them naked and poor. He says that the country in which they live is one of endless natural wealth. In the midst of all this wealth the Africans are in the depths of poverty, simply because they are ignorant.

This country with all its immense resources was once in the complete possession of the Indians. The Indians did not get rich. They were not even comfortable. They starved and froze to death, simply because they did not know anything. We took their inheritance and with what little we know, see what we have done.

That increase of knowledge brings increase of wealth must be clear to every one. If, instead of our present population we had a land full of Russian Moujiks, or of natives of Spain or Arkansas, we should not be troubled with a surplus.

It is not what is in the earth, nor in the material things that are on the earth, that the wealth of a nation lies. It is in the training of the brains of the people; it is in the intelligence of the people that the wealth of a nation lies. The training of the hands and brains of the people is so much added to the producing plant of the nation. The brains of the people are the motive power of all the motive powers.

To support one poor boy or girl at school, and give him or her a good education and a fair start in life, has always been looked upon and is now looked upon as a noble deed. If it is a good thing to do for one child why not for all?

The very best thing to do in the way of charity is to do the thing which will help to do away with the necessity for charity. Raising the intelligence and skill of the people would develop endless new employments, and thereby the necessity for charity would diminish.

With the law changed as I propose, the waifs would all disappear from the streets and be found at school. No truant officers would be needed. The complusory education law would be a needless, antiquated, dead letter. The poorer the man the more certain would he be to educate his children. The orphans and the fatherless would be educated. The children of drunkards would be educated. Thus started in life, the intelligent and efficient young would take care of and provide for the old and infirm belonging to them. Of the misery of the world whose origin is in want, one-half would disappear.

If there were more justice there would be less need of charity. The most important thing to be done about charity is to do away with the necessity for it.

OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM.

BY GEO. HOWLAND,

SUPERINTENDENT CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

Had the Sunset Club desired any curt criticism, or severe strictures upon our Public Schools, it surely would not have called upon me, for as my venerated grandmother used to say: "It is a vile bird that fouls its own nest ?" The pleasant pursuit of fault-finding would have been left to some other agreeable gentleman, who might find in our Public School organization a ready-made agency, for foisting upon the public some favorite fad of their own, full-fledged from its birth.

I have been in grave doubt whether the club desired an opinion upon the merits, or demerits of the schools of to-day, or the information and facts upon which an intelligent opinion might be based.

The Public School, as a department of the City Government, has attained proportions, which may well command the careful consideration of every thoughtful citizen.

The teachers' pay roll for November in the old city was $145,577, in the recently annexed territory $53,316—total, $198,462. There are now, including the annexed districts, 174 square miles; in the old city 1,820 teachers, and 91,000 pupils; in the annexed districts 720 teachers, and thirty odd thousand pupils; in the old city 91 schools, in the new territory 103.

The Public Schools of this city, as you all know, are under the immediate control of a Board of Education of fifteen members, five of whom are appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the council for a term of three years; the best method I think yet devised. In some cities, as in New York and Philadelphia, local committees are elected for the several wards.

This plan, of course, brings the schools into the realm of ward politics, where the saloon is a perpetual caucus by night and by day, and naturally overrides all other influences. The mayor, as an appointing power, feels his responsibility, and rarely fails to appoint a good working majority of reliable men, men of honor and integrity, and for the almost ten years of my occupancy of my present position, there has been no exception to this. The controlling majority of the Board of Education has

ever been composed of men of honor, honesty, integrity and untiring devotion to the welfare of the schools, and the true interests of the city. The thought, the labor, the time some of the members of the Board have given to the schools, their progress and welfare, have been simply phenomenal, and deserving of all praise.

The business of the Board, the buying of school-sites, the erection, furnishing and repairing of school buildings, is attended to, as it should be, by the several committees of the Board. The true work of the school, the instruction, training and education of the pupils, is done by the principals and teachers under the supervision of our superintendent and five assistant superintendents. At present the city is divided into five districts, one for each assistant superintendent, while the superintendent is at liberty to visit any and all the schools as occasion demands.

Every school and ever teacher at her work is visited, as a rule, once a month by the proper officer; her modes of instruction and discipline are carefully observed, suggestions made, faults corrected, and needful advice given; but each assistant superintendent is expected also to make at least one visit to every school in the city during the year, that the Board may have the benefit of their combined wisdom and judgment.

All assignments of teachers to positions in our schools are made by the superintendent from a list of those holding city certificates adopted by the Board, generally upon the recommendation of the superintendent.

No person can be assigned as a teacher, who has not passed a scholastic examination by the superintendent under the direction of the Board. The practical efficiency of the teacher must be determined by her work in the school-room.

But our teachers are not appointed blindly. All those, graduates of high schools and others, who have passed the examination, but have had no experience, are assigned as apprentices, or cadets as we call them; one or two to each school, where under the special supervision of the principal and the skilled teachers of the several rooms, they are given classes to teach, and in the absence of teachers, act as substitutes.

For the first two months of this service they receive no pay. After this, those who give good promise, receive 75 cents per day, and four months later, if not assigned, $1.25.

Teachers, when assigned, receive $40 per month, and are advanced about $75 per year till the sixth year.

