all our people along educational lines have developed in Utah a generation of men and women who place the harmonious development of the faculties above all else. It is their love for culture and refinement that finds expression in a material support of the educational system of the state that is nothing short of remarkable.

After the adjournment of the recent legislative session, consideration of the revenue and appropriation bills led to a calculation of the state's educational expenditures for the years 1913-14. It disclosed that of the entire estimated tax revenue to the state for these years 86 per cent would be devoted to education. The figures were so astounding that I have recently caused them to be rechecked, and discover that in tabulating educational expenditures to be made from the revenues of these two years, appropriations to cover interest and redemption funds for bonds issued and sold for the benefit of our educational institutions had been overlooked, and it now develops that of the total estimated state tax revenue for the years 1913-14, 88.1 per cent will be expended for education.

We are modestly hopeful that close personal investigation of the educational system of Utah-one of the youngest of the western states-may afford ideas in your work, or if not ideas, at least an inspiration that will lead to greater efficiency in conducting the great work in which you are engaged.

Having undertaken the long journey to Salt Lake City to participate in the deliberations of this convention you will, we sincerely trust, avail yourselves of the opportunities which are afforded for that physical and mental relaxation that is found only close to nature.

Salt Lake City is in the very heart of the scenic wonderland of the world. A few hours' ride from this city will reveal to you the handiwork of nature in all her strange and varying moods. The majestic mountains which surround this valley are but spurs of a mighty range that zigzags across the entire state. In this range are snow-capped peaks that pierce the very clouds; there are precipitous slopes and rugged steeps that put to shame many ranges made famous by systematic advertising. This valley, with its verdure and its picturesque setting, is but one of many such beauty spots, pocketed in these everlasting hills. The mountain streams rippling from the gorges of the surrounding hills are but the heritage of this one valley. There are hundreds of valleys in Utah, fed and succored by sparkling brooks, whose invitation is the appeal irresistible to him who loves the scent of the delicate mountain wild flower, the whispering of mountain foliage, the pungent odor of the pine, the glint of sun upon diamond-clear dew, the cool breath of spring waters, the song of the robin, the cooing of the dove, the flash of the trout. This lake, lying a few miles west of you, is one of the wonders of America. A dip in its briny waters is an experience that cannot be had in any other part of the world. Delightful, refreshing, healthful, invigorating, the Great Salt Lake is a wonderful

restorative, while the gorgeous splendor of sunset over its waters is incomparable.

Again I say you are welcome to Utah, and the hand of cordial goodfellowship is extended to you.

II. A. C. NELSON, STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH

For nearly two decades has Utah longed for this happy day; longed for the opportunity to welcome as her distinguished guests this great convention of the men and the women who contribute so surely, so richly, and so abundantly to our national safety and perpetuity. In behalf of teachers of this state, it is my pleasure to extend to you the hand of fellowship and to bid you a hearty and cordial welcome to this great intermountain empire.

I bid you welcome to the land of the Pioneers!

In 1847 they arrived in this valley, footsore and weary, after a forced march of more than one thousand miles, over dreary plains and thru canyons scarcely known to the white man. As they reached the summit of yonder mountain, their illustrious leader and colonizer, Brigham Young, of whom modern history records no equal, after gazing on the valley below, said: "This is the place, drive on." With keen insight and intuition, he saw the wonderful possibilities of this region of which it had been said: "I will give one thousand dollars for the first bushel of corn grown there."

Here gold was not picked up from river-beds, neither were flowers and fruits brought forth as if by magic. The parched soil, with savage red men everywhere threatening destruction, made the struggle for existence a stupendous task. But with marked intelligence, unparalleled fortitude, and industry, in time the desert was transformed into fruitful fields and comfortable homes, and into these homes and surroundings the people of Utah now bid the great National Education Association welcome.

Here you will meet an intelligent and big-hearted people, eager to receive your instructions and to contribute to your comfort and happiness. Here in this beautiful inland city you will find a cosmopolitanism unequaled in any other city of its size. Here more than fifty years ago activities began which laid the foundation of a social center for this intermountain country. Churches of various denominations were established, public schools became common, theaters were built, the drama was fostered, and wholesome amusements were provided for all citizens. From practically every civilized nation people came to make for themselves new homes in this valley. Today the teachers in the public schools of Salt Lake City come from more than one-half the states of the Union. Thus has cosmopolitanism been developed, the spirit of brotherhood strengthened, and a city built which is well prepared to appreciate the message of this great organization.

Here you will gather strength and inspiration from the majestic Wasatch, the wizard of the Rockies, whose peaks tower high toward heaven. Here in these verdant valleys, whose fertility now excels that of the valley of the Nile, you will be made to feel that barren and waste places everywhere can be made to blossom like the rose.

There in the Great Salt Lake, while floating with perfect ease, in the glee of enjoyment, you will have all your sins washed away and become fit subjects to dwell in Zion-if you repent. You will receive that tone and vigor which, thruout life, will distinguish each of you as one of America's wise and fortunate educators who attended the National Education Association convention, held at Salt Lake City, Utah, in the year of our Lord, 1913. In your deliberations of the week, you will not be unmindful of the fact that the present is a day of unusual unrest; time-honored customs and traditions are being disregarded; long-established institutions are challenged and old organizations are threatened. This spirit of unrest is not confined to social, religious, and political activities alone, but it also invades our educational institutions. The educational systems of the past have undergone marked changes and the ideals of the present are being questioned seriously. Critics are everywhere; some condemn the present and longingly wish for a return of the best of the past; others fail to find virtue in the past records of mankind and proceed to the advocacy of utopian theoriespanaceas for all defects or evils.

