“SAAUER’O ' PTyas 7 ue | > ) D enemenel .-—" " NX A — — 4 = AM THE ORGAN OF THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS VA é =< wl! | DEMOCRACY IN EDUCATION EDUCATION FOR DEMOCRACY MARCH, 1930 PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS, CHICAGO VOL. XIV. No. 7 — ee WATS TS TSTSTLIKTGTSTITLTTSTTTTST- — Thousands of Successful Teachers Use ‘‘The aj] Supreme Authority’’ To get accurate, encyclopedic, up-to-date in- formation of all kinds that is of vital use and interest in the schoolroom. A wise school superintendent has said: “I have never yet seen a person, whether pupil or teacher, who was accustomed to the frequent use of the dictionary who was not at the same time a good or superior all-around scholar.” A better test than this of the value of dic- tionary work could not be found. The New International is constantly revised and improved to keep abreast of modern needs and information. 452,000 Entries, in- cluding thousands of New Words, 6000 Illustrations. 2,700 Pages. Write for Helps in Teaching the Dictionary, FREE G.& C. MERRIAM CO. Springfield, Massachusetts DO YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE ENTITLED TO 1. A voice and a vote in the management of your school ; 2. Independence of thot, freedom of expression and ex- ercise of initiative; 3. Working conditions that are sanitary, cheerful and inspiring. 4. A promotion in rank based on merit only; 5. A salary commensurate with the dignity and im- portance of your office? IF SO JOIN THE HOST OF READERS OF The American Teacher Published by teachers for principle; not for profit THE AMERICAN TEACHER is the only teachers’ magazine whose sole excuse for existence is the desire to improve the working conditions of the teachers, and to raise teaching to the dignity of a profession. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE TWO DOLLARS FOR ONE YEAR Send In Your Subscription Today THE AMERICAN TEACHER 506 South Wabash Ave. Chicago, IIL CONTENTS Page Union Organization and Strategy......... 1 Henry R. Linville. The Teacher and World Peace............ 5 O. Myking Mehus. ila Sl eckson mie 6 Questions and Answers................e.- 9 Forms of Adult Education in Use in Cities Other Than Washington................ 10 ERSTE rer esr ne tee fee a ee eae ae 15 “Hamstringing the Teachers”............. 16 Our Friends and Others.................. 18 On the Services of Mr. Gilbert E. Roe.... 19 Old-Age Pension Bills................... 21 Sir Michael Sadler Visits America........ 22 I. Kandel. Why I Am a Member of the Teachers | ESRC RES ELEN eer er me aE T ae 23 NINE, Sosa a ruieeeis ae weudaedacciinees 24 cea er Rene ae oe ee ate Se 25 EE, -Coichtoccadsademnseneeasbaail 28 ARE TEACHERS WORKERS? Progressive Teachers Are Reading Labor’s News The News Magazine of the Labor Movement to find out. Once a week, in 8 small pages, LABOR’S NEWS brings you a comprehensive survey of the American labor scene, with high- lights on working class movements of Europe, Asia, and Australia. Written by 60 Federated Press correspond- ents all over the world, and edited by trained FP staff men, LABOR’S NEWS fairly seethes with human interest. Published by the largest labor newsgathering agency in the Western hemisphere, authorities agree that it stands alone as a reliable source of labor facts. Send for Your Free Sample Copy Today! The Federated Press, 112 E. 19th St., . New York, ’N. Y. C] Please send me a free copy of LABOR'S NEWS. [] Enter my subscription to LABOR'’S NEWS for one year. I enclose $2. i01 EC 44 j UF 5 X- nd rs ire 1 ae The American Teacher Entered as second class matter Oct. 20, 1926, at the post office at Chicago, Ill., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Ac- ceptance for mailing at special rate of postage prov Volume XIV, No. 7 MARCH, 1930 ded for in Sec. 1103, Act of Feb. 28, 1925, authorized Nov. 3, 1926. Two Dollars a Year Union Organization and Strategy By Henry R. Linville, President of Local 5, New York In the February issue of the American Teacher I stated that in a later article I would suggest for consideration some lines of ac- tivity which might work in with a functional program to be carried on by the American Federation of Teachers for a better educa- tional order. As an impotrant aid in this enter- prise I have obtained a copy of the minutes of the 1929 Convention, especially that part which covers the reports of the locals. Al- though these brief reports by no means de- scribe all the work done by the locals, they do show the trend of our collective activity. I have made some analysis of this material, and shall endeavor to present it in such fash- ion that its significance will be apparent. ECONOMIC FACTORS RELATING TO THE WORK OF TEACHERS The Union movement among teachers is basically economic. By frankly recognizing this fact, we prepare our minds for clearing our path of the sham and pretense of belong- ing to a sacred profession—before we have any professional spirit. In examining the record of our reports throughout the country, we find that there is much more in the nature of concrete eco- nomic factors underlying the teaching situa- tion and the teacher’s welfare than adequate salaries and well-protected pension systems. Taking other factors as they occur to one, we should include excessive clerical and extra- curriculum duties, lack of compensation laws, physical conditions in schools relating to health. We should include also tenure of position, supervision and rating of service, promotion on merit or by political favor. Cynical folk have long been accustomed to sneer at the attitude of teachers who organize for raising their salaries. But the American Federation of Teachers has done an important service in convincing taxpayers that the really satisfactory teacher is worth far more than an ordinary apologetic teacher who _ believes it is unprofessional even to make demands for more pay. Especially since our 1920 Con- vention when our telling slogan was invented, “The Children are worth at least Two Thou- sand Dollar Teachers,” we have been able to inject some professional spirit into magister apologeticus, and to make him ashamed of putting a low valuation on his services. I find that the record shows that Local 27 of Washington, a colored teachers’ local, was the only one last year to protest against ex- cessive clerical and extra-curriculum duties, but many more must have done so. Unless teachers stand firmly on the issue of hours of labor, there is no reason why the “stretch- out” should not be applied to them. Many are the devices used to compel overworked teachers to give a little more, and yet a little more, for “loyalty,” or for favors to be granted, or merely for “discipline.” It is definitely a sign of professional intelligence when teachers begin to say collectively just how much energy and time they will give to the school job, and still have enough left for culture, for leisure and for the joy of living a little time away from the job. Industrial workers and school janitors have the benefit of compensation laws in many states throughout the Union, but nowhere except in Chicago, so far as reported, have teachers been able to obtain the protection provided by this extremely valuable legisla- tion. The next Convention should be the oc- casion for proposing a form of legislation that may be promoted aggressively throughout the 2 THE AMERICAN country. At the present time a teacher who is injured in a public school building while engaged in the performance of her duty is obliged to sue the Board of Education to re- cover damages. As a rule a teacher does not sue, preferring loss to possible antagonism on the part of school officials. Another type of legislation common in the states is legislation relating to safety and health conditions in shops and mills. In the State of New York it is possible to compel the razing of a factory building that is unsafe, although nothing can be done about a school building that is unsafe. Even in New York City, “the richest city in the world,” there are school buildings in continual use that have been condemned for a quarter of a century. Here is a blind spot which appears to be diffi- cult to eliminate. In the matter of ventilation, the practice of school construction is a decade or more behind scientific inquiry on the problem of ventilation. None of our locals reported on this matter at the last Convention, but it is probable that several have given it considera- tion. Our St. Paul locals have been active in try- ing to secure satisfactory tenure laws. Several states have tenure laws, but in none of these does the law avail against the frequently avowed determination of state school officials to interpret the law as seems best to them. Thus, the charge of “conduct unbecoming a teacher” covers anything from “disloyalty,” corporal punishment or immorality, to trying to conceal contempt for a school officer. Inci- dentally, there is no form for “conduct unbecom- ing a superintendent.” Nevertheless, they are “fired” sometimes. The tendency seems to be in states where departments of education are well-organized to make the Superintendent or Commissioner of the state department a court of last resort. In order to protect the pro- fessional and the civil rights of teachers we must strive to obtain the privilege of appeal to the courts, and also the guarantee that in a trial the court rules of evidence will be followed. Apparently there was no activity in the locals last year on the problems of super- TEACHER vision and rating of teachers. And yet, this is one of the most insistent problems we have. Teachers are denied increments in their sal- aries as the result of unfavorable ratings given as measures of discipline. The fear of un- favorable ratings suppresses initiative in teachers and tends to make poor teachers of them instead of better ones. Although Local 5 has been on record many years for the abolition of the rating system, that enterprise of actually abolishing them lags. Supervision is not identical with rating, but it is at least a “step-sister.” Petty nagging and unscientific supervision prepare the mind of teachers for the expectation of unfavorable ratings. As professional people we do not desire release from supervision, for intelligent, sympathetic, and constructive supervision helps to make good teachers. Although New York City is a notorious political center, there are other towns where the higher positions, and some of the lower positions, are filled by political favor rather than on merit. Perhaps every community con- tains opponents to the system of political meddling with the schools, but so far as known the American Federation of Teachers is the only body of teachers that through its locals openly opposes the continuance of that system. It might even be said that the “acid test” of an American Federation of Teachers’ local is its attitude toward the issue of politics in its school system. Inasmuch as the charter of one local has been revoked because of its practice of playing politics, the stand of the American Federation of Teachers cannot be doubted. Thus, the factors which relate to the pay, the hours, the security of position, the con- tinuance of the job, the health and safety of the incumbent, the environmental conditions which promote professional growth and sat- isfaction, all are economic. It is our responsi- bility to look after them in true trade union fashion. é' THE PROPER FUNCTIONING OF THE SCHOOLS During the year 1928-1929, Locals 2. 3, 5, and 89 carried on active campaigns relating to taxa- tion for the support of the schools. Other cre tur ex} Tr tog is ; Wil pai Te: the the cei) init the THE AMERICAN TEACHER 3 locals must have taken part in this work, but did not make a report on the subject. This is difficult work, but it is extremely important not only for the schools, but also in giving to bodies of teachers their proper rating in the community. Incorporated tax-dodgers need the education that comes from being found out and being made to pay. Locals 2, 3, and 5 participated actively in legislative campaigns in the same year for compulsory education. Perhaps our locals do not yet realize that in the field of compulsory education, in the raising of the legal age for leaving school, in the protection of children from exploitation in industry, in the defense of continuation, schools, and in the modification of vocational education for culture and social understanding, organized teachers can make their most significant contribution to the educational program of organized labor. Our members should also realize that in the typical board of education there are elements that are bound less by their civic obligation to the children than they are by their economic obligation to the employers. Thus, we find that some board members will not hesitate to undermine the continuation schools every time they have a chance to do so. At the present time in the City of New York the superintendents are advocating the establish- ment of vocational schools apparently to cover up the failure of the traditional schools. If union teachers do not help to prevent the creation of vocational schools that will merely turn out job candidates, who will? We have a responsibility also in promoting experimentation in all school enterprises. Tradition and the usual board of education, together with the average supervisory staff, is against experimentation. Here again, there will be no advance unless we maintain cam- paigns for experimentation. The locals for the American Federation of Teachers have always shown great interest in the problem of health education. Recently the new movement for mental health has re- ceived considerable attention. Local 5 has initiated a movement for the protection of the mental health of the teachers themselves. For a number of years the American Fed- eration of Teachers has gone on record against the introduction of military training in the sec- ondary schools. At the present time our locals in Chicago, New York, and Memphis have come out against the teaching of this dan- gerous form of propaganda. The fight in New York in the main is between the civic organi- zations interested in education and the board of education aided by the American Legion, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Allied Patriotic Societies, etc. The Teach- ers Union alone of all local teachers’ organi- zations stands with the civic organizations. The War Party in New York now has given up its pretense of urging the R.O.T.C. as a means to promoting physical training, and has come out definitely for preparedness for the war which it claims to be able to see in the offing. OUR RELATIONS TO THE LABOR MOVEMENT Reference has already been made to the encouragement our locals may give to the labor movement by a progressive program of participation in education in its large relations. In past years some shyness has been mani- fested among our locals in the matter of actual per capita paying affiliation with central labor bodies and with state federations of labor. Our support of the social and educational pro- gram of organized labor will not be effective unless affiliation and active participation also is an established fact. In several of our older locals affiliation has proved through the years to be a fertile source of inspiration and social education to those who have served as dele- gates. Our members in these locals have also benefited by affiliation. Some of our locals have undertaken to foster classes in workers’ education. In a moderate way only have these experiments turned out to be successful. Some discouragement has been noted, the cause of which should be ascertained and made known to the American Federation of Labor. If there are technical experts in workers’ education anywhere, they are undoubtedly within the American Fed- eration of Teachers itself. It would therefore seem fitting for us to study the workers’ education situation, and recommend such 4 THE AMERICAN policy and technic as will make it possible for the workers to obtain the kind and amount of adult education which will meet their needs. Anything less than offering to do something of this kind seems to me to be running away from one of the chief obligations of our affiliation. UNION POLICIES As I intimated in my article in the February issue, our program should be a functioning one for a better educational order. For the most part, the locals have striven to build up a pro- gram of action that is in harmony with the social situation in the community. In general the tendency has been for these programs to become increasingly militant, even in con- servative communities. There seems to be no question about this policy being the wisest as well as the safest policy. There are some factors which appear to further the development of a militant program. Among them is a definite locale or habitat for headquarters. This gives teachers the im- pression that the Union lives and works some- where, and is not merely a vague influence, or a “vest pocket” institution. A union should have headquarters, and if possible a part-time worker or two who are on hand when mem- bers call after school hours, or on Saturday. Little by little, as time goes on and results pile up credit for good work done, a real union begins to form. Such a plan costs money, and as the dues are increased to carry the burden, members inexperienced in union organization and technic may complain of the expense. And so do the teachers who never join at all, pre- ferring to benefit parasitically. Another factor essentially related to the development of a militant program is strategy. There are conflicting views current among union teachers on the question of how radical or aggressive a teachers’ union ought to be. This question is often settled by the issues that are raised by those in the opposition. Old Local 1 in Chicago started out to corral the tax-dodgers in order to secure the money for raising teachers’ salaries. It was not long before the tax-dodgers operating through the Board of Education returned the attack, caus- ing the dismissal of sixty-eight teachers for TEACHER belonging to a union. These teachers event- ually were reinstated, but at the cost of the de- struction of the Union. Thus a valiant beginning led to loss of morale, and final defeat. We have lost other locals that became involved early in a militant contest of some one else’s start- ing, but today we have a number of locals that have lived through many hard campaigns, and to top it off we still have Local 200 in Seattle, the best little fighter of all. Important as may be the technic of work- ing through a crisis brought on by the oppo- nents of a teachers’ union, the better part of strategy is concerned with the fore-sighted development of a campaign, a series of cam- paigns, or a long-term period of building up power. The first step in the working out of such a policy is the organization of a program of action. Intelligent teachers know the educa- tional conditions in any community which re- quire alteration. A program of action should incorporate these ideas expressed objectively in terms of positive needs, not subjectively as negative ones. Teachers’ unions have been known to go to the educational authorities for advice in this matter, and have unwittingly taken the first step toward creating a “com- pany” union. The place to go for under- standing and advice is to the most intelligent, independent and socially constructive persons or groups in the community. Among these will be found the leaders of the trade unions. Even before such advice is sought the union should be well established and should have a character of its own. In the early stages of development a local should make known to the public interesting phases of its program. Some locals prefer to work quietly for the sake of safety. But often this is the most unsafe thing to do, because a secret movement can easily be destroyed secretly. For social reasons it is fairer anyway, to let the public know what a teachers’ union stands for. In spite of casual opinions to te contrary, the ‘public is more generally inter- ested in intelligent movements to improve the schools than in movements to improve any other social institution. When a group of teachers starts out under its own steam to do something specific and constructive for the sche fess’ of tl the are | thei: rath pron mos! com. arou with THE AMERICAN TEACHER 5 schools, and for the promotion of the pro- fessional welfare of its members, the interest of the public is challenged, and in most cases the venture will be greeted in a friendly way. It seems to me that as long as those who are in the leadership of a teachers’ union seek their satisfaction in the movement itself, rather than in’ the smiles of those who have promotions to grant, a union may become the most powerful educational agency for good a community possesses. Certainly as one looks around outside labor for other organizations with which to cooperate from time to time, we find many that are tied with unbreakable restraining locals. In New York we think we have solved that problem by having our Teachers Union’ Auxiliary which helps us make the approach to a critical and conserva- tive public, and stands by us when the shock of battle comes. To get away with a whole skin, to live to fight another day, seems to be the natural pragmatic test of successful strategy. But we must risk that skin in aggressively going ahead toward our objectives. The Teacher and World Peace By O. Myking Mehus, Department of Social Sciences, Northwest Missouri State Teachers College, Maryville, Missouri General John J. Pershing, Commander-in-Chief of the American Expeditionary Forces said on April 6, 1929, the twelfth anniversary of our country’s declaration of war: “At this moment, let us remember the sick and disabled, the widows and orphans, and the mothers who bravely sent their sons into battle. Ours is the solemn obliga- tion to insure that their sacrifices shall not have been in vain. I hope that on this anniversary our people will resolve with greater zeal to ad- dress themselves practically to the establishment of permanent peace, for which the blood of Amer- ica was so willingly shed.” How to establish permanent peace is indeed a problem worthy of the attention of everyone. How can we best keep faith with those who gave their lives that war might be abolished? What can we as individual teachers do to safeguard the peace of the world? The very first thing we must do is to believe that war is an evil that can be eradicated. We must feel convinced that it is possible to attain permanent peace. We must have a deep and abiding faith in the ultimate victory of universal peace, The abolishment of war is no idle dream of visionaries. No less an experienced warrior than Major General John F. O’Ryan, Commander of the Twenty-Seventh Division, said, “The Amer- kan people can end war in our time if they get on the job. . . . Let us wage peace. I should be a traitor to my country if I did not do everything in my power to abolish war.” With that chal- lenge ringing in our ears, let us face the task before us with unflinching courage. The next thing we as teachers must do is to teach the truth about war. Let us remember that war is no Sunday School picnic. The business of war is to kill human beings! Tell the cold, brutal facts about war. In the past we have glorified war. We have told about the honors won in war, but we have neglected to mention that for every Victoria Cross that has been won there must be won 10,000 wooden crosses. We have pointed out how men excel in war, but we have failed to stress the fact that to excel means to kill human beings. Major General O’Ryan has declared on more than one occasion: “We soldiers are not ashamed of the way we fought, but those of us who know anything know that fighting is not glorious. No matter how righteous the cause, the experience of a soldier at the front tends to lower his finer sensibilities. If any soldier came out of this war a better man than when he entered, it is in spite of and not because of his battle experience. War is the denial of Christianity, and of all the most sacred things in life. It exalts force. It thrives on lies. It is the product of hate and fear and cannot by any stretch of the imagination be waged humanely.” I was in Minneapolis when the war play, “What Price Glory?” was being given there. (Continued on page 11) The American Teacher Democracy in Education Education for Democracy Published Monthly, except July and August Official Organ THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS OrGANIzeD Aprit 15, 1916 Affiliated With the American Federation of Labor Editorial Office : 506 South Wabash Ave., Chicago, Illinois Florence Curtis Hanson, Secretary-Treas. and Editor At the time of expiration, a bill will be found in the copy. Subscribers are requested to give prompt notice of changes in address. Remittances should be made in postal money-order, express order, draft, stamps or check. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE, TWO DOLLARS FOR THE YEAR—FOREIGN $2.20—SINGLE COPIES, 25c Advertising Rates Made Known on Application > 20 EXECUTIVE COUNCIL President Mary C. Barker, Atlanta No. 89; 685 Myrtle Street, N. E., Atlanta, Georgia. Legislative Representative and Vice-President SetmMa M. Borcnarpt, Washington No. 8; 1741 Park Road, N. W., Washington, D. C. Vice-Presidents FLORENCE Fisn, Minneapolis No. 59; 3301 First Ave., S., Minneapolis, Minnesota. ABRAHAM LeFKowiTz, New York No. 5; 10414 27th Avenue, East Elmhurst, Corona, New York, N. Y. Henry R. Linvittr, New York No. 5; 70 Fifth Ave., New York, N. Y. A. J. Muster, Brookwood aS Brookwood, Katonah, CarLtotta Pittman, Memphis No. 52; 151 Clark Place, Memphis, Tenn. W. B. Sattertuwalte, Local No. 200; 1837 12th Ave., West, Seattle, Washington. Lucte H. Scuacut, Chicago Women No. 3; 6714 S. Union Ave., Chicago, Illinois. E. E. Schwarztrauser, Portland No. 111, R. F. D. 5, Box 68, Portland, Oregon. W. J. Scorr, Atlanta No. 89; 212 Kings Highway, Decatur, Georgia. Cuartes B. StmitmMan, Chicago No. 2; 827 Ridge Avenue, Evanston, Illinois. Secretary-Treasurer FLorence Curtis Hanson, Chicago Women No. 3; 506 South Wabash Ave., Chicago, Illinois, Telephone Harrison 2950. If there is any principle in the Constitution that more imperatively calls for attachment than any other, it is the principle of free thought— not free thought for those who agree with us, but freedom for the thought that we hate. —Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. THE AMERICAN TEACHER Teachers, Unite Would the evils in the educational world which we so constantly decry exist if we had profess. ional unity and effective organization? What teachers need is not only adequate wage but certainty of wage. They need lightening of the teaching load, less crowded schools, smaller classes, sound tenure law based on efficiency, re. tirement system, Sabbatical leave. They need legislation to secure these reforms. Teachers need these things in order that they may be better teachers, in order that we may hav better schools, in order that the children may get a square deal. How are these needs to be gained? By effec. tive organization and professional unity. Ané what can the teachers do to make their organiza tion effective? First, unite and second, unit under the banner of Labor. By their own strength they can accomplish but little. Remedial legisla tion in the past has been secured by the assistance of Organized Labor. The one group of organ. ized citizenry that makes the teachers’ cause its own is Organized Labor. It seems folly when there is the opportunity for the teachers to add to their own strength the strength of the thow- sands of organized workers, not to do so and thereby to make their organization effective. Dr. Earl W. Anderson suggests in the Atlantic Monthly that a reason for the opposition to labor affiliation for teachers is the fear that the teachers with the support of labor will be able to gain their demands. And many teachers fail to see that the object of the “taboo” and propaganda against labor affiliation is to keep them from being ef- fective. Moreover through effective organization in the labor movement we have professional unity. Labor is organized democratically—not just in name but in soundest reality. The American Federation of Teachers, a national organization of teachers chartered by the American Federation of Labor, is organized on the local plan. Groups of teachers of all grades, from the kindergarten to the university, are chartered as locals of the A. F. of T. They are united on one program, supported by the American Federation of Labor and all its affiliated groups. Experience has shown that this form of organization develops solidarity. All of the locals of the A. F. of T. are the P: will Teac Orgi W tione talk gani: situa creat giver ganiz the f izatic “We Bu tion | woul are s an if it is It securt cut, t to pr are te states ganiz: there group istenc just a The merel: they possib as the to cor Wh the T with a sound school batical him ‘ hich fess. vage g of aller , Te need they have may An niz2- Anite risla- ance gan. e its when add how- and antic jabor hers their t the ainst r ef- 1 the nity. t in rican ation ation oups irten the ops f T. THE AMERICAN are united in the closest relationship. Here is the means for complete professional unity. Professional unity and effective organization will remedy the evils in the educational world. Teachers, Unite. Organization as Protective Insurance When confronted by a crisis, in their educa- tional world, teachers at once begin to think and tak of organization. They say the existing or- ganizations should do something to remedy the situation or that new organizations should be created to that end. Teachers who have never given an iota of time or energy or money to or- ganization and the solution of vexed problems, in the face of a crisis cry, “Why doesn’t the organ- ization (whatever it may be) do something?” “We should organize to find a remedy.” But they do not realize that strong organiza- tion of intelligent, interested, cooperative people would have prevented the evil under which they are suffering. It is so much easier to prevent an injury or injustice than to remedy it after it is established. It is much more spectacular, for example, to secure a Salary increase than to prevent a salary cut, to secure a cumulative sick leave rule than to prevent the loss of the existing rule. There are tenure laws on the statute books of eleven states, put there by the efforts of teachers’ or- ganizations backed by Organized Labor and kept there by the eternal vigilance of these interested groups. Let the teachers’ unions go out of ex- istence and the teacher tenure laws would last just about over night. The teachers unions should be supported not merely for what they accomplish but for what they prevent from happening. They are the best possible insurance for the good we have as well as the greatest means to secure better conditions to come. When next some one asks you, “What have the Teachers Unions done?” do not be content with answering, “Secured higher salary schedules, sound tenure laws, smaller classes, less crowded schools, cumulative sick leave, pension laws, sab- batical leave, increased revenues,” but also tell him, “They have prevented the loss of Tenure laws, the rescinding of sick pay rules, salary tuts, the curtailment of educational activities ; TEACHER 7 they have protected the teachers retirement sys- tems and kept them under teacher control.” We need not only to work for something better but to safeguard what we have. A membership card in the Teachers Union is an insurance policy. How Important Is A. F. of T.? Superintendent Cole of Seattle has been quoted in the press as saying that the American Federa- tion of Teachers is solely responsible for the fiscal situation in Chicago. We have always known that we had considerable power and in- fluence and we have never been troubled with excessive modesty in setting forth our importance but it remained for Superintendent Cole to credit us with the complete management of Chicago and its 3,000,000 inhabitants. We know too many superintendents to think that this is a fair example of school executive thinking. We are willing to give sole credit for it to Superintendent Cole. Fortunately for Seattle and the public schools, he has resigned. Fortun- ately, not because he does not like us but because this sort of loose thinking based on animosity has no place in the public schools, or in any other educational field for that matter. Trade Unionism Marches On Gains by organized labor can not be marked by paid-up members and per capita tax. The test is whether a trade union consciousness today is stronger than it was at any other period in the history of the A. F. of L. There may have been times when there was more emotion, but at no time was a knowledge of trade union philosophy and tactics more widely diffused. , Even wage workers without our ranks now ac- cept trade unionists as labor’s spokesman. Our stand on high wages and short hours is accepted, as is our position on child labor and other issues. The so-called “open” shop, the company “union,” welfare plans, employes’ stock owner- ship and other forms of paternalism are better understood. Defenders of these theories are wavering before the logic of organized labor, who appeal to the reason of workers. Production, today, is featured by fact finding. Employers demand facts in connection with out- 8 THE AMERICAN TEACHER put and distribution. Seeking facts is a part of our industrial life, and this demand affects the lives of workers who are urged to shun the unions. The same development is seen on the political field. Workers realize the source of power is public opinion, rather than be engulfed in office seeking. The strongest political forces can be broken by an intelligent public opinion, and this the workers would create. Hence their insistent demand for agitation and education. Trade unionism marches on, despite critics and saviors. Our membership is growing and our in- fluence expands. “It Can Be Done” New York garment workers delivered another smashing blow at the sweatshop. Last summer they launched a successful strike in the cloak industry against this evil. They have just ended a similar movement in the dress trade and are now shaping their lines for a final drive in the children’s dress industry, the last barri- cade for the sweatshop in the necdle trades. The garment workers’ two victories also pro- vide for the union shop, the 40-hour week and joint commissions and impartial chairmen to ad- just disputes. This union has brought bright days since 20 years ago when shirtwaist and dressmakers re- volted against shameful work conditions. That victory was the foundation of the present Inter- national Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union. These workers, in 1909, spoke different lan- guages. Many of them were recently-arrived immigrants and were without union experience. The end of their strike marked a turn in their lives, and from that time they have waged an unceasing struggle against reactionary employers and professed revolutionists. The union, by its genius and solidarity, has at last convinced employers that workers can aid in rescuing an industry from chaotic conditions and that they must be considered a factor in production. Old standards and outlooks