In the lowest primary grades, in the crowded districts, we have double divisions, one class coming for the morning session, and one for the afternoon. From an educational standpoint a half-day is enough for the little six-year olds, and with two teachers in the room alternating in class and individual work, we may well have 8,000 or 10,000 half-day pupils with little or no detriment.

But all this, the number of schools, the number of teachers, the amount of their salaries, the cost of buildings, and the devotion of members of the Board, is of no account, unless the work of the schools is such as to warrant this outlay of time, thought and money.

What are we doing to-day in our schools for the education, training,

and advancement of our children to make them better and more useful citizens?

In the first, second and third grades we are teaching our pupils to read, to become familiar with words, those symbols of thoughts and ideas without which little progress is possible. There is something of numbers, of writing and drawing, something of sound, form and color; but the one important thing is to enable the child to read intelligently, that he may engage in his later work with success.

The fourth grade is a kind of a transition period. The pupils are still learning to read, as a proximate end, enlarging their vocabulary, acquiring a nicer discrimination in the use of words, and getting a better control of their powers, and at the same time using their powers in the investigation of subjects, for the expression of their views, and for the simple formulating of their conclusions upon any topic of scientific, literary, or historic interest. In the grammar grades they are to learn the application of their ever increasing knowledge to the business of life, that they may meet the ordinary requirements of the grocer, the plumber, the merchant, the bookman, and the carpenter or gasman, with a readiness and accuracy that shall command commendation.

Reading here is not so much an end as a means. The pupils should still make the selections from the best prose and poetic writers his careful study, should learn something of the principles of rhetoric, the rules of versification, and the laws of language and grammar. The United States, as a nation, the leading facts and features of its history, the relation of the individual States to the General Government, the nation; the eminent men and women who have helped to make its history, and the few important steps in its progress should be carefully taught, and accurately learned; and also the histories of England and France, as closely connected with our own, should be made plain. And especially should they acquire that love of good books, which is in itself a liberal education. In the high schools are presented the elements of the more important sciences in the true spirit and mode of investigation; some of the foreign languages, and what is more valuable still, is given an outlook into the various fields of learning, that shall aid them in determining the branch of industry, or study, to which they may afterward devote their energies with happiness and success.

We have also in all the grades from the first to the last, carefully graded exercises adapted to give nicety of perception, accuracy and delicacy of touch, and to give the mind ready and complete control of the eye and the hand, those two organs which make us of any practical use to the world.

There is a course in drawing from dictation, from models, from objects, construction, industrial and mechanical, optional for all who choose to take it. In geography, history and physiology, there is very much freehand graphic and illustrative work. In the earlier grades the pupil has mouldings, cutting of paper and wood, and some carving. Much has been said and written of late about the crowded condition of our schools, and the exclusion of pupils from a chance for an education. No pupils are excluded from school, but some can go but half a day, one session, but, as

I have said before, there may be ten thousand such with no harm from an educational standpoint, though in a domestic view many parents would prefer the Public School to a nursery. But few buildings have been erected during the last two years, and we are feeling the pressure somewhat. This year, however, fifteen or eighteen new buildings have, or will be completed, and plans are preparing for ten more next year, which is about as large a number as can be well or reasonably built in one year.

With an increase of 50,000 a year in our population, 10 per cent of whom are in the Public Schools, some eight large buildings are needed to meet the wants of our natural growth, aside from the rural regions that are fast fastening themselves to the skirts of their great mother.

There are a few districts that hardly contain land enough for threestory structures, sufficient to hold all the children. One have I in mind of two squares from which 900 pupils are in our schools. In connection with our high schools the board has established a so-called Manual Training School, with a three years' course. The pupils attend the high schools during the morning session, and go to the manual school from 1:30 to 4:30 o'clock. The course of study and work is well on a level with the school on Michigan avenue and Twelfth street, and with the St. Louis school; and much excellent work is done which would command the approval of any intelligent visitor. It is not behind the school of the Commercial Club, but it does not take a strong hold on the pupils of the high schools, with a three years' course, having an attendance of about sixty.

One of the greatest troubles with the children of our large cities is, that they have nothing to do out of school. The country boy has a thousand things about the house, the barn, the farm, to quicken his interest, develop his thought and broaden his nature, and accustom him to habits of industry and usefulness. He needs no manual training.

In the city the boy out of school roams the streets, frequents the alleys, and drops into the saloons- —or worse still, the candy store for cigarettes and whisky drops. Anything which can lessen this risk is all important, but the introduction of the carpenter's and the blacksmith's shops falls far short of the remedy. There are those who regard manual training as the panacea for all the ills of society-physical, mental and moral. But the men of best physical, manly development and proportions are not seen among the laborers along our streets, in the shops or the workyards; nor there do we meet the quickest, keenest thought, the brightest wit, or the truest purpose; and as for morals, no man familiar with the daily conduct and conversation of laborers and workmen will care to press that argument. No body of mechanics or workmen can be found to compare in one of these respects with the members of our high schools and colleges.

That all these schools-trade schools, industrial schools, art schools and schools of science-are needed, and will soon come from public expense or private endowment, I have no doubt; but this work does not come, in any large sense, within the provision of the Public School.

In my opinion our public schools are good, doing in most cases excellent work, and growing better and better, as I trust they will do for long years to come.