Today, as rarely ever before, are needed poise, sanity, and discrimination to withstand some of the alluring influences of ultra-radicalism, and yet possess the power and insight necessary to discern the fact that while this is an age of agitation it is also an age of progression, rich in its contribution to the happiness and welfare of mankind. This progress comes in spite of radicalism, nor is it deterred by conservatism.

In education, growth has been steady and upward during the last decade, and while the public schools of our country have been subjected to criticism of all degrees of unkindness and violence, their efficiency has steadily increased. Criticism, to be helpful, must be intelligent, frank, and founded on facts. Many who have been most ardent in their denunciations of the work of the schools unfortunately have been ill-informed and sometimes wholly ignorant in regard to the true conditions. Constructive criticism is always wholesome and should be welcomed. In the educational field we shall always have some faddists who would, however honest their motives may be, if they had the power, divert our schools from their legitimate and intended purpose. They are rich in innovations. They long for changes and revolutions; yet their work has not been without avail, but must be guarded with caution.

However harmful or helpful educational speculation may be, this important convention, which is or should be our national educational clearing-house will not lose sight of the fact that there is a well-defined.

field of operation for our schools. However they may develop or increase their scope of endeavor, there is one position from which they can never depart without seriously impairing the very structure of our commonwealth and without disappointing the fond anticipations of the founders of our American institutions. Our elementary schools must give the child a knowledge of what may be called the "tools" of education. He should be trained to use these tools intelligently. In a democracy these are a part of his birthright and no system of education must deprive him of this sacred right. In all of our schools, from the lowest to the highest in grade, pupils must be trained morally, ethically, and socially. They must learn the greatest art of all arts, that of living together in peace and harmony with their neighbors. They must learn that their neighbors have rights as well as they and that to respect these rights is a sacred American duty. Whatever changes the future may see in our schools, it will always be the function of the schools to inculcate a deep and abiding regard for civic righteousness; in fact the very measure of our schools must finally rest upon this function. They must give to society staunch, able, intelligent, and dependable citizens. Again I bid you welcome.

RESPONSE TO ADDRESSES OF WELCOME

DAVID B. JOHNSON, PRESIDENT OF WINTHROP NORMAL AND INDUSTRIAL COLLEGE, ROCK HILL, S.C.

I esteem it a special privilege and honor to respond to these cordial words of welcome on behalf of the teachers and schools of this great common country of ours, represented by those in attendance upon this fifty-first annual meeting of the National Education Association, gathered together here for conference for the common good from the North, the South, the East, and the West, and from the teaching forces of all kinds of educational institutions-the elementary and secondary schools, the normal schools, colleges, and universities.

I rejoice that the time has come when it is possible for one from the original secession state to speak from the heart on an occasion of this kind for the great patriotic constructive forces of our reunited country.

Not among the least of the services rendered by the National Education Association to the betterment of the national life should be counted its contribution to the harmonizing of the sections. It has offered a common ground where the educational leaders of all sections could meet together, and has helped materially toward a friendly understanding between the sections.

I rejoice that this meeting of the National Education Association is being held out here in the mighty West where the breadth of the country seems to give breadth of view and the great altitudes seem to lift one above the little petty things of life. We shall all be better in our outlook upon life's

duties and for their performance for having been here in contact with the bigness and strength and inherent honesty of western life and character.

In all of the great educational progress of the past half-century in this country, this National Education Association has had a most notable and honorable part. It has contributed no little to the improvements in public education required to enable it to meet the needs of a growing and changing civilization. It has led the way in some of the most vital educational reforms of modern times. It has helped to give a new meaning to education-that it is a preparation of the individual for the duties of life in his environment. It is now generally agreed that a school must be related to the life of a people served by that school. The teacher now who cannot relate his school to community activities and interests and make it felt in the homes and lives of the people is no longer considered a good teacher and is not called up higher.

At the annual meetings of recent years, the great dominant questions have been those relating to rural, agricultural, and vocational education, all bearing vitally upon the welfare of the people, and, as a result, remarkable development has taken place in these lines of educational effort all over this country with inestimable advantage to our people. The old vicious way of educating boys and girls in the country to be discontented with country life is being discontinued. Experimental rural schools are being conducted where a course of study specially adapted to rural needs and conditions is being worked out. There is now common agreement with Gifford Pinchot in the opinion that "no nation can continue to prosper unless its civilization is built upon the abiding foundation of a strong and satisfied life in the open country."

There was a time when it was considered anything but scholarly or highminded for a student to choose a course of study that might by any manner of means have any direct bread-and-butter value. That time is rapidly passing, thanks, in great measure, to the leadership of this Association, and it is now very generally seen that a bread-and-butter subject may have educational value as well as Greek or some other similar subject, and even greater educational value. We are breaking away from monk-made methods and standards in education. China tried an educational system without anything of the practical or concrete in it for over two thousand years, and in consequence stood still for that length of time. It is just now recognizing its error. We do not wish to repeat China's educational mistake made and persisted in to the terrible undoing of that great country.

This Association has dignified and elevated the teacher's calling, has secured a clearer understanding of the fact that the good teacher makes the good school, has helped and is helping to secure for woman the place and recognition due her in all educational endeavor.

This Association has always stood for higher standards and ideals in education, has given its powerful aid to the acceptance of the conception of