as the Public School Writing System. When the contract was entered into the publisher had a right to believe, and did believe, that the statute requiring the uniform use of state adopted text-books would be strictly adhered to. Recently the publisher has registered a complaint with the State Board of Education to the effect that the contract in this regard is not being enforced; that the schools in many places are not using the Public School Writing System; and that the company is suffering great financial loss as a consequence. The Fort Wayne Printing Company, therefore, is insisting that its rights, under its contract, be respected. I am writing to advise you of this situation and to further say that the statute with respect to the uniform use of state adopted textbooks should be uniformly, and in good faith, respected by school authorities. In this connection I am pleased to advise, the Fort Wayne Printing Company has consented to relieve dealers of their shelf stock of old copy books at a price of two and one-half (2 1-2) cents each delivered to them. This concession is not required by law and is not, therefore, in the company's contract. The company is agreeing to this merely as an accommodation to text-book dealers. The adoption of this policy on the part of the Fort Wayne Printing Company will mean much to the company in the way of added work and expense. I feel, therefore, that the announcement of the company's intentions to do this places an added responsibility on the part of the State Board of Education to see that the state, in all good faith, carries out its obligations according to con tract. I, therefore, respectfully recommend that you give this matter your careful consideration, and that you assist the State Board of Education in whatever way you can to remove any and all just grounds for complaint against the State Board with respect to this matter. Very truly yours, L. N. HINES, State Superintendent of Public Instruction. INDIANA TEACHERS' What is Education?-Moore Review By Supt. W. F. Collins, Hagerstown, Ind. Organization by Selection. Organization of knowledge must come by selection-selection of the important, and passing lightly over the unimportant. The student himself must learn to do this. True, the teacher may be able to guide him in this work, but the teacher will not be with him when he (the student) is meeting the problems of life in which his success or failure will depend on his ability to distinguish the important from the unimportant, and the true from the false. But how is this to be put into the mental systems of the pupils? It is an easy task with the pupils in the early years of the school life of the pupil. At that stage he is filled with curiosity and interest. He will ask questions freely, and neither time nor place will hinder him in his seeking information that he desires. And, likewise, he is just as anxious to express his ideas concerning the matter under discussion or the matter that he may be reading. However, as he passes on to the advanced school years he becomes less talkative, less inquisitive, and apparently less interested in the matters coming before him and which are intended for his physical, mental, and moral development. This disease progresses with age. College students are almost fatally thus afflicted. In answer to the question in the preceding paragraph we may say that the only way is to make the pupil talk. This passive stage is wrong and must be eliminated, for "neither mental habits nor life interests can be successfully cultivated in this passive way." The pupil learns by doing, not by hearing alone. The author of the text says that one question raised by a student is more effective than a dozen unasked ones answered by the teacher or the text-book. Do away with the lecture method and make the school talk. Make the pupil say something. make him responsible for his own views, and then he must defend or renounce them. He must search to learn. He must be made to see his own problem in the subject matter be ing handled, otherwise, it is merely "busy work" to him. If he does not search he does not find, and what he does do when he should be searching, but is not, is deintellectualizing nim, The problem must be made prominent. Every "talking school" will induce "learning by problem getting." Astonishing as it may be, there are many teachers today who seem to think that education is merely the learning of definitions. They are prone to believe that a definition learned is so much knowledge obtained, for according to their theory, like that of Aristotle, the definition explains and unfolds the nature of the thing which it defines. This is wrong. Truth does not reside in definition. A good definition will name the thing to be defined and put it in its smallest known class after which it states the characteristic marks. But this is not truth. It may tell the "is" phase of the matter but it does not inform one as to the "does" phase. The former was the doctrine of real predicates in the days of Aristotle. A definition will be valuable to a pupil just so far as he can supply meaning for it out of his own past experiences. If his apperceptive mass is limited, his meaning secured is limited. But there is a better way. Let him do, act. The mind is a problem solver so let the student start with a problem. Empirical knowledge is real knowledge. What the pupil learns by doing or solving his problem will surely stay with him. In the scheme of true education there are many things to be done by the student. The most important of all is that he must use his own experiences. Definitions and textbook principles cannot take its place. The new learning he is to acquire must provide an occasion for him to reorganize his past experiences. Otherwise, it will hardly affect him. He must collect his own past experiences, tell them, talk about them, draw conclusions from them and try them out. He will take statements from the textbook and record them to fit his own experiences. Second, the pupil, as just stated, will