LETTER DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BUREAU OF EDUCATION, Washington, D. C., April 18, 1879. SIR: You are familiar with the fact that in the dark hours of Prussian history, when Baron v. Stein was determining those principles of administration which have been so important in establishing Germany's present preeminence in Europe, he sought "to connect government with science" so that those charged with the direction of public affairs could avail themselves of the knowledge of experts in the several departments of philosophy when the public welfare would be promoted thereby. It is always a matter of regret to see officials (whether of the city, county, State, or nation) separated from the best thought of those citizens who may be specially informed on the several topics which are included in their responsibilities. In this country the best informed have excellent opportunities for the free expression of their ideas in many voluntary associations, but too often their ideas affect legislation only after they have instructed the general public and secured its emphatic approval. This Office, existing solely for collecting and disseminating educational information, has sought continually all possible aid from the voluntary as well as official opinions expressed by those most skilled in matters of education. More especially has it received aid from the organization known as the Department of Superintendence of the National Education Association; its members live and work in all parts of the country and deal with those general topics and interests which embrace in some form all phases of education; out of their action, indeed, this Office came into existence. Year by year it has been assisted by them in selecting its plan of work and conducting its inquiries. Their proceedings, as a rule, relate to the most vital problems of educational administration. Therefore, in presenting for publication the following papers and discussions, I am so far seeking to disseminate by means of this Office the information specially desired by those who administer the affairs of our school systems. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Commissioner. Hon. C. SCHURZ, Secretary of the Interior. Approved, and publication ordered. C. SCHURZ, NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION. DEPARTMENT OF SUPERINTENDENCE. FIRST SESSION-TUESDAY MORNING. WASHINGTON, D. C., February 4, 1879. Pursuant to the call, a convention of State and city superintendents of public schools was held this morning in the lecture room of the Congregational Church, Tenth and G streets. Following is an extract from the call: HARRISBURG, PA., January 7, 1879. A special meeting of the Department of Superintendence, National Education Association, will be held in the lecture room of the Congregational Church, Tenth and G streets, Washington, D. C., commencing on Tuesday, February 4, at 11 A. M., and continuing several days. Papers will be presented on the "Wants of the National Bureau of Education;" "Education in Switzerland;" "Education at the Paris Exposition;" "Industrial education;" the "Needs of education in the South;" "Instruction in governmental ideas;" and on "Drawing in its relation to industries." The questions proposed for discussion are the following: 1. The census of 1880 as it relates to education. 2. Educational qualifications for American citizenship. * R. W. STEVENSON, Secretary. * J. P. WICKERSHAM, President. The Department was called to order by President Wickersham at 11.30 A. M., and was opened with prayer by Rev. S. Domer, D. D., of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church. The PRESIDENT.. In the absence of the regular secretary, Mr. R. W. Stevenson, I will ask Mr. J. J. Burns, State superintendent of common schools of Ohio, to act as secretary for this meeting. Mr. Burns accordingly took his seat as secretary. The PRESIDENT called for the order of business, and Hon. J. Ormond Wilson, superintendent of schools for the District of Columbia, offered the following resolution: Resolved, That the following committees be appointed by the president, namely: An executive committee, to arrange the order of exercises for this meeting, to consist of three members; a committee on invitations, three members; a committee on resolutions, three members; a committee on national legislation, five members, with power to increase their number. The resolution being unanimously adopted, the PRESIDENT asked for a little time before appointing the committees, as some members of the Department had not yet arrived. He would, however, name Mr. J. Ormond Wilson chairman of the executive committee, it being necessary to have that committee organize at once in order to arrange the proceedings of the convention. On motion of Hon. George J. Luckey, city superintendent of Pittsburgh, Pa., it was voted that the Department hold two sessions daily, and that the hours be from 9.30 A. M. to 12.30 P. M. for the morning session and from 7.30 P. M. to 9.30 P. M. for the evening session. The PRESIDENT requested all persons desiring to participate in the deliberations to communicate their names