as supplementary to the library of the Bureau of Education (thus forming a central repository where all the facts relating to the progress and the various needs of public

of a knowledge of the methods and appliances of the science of education as it is to that of the arts and manufactures, and the education collection begun in England by the Society of Arts and first exhibited in 1854 has become, partly by government aid and largely by individual contributions, a most important branch of the South Kensington Museum. It embraces a collection of over 20,000 volumes of educational books and many thousands of models and appliances for educational purposes; the list of these alone, brought down to the end of 1875, fills a volume of over 870 closely printed pages. Russia, Austria, and Italy have followed the example of England in establishing general educational museums; while most of the other European countries possess each several museums adapted to various branches of technical and industrial instruction.

On this continent, our neighbors of the Dominion of Canada have set the example of organizing such a collection, the value and utility of which were made evident to all by means of the remarkable educational exhibit displayed at Philadelphia by the province of Ontario.

While no governmental educational museum has ever yet been organized by the United States, the advisability of making such a collection has been realized and its creation urged.

The Exhibition at Philadelphia afforded an unprecedented opportunity for obtaining a quantity of material from the various countries of the world at the cost of little trouble and comparatively trifling expense. Unfortunately Congress made no appropriation in aid of this; in consequence, the opportunity could not be availed of in any adequate measure, and the educationists of the country were compelled to see a magnificent opportunity pass away comparatively unimproved. However, it was impossible but that much should remain. In the preparations made by the United States Commissioner of Education to secure statistical material bearing on the educational history of the past century, and in the material designed to represent the various systems and appliances of education in all its phases as presented in the United States, there was gathered in the Government Building the nucleus of a most interesting collection; most of this became the property of the Government, and needs but the natural growth and development which would follow its installation in a suitable place to become most valuable to all educators, while its value will be greatly enhanced by its conjunction with the rare and unique educational library already possessed by the United States Bureau of Education, which is being rapidly increased by means of the systematic exchange of educational publications conducted by the Commissioner with foreign officials.

Although unable to obtain anything by purchase, many gifts were made to the Commissioner by foreign individuals and governments, so that, in fact, a very large educational collection, comprising many thousands of separate articles, is now stored in Washington awaiting the action of Congress. This comprises, first, the most of the collections exhibited at Philadelphia by the United States Commissioner, viz, the statistical charts, maps, and diagrams prepared at the Bureau of Education expressly for the Exhibition, and which give a most clear and comprehensive view of the statistics of education, both public and private, in the United States; secondly, the models, publications, furniture, apparatus, and school appliances, &c., exhibited; thirdly, the views of colleges, universities, and schools, which formed such an attractive feature of the Exhibition; fourthly, the very valuable collection illustrating the progress of education among the Indians. In addition to these articles, the very complete and interesting educational exhibit made at the suggestion of the United States Commissioner of Education by the government of Japan has been presented to the Commissioner as a donation to the contemplated national educational museum. This collection is full of interest, first, as showing most clearly the habits, methods, and material of education in Japan before the contact with European civilization, and, secondly, the progress made up to 1876 in adopting the methods and appliances of European education. A complete set of mechanical and chemical apparatus manufactured by their Own "school of arts and manufactures" fills one large case, while samples of school furniture now used and of all other school appliances bring into sharp contrast the old and the new.

A very fine collection of school material from the Ontario exhibit, valued at about eleven hundred dollars, which has been presented to the educational museum at Washington, fills a large room. Many valuable gifts from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland add to the interest of the collection, and show how readily, by a system of international exchange such as is carried on by the Smithsonian Institution, this educational museum at Washington could be developed into an institution where Americans could see for themselves all the new and improved educational appliances of other mations without being compelled, as now, to cross the sea. In a properly organized

education can be readily ascertained), and in view of the fact that a good beginning has already been made in laying the foundations of such a museum, the committee recommend the following resolution for adoption as the sense of this body of educational superintendents:

Resolved, That, as an important means of promoting the educational interests of the country, we regard it as the duty of Congress to make the necessary provision for the collection, installation, preservation, and care of a national museum of education in connection with the library of the Bureau of Education, and we express our earnest hope that this subject will be taken into consideration in determining the amount of the appropriation requisite to sustain and carry forward the legitimate operations of the Bureau.

UNITED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION.

Your subcommittee recommends the adoption of the following resolutions: Resolved, That the Department of Superintendence express to Congress its profound conviction of the great value of the National Bureau of Education as an agency for collecting, collating, and diffusing that information which is a vital necessity to the welfare and progress of schools and school systems under a government of the people, for the people, and by the people.

Resolved, further, That we urge upon Congress the imperative necessity of making adequate and liberal pecuniary provision for the support of the Bureau, for suitable apartments for its accommodation, and for the preparation, publication, and distribution of its invaluable reports, Circulars of Information, and other documents constantly and unceasingly demanded by the great army of educational workers throughout our extended country.

NATIONAL AID TO EDUCATION.