in the cloak and dress industry are discarded. Exploitation, fin- ing systems and sweatshop methods are replaced by reason and decency. Organized garment workers can thank them- selves for this change. But for their union th All would still be the victims of exploiters, polio : er are 1 thuggery and judicial tyranny that has often a Smoc tempted to outlaw their collective acts. : Pree editin Their success is an inspiration to every wag ates earner who is prone to be discouraged at forcg the st arrayed against them. Ou The garment workers prove “it can be done: It has Senate Shatters Fiction as no Senate discussion on the appointment of thf (hica new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court wil shock innocents who believe a man becomes in corporeal and acquires earthly perfection whe garbed with a judicial robe. Privilege and its defenders encourage the fi tion that judges assume an impersonal qualit and that they discard former economic views ani general outlooks. This fable, attacked for the first time on th floor of the Senate, is intended to silence protesfAn Ir against labor injunctions and other iniquities, It i The Senate discussion broke new ground ané§Harrit may be the beginning of a realistic attitude tofthe sc ward a governmental unit that is not abort msitio criticism. States There is nothing supernatural about a judgef there. He is, in the last analysis, but an arbitrator whom offerec the people expect to adjust disputes along generdf there lines approved by them. way tl When a judge departs from that path and as medita sumes powers foreign to our Constitution, laws§ It af and ideals, he alone is responsible for any disBbers o respect that befalls the judiciary. can su Presid have ‘ hardly scrap ¢ stitutio tion of of the carried try of worshi: conscie liberty course nese make If | the “ help exploi Utah of the Have Done with the Censorship Nonsense Another fight is looming over the Smoot amendment to the tariff act, which makes every customs clerk a censor, with full power to cor demn foreign literature as “obscene” or “revolt tionary,” and bar it from entering the country. The Smoot provisions were toned down by amendments introduced by Senator Cutting of New Mexico and Senator Couzens of Michigan Senator Smoot is determined to put them back for the “safeguarding of innocent youth.” It is hardly necessary to say that LABOR does not defend obscene books, or pamphlets advocat- ing violent revolution. But obscenity and incet- diarism are fully dealt with by other laws. There is no need of setting up a censorship to handle them. We lis france, a make th niserabl he enter All censorships are dangerous; most of them are ridiculous; and the sort proposed by Senator n ai smoot is both. It would set a customs clerk to editing Shakespeare, and enable him to keep a “SE wniversity from adding to its historical library TCH the speeches of Russian or other revolutionists. Our present law on this subject is bad enough. >ne.F it has been used to exclude historical documents, as noted above, and keep the Field Museum of thi Chicago from importing valuable works of Chi- lice wil nese art and literature. Senator Smoot would s imfmake it even worse. whee If Senator Smoot wants to do something for the “innocent children” of America, he might fichhelp pass a law that will keep them from being ialitf exploited and overworked in the beet fields of ; anf Utah and other states. But that is not the way of the senior senator from Utah.—Labor. 1 th ote(fAn Intolerable Act of Bigotry It is an incredible story that comes out of anifHarriman, N. Y., of the action of the head of e tofthe school system there in frankly taking the borf position that no Catholic citizen of the United States shall be permitted to teach in the schools 1dgefthere. The evidence is conclusive. The excuse homf offered by the Principal is that he felt the people nerafthere would sustain his course because of the way they voted in 1928. If one will pause to 1 asf meditate a bit on that reasoning, it is appalling. It appears that with publicity, at least the mem- disfbers of the School Board are not so sure they can sustain the Principal in his contention. The President of the Board says that its members moot} ave “criticised” the Principal, but that will very hardly suffice. Here is an action which makes a con-|On- per ‘self dul an¢ sary the Tess ome ugh But how ofit- ‘10n. here -Tgy and icial eted y to oma By ulty rant y if ates note that rith- n— duct THE AMERICAN TEACHER 11 of those sections of the United States where the community has failed to build and maintain schools and the individual is the victim of that neglect, and second, the foreign-born population which has come to our shores suffering from similar neglect or which is cramped by ignorance of the English language. To meet these needs adult schools have been provided generally in the cities of the United States, and Dr. Alderman cites as a fine example of this “catching up” process in education the Webster Americanization School of Washington, where under the able leadership of the Principal, Miss Maude Aiton, language instruction and cul- tural advantages go hand in hand through forums and social activities that make of the school a true social center, and attract heads of families as well as the growing-up members of the for- eign-born population which comprises thousands of dwellers in the Federal Capitol. When reviewing the work of adult education as carried on in other cities, the speaker made special mention of the inspiration that flows from the superb library in Cleveland, and the trend toward induction into university life as disclosed by adult education at Gary. At Los Angeles the lure of the languorous climate of Southern California was made into a permanent tie by the readiness with which groups of adult students were provided with instruction fitted not only to their needs but to their wishes for advanced knowledge in numerous branches of learning out- side the usual curriculum provided by public schools elsewhere. Herein California scores, and deservedly so. How can prosperity be more securely clinched than by educational advantages that attract the mature-minded visitor and enlist and maintain his interest and loyal support? In conclusion, Dr. Alderman insisted that char- acter building is the main objective in education, whether children or adults are the human material concerned. Fine buildings and elaborate systems count for little where the desire to improve is not present. The teacher can do much; but the student must provide the will to learn. In fact a spirit of enthusiasm on the part of the teacher and the pupil—a common impulse—is required to produce the very highest results. But even where this ideal is only measurably approached, much may yet be accomplished. In tracing the subsequent careers of students of adult education it has been found that the effort involved in mental training has preempted their thoughts and kept them within normal bounds. Few indeed have been the instances where the ranks of the criminally minded have been re- cruited from the youths who have been influenced by the cultural advantages that our adult schools afford. While education is no panacea for all the ills that beset a democracy such as ours, it does afford the best antidote for the criminal wave that has swept across the land. Civilization provides no substitute; and teachers, whether they impart in- struction to children or to grown-ups, may find satisfaction in the confidence that their work is a distinct contribution to the upbuilding of the future of the Great Republic. MEETING OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIA- TION FOR ADULT EDUCATION The Fifth Annual Meeting of the American Asso- ciation for Adult Education, organized to further the idea of education as a continuing process through- out life, will be held in Chicago, May 12, 13, 14 and 15, at the Edgewater Beach Hotel. Plans for the program include a discussion of rural adult educa- tion, alumni education, art in American life, and radio education. The program will be announced in detail at a later date. THE TEACHER AND WORLD PEACE (Continued from page 5) Several of the ministers protested against the play as being vulgar and filthy. But one of the leading Methodist ministers urged his people to attend. His argument was, “I want you people to see war as it really is, I want you to know that it is not a Sunday School proposition, but that it is brutal and hard and cruel and rough. I want you to know that war and Christianity do not mix.” In our schools we need teachers who can paint war in its ugliness and brutishness. When we watch the average parade, either on the screen or in our home town, we get the im- pression that war is a glorious thing. The bright uniforms, the martial music, and the waving flags thrill us. But there is the other side to war that we need to stress in school. That is a picture of the wounded and mutilated. This was por- trayed in Paris on Armistice Day, 1924, when after a brilliant ceremony over the tomb of the 12 THE AMERICAN TEACHER Unknown Soldier, at which the picked troops of the French army had been reviewed, another army, this time of the Mutiles, gathered at the Arc de Triomphe and marched through the streets. The Universal News Service sent this dispatch to its papers: “First came the seriously wounded in wheel chairs and on stretchers, a few carried by relatives. Then came hundreds of blind men, led by children born when Verdun’s guns were booming. Following that division came the men with one leg, men with one arm, and then ‘smashed mugs.’ There were men with noses off, men with no chins, and men with only half heads. Never has there been such a tre- mendous spectacle since wars began . . . and over all was an overwhelming silence—the silence of the wrecks who marched, and the silence of the horrified multitudes who watched.” Not only should we as teachers teach the moral and physical results of war, but we should also stress the economic cost of war. We realize that today every country involved in war loses whether it wins the war or not. It is true that the profi- teers in each country win, but the great mass of the people lose. Today the workingmen of all the civilized countries groan under the burdens that the last war laid upon them. They are the ones, who, as President Harding said, “pay in peace and die in war.” It will take the American people nearly a century to pay the cost of the war in debts and in pensions. The World War cost the United States considerably more than $1,000,000 an hour for over two years. During the last year of the war, 1918, the expenditures of all the warring nations combined was in excess of ten million dollars an hour. It has been esti- mated that the direct financial costs of the war reached a total of 187 billion dollars. The aver- age daily cost of the war was more than 215 million dollars, or nine million dollars per hour. It has left national debts amounting to 100 billion dollars. The interest alone on this huge sum would give a $1,000 scholarship annually to every college student in the world. As teachers we must realize the fallacy of mili- tary preparedness as a safeguard against future wars. No less a military authority than Major General F. S. Maurice of the British General Staff said: “I went into the British army believ- ing that if you want peace, you must prepare for war. I believe now that if you prepare for war you will get war.” President Coolidge, in a speech at the gradua- tion exercises of the United States Naval Acad. emy in June, 1925, said, “I am not unfamiliar with the claim that if only we had a sufficient military establishment no one would ever molest us. I know no nation in history that has ever been able to attain that position. I see no reason to expect that we could be the exception.” At another time President Coolidge said, “In spite of all the arguments in favor of great military} forces, no nation ever had an army large enough to guarantee it against attack in time of peacef or to insure its victory in time of war. No nation ever will.” We ought to learn from the last war that mili- tary preparedness is no safeguard against war. All the European nations were heavily armed, but that did not keep them out of war. In this connection Rev. S. Parkes Cadman said recently over the radio, “If the philosophy of some of the United States Senators is to govern our inter- national relations we need not 15 cruisers, but 1500 cruisers.” It is well to remember that a cruiser costs $17,000,000 while a bombing plane costing about $50,000 could destroy a cruiser in a few minutes. Since it is evident that the prevention of war does not lie in preparedness, the question natur- f ally arises, “How can wars be prevented?” It seems to me that the solution lies in building of friendships and mutual understandings between nations. Instead of multiplying battleships, we need to extend and organize our friendships. This can be done in the schoolroom by teaching the interdependence of all peoples. We must teach respect for, sympathy with, and under- standing of other nations. Our school histories must be rewritten. We must eliminate hate and jealousy and show what other nations have con- tributed to make our civilization possible. We must glorify our peace heroes and stress theif accomplishments. , We must teach a new type of patriotism. The old blood and thunder, jingoistic patriotism does not suffice for our day. The old slogan, “My country, right or wrong,” sounds too much like “Deutschland iiber alles.” There was a time when nationalism raised men from a narrow pre ry was —- )83—6od ~ - Fo & =| §* TAR Ore Ot ~e ryt = ili- rat. ed, his itly the er- but ta ane 1eif THE AMERICAN TEACHER 13 vincialism to a larger vision. But the world has moved and today life has expanded and become international so that a nationalistic outlook is not enough. We cannot keep aloof from the rest of the world, for today all nations are bound together by financial and commercial bonds. The United States has ten billion dollars invested in all cor- ners of the world and the foreign debts owed to us amount to twelve billion dollars more. Those who say that we must not enter into any entan- gling alliances forget that we are already en- tangled to the extent of twenty-two billion dollars. And, furthermore, we were isolated in 1917, but that did not keep us out of war. Necessity taught individuals, cities, and states to cooperate in order to prevent war. Now necessity drives nations to cooperate or perish. In order to make peace secure we shall need some international organization where nations can settle their disputes in a legal manner without resorting to war. The present League of Nations is functioning in this respect. It has already stopped one war between Greece and Bulgaria, which, if allowed to continue, might have become a second world war. It undoubtedly is true that the machinery of the League of Nations is not perfect, but it at least is a step in the right direc- tion. Its aim is to substitute law for war in in- ternational disputes. The World Court is an- other organization that is worthy of the support of those who believe with the National Education Association that “war is an outworn barbarism which should be rejected by civilized nations.” It seems to me then that our duty as teachers is clear. First, we must try to understand the underlying causes of modern war; second, we must believe that war can be eliminated; and third, we must help bring about a true inter- nationalism. The highest honor that we can pay the Unknown Soldier is to teach the ideals for which he died and in that way help build a new civilization in which there will be no more Un- known Soldiers. In connection with Professor Mehus’s article we present again the position of the American Federation of Teachers on this subject of World Peace. We feel that it cannot be too often re- peated. WAR AND EDUCATION Education is the hope of a better and saner social order. True education should make of our children not only guardians of our revolutionary and constitutional heritage but also pioneers of this new society—a so- ciety built upon the principle of cooperative effort for the benefit of all and not upon special privilege or per- sonal gain for the few. Not the development of robots but the development of character and nobility of soul should be our educational goal. War not only militates against the development of the highest type of socially minded citizens, but is also destructive of all that is best in mankind. War makes for the survival of the bio- logically unfit, for economic disorganization, for mis- ery, and engenders hatreds which make future wars inevitable. We teachers must meet propaganda for war with education for peace. Our chief task is to organize for peace by appealing to the hearts and minds of the grow- ing manhood and womanhood of the nation entrusted to our care. Let the schools become the training ground for the warriors of peace, righteousness and justice— political, social and economic. When that is done, the goal longed for by the lovers of progress and mankind may be attained. To achieve the ends so ardently desired by the lovers of peace, the schools must first root out those narrow ambitions and those ancient animosities which haunt and dominate Europe. It must replace them with a desire for organized co-operation which alone can make pos- sible the development of international mindedness with- out which no world machinery, however admirable, can function effectively. The American Federation of Teachers, as a member of the World Federation of Education Associations, should make its contributions to the promotion of