and addresses to the secretary; and he included in the invitation all present connected with educational work who are not superintendents. Pending the inscribing of names of delegates, the secretary read letters regretting the inability of the writers to attend the convention from the following gentlemen: Hon. Leon. Trousdale, State superintendent of public schools, Tennessee; Hon. Robert M. Lusher, State superintendent of public education, Louisiana; Hon. W. P. Haisley, State superintendent of public instruction, Florida; Hon. William O. Rogers, chief superintendent of public schools, New Orleans, La.; Hon. J. A. Smith, State superintendent of public education, Mississippi; Hon. E. P. Dickson, superintendent of city schools, Mobile, Ala.; Hon. Hugh S. Thompson, State superintendent of education, South Carolina; Hon. U. T. Curran, superintendent of public schools, Sandusky, Ohio; Hon. J. B. Peaslee, superintendent of public schools, Cincinnati, Ohio; and Hon. Barnas Sears, agent of the Peabody fund, Staunton, Va. The PRESIDENT appointed Hon. S. M. Etter, ex-State superintendent of Illinois, chairman of the committee on invitations; Hon. William H. Barringer, superintendent of city schools, Newark, N. J., chairman of the committee on resolutions; and Hon. M. A. Newell, State superintendent of public instruction, Maryland, chairman of the committee on national legislation. The PRESIDENT stated that he would fill the other places on the committees as the delegates arrived. The opening paper before the Department was read by Consul General JOHN HITZ, of Switzerland, on POPULAR EDUCATION IN SWITZERLAND. In reviewing the educational efforts of Switzerland, having political traditions so unlike any other European nation, comparisons as to the respective results attained will be strictly avoided in this paper; and, on the other hand, it will be left entirely to my hearers to draw conclusions of their own as to how far, if at all, the experiences of the Swiss may be advantageously used in framing measures to render more effective the educational system of the United States, politically so closely allied to Switzerland. The educational progress of a nation is real just so far as it emanates from the people; so, speaking of my country, it must be remembered that the principles of democracy have for centuries ruled supreme in Switzerland. Whatever, therefore, has been done to promote intellectual culture, necessarily either originated with or was approved and fostered by the people at large and cannot be ascribed solely to the wisdom of profound statesmen and enlightened rulers. It is true that previous to the Reformation, as in other countries, the church, or, more properly speaking, certain religious orders, mainly gave direction to the instruction imparted to the youth of the land; but as early as the sixteenth century we find the people in such localities as Zürich moving in the matter through their civil authorities and enacting laws to regulate the appointment of teachers. Still, it remained for the self-sacrificing Pestalozzi, the noble and cultured Fellenberg, the steadfast Wehrli, and the beloved Father Girard to give impetus to the popular will and stimulate the people to those efforts in the direction of popular education which, in democratic Switzerland, eventually developed into that greatest of all blessings of the nineteenth century, the modern public school system. These men laid down the maxim that "the best antidote to distress and poverty and the surest road to public welfare is enlightenment;" and only recently a member of the Swiss Congress, Mr. Friderich, of Geneva, declared in debate that he considered "intellectual pauperism more to be dreaded in a democratic commonwealth than in any other." EARLY COURSE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. In what manner the subject of popular education has engaged the attention of most of the cantonal governments of Switzerland need not here be further enlarged upon, as my remarks on this occasion will be chiefly devoted to the efforts made of late by the people of Switzerland to ingraft upon their federal statutes provisions having an important bearing upon popular education and the results thus far obtained. It may well be presumed, from what has already been said, that the people of Switzerland jealously guard against any attempt at "centralization” not absolutely needed for self-protection. Nevertheless, recognizing the necessity of making common cause in promoting the intellectual growth of the country, there was embodied in the constitution of 1848 the following article: "The confederation is empowered to establish a university and a polytechnic school." As is well known, the government in its conservatism concluded first to establish the now flourishing Federal Polytechnic Institute at Zürich, now having a faculty of 40 resident professors, 20 assistants, and 47 instructors of a lower grade, and, according to the report of 1877, 710 regular pupils and 277 attendants on lectures. The question of establishing a national university (though such an institution appeared very desirable, because of the more typi |