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Grades." A very warm discussion followed this subject, participated in by J. W. MacKinnon, H. C. Minnich, Dr. Findley and others, in which "the firing continued after the ammunition was exhausted."

Supt. W. W. Ross of Fremont, Chairman of the Committee on Necrology, reported the death of ten members of the association, among whom was Reuben McMillan, L. D. Brown and Hampton Bennett. Many members paid tribute to the departed.

The committee on nominations reported as follows: H. B. Williams, President; W. D. Clephane, Secretary. These gentlemen were elected, after which the Department adjourned.

J. F. FENTON, Secretary.

J. W. ZELLER, President.

THURSDAY MORNING.

MINUTES OF THE GENERAL ASSOCIATION.

Hotel Victory, Put-in-Bay,
June 30, 1898.

The Ohio State Teachers' Association was called to order at 9:30 A. M. by the chairman of the state executive Committee, J. P. Cummins, of Cincinnati. "Gantvoort's Goslins", a male chorus of members of the association, opened the exercises of the morning with a song, after which Dr. Samuel Findley led in prayer. A song entitled "Hurrah for the Schools of Ohio" followed, the words of which were composed by W. H. Venable and the music by A. J. Gantvoort. Its singing created, at several times throughout the meeting, great enthusiasm.

Mr. Cummins presented to the association its president, Hon. O. T. Corson of Columbus, who delivered the inaugural address.

After the singing of America, L. H. Jones of Cleveland made an address on

School Discipline in Relation to Char

acter.

A song by the male chorus followed. On motion of F. B. Dyer of Madisonville, a message of greeting was sent to the State Teachers' Association of Pennsylvania.

On motion of Dr. J. A. Shawan of Columbus, the following message was sent to Col. W. J. White, formerly of Dayton, now in service at Tampa, Fla., "The Teachers' Association in convention now assembled, sends you greeting and good wishes.

'In army and navy our quota is full, You may now on our fighting rely O!

Our fighting superintendent is now at the front,

'Hurrah for the schools of Ohio.""

Dr. Shawan discussed the address of Mr. Jones.

A Cuban war song, composed by N. L. Clover of Akron, was then sung and resung, when again the association enthused itself with "Hurrah for the Schools of Ohio."

J. W. Moore of Leetonia, now read a paper on Physical Culture.

The president appointed the following committees: On nominations, Samuel Findley, Akron; J. J. Burns, Defiance; C. W. Bennett, Piqua; H. M. Parker, Elyria; M. E. Hard, Bowling Green. On resolutions: A. B. Johnson, Avondale; W. McK. Vance, Urbana; C. L. Dickey, Worthington. On college of Ohio Teachers: S. D. Sanor, Cleveland; S. L. Rose, Hamilton; J. E. Morris, Alliance.

J. E. Morris of Alliance made a motion that the next meeting of the association be held at Columbus, in the holidays of 1899. On motion of E. B. Cox of Xenia the consideration of this question was deferred to a later session of the association.

THURSDAY EVENING.

The evening session was opened by a delightful, brief song recital given by Miss Holderman of Tiffin, after which Dr. S. F. Scovel, president of the Wooster University, delivered the annual address on the "Culture of the Emotions."

FRIDAY MORNING, JULY 1. After prayer by Prof. J. M. Chamberlain of Marietta, and music, Mrs. D. L. Williams of Delaware, the chairman of the Board of Control of the Ohio Teachers' Reading Circle, was introduced. She called on the secretary and treasurer, J. J. Burns of Defiance, for the annual report, after which Mrs. Williams gave a brief sketch of the growth and aims of the circle.

The president announced that a syllabus on Geography, prepared by the committee on geography, appointed at the last meeting would soon be ready for distribution to the teachers of the state. On motion of E. B. Cox of Xenia, the executive committee was asked to pay the expenses of this committee, which were incurred in the preparation of the syllabus. The executive committee was likewise to pay such expenses of the chairman of the committee on legislation, C. L. Dickey, as were incurred by him in prosecuting the work of the committee.