international good will by aiding in the Federation’s effort to reconstruct our text-Looks in literature, in the social and natural sciences and, in general, to remodel our schools to eliminate national egoism, race hatred, the glorification of war and the substitution therefor of the teaching of the truth about war—its cold-blooded butchery, its elimination of the biologically fit, its economic chaos, its debts, starvation, misery and disease. We should glorify the heroes of peace as symbolized by the physician who risks all to discover a cure for leprosy or the idealist who holds fast to minority views which make for progress. Second, to make the outlawry of war more effective, we should seek to have Congress and the President take immediate steps for the adherence of the United States to the World Court for the settlement of such disputes as may arise on the principles of an international code to be developed. Third, we should support such measures and move- ments as seek to have the United States participate officially in international conferences called to consider the reduction of armament and such economic and social matters as are of vital concern to mankind to the end that imperialistic conflicts and the wars they engender may be forever banished. Fourth, we should secure the enactment of legislation 14 THE AMERICAN TEACHER which will insure the prompt publication of state de- partment reports and treaties. Fifth, we should endeavor to secure the prohibition of the exportation of munitions of war to an aggressor nation as defined in the Geneva Protocol. Sixth, we should support measures which seek to prevent the use of government funds for the support of compulsory military training in public schools and col- leges. We are opposed to the conscription of American manhood by educational institutions, as tending to de- velop the military spirit. Compulsory military training, which is a poor substitute for physical training, is edu- cationally unsound since it substitutes automatic for rational reaction. What may be far worse, compulsory military training engenders an attitude of mind, men- acing to world peace, because it recognizes war as a normal social phenomenon placing upon citizens the duty to participate in it. The outcome of the struggle between war and peace upon which so much depends, rests largely with the schools and colleges. It is therefore encouraging to the lovers of peace and brotherhood to find the young men of our colleges objecting strongly to compulsory mili- tary training. The American Federation of Teachers hopes that this opposition to military training and espe- cially to the domination of such training by the Depart- ment of War with the resources and the prestige of the government behind it will grow until compulsory mili- tary training is completely wiped out of every educa- tional institution. Only through such a victory will a peace mind-set gradually develop and help undermine and finally nullify the organized efforts now being made to fix more firmly the war mind-set which un- fortunately dominates mankind. The following resolutions were adopted at the 1929 convention: Peace Day “WHeErEAS, The observance of May 19, Peace Day, in the schools depends on the individual teacher, and “WHEREAS, Peace Day is set aside for the observance of peace measures and the spreading of peace propa- ganda, and “WHereas, This propaganda is needed to offset the idea that prevails with many people that wars are in- evitable, and “WHEREAS, One step in the direction of the prevention of wars would be the nation-wide observance of this day by the schools, and “WHEREAS, This organization of teachers believes that wars are futile and that peaceful settlement of disputes is the only method for civilized people to use; be it “RESOLVED, That the American Federation of Teach- ers urge the adoption of the observance of May 19, Peace Day, in all schools with fitting programs.” Peace and Disarmament “WHEREAS, The sweeping triumph of the British Labor Party brings into power a group strongly fav- orable to the general movements for peace and disarma- ment; and “Wuereas, The American representative at the Gen- eva Conference for the Limitation of Armament stressed the need for the reduction rather than the limitation of armament; and “Whereas, The adoption of the Kellogg Peace Pact makes possible a strong and decided step toward the reduction if not the complete elimination of armament; therefore be it “Resotvep, That the American Federation of Teach- ers commend President Hoover for taking steps inviting the leading powers to achieve a reduction of armament to the end that the way may be paved for ultimate com- plete world disarmament.” DISARM IN AUSTRALIA Australia this week abandoned its national mil- itary and naval academies, and plans to convert its munitions factories into plants for the produc- tion of commercial goods. While the naval col- lege at Jervis Bay and the military academy at Duntoon are being abolished, the government in- tends to develop its aviation service. The drastic disarmament program being adopted by Australia was proposed by the Labor party in that country when it ascended to the control of government in the last elections.— The Progressive. DRAMATIZING THE COST OF WAR Philip Snowden, Great Britain’s Labor Chancel- lor of the Exchequer, dramatized the cost of war in a radio speech, addressed particularly to Cana- da and the United States. Pointing out that sritain’s debt is a war debt, he said: “We must raise for debt purposes $5,000,000 every day, $200,000 every hour, $3,000 every minute. “It takes the whole time labor of 2,000,000 workers, year in and year out, to pay the annual cost of our debt burden.” With the cost of armaments and pensions added, Britain has to raise in taxes $5,000 a minute to pay for past wars or prepare for fu- ture ones. Small wonder the Labor government is determined that the naval conference shall succeed. —Labor. PEACE BY EVOLUTION If we make a careful unbiased study of the origins of the great societies which must be united into one, we find each has a nuniber of tribes and communities. Formerly hostile or ignoring each other they have come together and dissolved out of sympathy, mutual interests or common sense. When we have really understood the underlying motives for this process, then we have found the great secret of everlasting peace, the goal which humanity has been pursuing incessantly. —Ernest Judet. _—____ ee SS -— Fa ease nae Seattle Seattle is again in the midst of a school board election upon the outcome of which, according to Superintendent Cole, depends to a great extent the future policy towards teachers’ freedom to organize and to participate in the direction of their own affairs. Two members of the board are to be elected on March 11. Judge Griffiths, who in the last election received the support of labor and teachers groups and whose term expires, is candidate for re-election. Dr. Edward Lincoln Smith, who is one of the present majority of the school board which forced the withdrawal of the teachers from Local 200 by refusing to en- gage any teacher affiliated with the A. F. of T. and whose term expires at this time, is not a candidate for re-election. Judge Griffiths will again have the support of labor and the teachers organization as also will Donald McDonald. Should both of these candidates be elected they would, together with John B. Shorett, form a majority group on the school board. Superintendent Cole in discussing the signifi- cance of the situation reopened the “teachers union” issue and took a definite stand with the present school board majority. He said: “The vital question confronting the citizens of Seattle, as far as the public schools are concerned, is this: “Shall we, or shall we not, permit the schools to become involved in politics? “That is the important issue to be settled at the March election and ‘the outcome will mean much to the city educationally and financially. It is my belief that the affiliation of a group of teachers with any one class of society which is politically organ- ized will result eventually in a politically-controlled system of public schools. Experience has clearly proven that such a system of schools opens the door to inefficiency and extravagance. “This is the issue that should be made clear to voters, and each candidate for the board of directors should declare himself so there can be no mistake as to where he stands.” Superintendent Cole is evidently not at all in- fluenced by the philosophy of Harry A. Over- street, professor of philosophy of the College of the City of New York and author of “Influencing Human Behavior” and other philosophical and psychological works. Professor Overstreet says: “The labor movement is not in its essence a class movement. It is a movement that stands for what 15 is fundamental to public welfare, and when teachers affiliate with it they are not thereby lowering them- selves to the level of partisans of a class interest. They are, in a very real sense, raising themselves to the point of view of res publica.” At the same time Mr. Cole stated that he would not continue to direct the work of the Seattle pub- lic schools should the result of the election result in giving the teachers freedom to organize. “It should be now and I am making the facts public so the people will know that I will not attempt to direct the work of the Seattle public schools if the Federation of Teachers, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, gains a foothold in the schools,” said Superintendent Cole. “Seattle now has one of the finest school systems in the country and the fact is recognized. I will not remain and see it reduced to the level of Chicago’s educa- tional plants. Politics must be kept out of the school or it is destroyed. known system “If the people wish to unionize their schools and permit the superintendence of the teaching corps by the American Federation of Labor instead of the School Board whom the Seattle people elect, that is the people’s affair. But they should know the situation and that is why I wish to speak now. “Two places on the board are to be filled this year. On the outcome depends the future school policy for, if the teachers’ union elects both members it will be in control through the fact that John B. Shorett will hold If the people wish to keep their school free from political and factional control they must elect new members pledged to that policy.” Superintendent Cole fails to point out any in- stance where the American Federation of Labor has “superintended the teaching corps.” Seattle was one of the places conspicuously exposed for Power Trust propaganda in the schools. No in- stance of organized labor propaganda in the schools has ever been discovered. over. Since making public his stand Superintendent Cole has resigned his position as head of the Seattle schools. But in doing so he took occa- sion again to denounce the American Federation of Teachers, painting a black picture for the future of the schools should the union win its fight. He cited Chicago and its troubles as an example of what happens in cities where the A. F. of T. exists and gives unionism in the schools as the sole cause of Chicago’s plight. If this is an example of the soundness of the superintendent’s thinking, Seattle is to be con- gratulated on his resignation. 16 THE AMERICAN TEACHER Superintendent Cole’s resignation creates an- other issue that adds interest to the election, for the new board will select his successor. Mr. Cole has not made public his plans for next year, but all indications are that he will continue in the state in some educational work either at the University of Washington or as an appointee of Governor Hartley to direct the schools of the State of Washington. PROFESSORS ASSAIL PITT “U” FOR REPRESSIVE TACTICS Charging that “an attitude of timidity in the ad- ministration which is not consistent with a high degree of academic freedom” exists at Pittsburgh University, the American Association of University Professors, in a bulletin just issued, assails the University for being more interested in endowments than in intellectual in- tegrity. Two professors from Ohio State University conducted an‘ informal investigation and wrote the report. Specific reference is made to the expulsion of Fred E. Woltman, assistant professor of philosophy, last spring, following the publication of articles in Pittsburgh papers revealing that the administration was afraid to allow freedom of speech by students and faculty lest industrial interests and the State government should withdraw financial support. Woltman was taken to task, the articles for which he was expelled revealed, for being active as Pittsburgh representative of the American Civil Liberties Union, and for writing magazine articles attacking the coal and iron police regime in Pennsylvania. He was ex- pelled when he told newspapers he had been criticized by the administration. Two students were expelled at the same time for being active in the Liberal Club, and for holding an off- campus meeting demanding freedom for Mooney and Billings. The American Civil Liberties Union fought for the reinstatement of Arthur McDowell, one of the students expelled. McDowell finally dropped the case because he felt that the suit had served its purpose of “expos- ing the autocratic, dictatorial policy of the university's administration.” When the case was dropped, Forrest Bailey, director of the Civil Liberties Union, declared that the suit for reinstatement, instead of establishing a spirit of liberalism in the administration’s interpreta- tion of student rights, merely accomplished “an ex- posure of fascist psychology.” The most valuable man in a community is the man who can make the people of the community think. The most valuable asset of any community is its brains. “HAMSTRINGING THE TEACHERS” Restrictions placed upon the personal lives of the public school teachers have been the subject of frequent comment in magazines and newspapers. The March issue of the Atlantic Monthly con- tains an article, “Hamstringing the Teachers,” by Dr. Carl W. Anderson which summarizes the situation of the teachers in the communities, large and small, of the forty-eight states of the Union. Little that he tells of the fettering of the teachers can be new to the readers of the AMERICAN TEACHER for most of the lim- itations and restrictions that he gives have been therein reported. He finds that the many restrictions on the per- sonal life of the teacher fall into: 1. Prohibition against such recreations as card playing and dancing. 2. Positive requirements of character, includ- ing church attendance and financial integ- rity. a 3. Proscription of marriage or other occupa- tions which might interfere with school work. 4. Attempts to protect the integrity of the teaching profession. (In this class fall laws that no teacher may serve as agent for a school-supply house, and laws regarding the employment of relatives of board members. ) 5. Attempts to secure increased community service from the teacher by requiring that she live in the district, remain in it over week-ends, or teach a Sunday school class. 6. Demands of loyalty to the nation—growing out of the feeling engendered in the late war. 7. Rules against giving or receiving gifts. Although all of these limitations may not be equally irritating to the teachers they show watch- fulness and suspicion of their integrity. Some of these restrictions are embodied in the state codes or statutes; others are incorporated in contracts which the teachers must sign; still others are unwritten but are no less rigid. Among the acts permitted to other citizens but denied to teachers in various places are the use of tobacco (cigarettes are prohibited by law to Tennessee teachers, male and female), going out with members of the other sex, freedom to dress according to the dictates of their own judgment to § THE AMERICAN TEACHER 17 and taste. In some places teachers are forbidden to go out on school nights lest their school work suffer; in other places they are expected to take an active part in all local affairs. One teacher js quoted as saying, “I am expected to accept all invitations, speak to everyone, and attend every- thing that goes on, even if it takes seven nights a week.” In eleven states only are married women teachers protected from dismissal and these eleven states have permanent tenure statutes. Dr. Anderson feels that many excellent teachers have been lost to the schools due to the regulations against matrimony and gives the AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS credit for urging the rights of women teachers to retain their positions after marriage. At some length he discusses the requirement often made of teachers to join the local, state and national teachers’ organizations and the taboo sometimes placed upon membership in the Ameri- can Federation of Teachers. He suggests as one reason for this taboo the fear that the teachers with the support of labor will be successful in obtaining their demands. Throughout the article an attempt has been made to present the situation with all fairness to both the teachers and the community. Dr. Ander- son says, “As a general rule it is expected that public school teachers will subscribe to the pres- ent order of things and will not, in or out of their classes, advocate radical changes in, or find fault _ with, our present system of government.” But he finds in most cases prosecuted under such rules that have come under his notice that the teachers were really ardent crusaders, and posi- tive indoctrination he believes dangerous and ob- jectionable. ‘What should be inculcated is the general trait of independent judgment and ability to weigh facts impartially. This necessarily in- volves criticism, searching and unsparing, of our present scheme of society.” In his analysis of the reason for the many restrictions placed on teachers he includes the “obstinate conservatism” of small communities, desire to control the lives of others on the part of school board members or superintendents, the in- heritance of the teacher-preacher tradition from the time when many teachers were ministers as well, tactlessness and reckless defiance of com- munity prejudices on the part of young teachers. The conclusion reached is that although restric- tions that tend to dehumanize the teachers and drive many of the best men and women from the profession continue to exist especially in the smaller communities, tolerance on the whole is increasing and will continue to increase as people realize that real leaders in the profession will be found in schools that allow teachers to live nor- mal, human lives. Dr. Anderson was teaching in Columbia Uni- versity when he made a nation wide survey of the rules and regulations surrounding teachers. —Mavupe K. Hitt. STATE UPHOLDS TEACHERS’ RIGHT Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (ILNS).