Class . 0_4^^1^_. Book / Aavance Sheets of REPOKT OF THE COMMISSION /To UFOX TIIK PLANS FOR THE EXTENSION OF Indu^rial and Agricultural Training Submitted to the Governor January 1 O, 1911 MADISON, WIS. Democrat Pointing Company, State Printer 1911 ^(^^\ To the Honorable Legislature of the State of Wisconsin: Herewith is submitted the report of the commission upon the plans for the extension of industrial and agricultural train- ing. Respectfully submitted, C, P. Gary, Chairman. C. R. Van Hise. C. G. Pearse. L. E. Reber. C. McCxVRTHY, Secretary. January 10. 1911. TABLE OF CONTENTS. Page Part I — Ixtroductiox 1 Basis of Report 1 Conditions in the state 3 Conservation of intelligence 4 Illiteracy 6 Scope of report 7 Salaries of teachers 7 Special school of normal grade 8 Independent high schools 9 Recommendations of the Commission 9 A. Industrial education 9 B. Agricultural education 11 C. General 12 Part II — Industrial Education 14 Germany 14 Heavy investment 17 Practical nature of work 19 Continuation schools 20 Administration 26 Teachers 27 Task system 28 How can German methods be applied to our state? 29 Existing remedies 30 Manual training 30 Wisconsin agricultural schools 31 Compulsory industrial education under 16 years of age 32 / vi COXTKXTS. Paki' II I MUSI uiM. Eiirt Ai ION — Contimiod. Page Continuation scliools 38 Evening schools 46 Analysis of existing- methods 46 Incentives should be studied and used 52 Evening schools in England oT Trade schools 59 Difficulties relating to 59 Attitude of organized labor 65 Apprentice sj'stem 75 Part time arrangements 78 Fitchburg system 79 Cincinnati system 80 University extension in relation to apprenticeship 81 Beverly plan 82 Boston continuation schools 83 Chicago building trades agreement 83 Administrative control , 85 A separate administration recommended 86 Aid from capital and labor 87 Other administrative methods and devices 90 Shall tuition be paid? 90 Certificates and examinations 92 Sale of produce 93 Experimental work 94 Task system 95 University extension 96 Teachers 101 Text books 1^*^ Secondary considerations - l*^"^ By-products of industrial education 104 Citizenship 1^9 Sanitation H^ Vocational direction H*' Social factors • • • m Contents. vji Part II — Ixdistkial Edication — Continued. Page Miscellaneous suggestions 112 Blind alleys 112 Cost 113 Should be always for the many 114 Part III— AcRRTi.TrRAi. Education 114 The value of agricultural training 114 Better trained teachers 116 State aid for agricultural training 118 The present condition of agricultural teaching and sugges- tions for further development 119 The county training schools 119 The rural schools 121 The consolidated country schools 121 The state graded schools 124 The township high schools 125 The village and city high schools 127 The county schools of agriculture and domestic economy 128 The university 130 Conclusion 135 REPORT OF THE COMMISSION UPON PLANS FOK THE KNTKNSION OF Industrial and Agricultural Training PART T. Introduction. Basis of report. The report of the Commission on Education, herewith sub- mitted to the Wisconsin legislature of 1911, is based upon Joint Resolution No. 53, of the legislature of 1909. This reso- lution is as follows: "Whereas, Reliable statistics show that there are at least 104.000 illiterates in the state of Wisconsin at the present time, "Whereas, There is a great movement through this entire country at the present time to establish night schools and night trade schools so that workers and those who have been denied education cannot only get the elements of education but can also improve themselves in their business of life. Whereas, The growing need of instruction to our people who cannot attend school demands from us some investigation of this great problem ; therefore be it "Resolved by the senate, the assembly concurring. That the state superintendent, the president of the University of Wiscon- sin, the director of the University Extension Division of the University of Wisconsin, the librarian of the legislative refer- ence department, and the superintendent of the Milwaukee 2 Kki'oht of the Commission Upon Plans for the j)ul)li(' schools arc licrchy created a coimnissioii to i-cport to Ili<' next legislature upon remedies for these conditions: and be it further "Resolved, TJiat the heatls of tliese departments are liercl)y directed to use tlieir respective clerical forces to help in this matter in so far as it is necessary and to hold such conferences with teachers and associations as will enable them best to work out the plans for the betterment of these conditimis. pi-ovided that none of the said otlficers shall receive any extra compensa- tion for their services but may receive such traveling exjienses and other expenses necessary to the fullest investigation of all of these matters." The commission created l)y this resolulion has had ri'equcnt meetings during the more than a year and a half \\liicli has elapsed since the passage of the resolution. Upon a careful analysis of the resolution, it is evident that your honorable body intended to have this commission inves- tigate thoroughly the basis of education in this state. Your commission found at once that the great question of illiteracy could not be investigated thoroughly without takiny uj) the subject of compulsory education as well as the subject of the betterment of the school conditions in general. If there are boys and girls grooving up in this state who are illiterate, and if there is a crying demand, as evidenced by yiuu- resolution, that evening schools should exist, and that opportunities for industrial and agricultural education should be increased in some way, it appeared to your commission that a cai-eful and painstaking review of our entire educational sitnati('n in rela- tion to these grave problems must be undertaken. Your commission confesses at once that the ]n'ol)lems com- mitted to it are too great and too important to be solved in the short time, and with the limited means, at its disposal. Never- theless, your commission has felt that Avithin the limitations imposed upon it by the lack of apjiropriation and time, it would not do its duty to the state unless it made some at- tempt to reach fundamentals and arrive at some conclusions of a constructive nature which, although they may not fully solve the problems, will draw the attention to the i-ight princi- ples to be used in their ultimate solution. Our analysis has led us step by step to the conclusion that Extension of Indistrial and Agricui.tikal Training. 