school for two half days, the teacher notifies the parent or guardian through the police. At the expiration of every month the teacher sends to the nearest magistrate or police court a list of absentees, or he may during the month enter complaint. The magistrate gives judgment for the amount of penalty and transmits the same to the police court or presiding judge, where, if thought advisable, the penalty may be increased. These fines range from ten cents to five dollars, and must be paid within a month, or the defaulting party is subject to imprisonment. The police is empowered to arrest any truant and take the same to school, and for so doing receives the fine imposed upon the parent or guardian.

This suffices to show that the provisions of the third section of the article relating to elementary instruction have every prospect of being complied with.

RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION.

In order that there may be no doubt upon whom the religious training of children devolves, since section 2 of the twenty-seventh article of the federal constitution exacts a complete secularization of the public school system, we find that in section 2 of Article XLIX the religious training of children under 16 years of age is explicitly remitted to parents and guardians; and in order that such training may not be interfered with, section 4 of Article XXVII secures to all attendants at the public schools entire freedom in matters of faith and conscience; for bigotry is not confined to the clergy or to religious orders, but is also quite often met with in scientific and scholarly enthusiasts. Recognizing this fact, it was thought well to restrict alike both overzealous churchmen and materialists. The result is that children of all creeds may attend the public schools of Switzerland, regardless of the tenets held by the teachers or prevailing in the respective municipalities. During the regular course of instruction, the programme of which is subject to federal inspection, doctrinal text books, and the teaching of religious dogmas are inadmissible. Religious instruction, however, is not debarred from being given in the public school buildings, but it must be imparted at a time which shall not interfere with the regular daily course of secular studies; in other words, before or after school hours. At such times attendance can in no case be made obligatory.

It is true that in a country like Switzerland it will require time to enable the people of all localities to adapt themselves fully to this new order of things; but as a whole the several cantons are framing their laws and changing their customs to conform to the federal law, and its tendency, it is thought, will rather vivify than weaken religious training.

NORMAL TRAINING.

In securing a satisfactory grade of elementary instruction much remains to be done in the way of providing for greater uniformity of school hours, in establishing the maximum number of scholars to a class

or teacher, and in determining the minimum duration of elementary instruction; all these subjects are receiving attention.

I have already alluded to the important services of certain great Swiss teachers in giving direction and form to the progress made in popular education. I will now speak of the great body of teachers of the day, what is expected of them, what they have done, how earnestly and actively they labor in promoting the cause of education, and what the federal government proposes to do in facilitating their efforts.

The indefatigable Numa Droz, late secretary of the interior of Switzerland, in a most able report recently made to the High Federal Council, very pointedly says: "As is the teacher so will be the school;" and he then argues that it is simply impossible, no matter how excellent the system, to attain a satisfactory grade of instruction with indifferent teachers; the greatest and most effective reform of all others, in his opinion, would be to provide thorough teachers for all Switzerland. The questions in regard to a more uniform course of studies, text book s salaries, &c., would certainly then be satisfactorily solved. Raise the standard of pedagogical studies, but at the same time give every aspirant for pedagogical honors free access to your normal schools and teachers' institutes. It is from want of proper pedagogical training that so many defects have made themselves apparent in modern modes of instruction. Says Secretary Droz:

How often do we find children leaving our public schools unfitted to enter upon the practical duties of life incumbent upon them; how often do we see children studying philosophy, chemistry, literature, and the like, when in their composition and spelling the grossest errors are noticeable; how often children pore over the geography of Asia and Africa', delve into the history of Egypt and Persia, while unable to relate even the most memorable events of their own country or correctly define its boundaries.

Half a century ago the common school did not venture beyond the catechism, and a little reading, writing, and ciphering, while nowadays the tendency is to rush to the other extreme; intellectual gluttony would seem to have followed close upon intellectual poverty. The fact is, the public school of the present aims to do too much, and consequently the teacher, ill prepared for such work, fails to do well what is assigned to him. Prof. Joseph Payne says most forcibly on this subject:

There is much talk nowadays about "raising the standard" of education, and it would seem that some think the standard may be raised by the addition of new subjects to the curriculum of elementary instruction. If, however, the machinery of our education is defective—and the results prove that it is—giving it more work to do is surely a unique device for improving its action. The mill grinds badly, and the grist is unsatisfactory; and the remedy proposed is to put more corn into the hopper.

In concluding his report, Secretary Droz says that the most powerful and effective lever for raising the system of public instruction in Switzerland would, in his opinion, be "direct or indirect participation by the federal government in the training of teachers for elementary schools." The federal government even of a republic deems it essential itself to train the instructors of its military arm. Why not equally essential that

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it should train the instructor of its civil arm? If the hand that wields the sword and the mind that devises the defences in times of war must be trained by the State, surely, then, the hand that wields the pen and the mind that frames its legislation in times of peace should receive their training from the same source.

Prof. Aimé Humbert, deservedly looked upon in Switzerland as an acknowledged leader in matters of education, has given this subject of establishing federal normal schools much study. In a series of able letters to Professor Desor, of the Swiss congress, he recommends the establishment of a federal normal institute comprising two sectionsone in German, the other in French Switzerland, with a branch in the Italian canton. The full course of study should embrace 4 years, the third to be spent by the student from German Switzerland either in the French or Italian section and vice versa. The annual expense to the federal government of maintaining such an institution is estimated by Professor Humbert at $30,000.

At the commencement of last year (1878) there were in Switzerland 27 normal schools and teachers' institutes. Twenty were public institutions, and of these the cantons of Berne and Valais each had four, leaving one each to twelve other cantons, while ten cantons were entirely without normal institutions.

