composed of nominees of the state, representatives of the universities, and members elected by the teaching profession. These recommendations of the select committee were presented to Parliament at the close of the last session, and have not yet been embodied in a bill. It remains to be seen whether the legislature will look favorably on the proposal, and whether there is any chance of carrying into effect a scheme drawn on these lines. But although in the coming session it is not unlikely that other measures of more pressing and urgent interest may occupy the attention of both houses, it is tolerably certain that the whole question of the better training of teachers, the registration of their qualifications, and the better co-ordination of all the agencies at work in England for advanced education, will ere long receive increased public attention.

LONDON, ENGLAND.

J. G. FITCH.

1

VII.

EDITORIAL.

The vexed question as to the next meeting-place of the National Educational Association has been settled. Saratoga has been designated. The executive committee, in whose hands this decision rested, gave long and patient attention to the claims of Helena and Seattle, that were so ably pressed upon them, and finally came to the conclusion that the highest interests of the Association would be best served by holding the meeting of 1892 at some accessible point in the East. Saratoga commended itself by the excellence of its hotel accommodations, the attractiveness of its natural surroundings, and the cordial invitation tendered in its behalf not only by the local authorities, but by the educational leaders in the State of New York. The educational journals, such as The School Bulletin, the Public School Journal, and Intelligence, that represent not the irresponsible opinions of hysterical individuals, but the sincere convictions of the men and women who make these national meetings really valuable, advised the action that has been taken, and the leading educational workers of the South, West, and East were of the same mind. The decision was made peculiarly difficult by the enthusiasm and energy displayed by the cities of the extreme Northwest in their own behalf; but that it was wise can hardly be doubted even now, and will be abundantly proved by the event.

The choice of Saratoga as the place of meeting in 1892. makes it both possible and easy to construct the programme so that the gathering shall be one of unusual significance and value from a strictly educational point of view. There is a very general desire for this throughout the country. It has been said, but by no one with any claim to be taken seriously, that the least important feature of the meetings of the National Association is the bringing together the most distinguished and experienced educators in the country. One would suppose, however, that a successful educational meeting must

center about just such persons. A traveling menagerie or a picnic could safely dispense with them. That college presidents and professors, superintendents and principals, and ambitious class-room teachers, will gather in large numbers at Saratoga, is certain; whether or not those attend whose educational interest is over when the reduced railway rates are secure for a summer jaunt, is a matter of comparative indifference. It is as yet altogether uncertain what will become of the National Association meeting in 1893, in view of the Chicago Exposition, with its great array of educational congresses and educational exhibits. For this reason it is doubly important that the meeting at Saratoga shall be attended by a large number of thoroughly representative educational men.

The Comenius celebration, already announced in these columns, has been definitely arranged for, and in such a way as to secure the attention and co-operation of a large number of school-men from all parts of the country. The committee having the celebration in charge, after conference with Superintendent Sabin of Iowa, president of the Department of Superintendence for the year, have decided to incorporate it in the programme of the Department of Superintendence at its meeting to be held in Brooklyn on February 16, 17, and 18, 1892. The evening of Thursday, February 18, is to be devoted to commemorating the three hundredth anniversary of the birth of Comenius, the exact date of his birth being neglected because of the greater significance of the event and the desirability of having the presence and interest of the superintendents. The exercises, as planned, will consist of three papers: one dealing with the private life and personal characteristics of Comenius; one describing his text-books, with illustrations of representative pages and cuts from his Orbis Pictus and Janua Linguarum; and one estimating his permanent services to educational thought and practice. The celebration will doubtless attract very general attention, and serve to arouse a new interest in the life and writings of this educational reformer of the highest rank.

The close connection which exists in the United States between politics and education is more than unfortunate; it is unintelligent. At the recent November elections many

hundreds of thousands of votes were cast that affected directly the welfare of the educational system of at least two great States, but it is entirely safe to say-without so much as a thought being given to that fact. Questions of party preference, of personal administration, modes of taxation, or of financial policy, determined how the votes were to be cast; the schools had to await the fortunes of a war conducted along lines entirely foreign to them and their interests. In Iowa, for example, the State superintendent of public instruction is elected by the people. The present incumbent, a man of distinguished services and wide reputation, should have been nominated by every political party that held a convention. What his political views are, is a matter of no importance. His office is administered on educational, not political lines. But party candidates were named against him, and the result of the polling is that the political views of his colleagues did not secure the popular indorsement. It seems probable at this writing that he is, therefore, to be superseded in office.

In the great State of New York, with a common-school system of magnificent extent and importance, a similar state of affairs existed. The term of the present superintendent of public instruction expires in the spring of 1892. The office is filled by the legislature, both houses sitting in joint meeting for the purpose. Unquestionably, thousands of persons, who would never think of disturbing the present admirable school administration, voted for legislative candidates whose first ̧ thought would be to fill the office with a man whose views on questions of State and national politics agreed with their own. For several days the result hung in the balance, and the teachers in every county of the State anxiously awaited the final announcement of the voting. Why? Simply because it meant either the continuance in office of the present superintendent, or his displacement by an untried successor. During his six years of office Judge Draper has done more for the common-school system of the Empire State than any administrative officer ever before accomplished. He has achieved a reputation as an educational statesman, one of the very few that this country has produced. He occupies a commanding position before the country. Many improvements remain to

be accomplished, that he can accomplish more speedily and effectually than anyone else can possibly do. The system that admits his displacement for political reasons is an insane one. The makers of constitutions, and the framers of laws, must be taught the necessity of providing the schools with officers not subject to removal for reasons having no relation whatever to educational policy and administration.

Last winter a course of lectures for college teachers, and those who proposed to become such, was given at the Johns Hopkins University with a large measure of success. The topics selected were practical, and the mode of presentation adopted was more or less informal, resembling a conference rather than a set lecture. This year the same plan is to be followed, and the series of pedagogical conferences is already in operation. It is not at all impossible that the result of this experiment may be the rehabilitation of education as a subject of university teaching and study at the Johns Hopkins. No institution in this country trains so many teachers of collegiate and secondary grade as the Baltimore university, and it is eminently fitting that their equipment should include not only accurate and independent scholarship, but an acquaintance with the educational forces and problems of the time.

It is a pleasure to call attention to the following resolutions that were passed at the thirty-fifth annual meeting of the Association of Colleges in New England, at its recent meeting. The resolutions have been laid before the faculties of the several colleges represented in the association, and are to be acted upon next year. The resolutions, with their preamble, are as follows:

"The Association of Colleges in New England, impressed with the real unity of interest and the need of mutual sympathy and help throughout the different grades of public education, invites the attention of the public to the following changes in the programme of New England grammar schools, which it recommends for gradual adoption:

"I. The introduction of elementary natural history into the earlier years of the programme as a substantial subject, to be