3 Avo must conskler thoroughly the great industrial and social changes which are taking place in this and other countries. "Wisconsin must look around and abroad, as she does not live alone. The great prolilems whieh confront the people of the surr .'unding states and tlie dearly l)ought lessons from abroad must be brought home to us. Yet, they must be brought home with a full and careful analysis of the actual conditions under which our (.wn people live. Our investigations have led us' directly to the study of the relation of industry to cilucation. It is the education of the great mass of the p3ople, and not the education of the few. which nuist be thoroughly overhauled, and which must l)e reorganized upon a sound basis, with an eye to the conditions of the future progress of our state. Conditions in the atate. Your ^committee does not wish to go into a discussion of any great length, of the present industrial status, but nevertheless in approaching the problem of industrial and agricultural edu- cation, it is necessary to outline briefly the actual conditions in the country and the state in order to understand the point of view from which your commission worked. AVhatever may have been our natural wealth in America,, whatever may have been our natural advantages in the past, we must admit that conditions have changed. The agitation throughout the country for the preservation of our natural resources, the anxiety shown -on every hand because of the de- l)letion of our forests, the Avearing out of agricultural lands and the danger of exhaustion of our mines, shows us that we are approaching a nCAv economic era in America. Our coun- try has changed from a new land of boundless virgin iiatural- resiuirces to a country which must husband its inheritance. The state of Wisconsin is changing as rapidly as any portion of this country. In fact, the state has become, in little more than a decade, a great manufacturing state, covered with small villiages and cities. "We have now over 100 fourth class cities. We produce at least $450,000,000 of manufactured products yearly and $280,000,000 of agricultural products. We have changed our economic and social life at the same time that we have been taking the cream of our natural resources. Our future must be a struggle for prosperity in manufactur- 4 Report of tiik Co.mmismox I'l'ox Plans for the lug and ill cDiinnerc-ial pui'siiils and in intensive and specialized agrieulture. We are beeoiiiiiig rapidly i-ediu-ed to the same economic basis, and avc must eventually use the same weapons in our industrial struggle, as have other countries. We cannot dodge the fact that our future commercial prosperity and the future general welfare of this country and of this state depend uot on our natural resources alone but mainly upon the intel- ligence and the ability of the people of this country and of this state. Wisconsin's natural resources are not so large as those of a number of other states. Her prosperity in the future is to be dependent not only upon the bounty of nature but upon the patience and hard-working qualities and the intelligence of her people. Her future greatest resource must l)e the superior intelligence of the individuals in their various vocations. Changing as we are from an almost exclusively agricultural into a manufacturing and agricultural state, we must jn-ovide >education adapted to both agriculture and manufactures. The older countries of the world and a number of the older states in this country have already built up a great manu- facturing population, and we must meet their comp^'tition while we are in this i)eriod of change. We have then to meet conditions in this country with which our fathers did not have to contend. ^ First, diminishing natural resources compel us to fully utilize those remaining. By study, by research, by enterprise, by training alone can this be accomplished Second, diminishing natural opportunity for the individual compels us to create that opportunity. If Ave desire the equality of opportunity which our falhei's luul. to continue, this must depend not mainly, as formerly, upon new land, or the chance to exploit mines (u* forests, but upon the l)rain power of the individual. This can be gained only through education which will fit him to meet his oavh needs and those of this state and country. Are we not. then, day by da.^ nearing the period of keen necessity — the time for fiction under stress .' Conservation of intelligence. Thorough preparation and scientific skill must take the place of the squandered gifts of nature and eventually the Extension of Industrial and xVgricultural Training. 5 artificial bounty of tlie taritf. We cannot waste our resources in the future; \xe shall not have them to waste. We must con- serve them and use them seientifieally. An unsi-ientific worker surely eannot use the best methods unless he is taught. We must establish some means of teaching our people. It must come the same way as the development of manufacturing or the develcpinent of land — by the use of capital and the most improved business methods. The only way of developing the individual is through education ; no other way has yet been discovered nor Avill be. Special consideration has been given by the commission to the German system of education. The name of Germany is in everyone's mouth; because of her astonishing prosperity, that country has attracted the attention of all scholars and travelers. Germany by her wonderful system of democratic education, has met the real needs of her people. She has cul- tivated their intelligence, and by so doing she has cultivated her land and manufactures and built up her commerce and in- dustrial success. In America we have boasted