TEN YEARS OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS.
The News and Observer.
VOL. HI. NO. 68.
Leads all Worth Carolina Dailies in Mews and Circulation
PROGRAM OF TEACHERS’ ASSEMBLE.
Begins Its Annual Session In the Atlantic Hotel,
TUESDAY.
8:30 p. m.—Address of Welcome,
lion. J. A. Bryan, New Bern, N. C.
9:00 p. in.—Response. W. T.
Whitsett, President Whitsett In
stitute.
9:15 p. in.—“A General Survey of
tlie Educational History of North
Carolina for the Past Twenty-five
Years.” Geo. T. Winston. President
of the Agricultural and Mechan
ical College of North Carolina.
WEDNESDAY.
9:00 a. in.—Devotional Exercises.
9:15 a. m.—Report of Assenihly’s
Committee on Legislation. J. Y.
Joyner, Chairman; L. L. Hobbs, J.
A. Butler, C. H. Mebane, J. C.
* J. C. HORNER.
Horner, Chas. L. Coon, J. I. Foust.
General Discussion, led by J. T.
Alderman, Superintendent Hender-
J. T. ALDERMAN.
son City Schools; J. A. Holt. Prin
cipal Oak Ridge Institute.
10:15 a. m.—Report of Assem
bly’s Committee on Elementary
English. Miss W. M. Halliburton,
Chairman.
Discussion, led by Harry Howell,
Superintendent Washington City
Schools.
10:45 a. m.—“lnfluence of Francis
W. Parker on American Educa
tion.” R. D. W. Connor. Superin
tendent Oxford City Schools.
11:00 a. m.—“ The Teacher’s Pcr-
HENRY LOUIS SMITH.
sonality.” Henry Louis Smith,
President Davidson College.
11:30 a. m.—“ Pure Scholarship—
Its Place in Civilization.” H. F.
Linscott, Professor of Latin, Uni
versity of North Carolina.
12 m.—Report of the Assembly’s
Committee on Rural Libraries. J.
I. Foust, Chairman.
12:15 p. m.—" The Library Move
ment In North Carolina.” Mrs.
MRS. LINDSAY PATTERSON.
Lindsay Patterson, Member of tlie
Library Committee of tbe State
Literary and Historical Society.
Tuesday, June 10th,
12:45 p. m.—“Tlie Self-develop
nieut of tlie Teacher.” J. A. Bi
\v| p/
J. A. BIVENS.
vins, Principal City Schools, Char
lotte.
WEDNESDAY EVENNG.
8:30 p. m.—President’s Address.
Edwin Minis, Professor of English
Literature, Trinity College.
9:30 p. m.—“ The Literary Awak
ening in North Carolina.” Ex-
Judge H. G. Connor, President
State Literary and Historical So
ciety.
THURSDAY.
9:00 a. m.—Devotional Exercises.
9:15 a. m.—“ The Development of
jk|g* «sl
ALEXANDER GRAHAM.
the Common Schools of New Eng
land. Chas. L. Coon, Superintend
ent of City Schools. Salisbury.
9:30 a. in.—“ Significance of tbe
Educational Conference at Athens
in tlie Development of Universal
Education.” Alexander Graham,
Superintendent Charlotte City
Schools.
10:00 a. in.—What Can be Done
for the Common Schools of North
Carolina?”
1. "A Vigorous Campaign.” E.
E. W. SIKES.
W. Sikes, Professor of History,
Wake Forest College.
Discussion, led by J. M. Way,
County Superintendent of Ran
dolph; Paul J. Long, County Super
intendent of Northampton.
2. “Consolidation of Districts.” C.
H. Mebane, President Catawba
College.
Discnssion. led by W. H. Rags
dale, County Superintendent of
Pitt; E. T. Atkinson, County Su
perintendent of Wayne; J, A. Mc-
Allister, County Superintendent of
Robeson.
3. “Build Better School Houses.”
Miss Laura Kirby, President of
Women’s State Association for
yijiiii
M. C. S. NOBLE.
Building Better School Houses.
Discussion, led by F, C. Abbott,
Charlotte; S. F. Venable, County
Superintendent of Buncombe.
4. “Local Taxation.” Stephen C.
RALEIGH. NORTH CAROLINA. WEDNESDAY MORNING. JUNE 4. 1902.