Under these circumstances, one must wonder that in Switzerland public instruction has advanced to its present standard. But when we see what is done for the training of teachers in some localities we readily recognize the influence the graduates must have exercised upon the popular mind and upon the system of elementary instruction wherever they have been intrusted with it.

No matter what the creed or sex of the teachers, whether Catholic, Protestant, Israelite, or Gentile, cantonal laws now exact certificates of competency. In the canton of Soleure, for instance, persons desiring to devote themselves to teaching are required to attend a three years' normal course, when, only upon graduating, they receive a diploma entitling them to teach. Others not attending this course desiring to teach must successfully pass an examination like that to which the successful graduates of the teachers' institute have been subjected. In some cantons teachers not continuously in service are likewise subjected to reexamination at stated periods.

What in Switzerland has greatly impaired the labors of the teacher up to the present time is the excessively large numbers of scholars in some of the schools and classes assigned to one teacher, ranging, as they do, from 50 in the canton of Neuchâtel to 60, 70, 80, and even 100 in the canton of Zürich; for industrial and drawing classes the maximum ranges from 30 to 40 pupils.

Another serious obstacle in the way of securing better results is the number of hours appointed for tuition, ranging, as it does, according to locality and season from 25 to 36 hours per week, exclusive of gymnastic and other extra courses.

INSUFFICIENT PAY OF TEACHERS.

A last and great complaint made by the teachers of Switzerland is in regard to the unequal and, in many cases, sadly inadequate salaries fixed by the civil authorities. This deters many endowed by nature for the vocation from preparing for and professionally entering upon the career of a teacher. This question of "salary" has of late repeatedly been brought to the attention of the federal authorities by petition and otherwise. It is claimed, and it would seem justly so, that the teachers in the civil service of the people should be paid at least as well as the teachers in the military service.

At the teachers' convention in Winterthur, 1874, after considerable discussion and elucidation of the subject, it was formally determined to recommend the passage of a federal law fixing the minimum pay of teachers in the elementary public schools. The federal authorities while recognizing the difficulty of framing such a law as would operate equitably in all sections of Switzerland, nevertheless do not seem indisposed to give the subject serious consideration. To do so, it is believed would make it easier to secure a better class and an increased number of candidates for admission to the federal normal schools, should such schools be established. The point is made that if federal law can fix the standard of public instruction in elementary schools and the minimum of knowledge required for the position of a teacher, it is also competent to determine the minimum salary to be accorded to such position.. According to the latest information upon the subject (1874), the salaries of the 5,789 public school teachers then in Switzerland varied beyond all conception, ranging, so far as known, from about $100 to $900 a year, with all manner of provisions as to perquisites, the furnishing of substitutes, and other responsibilities. Many localities furnish fuel and residence, some exempt teachers from taxation of all kinds, while others. enrol them in endowment associations, and seven cantons accord regular pensions (some to the extent of half pay) to teachers retired or superannuated.

It will therefore be seen that the provisions made for the training of teachers in Switzerland are good, I might say excellent, so far as they go, but that these institutions are far too few in number and limited in. means to supply efficient instructors for all the land. It will also be seen that the teachers of Switzerland labor under many and serious. disadvantages in regard to the responsibilities exacted of them and the remuneration accorded.

Despite all this, the Swiss teachers are by no means disheartened.. You will find them constantly gathering and consulting upon matters. of common interest and educational progress. Annually you will find. at the convention of the Swiss teachers' union an attendance of a thousand or more of these earnest promoters of intellectual advancement and civilization. You will find them active not only in the school room

but also on the field of social and political science, called upon frequently to participate prominently in municipal, state, and national affairs; in fact the Swiss school teacher may well be looked upon as embodying more than any other the elements of a true type of the "man of the people," ruling the destinies of the democratic republic of Switzerland.

EDUCATIONAL BUREAU AND MUSEUM.

An educational museum, to which the federal government extends liberal aid, is already performing its work in Zürich; but to give better form and expression to the earnest efforts of Swiss educators and instructors, we need in Switzerland, as an adjunct to the department of the interior, a federal bureau of education, such as the Congress of the United States has most wisely established at the seat of this Government, and which by efficient management has already proved and will continue to prove a blessing to the land second to none. Its excellent annual and special reports prominently hold up the mirror for self-examination, and where shortcomings present themselves to view, you, teachers and instructors, as the custodians of an essential element in promoting the public welfare, are expected to indicate the remedy, which the wise legislator will surely not be slow to apply. Such an institution we need in Switzerland, and I am happy to say have every prospect ere long of obtaining. It will place the capstone on the statutory structure of which "elementary instruction under federal supervision" constitutes the foundation.

CONCLUSION.

In conclusion, I would say that it is not the prestige won by ancestors in battle nor the guarantee of neutrality vouchsafed by the great powers of Europe nor its apparently unassailable Alpine fastnesses that for centuries have protected republican institutions in Switzerland; the secret of the preservation and maintenance of freedom lies in the maxim "knowledge is power," which in Switzerland has ever received popular recognition. To its teachers and schools even more than to its soldiers and statesmen, are owing the freedom and prosperity which my country enjoys.

On the conclusion of the reading of the paper, which was listened to with marked attention,

Mr. BARNES, of Pennsylvania, said: I would like to ask whether we are to distinguish between teachers' institutes and normal schools, as mentioned in the paper, or do the terms mean the same?

Mr. HITZ. They are identical.

Mr. BARNES. I desire to know also what the public sentiment is on the subject of compulsory attendance in Switzerland. Can you give us a correct idea as to that, Mr. Hitz?

Mr. HITZ. The vote would perhaps show what that sentiment is better than any other evidence that could be given. It was overwhelmingly in favor of compulsory education. I would say that in what we call the