of our ingenuity and of our native intelligence. These have kept us in the race, and we have kept our factory chimneys smoking. Primarily we have overcome our shameful waste of reserves which has resulted from the lack of thorough and far seeing scientific processes, b}' the splendid inventiveness, push, and ingenuity of our population ; that is, by the native intelligence of our people. We have seen generation after generation of manufacturing people in America change until our workmen show diminished skill and ability, and in some industries, lower standards of life. When our skilled workmen began to fail us, Ave imported them and with other rougher help, which we had obtained from all over the world, we have kept up our progress by the splen- did genius of our leaders. We have made the machine take the place of the skilled American mechanic of the past. The alert intelligence and ingenuity of the American has saved him for the present. In tool machinery, in standardized forms of various kinds, we have held our own in the past and we are still holding our own. But for how long? What of the future? HoAv are we prepared to meet competition under new condi- tions? Are our children, those who must win this fight. re~ <> Rei^out of TiiK Commission l'i>(»x Plans for tiik cciviiiii' 11h' ritilit prcparat ion for it .' Arc our masses of sturtly AVork(M-s iii'ltin^' the rouiidatioii which is llicir diio ami upon whicli the })rospiM-ity, yes, the inti'llijreme of the citizens, and eventually oui- imlnstrial peaee and prosperity depend .' Are they gettinle is involved in the situation. No question is more momen- tous; no question means more to our homes and to the phy- sical and moral well-being of our people. We cannot brush it aside as England has attempted to do. and depend upon the empty vanity of believing forever in our native ability, or conclude that Americans are a superior race of people and that it will "come out all right in the end." Our state, strong and young, fitting itself for its industrial life and for its com- petition with older states and older peoples, needs to take account of stock and look to the future. Extension of Industrial and Agricultural Training. 7 Scope of report. It was recognized by your commission that a proper con- sideration of the full scope of the resolution of the legislature would involve two phases of educational development: (1) Industrial education which especially pertains to cities and to some extent, villages ; and ( 2 ) agricultural education which pertains mainly to the country. Both of these subjects are con- nected intimately with general questions of education. The recognition of the above led the commission to appoint two sub committees to consider the first two phases of the subject. Dr. Charles McCarthy was designated by the com- mission as a sub-committee to make a draft of the report upon industrial education. To the preparation of this report Dr. McCarthy has given much time. He spent several months in Germany, chiefly in the cities of Munich, Coblenz, Frankfurt. Cologne, and the region about Cologne. He also visited Great Britain and studied the industrial regions about London, and in the smaller manufacturing cities of Ireland. He also spent a short time in Belgium, chiefly in Brussels. Dr. jMcCarthy fur- ther visited the larger cities of the east, including New York. Boston. Lowell, and Pittsburg, in which industrial education is developed. For agricultural education a committee was appointed out- side of the commission, consisting of Dean H. L. Russell, Professor E. C. Elliott, and Professor K. L. Hatch. The reports contained herewith upon these subjects are largely the work of these sub-committees. However, they have been twice or thrice revised by the commission as a whole, and as printed they represent not simply the views of the sub- committees but those of the entire commission. Salaries and teachers. Closel.v connected witli the subjects of industrial edu- cation and agricultural education is the question of teachers' salaries. In order to make the movement successful for vo- cational training there is the same necessity for a minimum salary hnv that there is for education of other types. Our system of education for the preparation of teachers for the public schools should be so altered and improved as to give a better grade of nioi and ivomen as teachers, and this applies 8 KKroKT OF Tin: Cu.m mission Upon Plans for the to all classes of schools. At the same time the demaiKl is for ability aiul service thai eaimot be seenred at the current prices. Thirty, forty, or even til'ty dollai-s ])er month is not enough to attract men and Avomen ^vho must earn a living- and who are really competent to do the wirk that )^h nld be done; nor enough to justify tliat tliorouuii training necessary for proper results. As a partial solution of this i)rol)lem, llie enactnieni of a minimum salary law has, and is. being urgetl from many quarters. Without doubt, such a law. framed so as to place a premium upon thorough general and special training, would accomplish much for the improvement of industrial and agri- cultural edmation. Investigations that have already been made concerning the situation in Wisconsin show conclusively that a law fixing the minimum salaries of teachers Avould necessitate some form of special state aid in order to etiablc a very large number of school districts in all sections of the state to meet the increased expenditures. The practice of cer tain other states, Indiana and Ohio, in particular, of setting aside each year a special state fund to enable communities to pay suitable teachers' salaries, and in other ways properly sup- port the school, would seem to be worthy of consideration by the legislature. American experience for a hundred years at least has proven conclusively that until the salarv^ scale of teachers is raised and maintained at a level above that now obtaining, it will not be possible to secure effective industrial and agricultural teaching. A living wage must l)e guaranteed to every com- petent teacher, and every connnunity in the state slnmld be able to pay this wage without an over burden of taxation. Special school of normal grade. Under the present law. the state normal school graduate is qualified to teach in any elementary or secondary school within the state. But as the normal school courses of study are at present organized, these graduates can hardly be expected to prepare teachers effectively for the industrial and agricultural subjects recommended to be introduced in the elementary and secondary rural schools. The number of teachers of agriculture and domestic science that will be required in the state, if the recommendations sub- Extension or Industrial and Agricitltural Training. 