The committee appointed to consider the subject of national aid to education beg leave to report the resolutions which were adopted at the last meeting of the National Education Association, held in Louisville, Ky., August 16, 1877, which are in substance as follows:

Resolved, That the association hereby reaffirms its cordial approval of the measures which have been pending before Congress for several years, or some proper modification of the same involving the general principles of said measures, providing for the permanent investment of the proceeds of the sales of the public lands annually accruing, as a national fund, the income from which shall be apportioned among the several States and Territories and the District of Columbia (for the first ten years on the basis of the illiteracy in the several States and Territories), under the supervision of the Bureau of Education, upon a proper basis of distribution, for the benefit of common schools, normal education, and for the more complete endowment and support of the industrial and technical colleges already established in the several States under the act of Congress approved July 2, 1862.

Resolved, That a committee of fifteen members of the association be appointed by the President thereof, to act in conjunction with the committees of similar bodies, and in coöperation with the Department of Superintendence at its winter meeting, with instructions to prepare a memorial to Congress embodying the views herein expressed and urging such legislation as shall be substantially in harmony with them.

museum-wherein every department of material relating to education (whether concerning the proper building, lighting, heating, and ventilating of school rooms, and their furniture, or the best text books and apparatus) should be constantly on exhibition, arranged under intelligent supervision—it is easy to see that the educators of the country would possess the means of avoiding many mistakes and of readily keeping themselves informed of the best results of the efforts of educators throughout the world to extend, develop, and improve the all important science of education.

In view of the great necessity that is felt for some such central repository, where all the facts relating to the various needs of public education can be readily ascertained, and in view of the fact that so satisfactory a commencement has been already made toward founding a national educational museum as is shown by the collections of articles and of the educational library now in charge of the United States Commissioner of Education at Washington, it is the opinion of this committee that it is the duty of Congress to make suitable provision for the collection, preservation, and care of a national educational museum which shall meet the needs of the educators and of the public.

PUBLIC LANDS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

Your subcommittee recommends the adoption of the following resolution:

Resolved, That the national capital should be treated fairly by the National Government in the disposition of the public lands in aid of the public schools; and that the equilibrium between it and the other Territories and the States should be restored by proportional appropriations of said lands or their proceeds, or an equivalent in some other form.

The reports being accepted, motion was then made that the reports be adopted as read; which was agreed to.

Mr. HENDERSON here desired to offer the following substitute for a portion of the report favoring the donation of the proceeds of the sales of public lands to the States:

Whereas the object of the States in popular education is to fit the American citizen for the intelligent exercise of his franchises and the performance of his duties; and Whereas the common schools of the country have proven themselves and promise to continue to be the great, efficient agents for the education of the masses, and there is but little if any difference of opinion as to the right and duty of a State to confer elementary training because of the demonstrated and admitted public value of intelligence; and

Whereas the fund will not be any too large to compass these desirable ends and many of the States greatly need assistance: Therefore,

Be it resolved, That the Department of Superintendence of the National Education Association heartily approves of the provisions of what is known as the Hoar educational bill now pending in the Federal Congress, which proposes to give the proceeds of the sale of public lands to the States for common school education and the support of normal schools, said distribution to be for the first ten years on the basis of illiteracy, and that we recommend and will use our influence to secure the passage of said bill. Resolved, That a committee of fifteen be appointed to memorialize the Congress of the United States upon this subject.

Discussion followed, which was participated in by Messrs. Newell, Hancock, Orr, Pendleton, Wickersham, Tarbell, Bowman, Eaton, Barringer, Wilson, and others.

Mr. HANCOCK offered to the original report an amendment, accepted by the committee and embodied in the resolution as already printed, to the effect that the distribution should be made for the first ten years on the basis of illiteracy.

At this point an invitation was announced by General Browne, of the city school board, to the members of the Department to take supper with the president and members of the school board.

The Department then adjourned to meet at 12 o'clock the following day to conclude the business before it.

FIFTH SESSION-THURSDAY MORNING.

WASHINGTON, December 13, 1877.

The Department reassembled at 12.30 P. M.

Mr. SMART, from the committee on the best organization of a State school system, said the committee was not yet ready to make a report.

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On motion of Mr. HANCOCK, the committee was continued, with Mr. Smart, of Indiana, as chairman and Dr. Orr added as a third member. It was directed to report at the general association at the next annual meeting.

The Department then resumed the consideration of the high school question.

THE HIGH SCHOOL QUESTION.

