigner, and to elevate the children of the de­.graded, and to teach civics to the children of the average family. The purpose for which the state supports the public schools is -for the making of good citizens. The teachers have decided to put less stress on the names, by which we mean the studies, and to "keep more distinctly in view the end, the noble citizen. A certain town in New Jersey has a good superintendent at the head of about fifty teachers in the public schools. At the begin­ning of the last school year a number of articles were written on the subject of patriofam for the county papers with particular rr,ference to the schools of the county. 'l'he statement was repeated in many forms that the state pays for the public schools with the expectation that they will make good citizens. The same statement was reiterated in the school room until each pupil was fully imbued with the dignity of the idea that he was to be a helper in fitting himself for intelligent .citizenship and also that he was to help look after all other chil­dren who ought to be in school. To carry out this idea the fol­lowing principles were kept in view. Principle I. Form the public opinion of the school. Principle II. The state is not able to provide a school police, such as is found in Germany, but we have in our midst the best police in th€· world in our own children, if they are properly organ­ ized. Make them feel that they are their brothers' keeper!! and thus develop a public spirit. Principle III. Have the parents co-operate through their chil­·~iren at school. 'l'ell the parents through the pupils the conditions .and ask the children to bring money or a pound of some household .necessity. Principle JV. Secure the co-operation of organized charities, if they exist, then adopt personal visitations to families.