9 mitted are carried out, will be so large that some special pro- vision slionld be made for the preparation of teachers for these subjects. This can probably be best done in some special school. Your Commission, therefore, recommends the develop- ment of a state institution whose prime function shall be the training of elementary teachers in industrial and agricultural subjects. Independent high schools. One other general statement should be made. At the present time some fourteen high schools in the larger cities, some- times called the independent high schools, since they have not complied with the terms of the law in reference to free high schools, do not receive from the state any aid for vocational training. It seems to the commission that so far as these high schools have courses in manual arts and domestic science, and so far as they introduce courses in agriculture, that they should be placed upon the same basis in reference to state aid as the free high schools of the state. The recommendations submitted bj- the commission are given beloAv. The facts upon which these recommendations are based are to be found mainly in the accompanying papers upon industrial education and agricultural education. A num- ber of bills will be submitted to the legislature putting into con- crete form the recommendations of the commission. RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMISSION. The Comndssion respectfully submit for the consideration of the legislature the following recommendations. A. INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION. 1. Advisory Board. — That a temporary state advisory board for industrial education be appointed by the governor and that an assistant and other officers Avhose duty it shall be to supervise and encourage industrial education shall be added to the state superintendent's office: said assistant to be ap- 10 l^EPOKT OP THE Co.MMISMOX I'l'ON PlaNS FOR TIIK |)(tiiil('(l by the state superinteiuleDt with tlie approval of the boai'd of industrial ('chu-atioii. 2. Local Boards. — That tlici'c he cstahlishcd in every coii- mniiity, wliere industrial educalidn is undcrljiken. 1 ical hmirds of the same general nature as the temporaiy state atlvisory board, Avliieh board shall have similar control in theii- loealities over industrial education and evening schools. 3. Continuation Schools. — That, as soon as school facili- ties can be provided for children betAvoen 14 and 16 years of age alread>' in industry, they he compelled to go to school a specified time each -week; that this time shall be expended as far as possible in industrial training; and that the hours of labor for such ehildren shall not exceed 8 hoiu's ])er day for six days of each week, which time shall include the time spent; by each student in vocational schools. 4. State Aid. — That after careful investigation by the boards establiished for this purpose, continuation schools, trade schools, and evening schools shall be gradually established in the state, and that state aid shall be given for tlies(> ])urposes. under strict limitations as to methods and in such a manner that all training given in such schools can be combined into a harmonious and economical system. 5. Apprentice Laws. — That the apprentice laws of the state be changed so as to expand them and bring them up to date, in order that the apprenticeship system may be put in close and harmonious J'elation with the educational system. 6. University Extension. — That the appropriation for the extension division of the university be increased iu order that this division may form a flexible element in the gradual development of industrial and commercial education of the state. EXTENiSION OF Ixorsr'RIAL AND AGRICtl.TlRAL TRAINING. 11 P,. AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 7. County Training- Schools. — That the courses of study ill the eoniily trainni.u- schools be modified su as to contain not less than one unit of ati'i'icultui'e. and as soon as practicable two units of ayricuiture. It is suggested that where desirable, the services of the traveling instructors in agriculture, in item 1 4 below. l)e utilized for this work. 8. Consolidated Rural Schools. — That a central board of education, composed of five members elected at large, be created for each county, this board to have power in particular, (a) to employ a county superintendent of schools; (b) to con- solidate school districts and discontinue schools when such will contribute to the betterment of education of the children ; that such consolidated schools receive state aid equal to that granted to state graded schools, namely, $200 per annum for a two department school and $300 per annum for a three department school : and that additional state aid to an equal amount be granted to those consolidated schools which introduce not less than two units of agriculture or agriculture and domestic economy, provided that these courses of study and the teachers therein be approved by the state superintendent. 9. State Graded Schools. — That additional state aid equi- valent in amount to that they now receive be granted to such state graded schools as introduce not less than two units of agriculture, or agriculture and domestic economy, namely, $200 per annum for a two department school and $300 per an- num for a three department school, provided that these courses of study and the teachers therein be approved by the state superintendent. 