—As a result of a successful campaign to organize school teachers in the anthracite regions in locals of the American Federation of Teachers it has been rumored that the State Department of Education would not permit teachers to organize. To settle the matter, the State Federation of Labor raised the question with the Department of Education and received a reply saying that joining a union is not in viola- tion of law and that teachers may join or not as they choose. The campaign to organize the teachers is re- ceiving the hearty support of the Wilkes-Barre Central Labor Union, which recently voted to give all assistance possible to the American Fed- eration of Teachers. . Much approval greeted the statement made at a meeting of the central body that the American Federation of Teachers is proud of its affiliation with the American Federation of Labor, which was described as an integrating, not a disruptive, force in society. It was also pointed out that the A. F. of L. during the last one hundred years was responsible in a major way for the creation and the improvement of the system of free tax-sup- ported schools. The keynote of the evening was struck when President Bernard Callahan said: “When teach- ers affiliate with labor they are allying themselves with a great social movement, a great construc- tive movement for social betterment in the inter- est of the humanization of life, the most vital in the world today.” “Does the road lead uphill all the way? Yes, to the very end.” 18 THE AMERICAN OUR FRIENDS—AND OTHERS The July convention of the A. F. of T. called forth both disapproval and approbation in news- papers of north, south, east and west. Many diverse and conflicting comments were made in papers of all sizes and shades of opinion. Most of these editorial writers seem to think they are taking issue with us while in fact they are agreeing. We hold that the nature of the work done, the results obtained should be the criterion for judging the teacher; that educated men and women in our profession should have the same freedom to exercise their own judgment and discretion in conducting their personal lives that is permitted to others. On the whole the press agrees with that stand though not always without some reservation. One of the important New York City dailies makes the following com- ment: “It is not possible to withhold sympathy from young men and women held to strict ac- countability merely because they happen to be on the school boards’ payroll, but neither is it easy to see how this can be helped. Conventions are much harder to change than laws; one of the oldest of conventions is that which decrees conservatism —not to say stiffness—in manners and dress on the part of those placed in temporary charge of the youth of the land.” The same writer adds that teachers are within their rights when at their conventions they pass such resolutions as were passed at the July convention which at least serve “to let off surplus steam.” We agree with him as to the value of letting off steam, but is that all that our resolutions mean? From the south we read that “the teachers asserted their right to live their own lives with no greater restrictions than are imposed on women in other professions. The impression was left that school board members who demand a higher type of conduct from teachers are just a lot of old meanies. That sounds wise and inde- pendent and easy like. Moreover, it is in line with our ideas of fair play. But just let a school teacher who tries to assert her independence along these lines try to get a job!” In that sentence is expressed the necessity for organized teachers to take a positive stand. A writer on one of the smaller town New York papers assures its readers that “Young people can seldom be led to believe that persons who TEACHER appear ‘old fogyish’ are of the type whose beliefs constitute real wisdom of a sort to fit the modern generation to meet the world” and safely asserts that the teacher should not be far enough in advance to shock the community but concludes that “the teacher’s general effectiveness rather than her detailed conduct ought to govern her standing.” As might be expected, more comment was called forth by the resolution favoring “academic freedom” than by any other of the resolutions, One writer thinks that the Federation has some cause for grievance and grants “that teachers have been too closely restricted by public opinion in the past, and even in the present” but even so feels that teachers, like ministers must be some- what set apart from the world. Still another writer insists that “a Miss who elects to teach should not be requested to go around with a super-serious face. America wants cheerful teachers.” But he adds as a warning “neither does America want the kind of teachers who are the ringleaders of devilishness in the school.” Is that what we are understood to mean when we assert that men and women of character and education should be free to form their own opinions and act according to their own judg- ment ? Our severest critics write much of the dignity of our profession, of the necessity of living up to the high standards set by parents, the right of the employer (the school board) to set his own criteria for judging his workers, the differ- ence of the teachers’ calling from most callings. | One critic says that in the past it was unnecessary for the teachers to pass resolutions demanding that they be treated with respect. Teaching in the past, before the days of standardization of teachers was an art, he says, and the teacher had the respect of the community because he was 2 personality not “one unit of production turned out by recognized teacher factories.” The mod- ern teacher he sees as a factory made product, the result of normal schools and courses in pedagogy. Such criticism may have in it some truth but leads one to question whether courses in pedagogy are responsible for the “standardization” of the teacher or whether the constant watchfulness and restrictions placed by the community upon the teacher have not forced the teacher into such af th th us nc th fir er re ex on th - pr int scl pe: he: the of liefs lern erts 1 in ides ther her was ‘mic ons, ome hers nion n so me- who g 0 ants ning hers the ean cter own 1dg- nity ; up ight his fer- ngs. | sary ling x in 1 of had is a ned 104- the ogy. ads are the and the such THE AMERICAN TEACHER 19 conformity in thought as well as act that indi- vidual initiative has to a great extent been lost. It is only by living as a free individual that strong personalities demanding the respect of the com- munity can develop. On the other hand many are the writers who applaud us. I*rom the south came this encourag- ing statement: “It is time folks become aware that lipstick and lingerie neither make nor break the woman.” A Pacific coast paper congratulates us for celebrating “the Fourth of July by another Declaration of Independence.” Other writers see no reason why since teachers are human beings they should not act as other human beings and find reason for rejoicing in the fact that teach- ers have at last, through one organization at least, insisted upon their right to be treated with the respect that other human beings are treated. Almost without exception the press finds only expression of approval for the Federation’s stand on married teachers. The resolution against the use of the public schools for the spread of propaganda, when it received comment, received only favorable com- ment. One paper says, “if every teacher sub- scribes to the resolution passed by the A. F. of T. and then makes it a point to see that the intention of the resolution is rigidly adhered to, then we have taken a step in the right direction.” An- other, “condemnation of and opposition to propa- ganda in public education found admirable ex- pression in resolutions adopted last week in Chicago by the American Federation of Teachers, meeting in annual convention.” Still another, “This writer will go farther yet and oppose all efforts of any sort whatsoever to propagandize in the schools. The business of the schools is to teach facts—not somebody’s propaganda.” Again, “So you see what a biased and dwarfed thing propaganda can be. Let’s join enlightened and intelligent teachers in keeping it out of the schools, if we can.” And similar comments ap- peared in papers from all sections of the country. Such an attitude on the part of the press is heartening and although some writers have felt they must express their stand with caution they have nearly all expressed approval of the A. F. of T. convention. STATEMENT OF THE- TEACHERS UNION ON THE SERVICES OF MR. GILBERT E. ROE, COUNSEL OF THE UNION FOR ELEVEN YEARS New York, N. Y. February 19, 1930. Mr. Gilbert E. Roe died on Sunday, December 22, 1929. From the year 1918 until the time of his death he was attorney for the Teachers Union in cases before the New York City Board of Education and before the New York State Com- missioner of Education. Throughout this period of eleven years Mr. Roe’s work for the Union was characterized by qualities of great skill as a lawyer, of fine courage and intelligence as a man and of devotion as a friend. His first association with the Teachers Union was as counsel in the appeal to the State Depart- ment of Education of what was known as the “three-teacher case.” Although the three teachers were dismissed in December, 1917, by the New York City Board of Education under war-time charges of “disloyalty,” Mr. Roe gladly assumed charge of the case for the appeal, realizing that there was no actual disloyalty involved in the cases. But the appeal was denied. In 1919 in a similar spirit of devotion to prin- ciple he took the case of Mr. Benjamin Glass- berg, a teacher in the Brooklyn Commercial High School who was accused of giving certain infor- mation to students about political conditions in Russia. Although it was shown that the infor- mation given about Russian affars was correct, Mr. Glassberg was dismissed, and, on appeal, the dismissal was sustained by the State Depart- ment of Education. Mr. Roe’s next conspicuous service for the Teachers Union was as attorney to challenge the right of the Advisory Council to administer the Lusk school laws and to inquire into “the loyalty and the morality” of public school teachers in the State of New York. This challenge was effective and resulted in the public condemnation of the Lusk laws and their ultimate repeal in April, 1923. Since 1923 Mr. Roe’s services for the Teachers Union were limited to three cases, two of which were successful and one unsuccessful. All of them required long and careful attention. In all these years of close relations with Mr. Roe, the Teachers Union members found him 20 THE AMERICAN TEACHER more concerned about making the fight for civil liberty for teachers than he was about tangible success or about adequate financial compensation. However, his cases were uniformly well pre- pared, with an attention to important details and to strategy which was a constant surprise to Union committees that worked with him. No matter how thoroughly these committees thought they understood their own cases, Mr. Roe’s pene- trating mind went further and brought about the thorough organization of the material for presen- tation to educational officials who he knew before- hand were prejudiced. Mr. Roe scorned to take advantage of oppor- tunities constantly afforded in publicity to ad- vance his reputation as a lawyer. Repeatedly he objected to that part of the Union’s prepared pub- lic statements which referred to his connection with cases, saying that such references involved nothing but personal advertising, and that he did not want to be advertised. Some ten years ago Mr. Roe was one of three speakers to address the members of the Union on the question of civil liberty. At that time he stressed as an important guarantee of civil liberty in America the first amendment to the Constitu- tion. Some years later an officer of the Union recalled the occasion of that meeting and the point of his address. Mr. Roe turned, and with anxiety in his voice inquired if he had really said anything like that. He declared then that if he had made a statement of that kind, he wanted it understood that there was no such thing as civil liberty in America now. One of Mr. Roe’s convictions to which he fre- quently referred was his belief that in the steady whittling down of civil liberty in this country, teachers had become the especial prey of those who through legislation seek to control the think- ing of others. He frequently called attention to the fact that in spite of tenure laws for teachers in many states, it was possible to discipline or to dismiss any teacher against whom a _ blanket charge of “conduct unbecoming a teacher” is made. He warned New York teachers that the unfriendly attitude of school officials toward teachers who point out flaws in the existing edu- cational order would presently manifest itself by new characterizations befitting the changing states of public prejudice or sensational interest. Name- calling groups in the school system had applied the terms “disloyal” and “Bolshevik” to progres- sive teachers, and more recently have applied the terms “mentally abnormal,” “mentally unbal- anced” and even “paranoic,” which was exactly what Mr. Roe had predicted would happen. In the most recent of the cases in which Mr, Roe acted as the Union’s counsel the issue of civil liberty for teachers is made clearer than ever by being decided against us by the Commis- sioner of Education, Dr. Frank P. Graves. If Mr. Roe had lived he would have led this fight for the Union, and doubtless would have helped to create a public opinion favorable to freedom for teachers if such a task were capable of fulfillment. Without his inspiring leadership the work must go on in the hands of others. It was moved, seconded, and carried at a meet- ing of the Executive Board of the Teachers Union held on Saturday, February 15, 1930, that the foregoing statement of Mr. Roe’s distin- guished services to the Teachers Union and to the cause of civil liberty for teachers should be pub- lished and that a copy should be given to his widow, Mrs. Gwyneth King Roe. for THE TEACHERS UNION (Signed) Henry R. LINVILLE, President. REAL “AMERICANIZATION” “No immigrant needs to be Americanized to- day more than the descendants of those who came over on the Mayflower,” says Joseph K. Hart, professor of education, University of Wisconsin. Not all of the descendants of those who came over on the Mayflower are jingoes and militarists, but the quotation applies to all too many of them. There seems to be a tendency on the part of some of the descendants of the “fathers,” especially the revolutionary fathers, to be crass conserva- tives and to stand against everything progressive. Particularly do they stand against all progress in the way of abolishing war and militarism. It happens that some of those who are the keenest to “Americanize” the immigrants are themselves the very ones who are in the greatest need of Americanization Oklahoma Leader. me- lied Tes- the bal- ctly Mr. - of han nis- this lave : to able ship eet- 1ers that tin- the ub- his ime art, sin. me sts, em. me ally va- ve. in the are est THE AMERICAN TEACHER 21 MANY OLD AGE PENSION BILLS PRE- SENTED IN CONGRESS AND STATE LEGISLATURES Monthly of American Association for Old Age Security Tells of Progress of Pension Movement The introduction of many bills providing for old age pensions in Congress and various State Legislatures marked the progress of the movement for security for the aged poor during the past month according to the February issue of the “Old Age Security Herald,” monthly organ of the American Association for Old Age Security. United States Senator C. C. Dill of Washington introduced a bill on January 23 calling for an appro- priation of $10,000,000 “in order to provide for the promotion of pensions for old age and for disabled persons by the various states.” The Federal govern- ment, the bill stipulates, is to spend a sum equal to that granted by the various states. This Federal relief would be extended if the states passed an old-age pension law granting pensions to persons sixty years old and over residents of the United States for more than 20 years who are unable to take care of themselves finan- cially. The measure would be administered by the United States Department of Labor. The House of Representatives’ Committee on Labor will hold hearings on pension bills on