WHAT GOVERNOR AYCOCK SAYS.
The Problem Which Concerns Us Now is the Educa=
tion of Children of the White Race.
There is a great educational awakening
in the Slate. All tlie schools are full;
the people are aroused as they have never
been before. More thaUj 7 per cent, in
crease of attendance on the part of the
white children is recorded for the year
1901 over that of 1900. This is far in ex
cess of the increase of population. It is
extremely gratifying. 1 would that I
could say that a larger percentage of the
whites have attended than the negroes,
but' I cannot, for 8% per cent marks the 1
increase of the attendance of the negro
children. This fact ought to stimulate
us to further exertions in behalf of a lar
ger attendance on the part of the w'lutes.
In advocating universal education I am
but following in the footsteps of my pre
decessors 1 but obey the mandate of the
Constitution, for that great document in
the Bill of Rights declares in Section 27
that “The people have the right to the
privilege of education and it is the duty
of the State to guard and maintain that
right.” When it says “people” I take it
that it means all the l people. He who
thinks to the contrary has the burden
upon him of proving it and I maintain
my views of the Constitution by insist
ing that the strength of every community
is dependent upon the average of the in
telligence of that community and this
GOVERNOR CHARLES BRANTLEY AYCOCK.
intelligence is dependent upon the educa
ted of the entire mass and not of the
few. If we could double the wages of
every man in the State for the coming
year we would not increase its wealth a
dollar, but if we could double the effi
ciency of every man in the State and then
double the wages we would quadruple the
wealth of the State. We are the poorest
State in the American Union, simply be
cause we are the most illiterate. We
have done great things in the past but
we have done them along the lines upon
which we have been trained. If we want
to become the most effective State in the
Union we can only do so by training our
entire population. I take these state
ments to be fundamental and they are
not new with me. They have been declared
from time to time by all of my predeces
sors. I have carefully examined the pub
lic documents from Governor Vance down
to the present time and I find that I have
enunciated no new thought and have de
clared no new principle in advocating uni
versal education. My vanity has been
lessened by my study of what, has been
said in the past, but my devotion to the
cause of universal education has been in
creased and I trust that I am among
those who are willing to sacrifice vanity
to th 1 good of th’e people. The great
question of the hour is not whether we
shall educate the negro but whether we
shall educate the white people in North
Carolina. The negro is going to be edu
GEN. T. F. TOON’S LAST WORDS.
The State of North Carolina has had no
braver son in war or no mo/e patriotic
sen in than the late General T. F.
Toon, who was elected State Superin
tendent of Public Instruction in 1900. He
was deeply interested in the work of his
high office and entered upon its responsi
hie duties with ns much ardor as would
characterize a young man. He was .doing
a great work when he died early in 1902,
from pneumonia contracted while speak
ing for public school taxation in the
counties of Beaufort and Hyde, ilis last
: pcech was the greatest, and it made u
profound impression upon all who heard
it. His death was deeply lamented by
all educators or friends of education, and
at the coming session of the State Teach
ers’ Assembly fitting tribute to bis mem
ory will be paid.
The last letter ever written by General
Toon was a letter of regret that his
illness prevented his attendance upon the
cated. Our people need not trouble them
-1 selves about this matter. There was only
| an increase of 7 per cent, in attendance
i upon the schools among the whites, while
there, was an increase of 8% per cent,
among the negroes. I would to God that
some man could speak adequately the
word which should force into the schools
the white children of North Carolina. .1
count him an enemy of his race who les
sens the attendance upon the schools by
discussing in this hour the propriety of
educating the negro. The great and up
permost question among us is the educa
tion of the Whites. Indeed this is vital
I and I do not doubt that our people real
ize the situation. In almost every in
stance where the question has been sub
mitted to them they have voted an addi
| tional tax. Hereafter it will be impossi
ble for any man who is opposed to univer
| sal education to gain the confidence of the
: pcopl \ To hold otherwise would be to
put ourselves again in the lowest column
|of illiteracy; would be to provoke the
criticism of every civilized country. We
! cannot afford this. Our past history for
bids it. That history is the best to be
; found anywhere and if we intend to prove
worihy of our illustrious ancestors we
j must do better things than they them-
I selves did. We do not condemn their
j shortcomings, for in things which they
did they were superb. We cannot laugh
at them for their mistakes, for if wo have
better manners than they, as John Kidd
said in Lorna Doonft “they taught them
to us at their own expense.” Loving
i them as we do, revering their memories,
anxious to become worthy of them, we
must go forward and in going forward we
shall become with all our natural re
sources the foremost State in the Amer
ican Union, and this ought to be tae am
bition of us all. Let us then cast aside
all matters of controversy and labor to
gether for the upbuilding of all develop
ing a State rich in history, noble in in
tention and capable in every direction.