10. Township High Schools. — That additional annual state aid equal in amount to that now granted for manual training be granted to township high schools conditional upon the intro- duction of not less than two units of agriculture or agriculture and domestic economy, provided these courses of study and the teachers therein be approved by the state superintendent. 32 Keport oI'' the Commission I'fox Plans for the 11. Village and City Schoals. — That additional state aid equal in anioiiiit ti) that noAV granted for manual training be granted to all villiagc and eit>^ high schools conditioned upon the introduction of not less than Iavo units of agriculture or of agriculture and domestic economy, provided that these courses of study and the teachers therein l)e approved l)y the state superintendent, 12. County Agricultural Schools. — That the present law pertaining to state aid for county agricultural schools be amended so as to change the amount which may be paid by the state to any one school from $4,000 to $6,000; Init Avith the provision that if more than $4,000 be paid by the state that the county shall contribute not less than an equal amount. 13. College of Agriculture. — That the college of agriculture establisli a ''continuation course" for the graduates of the county schools of agriculture, to which those Avho have com- pleted the so-called "short course" in agriculture may also be admitted. 14. Traveling Instructors in Agriculture. — That the appro- priation for agi'icultuval field sei'vice ho autliorized to provide for the appointment of itinerant instructors in agriculture, the services of whom may be utilized by counties in various lines of agricultural Avork. C. GENERAL. 15. Minimum Salary Law. — That a minimum salary laAv be passed Avhich shall apply to all teachers in industrial and agri- cultural subjects, and Avhich Avhile placing emphasis upon thorough-going general training shall place an additional premium upon special preparation for the teaching of agri- cultural and industrial subjects. 16. Training of Teachers. — That adequate provision be made in some state institution of normal school grade and in the county training schools for the establishment of courses of instruction in industrial anays them. A manufacturer in Elberficld was showing me one day a length of dress material 'That.' he said, 'is going tv> England and it is nuidc of English stuff. I get the materials from England, manufacture them and send them ba(d<. I pay carriage both Avgys, and yet I can sell this in English markets.' 'ITow can vou manage to do it?' I asked. 'Well.' he said, 'you Extension of Industrial and Agricultural Training. 15 see this is a uice design. There is brains in it.' It was a good ansAvcr, and I am inclined to believe the whole answer, for it pays higher wages and more for coal than mannfactnrers of similar goods in Yorkshire, and there are no kartells (trusts) in the business." Here, then, is the whole German secret — brains, trained in- telligence. The decline of p]ngland and the desperate efforts now being used by England to regain her prestige in the race Avith Germany for the commerce of the world, is a cause worthy of our profound study. America is not England, but neverthe- less the lesson should not be lost upon us. The Englishman has felt that P]ngland. "somehow or another," has always pulled out of difficulties. Therefore, revelling in this supposed se- curity, the English have not given sufficient care, until very recently, to the causes of the enormous success of Germany in manufacturing and marketing her goods. The startling prevalence of illiteracy in our own country should at least appeal to our selfish instincts and alarm us as to business conditions in the future. Our American education, and our secondary schools especially have been our boast ; for a long while they Avere the wonder of the world. The education of the people, "the pride in the little red school house." and the common school of our fathers has ])roduced that intelligence which has been the healthy foundation of our homes. But we are now standing still in our own self- satisfaction with the past, M'hile other countries are forging ahead. Our boasted democratic education yet leaves much to be accomplished if the statistics we have quoted are correct. The jMosely commission when it came to xVme'rica asked the rpiestion : "How is it that the United States can aff'ord to pay a half dollar in wages where we pay a shilling, and yet compete with us in the markets of the world?" With just pride we could give the answer that our intelligence enters into the process of production; that the intelligence of our people (and the wages which we pay are because of that in- telligence) gives us our peculiar advantage in competing for the markets of the world. If we lose this relative intelligencf-; through a change in the character of our people and the failure to adjust our school system to the needs of the times then we lose the advantage which we have had in the past. But a school IG KkI'ORT of the Co.MiMlSt continuation school. The apprentice in the jcAvelry firm l)egins Avork, Ave AA'ill say at 14 years of age. On Friday or Saturday he has to go to school. In that school he may have one hour of German, one hour of free hand draAving, one hour of plastic design, one hour of commercial geography and in general everything Extension of Indusprial and Agricultural Trainixg. 