interpret the textbook for himself. In it he will find many texts, as the name indicates. Yet, no text in any book. will mean anything to the pupil unless he has had experiences that he can apply to it for himself. He will then interpret the text accordingly, and no teacher can, nor should, interfere in this application and interpretation, for we should remember that "our worlds are different." The pupil's world (experiences) is not the teacher's world. These conclusions lead us to a third emancipation which the pupil must claim. He must collect his own materials with which to solve his problems. Not only must he have his own problems and experiences, but he should consult other persons than the teacher concerning kindred experiences, and other books than the text book in hand. He is in school to learn how to learn rather than learn set lessons, and, therefore, "he must be be taught to use the implements and means of knowledge, and among them books, not textbooks merely, and assuredly not the one text-book with which he is provided." He must use the school library, the public library, books at home, books anywhere and gather the information that bears on his subject, for this information is but a record of the experiences of others. In this way. he will become a searcher for knowledge. He has mental difficulties, defines them as problems, hunts for facts pertinent thereto, organizes these facts and applies them to solve the difficulty, and so makes his own knowledge, that is, he learns how to learn. As stated in the introductory paragraph he must choose the essential, select the important, pickout the true from the false. He must identify and familiarize the important words in the spelling lesson, he must select the important problem in the arithmetic lesson, the important paragraph on the page, the important sentence in the paragraph. He must acquire the abil ity to condense the words of an author in a few words of his own. There is a main point in everything. If the pupil fails to get this and instead attempts to grasp the whole in all of its details is, in the words of Mr. Moore, becoming a "thoughtless thinker." In fact, he is not thinking at ail and is nopelessly lost if he cannot learn to choose the essential points. He must separate the true from the false as he goes through the thoughts of others. All that passes as knowledge is not knowledge. He must doubt. He must take the word of no one as absolute truth. It is necessary to doubt all things until they are verified to him. He is not educated unless he is a keen discriminator between truth and falsehood. "The student must be taught to collect and weigh evidence, to verify statements, to compare authorities, to go to the sources for information in doubtful matters." He must have a viewpoint that is as many sided as there are sides to the matter under consideration. He must see all sides and all reasons if he is to separate the true from the false. Committing to memory is not necessarily learning. One can memorize without comprehending that which is memorized, but it should not be done. Comprehend first and then memorize. It does not follow, however, that one should memorize all that is comprehended. It is just as necessary to forget as it is to learn. If we could not forget we could have no new experiences; but this is not saying we should forget everything, for in that case we could have no new experiences either, for we get our new experiences through our old ones. Most of the old experiences remain, at least in part. We seldom completely forget an important experience, since "to make it a permanent possession one has only to see to it that its meaning is clearly grasped and a strong wish to retain it developed." developed." But what are we to retain? The first question which should arise in the mind of the one memorizing is: "Is this something which interest and understanding will keep alive and interest restore at will, or are its details so important that it would be valueless if only the substance of it were recalled?" We should memorize that which is indispensable, such as the multiplication table, mathematical formulae, certain grammatical rules, quotations whose value depends not on its thought but upon the perfection and significance of its expression, basic dates of history, etc. These are to be committed verbally. Certain parts of our learning should become automatic, that is, it must be reduced to habit. It is difficult to say just what parts should become habitual, but what they are is to be carefully determined and repetition alone must not be depended upon to produce the desired result. Some of these things to be made habitual are stating one's difficulties, research work, discussion of the work in class, asking questions, expressing doubts, courtesy, and many others of like importance. This habitual action may come by repetition, but each repetition should be accompanied by a desire and an attempt to improve. To do otherwise is of small benefit to the student. The Valley of Democracy-Nicholson The Spirit of the West. Much more water has flowed under the bridge since this chapter was written, yet the solution of the problems left us after the war seems as far off as then. Mr. Nicholson has the gift of compressing almost a whole essay into a single sentence. For example, "Deeply. preoccupied with other matters, the West was annoyed that the Kaiser should so stupidly make it necessary for the American republic to give him. a thrashing, but as the thing had to be done, the West addressed itself to the job with a grim determination to do it thoroughly." The West unquestionably proved its patriotism and Americanism. Industrial conditions are still in a chaotic state, partly due to the war, and also to the fact that high wages paid during the war seemed to demoralize the working people. They are indulging in a mad orgy of extravagance. While no one would wish to deprive the laboring man (whether he labors with hand or brain) of his just dues, to the onlooker he seems like a child