February 20 and 21 at Washington, the Herald announced. Two bills for pensions have been introduced in the New York State Legislature. The Legislative Com- mission on Old Age Security, created last year, is scheduled to report within two weeks recommending its own pension measure which is expected to receive widespread support. Vigorous demands for pensions in Rhode Island have led to the introduction of a measure in the House of Representatives of that State. Bills in Massachusetts and Other States Representative William E. Kirkpatrick of Holyoke has submitted a bill to the Massachusetts legislature. The measure provides for non-contributory pensions to the amount of $1 a day for persons past the age of 65. The state is to finance two-thirds of the expense and the rest is to be contributed by the townships and Cities. Another pension measure is before the New Jersey legislature. The bill was introduced immediately after the convening of the legislature on Jan. 14, by Senator Alexander Simpson. A similar bill is now before the Virginia law-givers. The Old Age Security Herald also reported that in Utah old age pension measures have been adopted by fourteen out of the state’s 29 counties. Preliminary work on pensions just voted by Milwaukee has been begun and elderly men and women there have already been placed on the pension rolls. On June 1, 1930, the new Wyoming pension law will become effective. About 6,000 persons have filed their application in Cal- ifornia under the California Old Age Pension Law which became effective Jan. 1, 1930. The number of the bills being presented this year is considered significant by the Association, since 1930 is an off state legislative year and in only about a half a dozen states do the legislature hold sessions this year. It is expected that many more pension measures will be pressed next year when nearly all the state legislators of the union will be in session. In introducing his bill Senator Dill declared: “The national demand for better conditions of life for all our people makes it imperative that the Federal government encourage and assist the states in provid- ing systems of pensions to those citizens past the age of 60 years, who are in need of the common comforts of life. “The poorhouse as an institution should be relegated to the past. Those who are in dire need should be made comfortable among their friends and relatives when they are old, that they may spend their declining years as members of the communities in which they have been active members. “Experience proves that in those states where the old age pension system is in operation, the cost is no greater per capita than under the poorhouse plan and the results are incomparably more satisfactory both to those who receive the old age assistance and to their relatives and friends.” Meeting Announced The Association’s publication announced that the New York Permanent Conference on Old Age Security held a meeting of all of its delegates on February 19, 8 p. m., at the Russell Sage Foundation, 130 E. 22nd St. Senator Seabury C. Mastick, chairman of the New York Commission was the principal speaker at the meeting. An article in the Herald told of the story of a New York newspaper wagon horse which was “pensioned off” to a rest farm after ten years of service. On the same day, the Association received a letter from a woman stating that her husband, after serving 47 years in the employ of a firm as a driver, was dismissed with- out a cent at the age of sixty-five. LIBERTY MUST BE SHARED Men must learn that liberty can be won only through action—and when won it must be shared. They must realize that restraint on any minority, no matter how obnoxious, injures everyone as it establishes a principle which may in time be used against those now in power. Some day men will realize that it is not a mere phrase —that highest ideal of liberty—to be willing to die that other men may have the right to teach what you believe to be false and dangerous.—Leon Whipple, in The Story of Civil Liberty in the United States, p. 329. Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principle — Emerson. 22 THE AMERICAN TEACHER SIR MICHAEL SADLER VISITS AMERICA The visit to this country of Sir Michael Sadler, C.B., K.C.S.L, Litt. D., LL.D., Master of Uni- versity College, Oxford, to deliver the “Julius and Rosa Sachs Foundation” lectures for 1930 on secondary education at Teachers College, Colum- bia University, on March 26, 27, and 28, is of particular significance at this time when English education is passing through a stage of recon- struction and secondary education in this country is again experiencing a period of unrest. Sir Michael Sadler is one of the leading edu- cators who has not only played an important and distinguished part in the formative period of English education in the last two generations, but through his writings has contributed more than any single individual to the development of com- parative education as a branch of the study of education. Not only has he been the outstand- ing and most penetrating interpreter of all those subtle forces that have made English education what it is, but in his penetrating and comprehen- sive analyses of foreign school systems he has enriched the field of educational scholarship with models of what such studies should be. Rising far above the ordinary technical details of edu- cational organization and administration he has always stressed the interplay of all those forces of tradition—political, social, economic, literary, and aesthetic—that enter into the moulding of national systems of education. After a distinguished career at Oxford he be- came for ten years secretary of the Oxford Uni- versity Extension (1885-1895). For two years he was a member of the Royal (Bryce) Commis- sion on Secondary Education (1893-1895), whose recommendations furnished the basis for the re- organization of education in England at the be- ginning of the century. As Director of Special Inquiries and Reports in the Education Depart- ment (later the Board of Education) he became responsible for the publication of a most signifi- cant series of Special Reports on Educational Subjects over a large part of the world. His own contributions on Problems in Prussian Sec- ondary Education and on the Unrest in Secondary Education in Germany, France, America and elsewhere are masterpieces of educational and social analyses, which have never been equalled in style or in comprehensiveness of approach. When the Education Act, 1902, gave the local education authorities their opportunity to estab- lish a system of public secondary education, Sir Michael was invited to conduct a number of surveys to this end in Sheffield, Liverpool, Birk- enhead, Derbyshire, Hampshire, Huddersfield, Exeter, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The masterly Reports on Secondary and Higher Education, the results of the surveys, not only furnished the basis for the organization of secondary educa- tion in the areas concerned, but served as models for other parts of thé country. They are remark- able for their breadth and vision, and forecast a program of education for adolescents which is only just becoming a political issue. From 1903 to 1911 Sir Michael Sadler was professor of the history and administration of education at the University of Manchester, and in 1911 became Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds. From 1917 to 1919 he served as Presi- dent of the Calcutta University Commission whose investigation culminated in a monumental report on secondary and higher education valu- able from the standpoint not merely of India’s needs but of modern society in general. More recently in a paper on Examinations read before the Education Conference held in London in January, 1929, Sir Michael has attacked one of the sacred cults of English secondary and higher education, the examination system. In 1922 Sir Michael Sadler became Master of University College, Oxford. He holds honorary degrees from the Universities of Manchaster, Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool, Cambridge, Toronto, and Columbia University ; he is an Officer de 1’In- struction Publique. In 1911 he was made Com- panion of the Bath and in 1919 was created Knight Commander of the Star of India. I. KANDEL, Teachers College. SECOND-HAND OPINIONS NOT EDUCATION When all is said, the ‘ignorance and folly of men are things that institutions cannot cure. Each must dis- cover the path of wisdom for himself. One does not “get” an education anywhere. One becomes an edu- cated person by virtue of patient study, quiet medita- tion, intellectual courage and a life devoted to the dis- covery and service of truth.—Everett Dean Martin, in “The Meaning of a Liberal Education.” THE AMERICAN TEACHER 23 WHY I AM A MEMBER OF THE JoHN Herman RANDALL, Jr., Assistant Profes- TEACHERS UNION Harry A. Overstreet, Professor of Philosophy, College of the City of New York I belong to the Teachers Union because I believe in being an up-to-date democrat. An up-to-date democrat cannot operate as an isolated individual, however virtuous and well-intentioned he may be. He must oper- ate through at least one effective group. The Teachers Union is such an effective group. It is formed for the purpose of achieving democracy in the schools. It is a foe of autocracy, a foe of inefficiency. It fights for high ideals in education and citizenship. I belong to the Teachers Unon because outside of it I am pretty nearly powerless to accom- plish the things in which I fervently believe. sor of. Philosophy, Columbia University I am a member of the Teachers Union be- cause (1) I believe that every one should be a member of a democratic professional organ- ization, and face the problems of his profes- sion as a whole. (2) I believe in the American labor move- ment, and judge that effective criticism must come from those working in it. (3) I believe that by active participation teachers and other intellectual workers can contribute much to the success and the guid- ance of organized labor. (4) I have the highest respect and sympa- thy for the aims and the achievements of the Teachers Union, especially in the American public school ‘situation. ABRAHAM LeFKow!7z, Teacher of History, High Maser L. Rees, Teacher, Public School 144, School of Commerce I belong to the Teachers Union because it has waged a successful fight for intellect- ual freedom and tenure as shown in its suc- cess in bringing about the repeal of the Lusk Laws and the death of the Higgins censor- ship bill; because it has taken the initiative in matters affecting such vital interests of the teachers as salaries, pensions, promotion by merit, etc.; because its sound construc- tive educational reports on Ratings, Indus- trial Education, Experimental Education, Sanitation, etc., are making not only for educational reform but also for the awaken- ing of the teachers; and because its aggres- sive campaign to actualize its ideal of a creative educational democracy is the only hope for a saner social order. Jouanna M. Linptor, Teacher, P. S. 183, Man- hattan I belong to the Teachers Union because | believe in democracy and I believe that the Union through its program of Education for Democracy and Democracy in Educa- tion will bring to teachers the realization of their true mission, and thus hasten the day when the ideal of “brotherhood in the be- loved community” will be not merely the dream of a few idealists but the actual real- ity where each shall serve for the good of all. Brooklyn I am a member of the Teachers Union because its aim is to cooperate with other unions to secure fair working conditions and adequate compensation for the members of all industries and professions, thus making possible the development of worthwhile so- cial ideals and creative activity—especially on the part of teachers. WILLIAM F. Roantree, Head of Department of Mathematics, Jamaica Training School for Teachers I am a member of the Teachers Union for the following reasons: It regards teaching as serious professional work and gives its members varied oppor- tunities for professional growth. It interests itself in the immediate prob- lems of education and at times has been able to assist our school administration in the so- lution of problems. It is watchful of conditions which affect the physical and moral well-being of the chil- dren, and makes constructive criticism and suggestions. It is a working body with a definite pro- gram in which all its members may have a part. It preaches and practises democracy in education. 24 THE AMERICAN TEACHER | General News Students Join Labor Nazareth, Pa.—(FP)—Twenty-one students from Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr and the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania stood shoulder to shoulder with union strikers of the Kraemer Hosiery mill in Nazareth on the picket line while Sheriff John J. Snyder chewed his moustache in vexation. Teachers Want an Income Tax A state income tax for exclusive use of public schools, and increase in the state school distribu- tive fund of $2,000,000 each session of the Gen- eral Assembly until it eventually provides 25 per cent of the total cost of schools of the state or $35,000,000 annually were the leading demands of the State Teachers’ Association at their meeting in Springfield. The Avenue to Professional Unity The National Union of Teachers of England is approaching the goal of complete unity. Its membership for four years has been a steady and sure gain: 1926—121,337; 1927—125,274; 1928 —130,607 ; 1929—134,381. Married Women Teachers The question of employing married women teachers is agitating the city of Detroit. Inspec- tor E. H. Williams has asked for the discharge of “double income” married women instructors as a measure toward the relief of the present acute unemployment situation. He says that there are 5,000 applications on hand and that these properly certificated teachers are unable to get work because from 1800 to 2000 married women are holding these positions. The majority of the Board of Education ob- jected strongly to the removal of married teachers. Inspector Mrs. Laura Osborne argued that the board should not condemn its employes to a life of celibacy and that the question of marriage should not be applied to women any more than to men. “A married teacher is more competent than an unmarried one,” maintained Inspector John H. Webster, “having had the experience of rear- ing children, which an unmarried woman has not had. Anyway, why should we paralyze our edu- cational system by taking out approximately 1800 experienced teachers to put as many inexperienced girls in their places,” he continued. Specialist in Negro Education to Assist in Survey James A. Bond, Dean of the Kentucky Normal and Industrial Institute, has been appointed as “Specialist in Negro Education” by the Secretary of the Interior, Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur. Dean Bond is to assist in the survey being made of secondary education and will confine himself particularly to the educational activities in behalf of his own race. Dean Bond has been engaged in educational activities in behalf of his race for 15 years. Re- cently he has been Dean of the Kentucky Normal and Industrial Institute. Changes in Teacher-Training Schools A change is taking place in our teacher-training institutions according to William John Cooper, Commissioner of Education. Between 1926 and 1928 Teachers’ colleges increased from 101 to 137, while state normal schools, decreased from 102 to 69. The majority of the men teachers’ colleges have been transferred from the state normal list. In 1928 teachers’ colleges were training 75.4 per cent of all students in strictly teacher-training institutions ; state normal schools were training 15.6 per cent; city normal schools, 5.2 per cent; county normal schools, 0.5 per cent and private normal schools, 3.4 per cent. From 1918 to 1926 there was an increase of male students in teacher training schools; from 1926 to 1928 there was a decrease. The number of men taking this training in 1926 was 54,221 and in 1928 was 52,054. The number of women in 1926 was 215,985 and in 1928 was 222,294. In the teachers’ colleges 37 per cent are pre- paring to teach in either junior or senior high schools, while in the normal schools only 15.5 per cent are preparing for this type of teaching. Of the 57,075 certified or graduated from teacher-training institutions in 1928, 14.5 per cent were certified after one year of training; 54.3 per cent, after two years of training; 14.9 per cent, after three years; and 16.3 per cent were certified or graduated after four years of train- ing. THE AMERICAN BOOKS “There is no frigate like a book To bear us lands away.” —Enmily, Dickinson. CrEATIVE Power: By Hughes Mearns, Published by Doubleday, Doran and Company, Inc., Garden City, New York. Pp. 396. $3.50. In a book dedicated to John Dewey this ex- perimenter pioneer in Education, Hughes Mearns, tells of his work in Creative English at the Lin- coln School, New York City. The salient point of the book seems to be the necessity of every teacher to preserve faith in his own work even when he realizes his own shortcomings; when he sees wherein he has failed; when he knows that such failures could have been averted by doing, or refraining from doing, some things in his class room. Most fre- quently the sins are ones of commission, rather than of omission. Teachers must learn to efface themselves—a difficult thing—and give children opportunities to express themselves unhampered and unrepressed. Those who read “The Child Centered School” will recall that the work of Hughes Mearns is mentioned there also. Unfortunately, while this is a book about