21 "vvhich Avill give him a broad view of the other departments of the work in which he is engaged. If he is a merchant's clerk, he may be given a course in a mercantile continuation school, which would teach him how to buy and sell, do ac- counting and to understand the general features of a thorough commercial education. Everything is applied directly to the business in which he finds himself, and which perhaps in his own town or village is a specialty. For instance, the city of ITanau is largely engaged in jewelry work. Instruction in sell- ing jewelry and the manlifacture of jewelry is the chief work of the continuation school. Continuous classes are held in most ■eases so that in the industrial sclu)ol where boys l)etween 14 and 20 years of age and even men up to 25 or 30 go to school from 2 to 4 years to learn trades, there are also many boys coming in every day of the week from different manufacturing establishments. Evening classes are also held, but if a boy goes to an evening class, the manufacturer is compelled to allow him a certain num])er of hours each day away from his work, so that the total number of hours for the evening school and day work is not greater than one day's work. This is also the law in Scotland. The classes are small in these schools, and the "task" system is so used that a class may include one boy who is doing very elementary work, and another who is finishing the highest task given by the teacher. The consider- ation of these questions and their application to the con- ditions in AVisconsin will l)e taken up later. The following is a brief abstract of the imperial law of June 1, 1891, relating to the establishment and regulation of these schools in Germany. It is taken from a bulletin prepared by xVrthur J. Jones for the United States department of educa- tion. "Sec. 120. The masters in any branch of industry are bound hereby, in the case of their workers under the age of 18 who attend an institution recognized by the authori- ties of their district or their state as a continuation school, to allow them the time fixed as necessary for such institu- tion by the authorities. * * * Through the ordinance of a district council or any wider communal body, attend- ance at a continuation school may be made obligatory for all male Avorkers under the age of 18. In the same way. 22 l\i:i'oirr of the Commission Ti-ox Plans for the pi'DjxT i'(\uiil;iti gi'eat ii-regular democratic educational system, fitted to the needs of the different localities in a wonderful manner, and meeting the conditions much better than if they were regularly classified and standardized. Administration. — After a very severe trial, reaching over a periotl of y(>ai's, it was found that the inevitable tendency of all industrial schools was to become theoretical and to turn out theoretical students rather than ])i'actical men who would be of use in building up the industrial resources and commercial prosperity of the country. The history of this education in Germany shows that the attitude of mind of the ordinary school teacher does not allow him to take hold of this problem and ■work it out as it should be worked out. It is necessary to have some check upon his theoretical inclinations and to give some aid to him in the practical solution of industrial questions. After a long period of trial, the Germans have established almost universally, local committees of business men, manufac- turers and Avorkmen who control these schools, wherever they are. The result is that the manufacturers and the working peoi)le take the utmost pride and interest in these schools, and watch closely their development. They are naturally looking after their own interest, and in so doing help the industries in which they are engaged. In talking with the heads of the in- dustrial schools in Germanv one is impressed by the fact that Extension of Industrial and Agricultlral Training. 27 these meu always say that if the employers would only allow them to have the boys for full time or have them for longer peri- ods and would not interfere so much with the management of the school, that they could do splendid work. Of course it be- comes apparent after careful examination that their complaint is groundless. The general history of indusrial education in this country, as well as the German experience, shows us that if these schools are all put on a full time basis, the bo,y who works in the factory and earns his living after he is 14 years of age is gradually crowded out and schools are formed which turn out engineers professional or cultured men, but which do not meet the needs of the great mass of the people. If these were all full time schools and the princij^als allowed to do as they pleased, the schools would not meet the demand as they do now. They would not reach as many boys. It is far better to have the management of the schools in the hands of the employers ^nd employees than to be hampered by the theoretical stand- point which inevitably would result if the teachers or school men had it all in their own hands. Of course there is this tendency ; that if the practical men control it entirel.y they will work with purely commercial motives, will not be far-seeing, and will be tempted to get quick results rather than to build deep foundations. Nevertheless so strong has been the tendency to theorize in this work that the manufacturers and employers of Germany just barely hold their OAvn in keeping the teaching from becoming too theoretical. Even Avith these precautions and all these checks, there is no doubt that if there if a fault with the splendid system, it is on the side of too much attention to theoretical and technical work. There is a constant pull in that direction, and the only thing that has saved the plan has been the great, sound, com- mon sense of employers and employees. Teachers. — Another great element in the success of this work is the kind of teachers employed. Formerly, before any atten- tion was given to the fitting of teachers for this work, teachers from the ordinary schools were employed. The result was not good. The securing of teachers well grounded in new methods was one of the hardest tasks in the entire German industrial educational scheme. It has not yet been settled. It was easy to get teachers of manual training with pedagogic ideas, but it 28 KkI'ORT ok TIIK ("OM.MISSJON I'loN 1*1. ANS FOR THE was lianl to get practical woi'kcrs who could teach practical things. Tlie practical woi'kcr was iiol always a good teacher. Evei'v means lias hceii used to get the right kind of teachers. A'ery wisely indeetl the Cieriiiaiis have paid the teachers in this work highei' wages than foi* similar grades in the othei- schools; they have laid the stress and em[)hasis upon this work. In almost every place one sees men teaching in these schools who are really ai'fists in their work. The committees of manufac- turers