Let us make great paintings, write great
songs, record great history, make great
Inventions and do all those things which
nuke a State respected at home and
abroad. Then shall come the day when
our strongest sons shall cease to leave
us and other people seeing what we are
shall seek to become citizens of our Com
monwealth. That we can do these things
our history assures us; that we can fail
to do them is only made possible by those
who throw stumbling blocks iu our way.
Let us not trip over the negro, but real
izing that he is among us to stay and
that he is a part of us und a part of the
assets of the State, let us make him what
he ought to be if we can, and if we can
not, do not let us fail to make of the
white man what he ought to be and what
he can be.
great Educational Conference held in
Raleigh in February of this year. It
epitomizes the policies for which ho
stood and is given here in full:
Hon. C. 1). Mclvor, Raleigh, N. C.:
Seriously regretting my inability to be
present at the meeting of the twin spirits’
wing—poised over our State, Education
and Good Roads, guarding her best in
terests. and heartily concurring in every
effort for the improvement of our pub
i lie schools, I ask permission to welcome
; this conference, composed of the fore
most educators of the State, into organi
zed effort especially directed to the bet
tennent of our public schools, I hope you
will pardon a suggestion from mo. While
there is evident improvement in the
schools all over the State in every par
ticular. we recognize as the peculiar
drawbacks ro be: l:t a multiplication of
small school districts, 2nd, a want of bet
ter houses; 3rd, a sal want of more
■ money, and 4th, indifference on the part
SECTION ONE—Pages I to 9.
PROF. MIMS ON TEACHERS’ AS
SEMBLY.
The Meeting Together of so Many Teachers Has
Ment Much. Increasing the Educa
tional Spirit.
Mr. Charles Lee Smith, in his inter
esting sketch of tlie history of education
in No’tti Carolina, says: “In studying the
present dynamics of education in North
Carolina the editcr has observed no one
force more powerful for good than the
North Carolina Teachers’ Assembly,
which,in the opinion of the State Superin
tendent of Public Instruction, is doing
more to further the educational advance
ment of the State than all other agencies
combined.” There is a note of exaggera
tion in this statement and yet to even
the most casual student it must appear
that the meeting together of so many
teachers from so many different institu
tions and from so many different locali
ties has meant much in increasing the
educational spirit and furthering right
ideals of educational work.
The assembly, as organized at present,
held its first meeting at Haywood Sul
phur Springs in 1884, the idea originating
with Mr. Eugene Harrell, at that time
PROF. EDWIN MIMS.
President Teachers’ Assembly.
editor of the North Carolina Teacher.
It may not be generally known that there
was a State association of considerable
proportions before the war, organized
"TTfuT guTJTed Ly'Cafvfn TL Wiley, 1 ' tlie "great
and wise educational leader of the de
cade just previous to the Civil War.
Realizing that the teachers liftd been a
“divided community,” “seldom pervaded
by one sentiment, sympathy or sense of
interest >n the State’s affairs,” he made
a plea that resulted in the organization
W. JR.,
Secretary of Teachers’ Assembly.
of a State association at Goldsboro, May
7, 1856, although the first meeting was not
held till July 1, 1857, at Warrenton. The
ideals of the association as set forth by
Wiley express so well the ideals of tho
assembly during the past eighteen years
that 1 quote his words: “The educational
interests of North Carolina are placed
of patrons. The first and second can bn
removed by a consolidation of school dis
tricts. The third by local taxation. The
fourth by agitation. The School Law by
section 72 provides for the formation of
“special school tax districts,” the car
rying into effect of which I believe to be
the most important consideration of this
,'' - |
GEN. T. F. TOON.
conference embodying as it does the j
remedy for the present drawbacks to bet- j
ter schools, better houses, more money, j
toegther with the removal of that indif- I
fer< nee which paralyzes educational of- j
fort in North Carolina. I would then’
earnestly recommend the establishment !
of special school tax districts in the j
country and graded schools in our towns. ■
Agitation, consolidation and local taxa
tion are our hope.