schools and about school children, it is not about public schools and public school children. These experiments in Education are helpful and effec- tive, but as they may eventually have to be worked out in the public schools it is too bad that some of the worth while ones are not tried in that environment. However, it may give inspiration to teachers who hope that some day classes will be of a size small enough to permit of real teach- ing being done again. M. L. Gronert. YouTH 1n A Wor~p or Men: By Marietta John- son, Published by the John Day Company, New York. Pp. 305. $2.50. This easily read book is written in a popular style that should appeal to both teachers and parents. Creative work, as defined by Mrs. Johnson, is any kind of shop or school work in which the TEACHER 25 child is really interested. This interest is closely linked with the proper selection of work to suit the ability of the child. Creative work forms the core of the school. By it is regulated all school life. The question of Moral, or Character, Development is solved by a properly selected task; sex problems are similarly solved by en- listing the physical energy of the pupil in some- thing that interests him. One cannot help but feel that a school day at Fairhope, Alabama, is a very happy, instruc- tive, and social experience. It must be very like the days of Manumit School at Pawling, New York. This book is the first one published by Mrs. Johnson. It is interesting to learn that Fairhope has grown from a real need to provide for her six year old son what Mrs. Johnson considered the proper kind of education. It is further ex- tremely illuminating to know that Mrs. Johnson’s many years of experience as a public school teacher in Minnesota caused her to question the advisability of sending her child to a “factory- ized” school system. Are there not other mothers and fathers raising the same question in large cities today? They should be, if they are in- terested in the welfare of their children. Of course, all of us cannot set up our own schools, as Mrs. Johnson has done, but every teacher can be giving intelligent and critical at- tention to remedies for the existing evils in every large public school system. M. L. Gronert. INSTRUCTIONAL TESTS IN ARITHMETIC FOR Be- GINNERS, By John R. Clark, Arthur S. Otis and Caroline Hatton. Test Book, 64 pages, price 24 cents; Diagnostic Record, 16 pages, price 12 cents; Teacher’s Manual, 16 pages, price 12 cents. Yonkers-on-Hudson, New York: World Book Company. This material provides a systematic treatment of the basic combinations in addition and in sub- traction for use in primary grades. It is referred to in the authors’ book for teachers, First Steps in Teaching Number, but this book is not essen- tial to effective use of the tests. The pupil’s Test Book includes ten addition tests, ten subtraction tests, and four special diagnostic tests, all tests being in duplicate so that they can be used for 26 THE AMERICAN TEACHER retesting and for practice. The booklets serve, therefore, for individual practice, for measure- ment, and for diagnosis of difficulties. The spe- cial Diagnostic Record provides a means of checking each pupil’s difficulties on each basic fact. The plan here followed recognizes the im- portance of accuracy of initial learning and the necessity of complete individual mastery of each fact. It appears to be simple to use. Mopern-ScuHoot INpiIvipuAL NUMBER CARDS, By John R. Clark, Arthur S. Otis and Caro- line Hatton. Set I, Addition Facts; Set II, Subtraction Facts; Set III, Multiplication Facts; Set IV, Division Facts. Each set consisting of ten large cards, perforated, to cut into 100 small cards. Price per set, 30 cents net or $2.50 net per package of ten sets. Directions, free. Yonkers-on-Hudson, New York: World Book Company. These four sets of small, individual flash cards cover the basic number combinations with whole numbers. Each card has a number combination on one side without the answer and on the other side with the answer, so that the pupil may avoid the danger of forming wrong associations at the beginning. Directions which accompany the cards explain their use as recommended in the authors’ book, First Steps in Teaching Number. The au- thors point out six advantages to the kind of in- dividual practice which can be given with these cards, the most significant being that each child gets the practice that fits his individual needs and thus all children are kept active and progress as fast as possible. The cards can be used along with any class method and they should prove most effective in conjunction with the Instruc- tional Tests in Arithmetic for Beginners, men- tioned above. EnctisH AT Work: Elizabeth Hill Spalding. Published by the WORLD BOOK CO., Yonkers-on-Hudson, New York. pp. 297, price, $1.28. This book, by an experienced teacher, is pre- sented from what might be described as the “you attitude.” It is designed for use in the ninth grade. The selections throughout the book are well chosen and of the kind that students will enjoy reading. There are none of the worn-out poems, anecdotes, and stories. Everything makes the “you” appeal. At the close of each section opportunity is af- forded for the pupil to check up on what is learned from the study. Several interesting top- ics presented in a way that is attractive to first year high school students are, “Meeting Your Public Library,” “Letter Writing,” and “Conver- sation.” The treatment of this last topic is es- pecially effective, the selections are particularly apt and make a strong personal appeal to the student. This book should be an effective means of re-vitalizing English work in the ninth grade. LABOR AND SILK A Federated Press Book Review By Jessie Lloyd Silk workers are no better off today than they were 40 years ago. That is one startling observa- tion in Grace Hutchins’ “Labor and Silk”,* which differs from most industrial surveys in that it describes not only the growth and profits of the silk industry, but the effects on human beings of speedup, unemployment and boss tyranny. “La- bor and Silk” is one of a series on workers’ prob- lems in leading industries being mapped out by the Labor Research Association. “For exploitation of workers, chaos in produc- tion, irregularity and uncertainity of employment, there is no solution under capitalism,” states the author courageously. But “with 100% organiza- tion, silk workers . . . can gain wage increases, shorter hours, and some protection against the worst phases of the speedup spstem.” At present silk workers are but 3% organized, she adds. Wages in silk in 1925 were $1,077 a year against the bureau of labor statistics’ standard budget for minimum health and decency for a family of five of over $2,000. The industry is irregular and workers can expect only 9 or 10 months of work out of a year. In face of the joblessness of one worker out of six, 8% of the silk workers are children under 16, a larger percentage than in any other manu- facturing industry. A manufacturer, James Chit- tick, deplores a “hard and fast age limit” for child workers, “as some children are as mature at 13 as others are at 16, and if the limit is set too high it debars many children anxious and well able to work and leaves the employer short of their labor.” The book describes the life of a silk worker VV_—yw ~~ he - ee wv we ee Ff THE AMERICAN TEACHER 27 standing up all day long, often stooping, staring always in tense nervousness. The sickening crash of the looms deafens many weavers. There is no ventilation: “a gust of wind might break the delicate threads.” In the dyeing branch, the air is full of irritants and active poisons. Tuber- culosis takes the lives of 19.8% of the men and 37.7% of the women in silk mills. Besides the big companies, Miss Hutchins points out, there are a number of smaller com- panies and home “cockroaches,” underbidding the big concerns and disorganizing the market. The rush for profits brings overproduction. Now the silk industry cries for a higher tariff for relief. But it has failed to find stability in a tariff of 55%, maintained ever since the civil war. “The whole picture of the textile industries today,” she writes, “reveals the confusion and anarchy of capitalism.” Russian silk workers, with social insurance, paid vacations, clubs, planned production and the 3-shift, 7-hour day are compared with American silk workers, bereft of help in unemployment and sickness, the victims of a chaotic industry and of 9, 10 and 12-hour shifts. Miss Hutchins reveals the silk workers’ fight- ing spirit for generations, their battle against employers, police, militia and prisons, betrayal by spies and the terrible pressure of the mass of the unemployed. “The building up of a strong union will not be easy,” she concludes. An industrial union, ignoring race, craft and sex lines and based on the need for militant struggle, is the hope not only of silk workers, she writes, but for all workers in cotton, woolen and rayon mills, so that “they will truly join hands with other work- ers in America and throughout the world against capitalist oppression and exploitation and for the complete emancipation of all workers.” *Labor and Silk, By Grace Hutchins, 191 pp. Intl. Publishers, New York. Cloth, $2; board, $1. BULLETIN OF THE WoMEN’s Bureau No. 75— What the Wage-Earning Woman Contrib- utes to Family Support, by Agnes L. Peter- son. To those of us who think that women are leaving industrial employment to which they were attracted, and compelled, by war conditions this bulletin of the WOMEN’s BUREAU will present flat denials, From statistical data compiled in sixteen tables one is impressed with two facts: first, the wages of the men of the country are inadequate for supporting a family. In support of this, the tables show that the proportion of women wage earners has increased from 14.7 per cent in 1880 to 21.1 in 1920. And, whereas in 1890 only 4.6 per cent of the women wage earners were mar- ried women, in 1920 this proportion had increased to 9.0 per cent. The second fact that strikes one is the tremendously large number of women (young) gainfully employed. One out of every five of the 8,500,000 women gainfully employed in 1920 was under twenty years of age. Of this number, 1,758,000 under twenty, 346,000 were under sixteen years of age. What this means to the health of the future generations may cause one to wonder. There must be adequate safe- guards to the health of these young workers and their educational equipment ought not to suffer because of enforced employment due to inade- quate wages of their fathers, husbands, or brothers. The bulletin contains other interesting data for those who are inclined to read along these lines. M. L. Gronert. A new list, Readers and Primers, A Selection for Use in Children’s Rooms of Public Libraries, published by the A. L. A. has just made its appearance. It aims to be not an exhaustive list but a fair sampling of books in the reader and primer class which may be used in guiding little children’s informal reading. It was pre- pared by a committee of the Section for Library Work with Children, of which Elizabeth Briggs of the Cleve- land Public Library is chairman. Single copies are offered for 10c in stamps. Quantity prices range from 45c for ten copies to $2.25 per hundred. Inquiries or orders should be sent directly to the American Library Association at Chicago. HOW DOES AMERICA LOOK TO SINCLAIR LEWIS? “All my books have said one thing—life in America is inescapably dull. Conversation is dull. People are dull. We have the greatest resources of any people on earth. We have crushed the virtues from every na- tionality that has come to our shores. We have taken the culture of the Old World—from Cambridge, from Heidelberg, from Bonn—yet the spring of action is lacking. “Our boasted democracy comes down to this—I am as good as the King. Even if I am a worker, my children shall not be workers; they will be equals of J. P. Morgan.” 28 THE AMERICAN TEACHER Local News CHICAGO, LOCAL 3 On February 25th the majority of the delegates of the Junior and Senior High Schools met at a tea given at the Illinois Athletic Club for the purpose of becoming better acquainted with each other and with the members of the Executive Board. The arrangements for the tea, which were made by Miss Moore, the Social Chairman, were delightful and everybody had a good time. Keen interest was shown and many remained to discuss the proposed legislative program and unity of action of the teachers in supporting such a program. Literature on the subject was dis- tributed. The February monthly meeting, like the Janu- ary one, was an overflow, and at this time the general line of discussion was the proposed legis- lative program. M. B. NiIELAND. NEW YORK, LOCAL 5 The Teachers Union Congratulates Dr. Tildsley in His Stand for Efficient Schools Dr. John L. Tildsley, February 18, 1930. District Superintendent Assigned to High Schools, 500 Park Avenue, New York. Dear Dr. Tildsley: The Executive Board of the Teachers Union at a recent meeting authorized me to send to you a letter of congratulation on your recent public statement concerning conditions in the New York City school system. I take pleasure in trans- mitting this message and in bespeaking for you that degree of support among liberty-loving teachers which the frankness and truthfulness of your address should inspire. At the moment of drafting this letter we note a current press release to the effect that the Super- intendent of Schools has notified you to make no further public statements concerning the efficiency of the public school system. This, we take it, is an exemplification of the dictum of obedience which Superintendent O’Shea recently pro- claimed as the duty and obligation of loyal teachers. This action by the Superintendent of Schools may be due to a nervous fear of still greater exposures and of the spread of revolt among teachers. Nevertheless, there is a serious menace to education involved in the implied threat of punishment for any teacher, principal or dis- trict superintendent who feels strongly the social obligation to make known the facts of inefficiency, political domination and intellectual dishonesty that exist throughout the school system. Overwhelming as are the difficulties in the way of setting before the people of New York the actual facts relating to the administration of pub- lic education, the task is lightened by the reaction to criticism of the school officials themselves. Already they have shown the pettiness of their ideas on the professional relation of teachers and supervisors. Already their vain boast that “New York has the finest school system in the world” discloses the poverty of their conception of the purposes and attributes of real education. And in their current display of high percentages of graduating high school students who pass the state examinations they exhibit a type of intellec- tual dishonesty that carries its own condemnation. In due time this brazen attempt to deceive the public will be exposed as it deserves to be. There- fore, whatever success attends the official effort to establish the complete repression of teachers, let us insist on uncensored freedom of speech for the officials themselves. Much as we condemn the imposition upon you of an order to cease participation in the public discussion of the organization and inefficiency of the schools, we can but express the added re- gret that you have deemed it expedient to accede to the autocratic demand for silence. Your long professional experience has provided you with the invaluable understanding of the practices of an antiquated and ineffective school system steeped as it is in the trickery and educationally destructive selfishness and deceit of partisan polli- tics and intellectual dishonesty. But the silence imposed on you should have, and we believe will have, the effect.of awakening a public demand to know the nature and the extent of conditions which disturbed school officials are seeking to conceal from the public view. Cordially yours, Henry R. Linvitte, President. ta: an pr tai the on Ba de pr an cel he; th qu go W str of ill alt — Se -—_ bin THE AMERICAN TEACHER 29 WASHINGTON, D. C., LOCAL 27 Washington Teachers’ Union, Local 27, is working steadily onward to accomplish the ideals which it has set up for itself as a code. More convinced than ever are all of us that the biggest need of teaching groups is an awakened self- consciousness to what the group can accomplish in helping itself. Our local also feels that before the stupendous task of bringing peace to a world inured to the habit of war is accomplished, the pursuit of peace among classes, races and individuals must be practiced. With these thoughts in mind, Local 27 enter- tained members of the Board of Education and the administrative officials at a five-course dinner on Saturday, January 11, at the newly opened Bamboo Inn in this city. The occasion was wholly delightful ; teachers in all levels of the work were present ; august board members and dignified ad- ministrators laid aside formality and there were several hours of sincere, friendly communication and interchange of objectives, ideals, and ambi- tions by both sides followed by an utter aban- donment of dull care in the dancing after dinner. The guests were welcomed by President Mary Mason Jones, who later presented Mrs. M. M. Marshall, ex-president of Local 27, as mistress of ceremonies. Dr. J. Hayden Johnson spoke of how teachers may promote community health; Mr. Garnet C. Wilkinson spoke on “Cooperation in School Ad- ministration”; and Mr. Howard Long, Research Director, spoke on the “Real Significance of Educational Tests and Measurements.” One of our Union members and officers became seriously threatened by loss of position as a result of teaching in a portable which undermined health and efficiency. It was wonderful to see how the Union rallied to help her; how the ad- ministration was approached, interviewed, and petitioned in her behalf with the final outcome that this teacher was pensioned at her own re- quest. We have about twenty-five members who are going to take disability group insurance March 1. We hope to organize another and larger group in straight life insurance a little later. We are now working this matter up. February 10 to 14 was Negro History Week with us in Washington and all over the country, sponsored by the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, with which we are affiliated. Our committee was active in helping to promote a banquet to four hundred followed by a mass meeting in the Washington Auditorium in honor of Congressman DePriest and three ex-members of congress, Cheatham, John R. Lynch and Thomas E. Miller. It should also be mentioned that Congressman DePriest accepted an invitation to our local’s dinner along with Dr. J. Hayden Johnson of the Board of Education, Supt. G. C. Wilkinson, Supt. E. R. Clarke, Supt. Howard Long and the wives of these gentlemen. Mary Mason Jones, President. ST. PAUL WOMEN, LOCAL 28 The Federation of Women Teachers held a regular meeting in its clubrooms at 372 St. Peter street on Monday, Jan. 27, at 4:15. Nominations were made of candidates for the board, the elec- tion to be held at the regular February meeting. Miss Mary McGough, president, presided; and tea was served by the hospitality committee, Miss Genevieve Hopkins, chairman. Reports were submitted by the treasurer of the Federation and by the treasurer of the Credit Union. A resume of the report of the State Industrial commission on the condition of the public school buildings of the city was presented and discussed. No ac- tion was taken. The members authorized the ap- pointment of a committee to investigate reports of greatly overcrowded classes following the admission of new pupils and the promotion of classes at the beginning of the semester. The board of the federation held its regular monthly meeting on Thursday, Feb. 6, at 4:30 P. M. ST. PAUL MEN, LOCAL 43 Resolution on Censorship Wuereas, An effort is being made in Congress by Senator Smoot and others to enact a customs censorship of literature, and Wuereas, A knowledge of what people in other parts of the world are thinking and saying is essential to our progress and welfare. 