and cnij)loyers see lo it that this is the case. A theoreti- cal or unlit teacher has a hard tiane of it under the sharp and vigilant eyes of these lo(.'al committees. Sjx'cial inducements have been held out for good Avorknuni. Pi'ivate rooms have- l)eeii furnished in the schools where they ean carry on their re- searches in (diemistry; where they can design new patterns iu' fabrics; where they can work in the arts and crafts or sciences; or where they can nuuuifacture beautiful ware or design indus- trial })atterns for themselves. Every man has, in fact, a studio. Recently, special schools for teachers in industrial teaching have been founded, -where men and women are specially trained. The Germans have realized that after all it is the trained per- sonality that does everything. It is not the ecjuipment. but it is the person. It is iu)t the building, but the human Ix'ing who makes the things, and th<' hunum element in this, means suc- cess in Germany even if the huge e(|uipment and investment did not exist. Task system. — There is another element which has been neglected by most of tlie investigators of the German industrial educational system. That is the "task system" which is in vogue there. Small classes of from 16 to 20 are usual, and the "tasks" are assigned for each member in the class. All Avho are prepared alike begin at the same "task." If a boy has but one day in the week in "which to do his Avork. he can come in and Avork at his "task." It may be that he has to make a piece of stucco design work. AVhen he has finished that, he will go on to the next "task." Right beside him in the room are men who are perhaps working every day. learning a trade in the ti-ade school. These men of course have many mor*^ "tasks" completed than the part time student but are under the same teacher. Perhaps some one is working a few hours at night or s short course work in agriculture, with com[)ulsion added. We are aware at once that many manufacturers will say that conii:)ulsion is impossi])le, or that such arrangements which we advocate here unthu' the actual condi.tions in nuinufacture, are impracticable. \''our committee is also aware that the forces which fought child lal)or legislation in this state will no doubt fight the compulsory continuation school law. It will be said that it is impossible to let a hoy leave his woi'k oiu' day a week because of the fact that the child is working in a system recpiir- ing minute division of labor and is doing a small but necessary part of the entire production, and if the child stops for any period then the machine must stop or some skilled employees nnist be delayed. The child, although a small and weak link, is still a link in the chain. / The same argument was advanced in (Jermany. The answer to this as the statistics given by the Wisconsin bureau of labor show, is that there are comparatively few children employed in factories, mercantile aiid correlated industi'ies in Wisconsin less than Ifi years of age. There wei'c but (i.^U") ])ei'mits issued last Extension of Indi'strial and AGRicrLTiRAL Training. 35 year. Some of these were not used, or were used for a very- short time. Oil tlie cthei Land children working en farms or in domestic service were not included. It is true that some adjust- ment will have to he made in certain ti-ades, but of these chil- dren it is safe to say that at least one-half are working at tasks, t*'" al)sence from which for a day oi- a weelc will not stop the woik or iidcrfere in any way with the i)jocess. The statistics' colh'cted hy the Wisconsin l)ureau of labor show thai l)ut 360' were used in machine tending. Wheiv children are engaged in I)acking, lalieling, counting, errand running, the matter can be easily met. In Geiniany the classes are made to accomodate these conditions. In some tr-ades one whole day is given ; in some others, two half days; in others, evening classes; and in this way the hours are made to fit into the occupation. This has caused very little trouble to the employer, notwithstanding the fact that German continuation schools are compulsory until 18 years of age. We have learned fi'om experience, however, in this state that mere compulsion will never be of the greatest service. Although we have compulsory education today in the common schools, we find that many boys drop out the first moment they can. They are tired of school. Here compulsion without proper methods, jiroper teachers, without those practical things which have made Germany successful in this work, will never accomplish the re- sults sought. A lack of i)atience with compulsory education is manifest at the present time. Honest men who have not studied school systems call compulsion a failure. ^Nlere compulsion is ad- mittedly a failure, but i-ompulsion combined with good methods is not. In Germany the amount of coiiijiulsion is regulated lo- cally. Th(^ statistics given of education in Prussia (where there is local option in the matter of compulsion) show that the schools where compulsion is used, are progressing, while those where it is not u.sed are going backward. The students in compulsory iiulustrial schools increased from 1 7-1,494 in 1904 to 286,822, in 1908, while those in non-compulsory schools decreased from 27.222 in 1904 to 17.659 in 1908. The same relative decrease is shown in commercial continuation schools. Analysis of data in ^I. E. Sadler's book on continuation schools in England, shows us that "of the 195 firms represent- ing some of the chief trades and industries in England to whom inquiries were sent, 67 i-e])lied. Of these 67, 49 excused ap- 36 KePdKT Ol" TIIK ("u.M MISSION I'l'OX i'j.AX-S FOR THE prentices fi-om day work to allow of their attending classes. The time allowed is from half a day to a day a Aveek." That is, many of the public spirited manufacturers of England rec- ognize that they can give part time off, and they do so. The pity is that the other manufacturers who ai'c not as public spirited are not compelled to do the same. Xo stronger argu- ment can be used in favor of compulsion. ('ertai]i manufac- turers can do it, evidently, in England, and others will not