turned loose in a candy store. The injustice of the situation comes when the men who were drafted, to serve their country abroad and give their lives if need be, come home they find no such "fat jobs" awaiting them, that the rejected enjoyed during their absence. If men could be drafted into the army to fight abroad, why not also to work at home? The interest one takes in scrutinizing his own photograph doesn't necessarily imply vanity-far from it, oftentimes. We may be only trying to see ourselves as others see us. For this reason, we of Indianapolis found a peculiar pleasure in Mr. Nich olson's picture of the life of our city and conditions during the war. We cannot yet get a correct perspective, but we feel that it was a great thing to. be alive and awake during such stirring times. With his usual sympathetic insight, Mr. Nicholson has dealt with the question of the attitude of Americans of German descent. He showed how Germans, in greater numbers than of any other nation, had entered our "unguarded gates." They had settled in communities where, by intermarriage and maintaining traditions and customs, they had preserved much of the spirit of the land of their birth. Frequent visits to Germany had kept alive this love, and it was not surprising that, before they realized the coldblooded premeditated crime of Germany, their sympathies should be with her. Many were openly pro-German. The exposure of the deep-laid schemes of the German alliance and the treachery of the German ambassador served to open their eyes, and caused those who were at heart Americans to take a firm stand where their loyalty would be unquestioned. Mr. Nicholmentions the changing of the names of several of the oldest German clubs and societies. Individuals feared. if too vociferous in their patriotism, they might, like Hamlet's mother, be accused of protesting too much. the other hand, unless they were emphatic in declaring their principles, they were suspected of disloyalty. son About this time a case of the innocent suffering on account of the guilty Kaiser came to light. An American-born singer had married a German while studying abroad-love knows not nationality. When widowed she returned to her native city, bringing her two fatherless little ones to live among her own people. (This was before America's entrance into the war.) She was engaged to sing the soprano solos in the annual presentation of the Messiah, there being no other who could approach her in vocal artistry among local singers. Shortly before the time set there developed a few cases of acute patriotism-itis, otherwise called professional jealousy. It was represented to the singer that the chorus objected to her on account of supposed German sympathies which, as a member of that chorus at the time, I know to be untrue. Finally she withdrew, saying she had no desire to mar the spirit of the occasion. Throughout the whole regretable affair she evinced a beautiful Christian spirit, in contrast to that shown by her persecutors who took this way to show peace on earth, good will to men! Oh, patriotism! the crimes that are committed in thy name! Among my personal friends are many of German ancestry (though, so far as I know, not one drop of German blood flows in my veins), whon I know to be as loyal as the best of us. Therefore, in my insatiable thirst for music, I did not hesitate to become a member of the Mannerchorone of the oldest singing societies in this part of the country. The first time, after we entered the war, when the "Star-Spangled Banner" was sung, it was about as thin in volume as it was in nearly every crowd that at tempted it, but we also improved with practice. In the beautiful halls of the Mannerchor-illuminated by the names of Bach, Beethoven, Mendelssohn and all that glorious company of geniuses -I had abundant opportunity to observe the attitude of the members. I found their women working in Red Cross, knitting, buying and selling Liberty bonds as earnestly as any others I met. The Mannerchor's service flag boasted a goodly number of stars, and when things German became odious, the name of this ancient and honorable institution was changed to the Academy of Music. This may have caused a pang to some of the older members, but I am sure not so great as when they ceased singing their loved songs in the tongue they were created in. Every song loses by translation, and for my part it makes no difference whether I understand the words or not. The only Korean music I ever heard at first excited my risibles, but soon instead of scoffing, I "remained to pray." The tragedy and pathos of it was indescribable, yet I had not the remotest idea what the words meant. A beautiful tribute is paid by Mr. Nicholson to the Jews-of German and other origin-their loyalty and patriotic devotion being above suspicion. One of the most humorous of Mr. Nicholson's writings is his "Confessions of a Best Seller," and as he has again been favored with suggestions and corrections from his readers, he permits us to share in the benefits received therefrom. We must hastily pass over these to the valuable information he gives us of the state historical societies and their work. By interchange of materials, much time and money is saved to each, while all benefit by the arrangement. Omaha is cited as a typical city which has experimented in municipa government. He warns us of the folly of advertising our cities as to their material advantages only. None of the new devices for city government have. proved "fool proof," and in every experiment due consideration must, he insists, be given to the human equation. In the closing chapter he addresses only his friends and neighbors, knowing "no Easterner possessed of the slightest delicacy will read what follows," as it was not intended for him. He believes we have rather more humor than our Eastern friends, that we are more friendly, that we have more faith in democracy. The most interesting thing about us, our politics, he deems worthy of deeper consideration. It seems an incredibly |