Wishing you a successful meeting, I am,
Very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
T. F. TOON.
Superintendent Public Instruction.
FIVE CENTS
in a position to speak* hereafter with
| one voice, and in all its department, to
I strike with a thousand energetic arms,
nerved and animated with one heart, one
mind and one hope.” Again he says:
! “Its direct and obvious tendency is to
I create and foster a more catholic spirit
I among educators, to unite the efforts of
the friends of popular intelligence, to
repress hostility between schools of
different grades and sections, to elevate
the standad of teaching, to enliven and
widen the popular interest in education.”
It is pathetic to think that this plan,
: like so many other plans of Wiley, was
broken up by the war. The last meet
| ing of the association was held in
i Greensboro in 1861, and then it went
down, after having accomplished such
i widespread results during the four years
of its existence. It was left to the As
sembly of the past eighteen years to
carry out the ideals here so luminously
set forth. During these years the As
sembly. whether meeting at Morehead,
Asheville or Wrightsville, has been a
rallying point of all the educational
forces of the State. Incidentally teach
ers have had the chance to spend a
i week or more in the mountains or by
! the seashore, enjoying the blessings of
good climate, comradship and good fel
lowship. Many important reforms have
been started in connection with the As
; sembly, such as the agitation for a
larger school fund, better text-books,
increased efficiency on the part of the
teachers, and the establishment of edu
cational journals. The names of the t
presidents and secretaries and executive
committees of the Assembly include
many of those who have been the most
effective leaders in the State’s educa
tional work. Committees on legislation
have recommended measures that have
become an organic part of the State’s
laws; committees, bn various subjects
connected with school and college work
have made investigations of facts and
recommendations of progress that have
" Tiad prevailing results.
Valuable as has been the work of the
Assembly in the past, it is believed that
the work of the future will be still more
significant. Tho meeting this year, com
ing as it after a year of unpre
cedented enthusiasm and agitation,
should be a record-breaking one in point
of attendance and results. Never before
have so many of the leading educators
and public-spirited citizens of the State
been on tho program, and besides there
are such men outside tho State as Mr.
Walter Page, Dr. Wallace Butt rick, Pro
fessor Claxton.
The emphasis of the program has been
put on the common school question, a
whole day being given to the considera
tion of the practical phases of the work
by men who know what they are talking
about. Outside of these discussions will
be addresses on subjects that will ap
peal to all classes of our people. It is
evident that there will be more college
and university men than ever before, to
say nothing of private school and public
school men, citizens who will come out
of consideration for this great work. It
is proposed to set in operation certain
definite movements that will tend to the
better understanding of the relation of
all the parts of our school system. It is
hoped that the enthusiasm of the first
year will be supplemented by some very
practical and intelligent efforts tending
toward the uniformity and correlation
of our educational work.
EDWIN MIMS.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCA
(Governor Aycock at Salem.)
Knowledge is power, Imt it is
power merely because it enables 11s
to do something and to do some
j thing enables us to be something,
and to he something is what con
stitutes character, and this last is
the' only thing which we can take
into the world to come. Education
is not reading and writing alone;
it is reading and writing, but it is
something more, something better,
something higher, for we read and
write not as an etid, hut as a
means, and if we take what we
know to be the end we shall never
do anything. All that there is
in the books, calculus, poetry, as
tronomy, science, whatever things
! may be taught to us are valuable
only because they enable us to do
something worth, being done aud to
become something worth being.
There is significance in tbe motto
of our State, “To be, rather than
to seem,” and education is being,
not seeming; for what we are is
truth.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE.
(Governor Aycock at Salem.)
No one can adequately measure
the importance of performing well
and perfectly the duty of today to
tho end that those who follow us
may do the largest work tomor
row and it is a mark of real
greatness that without knowing
what the results of what we do
shall he, we perform each day the
duty that lies immediately before
ns, and by this performance make
life easier and better for a future
time.