The consideration of the place of holding the next meeting was now taken up. Messrs. Morris, Zeller, Shawan, Hartzler, Cox, Johnson and Findley took part in the discussion. A vote showed Put-in-Bay to be the preference as to place, and the summer the choice as to the time of holding the next meeting. E. A. Jones of Massillon made a motion, which prevailed, that the executive committee in arranging the programme for the coming year be requested to give each section a place on the general programme.

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REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS.

The Committee on Resolutions through its chairman, presented the following:

Resolved, That we, the members of the Ohio State Teachers' Association at this the fifty-first Annual Session held at the "Victory" Hotel, Put-inBay Island, take great pleasure in extending a hearty vote of thanks to all the railways of the State for having granted very liberal and satisfactory rates and excellent service to all our members, and likewise to the boat lines touching at this Island, for similar favors.

That our heartfelt thanks are especially due to the proprietors of the Victory Messrs. F. T. Peterson, the Landlord, and T. W. McCreary, General Agent, for surely "we have fared sumptuously every day" and cannot soon forget the many kind courtesies which have been so freely extended to us during our brief sojourn in this delightful resort, unsurpassed in its roomy accommodations.

Our thanks and congratulations to the Executive Committee for an excellent program, wisely conceived and successfully executed.

And we are more than thankful to Messrs. Gantvoort and Glover for having shown us what surely we did not

know before, that "Goslings" can sing

and that too, delightfully: that by their efforts, sensible, and stirring song has been made for the first time a prominent feature of at our annual meeting. And moreover we do recommend to all managers of County Institutes in the State, that they adopt and put upon their programs this grand Rallying Sang "The Schools of Ohio" which has so often thrilled and inspired us, and the echoes of which will, it may be, linger in these walls until we come again.

Signed by

A. B. JOHNSON, W. McK. VANCE, C. L. DICKEY.

After the transaction of general business Dr. J. W. Bashford, president of the Ohio Wesleyan University, deliverad an address on The Orient and the Occident.

A motion prevailed that E. A. Jones of Massillon be sent as a delegate to the State Library Association which will convene at Dayton the coming winter.

After the singing of the doxology the president declared the Association adjourned to meet at the call of the executive committee.

E. D. LYON, Secretary. O. T. CORSON, President.

EDUCATION AND THE STATE.

Inaugural Address of J. W. ZELLER, President of the Department of Superintendence.

On the pages of the closing chapter of the history of the 19th century, will be written with double emphasis the declaration so often made by our fathers, that general intelligence and virtue are essential to the full develop

ment, maintenance, and perpetuity of our Republican institutions; and that "a well-instructed people alone can be a free people."

On the pages of the opening chapter of the history of the 20th century will

be recorded the statement that we have, in a degree, failed in the development of a wise and intelligent citizenship, and that the State must do more in the future than she has in the past looking toward a more vital and a more general diffusion of knowledge.

That the State in her relation to education has not kept pace with our marvelous material development needs no argument. The need of the hour is not to search for new principles or new theories, but to hold to the old, to iterate and reiterate them, and to give them a broader and more effective interpretation and development by wise legislation.

We must ever hold to the old, but wise and sacred doctrine that ours is a government based upon the intelligence of the many, and not the few, that the basis of our institutions is the intelligence, integrity, and loyalty of our whole citizenship, that without intelligent and upright citizenship we cannot have intelligent and just laws,

laws that will be commensurate with the needs of a great and progressive people, that wise and intelligent citizenship leads to the enactment and enforcement of wise laws and that these in their turn contribute much to real and permanent social, industrial, and moral progress.