30 And as it is an insult to the intelligence of the American people to suppose that they cannot choose their own reading matter without becom- ing evil minded or that they cannot read of social changes in other countries without becoming anarchists. And as there are numerous state laws that pro- vide machinery for whatever regulation is neces- sary, and with much more satisfaction than the whimsical censorship of a government clerk, and WueEreas, It is the business of teachers, pro- fessors, librarians, and publishers to deal in ideas ; therefore, be it REsoLvep, That we, as teachers, urge Congress that no custom censorship of literature be created, by law or otherwise; and, be it further ResoLveD, That copies of this resolution be sent to Senators Shipstead, Schall, and Bronson Cutting, to Congressman Maas, and to the Amer- ican Federation of Teachers. MEMPHIS, LOCAL 52 A campaign for teachers’ pensions in the state of Tennessee has been launched by the Memphis Teachers Association, Local 52. The initial move was a talk over Radio WCN by Herman L. Ekern, pension and insurance expert and former attorney-general of Wisconsin, on Sunday, Feb- ruary 16. On Monday Mr. Ekern addressed the teachers of Memphis and the interested public at a large meeting on the subject of “A Scientific Retirement System.” The>move for a sound state wide pension law for teachers has got off to a good start. Miss Mary V. Little is chairman of the committee in charge. PORTLAND, LOCAL 111 Events of the last month have been interest- ing. One of our members has been elected to a place on the legislative committee of the Cen- tral Labor Council. At the last open meeting, Professor Stewart of Reed College gave us some real information concerning the principles of philosophy upon which unionization has been established. At the last meeting of the book club, the controversy aroused by Krutch’s “Mod- ern Temper” was sufficiently vigorous to main- tain good mental circulation. The club is grow- ing in numbers and in enthusiasm. The outstanding advance of the month has been THE AMERICAN TEACHER the election of the president of the Teachers Union to one of the most influential positions which labor can offer. Recently there has been formed in Portland, with the authorization of the State Federation, the Organized Labor Political League. Its initial personnel consisted of three members from each local and three from each section of the C. L C., aggregating in all one-hundred and fifty cre. dentialed members. By these delegates were chosen twelve persons to form the executive body, the most essential unit of the League—a body to investigate all candidates, not as to their political affiliations, but as to their aggressive and im- personal loyalty toward labor projects and pro- grams. One member of this Executive Board, the sec- ond one to receive a nomination and the one to receive a larger number of votes than any other of the fifteen candidates elected during the organ- ization of the League, is a member of the Teachers’ Union—its president—Miss May Dar- ling. Although the League’s extent of power is as yet only a matter of conjecture, there is no un- certainty as to the vital need for an investigative body that, after intelligent, thorough, and dis- criminating scrutiny of candidates and proposed legislative measures, will give to the public its un- | prejudiced judgment; and it takes no prophetic eye to vision the field over. which this body, actu- | ated by honest and thorough service to the public. | may extend labor’s influence and prestige. Out | relation with this group is, perhaps, the oppor- | tunity to make a permanent place in the political world for teacher influence. BELLE TENNANT. BROOKWOOD, LOCAL 189 PROGRAM WASHINGTON’S BIRTHDAY CONFERENCE February 21-23, 1930 FRIDAY EVENING, February 21: Informa Social Meeting SATURDAY MORNING, 10:00-12:45: General Subject: Survey or Workers’ Epv- | IN THE Unitep States Now Lefkowitz, Schwartz, Coit, CATION (Kennedy, Smith, Epstein, Bohn, Kohn, Chalmers, Friedmann) SU pec “O wa: rep tho pro anc in | stu me lati me to the chers’ itions tland, ation, initial each wy ’ cre. were body, dy to itical im- pro- sec- 1€ to other ‘gan- the Dar- IS as un- ative dis- osed un- 1etic ctu- | blic, | ‘ical DU- F vit, Ts, THE AMERICAN TEACHER 31 SATURDAY AFTERNOON, 2:00-5:30: General Subject: THe ProBLEM oF THE SOUTH A. Agencies Already in the Field (Copen- haver, Tippett, Ross) B. The Nature of the Educational Work to be undertaken for the Southern Field (Barker, Mitchell, MacDonald, Har- ris, Graham) SATURDAY EVENING, 8:30: Drama. “StrercH-Out,” The Story of Mar- ion, by Tom Tippett. Exhibit of Southern Handicrafts North Carolina Strike Songs and Folk Songs SUNDAY MORNING, 9:30-12 :30: General Subject: Workers’ EpUCATION IN RELATION TO SpEciFIc ACTIVITIES A. Political Action and Workers’ Educa- tion (James Maurer, Devere Allen) B. The Labor Press and Workers’ Educa- tion (Ziegler, Hardman, Hedges) SUNDAY AFTERNOON, 2:00-4:30: General Subject: “Next Steps” 1n WorKERs’ EDUCATION What’s To Be Done? William Johnston How Is It To Be Done? J. C. Kennedy Who Is To Do It? A. J. Muste GRAND FORKS, LOCAL 205 The February meeting of Local 205 was es- pecially well attended. An interesting report of ") “Our Changing Education” by A. L. Ferguson was given by one of the members. Committee reports were made. Of particular interest were those made by the committee working on the proposed new Insurance plan before the board, and by the salary committee which is working in conjunction with a special committee which is studying the sources of income of the district. A vote was taken to hold at least three dinner meetings during the year with the hope of stimu- lating and encouraging regular attendance at the meetings. Membership in the local Federation continues to increase, the latest members added being from the Junior High School. Viona C. HANSEN, Recording Secretary. CHICAGO, LOCAL 205 The Board of Education Playground Teach- ers Union, organized in June, 1929, is proud of its ninety-five per cent membership. A drive for the other five per cent is now on and its success is practically assured. The meetings of this comparatively new lo- cal are always well attended, and are made especially interesting by having a representa- tive of some other union give a talk. Florence Curtis Hanson, editor of The American Teacher, gave the group a splendid talk on “Organization” which was enthusiastically re- ceived. Harry Scheck talked on the necessity of demanding the union label. Mr. Meade, president of the Chicago Federation of Men Teachers, is scheduled to give a talk soon on the subject: “Loyalty to Union Ideals.” Our especial interest at present is the “Social” being planned for Playground Teach- ers and their friends. —BENJAMIN PREMACK. WILKES BARRE, LOCAL 211 The regular meeting of Wilkes Barre Town- ship Local No. 211, American [Federation of Teachers was held March 1 at the Redington Hotel with a fine attendance of the membership. Progress was reported in the work of various committees, and preliminary plans were discussed concerning a _ legislative program affecting teachers tenure and other matters, that will be furthered at the next session of the State as- sembly in concert with the other unions of the American Federation of Teachers in this section and in Pennsylvania and backed by the great strength of the membership of Pennsylvania State Federation of Labor. Much interest was aroused by the report of the steady progress of organization of teachers unions in this section under the direction of Charles Kutz, representative of the Pennsylvania State Federation of Labor. Action was taken to advise the Central Labor Union of Wilkes Barre that Local No. 211 will co-operate in arrangements for a great labor banquet to be held in the near future, and to re- quest that a national educator of note of the teachers union be given place on the speakers program which it is understood will have on it the outstanding labor leaders of the nation. 32 THE AMERICAN TEACHER NANTICOKE, PA., LOCAL 213 After a thorough canvass of the teaching force, the teachers of Nanticoke voted almost unani- mously to affiliate with the American Federation of Teachers. The programs and policies of other teachers’ organizations were carefully analyzed and representatives of these associations were in- vited to address gatherings of the teachers. The broad principles of the American Federa- tion of Teachers, which are typical of all labor unions, made the greatest appeal to the teachers and determined their vote in favor of unioniza- tion. Charles Kutz, representative of the State Federation of Labor, was active in bringing about the organization. After receiving their charter Local No. 213 elected the following officers and executive board: Miss Joseph Kutzki, President; Miss Edith Superko, Secretary-Treasurer; Mr. William Johnathon, Vice-President ; Miss Mabel E. Davis, Mr. Joseph P. Siesko, Miss Josephine Kramer, Miss Teresa H. Knoll, Miss Gertrude Roberts, Miss Ruth Winter Piatt, Miss Marie K. Nisher, Miss M. Ruth Gommer, Miss Josephine K. Fair- child, Miss Mary L. Kohlbraker, Miss Edna A. 3achastein, Executive Board Members. HANOVER, PA., LOCAL 214 The teachers of Hanover Township, Luzerne County, Pa., have affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers as Local 214, 100% strong. Secretary Hanson and Charles Kutz, representing the Pennsylvania State Federation of Labor, addressed the teachers at the meeting at which they voted unanimously to join this movement for educational and social betterment. A fine spirit of cooperation has been evinced by school directors and public officials toward the organization. The following officers have been elected: Mr. James N. O’Donnell, President ; Mr. C. J. Davis, Secretary-Treasurer; Mr. F. A. Caffney, Vice- President; Miss Mary Gilroy, Recording Secre- tary. Before launching any reform movement af- fecting their calling the teachers are planning to carry on preliminary research work. The American Federation of Teachers and its member locals welcome these Pennsylvania groups most heartily. We are sure that it is a big step toward the accomplishment of those im. proved conditions for the schools which the teachers understand and desire. PLAINS TOWNSHIP, PA., LOCAL 216 Teachers of Plains Township schools in ses. § sion February 26 voted unanimously to affiliate themselves with the American Federation of Teachers, thus becoming the fourth active andi l e aggressive local of the union in Luzerne county, (iP Charles Kutz, special representative of the § BEBE State Federation of Labor, has been in charge gum of directing the work of organization among the teaching groups of that section, since shortly after the Plains teachers won a victory by strik-§ ing for long overdue wages. It is appropriate # that Plains, which is responsible for the beginning of the movement, should become an active mem- ber of the American Federation of Labor. Other locals in the county are: Nanticoke City, Hanover and Wilkes Barre Townships, and it is likely that a fifth local will be organized some- time next week. Organized and inculcated with the ideals of the American Federation of Labor, these teachers can now present a united front. The first step in professional unity and effective organization has been taken. They are now members of a great body of organized citizenry which will make the teachers cause its own. As a part of the greatest army of right and-justice in the history of civilization their just demands will be treated with consideration. With the thousands of union men and women of Luzerne county as their brothers and sisters, the teachers are now in a position to secure the justice long denied them. The officers of the Plain Township Teachers’ Union are: P. J. Burke, president; Joseph Grady, secretary ; Miss Margaret Lenahan, treas- urer; Mrs. Sara Curry, vice-president, and Thomas Brannan, Edward Munnelly, M. V. Hughes, Joseph Brannigan and the aforemen- tioned officers constitute the Executive Board. The American Federation of Teachers rejoices greatly over this new member of its family. The fine art of thinking has been lost in the modern age of machines. The mechanical age has made it not only unnecessary, but almost impossible for us to think constructively, even in our leisure —Dr. William Mather. uis, Mo. es. LOCUST AT EIGHTEENTH STREET aS Three minutes from the Center of Downtown St.Couis~ high Class Restaurant ard Coffee Shop- Mineral Baths will tone up your entire system. Physicians are strong in the recommendation of Saline-Sulphur Salts for rheumatism, nervousness, neuritis, lack of vitality, arthritis and other ailments. Garage Service~ 350 ROOMS Each with private bath and shower~circula~ ting ice water.and electric fan~ New Modern Hotel Overlooking Lake Michigan Down in Dixie the CLARIDGE Welcomes You~ 400 ROOMS each with tub & shower~ | circulating ice water~ ' electric fan & servidors~ = ~ HOTEL WHITCOMB ST. JOSEPH, MICHIGAN is famous all over the world for its Mineral Baths, which have been analyzed by leading authorities and found to contain RATES A FROM $250 AV | pao | Wiel, Dass Restaurant — WA eal MY :) \ Py choy Loy Loy Loy Ly Loy Loy Loy Ly Loy Ly Ly Ly Dy Loy Loy dy Ly Loy Ly by Ly Ly by by Ly by ly ly ltt Dlr Convement Garage Service | tA¥ 20990 ater many curative qualities equal in medicinal values to those MAIN AT ADAMS ST. ‘e aS eek a "1 of the famous European Spas. The Hotel itself is located on = oA fick Ye a High Bluff overlooking the lake. It is completely modern . and offers every facility for rest and recreation. Now isa good time to come. Write or wire Z. D. Jenkins, Manager, | for reservations and booklets. a i ke e he The UNION LABOR Life Insurance Company r / WASHINGTON, D. C. e CONCEIVED IN THE “! American Federation of Labor s, OWNED BY TRADE UNIONS AND TRADE UNIONISTS le A non-profit making Corporation—All Policies PARTICIPATING . All Members Insured Avoid passing the hat ) . . . . No Medical Examination New Members Insured for full amount F No Age Limit as soon as initiated Strengthen your Union with the home folks : LET EMPLOYER PAY WAGES. BUY YOUR OWN INSURANCE ENERGETIC SALESMEN NEEDED WRITE FOR INFORMATION TO MATTHEW WOLL, President : | THE UNION LABOR LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY WASHINGTON, D. C. American Federation of Teachers 506 South Wabash Avenue CHICAGO, ILL. pp The American Federation of Teachers desires to estab- lish an intimate contact and an effective co-operation be- tween the teachers and the other workers of the community. The American Federation of Teachers desires to co- operate with all civic organizations for improved civic life. Groups of seven or more public school teachers are invited to affiliate with this National Organization of Classroom Teachers, for mutual assistance, improved professional standards and the democratization of the schools. Our Slogan Is: Democracy in Education: Education for Democracy “The American Teacher” is published monthly by the American Federation of Teachers. . Membership dues carry subscription to the magazine. To all others the sub- scription price is $2.00 per year, 25 cents per copy.