Mr. SMART, of Indiana, wished to divide the matter, and to consider, first, whether there should be such schools or not; then, what should be the kind and amount of instruction given in them; next, whether boys and girls should receive the same instruction in the same schools; and, finally, what the relation of the high school to superior instruction should be. He continued as follows:

These with many others are still unsolved problems. I shall, however, limit myself to a brief examination of the objections commonly urged against the high school by those who think that it ought not to exist. During the past few years I have, by letter and by personal interview, sought the opinions of prominent men in six different States upon this question. A few of them were men of national reputation, and most of them were men of influence in their respective localities. About 10 per cent. of the number were either presidents or professors of denominational schools. I exclude the opinions of all teachers of public schools and of all Roman Catholics. So far as I have been able I have also noted the position of the religious and secular press on this same point. Of this number of persons whose opinions I have obtained, 28 per cent. were decidedly opposed to the high school system, 19 per cent. were lukewarm or non-committal, and 53 per cent. were friendly to it. It was but a small minority, however, that warmly and intelligently defended it; most of them merely stated their opinions without assigning reasons therefor; but, from what I have learned from them and from what I have read, I should summarize the objections urged against the high schools as follows, viz:

1. The modern high school seeks to provide facilities for education which the common people do not need and which they ought not to have. Too much education makes a man restless and discontented with his inevitable lot, and makes him disinclined to labor. Man was born to obey; too much education makes him self-important, ambitious, unwilling to obey but desirous to command. Finally, too much education leads a man away from God and inclines him to a religion of reason.

2. Higher education is very desirable. The public high school teaches arithmetic well, but it does not and cannot teach religion. Religious instruction is as important as arithmetic. Intellectual training without religious education makes bad men. The high school draws young men and young women away from denominational schools, in which both arithmetic and religion can be taught; hence high schools ought not to be supported.

3. The public school is essentially a political institution; it is in no sense scholastic or ecclesiastic, and whenever it seeks merely to make men wiser or better or happier, it does not have in view the end for which public schools were established. The sole end and aim should be that the state may be preserved, and the minimum amount of education which will enable men to become good citizens is the maximum amount which the state may give; a knowledge of the primary branches is all that is essential to good citizenship, hence the state may furnish this and nothing more.

4. The state has the right to provide education just so far only as it compels education; or, in other words, it should provide no facilities which it cannot properly and does not compel all its children to use. All education beyond that which the state enforces upon all its children should be left entirely to associational enterprise.

5. The high school is limited to cities and towns, and is patronized by the few, and chiefly by those who are wealthy. It is unjust to levy a tax for its support upon the many who receive no benefit from it.

6. Our present school system has been enlarged and extended beyond the original purpose of its founders. The high school has been ingrafted upon the system contrary to the "original design;" hence it should be cut off.

I will indicate briefly the general course of argument I would take in answer to these various objections:

1. Is there too much education? Most of the men who say yes are either monarchists or oligarchists who believe in the divine right of the few to rule the many. Some of them are our religious fanatics, who do not believe in the freedom of the mind; and some of them are our so called utilitarians, who think that man was made to labor like a packhorse. It may be said that it is not worth while to consume time to speak of the absurd opinions of such persons; but they are not fools, and while their complaints show a want of information as to the real purpose of education, their objections have some foundation in the defects and weaknesses of our school system. We should give them a patient hearing in order that we may be able to remedy these defects. I think if we have as educators one fault which is more foolish than another, it is that we are unwilling to profit by the criticisms of men simply because we discover that they are not fully informed upon the school question. Is it not true that acquisition is with many of us still the measure of success? Do we yet fully realize that the habit of obedience to rightful authority is of more importance than the possession of knowledge? Do we yet understand that we must graduate most of our boys and girls into the practical industries of life rather than into the so called learned professions, and that ability to use knowledge is just as important as the possession of knowledge? Is it not true that we too often send out those who have haughty pride and are self sufficient rather than those who, having learned the way to truth, go out as humble seekers of it? And do we ourselves quite understand the difference between education, instruction, and information; that information is the brick of which the house may be made; that instruction is like the house, but without an inhabitant; and that education produces the builder and the living spirit that inhabits the house and makes it bright and beautiful? Knowledge is good, but knowledge and wisdom are commended of God, and both should be sought by men.

2. Another class of objectors is composed of those who are in favor of higher education, but who believe that boys and girls old enough to attend a high school ought to be trained in a school in which they will receive religious instruction. This class is composed chiefly of clergymen and of members of the faculties of denominational schools. They claim, and rightly too, that character is superior to scholarship; that goodness is an essential element of character, and that without suitable religious training a man is unfit to perform properly his part in life. They think that distinctive religious instruction should be commenced at the age of thirteen or fourteen, and that inasmuch as the public high school cannot give such religious training it ought not to be supported. It is even charged by many that the public schools are not performing their proper functions, and that much of the educated criminality and refined scoundrelism we see about us is directly traceable to the public schools. The New York Tribune, in a recent editorial, says:

Education of the intellect will not make men good. It will but change the nature of their criminality, and too often sharpen their wits to a point which will enable them to evade detection. There is a large and increasing body of thinkers who are of opinion that our common school system educates the intellect without enough consideration for the education of the heart, and who contend that thousands of boys and girls are annually turned out of these institutions who thus get no moral or religious instruction either at home or at school. We hope they are mistaken. But the frightful catalogue of all sorts of breaches of trust which our columns are daily presenting gives a terribly effective handle to those who hold to such theories.

Another influential journal, in quoting the Tribune, asks: "Is this the fault of our education?"