I am proud of the fact that in our whole Union there is not a state whose teachers are characterized by a greater educational zeal and professional spirit than ours, none superior to Ohio in the quality and devotion of its teachers; but I am humiliated to confess that there is no state in the Union inferior to ours in its educational system of rural schools. The astounding fact is that the cause and source of this weakness is known and has been known for years. It is the old, old story so often repeated. Our country schools in which are enrolled half of all Our

youth are, as a rule, without either organization, system, or supervision, and heir teachers without professional training; and without even the opportunity of professional training. The great State of Ohio, great in her natural resources, great in the quality of her people, great in her military achievements, great in her statesmanship, great in everything except the efficiency of her rural schools, is the only state west of the Hudson without a system of professional training schools, and without supervision of her country schools.

That the highest educational interests of fifty per cent of our youths are suffering, and will continue to suffer in an increased measure because of this state of affairs is so evident to the thoughtful man that it needs no discussion. Dr. White saw it when Commissioner of Common Schools in 1866, and formulated and recommended a bill for the establishment of State Normal Schools. His successor, Com. Norris, saw it; and his successor, Com. W. D. Henkle saw it, and Com. T. W. Harvey, one of the greatest friends of our rural schools, saw even then, in 1874, that the schools in the township districts had not kept pace with those of the towns and cities. We all have seen their inefficiency since that time. The Committee on Condition of Education in Ohio, in its able and extended report made at Toledo last year saw the chaos and inefficiency of these schools, and pointed them out. The chairman of one department said: "There is a serious lack of professional training." And after noting other serious imperfections said: "Some things ought to be settled definitely, and not be kept floating about in the sea of theory and aimless discussion." The chairman of the other department said: — “The most pressing need of our rural schools is supervision." The members of this

association were not surprised by the results reported and conclusions reached. Some of them were surprised somewhat that it made no recommendations and offered no remedy. We have discussed and cussed, bewailed and bemoaned this mongrel system, or more correctly speaking, this want of system of our country schools for more than a quarter of a century, and yet we have done nothing, or but little in all these years to correct this great weakness, a weakness which is affecting half of all the youth of Ohio. The Workman Law was a step in the right direction, but a weak and small step.

As already stated Dr. White in 1866 as Commissioner prepared and recommended a bill for the establishment of State Normal Schools. Then the "General Assembly had opened the way for the adoption of an adequate system of normal schools for the teachers of the state, but owing to divided counsels in the profession the long-coveted opportunity was permitted to pass unimproved and has never returned."

STATE NORMAL SCHOOLS.

The State Normal School idea as one remedy for our weakness has been discussed and ably advocated during all the years since that time. The President of the General Association ably and forcibly advocated their establishment from this platform two years ago. The friends of the policy of these State training schools have been put off from time to time by the statement that our private normal schools could and would provide this much-needed professional training. But we now know that they have not and will not furnish anything like an adequate professional training; from the very nature of the case these schools will continue to devote the greater part of their time and enery to academic instruction.

The friends of this policy have also been told that the State was too poor to establish and maintain State Normal Schools and we have been foolish enough to believe it. I believed it for years. The great State of Ohio, with all her varied natural resources and varied industries and ingenious and thrifty people too poor to establish and maintain five professional training schools!! It is a libel on our great State and I shall make the man who urges that objection again in my presence thoroughly ashamed of himself if in my power so to do.

In view of the fact that a large majority of our teachers are without even the opportunity of professional training, and the fact that skilled workmen are essential to improvement in every department of human endeavor, especially in ours, it is evident that one remedy for our rural school problem is the establishment of State training schools whose purpose shall be the training and fitting of teachers, and located with the view of carrying the opportunity and the spirit of such training as near as possible to the doors of our army of 15,000 rural teachers. The establishment of pedagogical chairs in our State colleges is but a drop in the bucket. Even if made a success, they would never touch the heart of the great problem the professional training of our 15,000 rural teachers; and right here I shall take the liberty to say what many public school men have only thought, perhaps for want of opportunity to say it, that in my judgment, the $180,000 appropriated annually by the General Assembly to the Ohio State University, would return much greater and much wiser results to the State if appropriated toward the establishment and maintenance of State Normal Schools. We have, at least, half a dozen able and well equipped private colleges and universities in the

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