do it. The fact that such a large ])ercentage do do it. refutes the argument that compulsory allowance of time during the day to employees is impossible. The Wisconsin bureau of labor report has the following to say about tlie ((uestion of the retluction of hours of labor of children in order to allow for industrial education: "A few states have already effected a i-eduction in the legal number of hours of labor of children without serious consequences to industr}', and the eight hour day is regarded as the goal for those workmen who are able to protect themselves. Why should it not be the goal for those who are unable to protect themselves'? The eight hour day would not be inconvenient in factories whether employing either 1, 2 or 8 shifts and the other employers of labor would have less difficulty in adjusting themselves to such a legal limitation." Your committee recommends an eight hour day in this state for children under 16 years of age. If this were brought about in all industries it would be a great step towards the carrying out of the plan as outlined by your committee. The child would have the option of going to evening school or day continuation school. Such a system woidd inevitably lead to the establish- ment of day continuation schools but would allow for adjust- ment in some eases. It seems also to your committee that this Scotch law with an eight hour limitation could be well extended to 18 years in certain industries of a trying nature or in which, because of danger to the public, the pupils shoidd have a spe- cial training. From the attitude of railroads of this state and throughout the countrv it would seem that no oi)position would be met from them if the limit were extended, and therefore your committee has ])repared a bill extending the limit to 18 years in railroad Avork. If the methods of compulsion now used in the schools of Extension of Indits^rial and Agricultural Training. 37 Wisconsin are still defective, then "sve must not apply such antiquated and inefficient methods to compulsory industrial education, hut must improve the compulsory methods now used in the elementary schools and use efficient methods for both the elementary school and the continuation school. For this reason your connnittee has planned certain improvements in the compulsory education law Avith a view to the application of this law to compulsory education in continuation schools for boys and girls in industry between the ages of 14 and 16. Compulsion to 16 years of age will not be a hardship on the nmnufacturer and the employer, nor will it be on the parent or on the student. It is well known that the interest and en- thusiasm shown by the ordinary boy in these German compul- sory continuation schools is far greater than that shown by the student in the last years of the elementary school. The reason is simply that his interest is absorbed in solving the problems which meet him every day in his work. The manu- facturer or employer is making an investment in the future of his business and the parent has a way open to him to give to his children bettei- preparation for life. It is an investment on every hand and it can be carried out just as well here as in Germany. All over this country part time schemes have sprung up in a voluntary manner, reaching, it is true, only a few peo- ple, but these, as the statistics given by Professor Reber show, indicate tliat the thing is possible in America. . The part time system in continuation schools of Cincinnati, the part time schools of Boston, all show this. It is not hard to make this re- adjustment or to work out these methods ; and compulsion which usually runs between 14 and 18 in Germany certainly should not be a hardship between 14 and 16 in America. As our plan here necessarily includes a study of evening schools, trade schools and other means of educating workmen, these factors will be discussed so that the whole plan can be seen as a unit and the place of compulsion and of the proposed legisla- tion can be definitely set forth. J3S Report ok tiik Commission I'rox I'lans fou Tiit: CONTlXrATlON SCHOOLS We, to soiuo extent, liave been discussiiio- eoiitiunation sehools, but a eonsideration of these sehools as ai)plie(l to oiii- conditions deserves a more eomph^te analysis lliaii \vc haxc thus far been giving them. IIoav ean coiitiimalion schools be eslablished in Wisconsin ? First of all. the continuation sdiool is not a liiuh school. We are eonsidering, when we speak of the continuation school, what we ean do for the 80 to 00 per- cent of those who never iio to the high school, but who go into industry U])i)n arriving ;at legal school age. Your committee recommends the establishment of eontinna- ■tion schools as the first step to be taken in this state, for the I'eason that these schools seem to meet our needs better than any other system. It is not a ])erfect system, it is not the most highly scientific system; but it does something where nothing "has been done. It meets the broadest aim and it will at once reach the greatest number at the least cost. Again, your committee believes that the industi'ial educational need of this state is not going to be supplied by the establish- ment of trade schools here and there in cities which can atford them : but that a complete system adapted to the whole state, meeting the needs of people in the smallest villages as well as the largest cities, must be installed or else the problem will not be solved. It is comparatively easy for a large city to estab- lish a trade school, but what can be done with the boy or girl in the village store or in the other varied employments of life, scattered in small places throughout our state .' That is the ■question. The success of our plan nuist be tested by its re- sults in dealing with such cases. If we had money enough we could easily establish in every village in Wisconsin a trade school, but would this meet all the need .' AYhat kind of a school would it be .' What would it teach .' Would it reach the 80 or 1)0 per cent of boys and girls not in school.' We have not the money to set up these schools, nor would Ave know at once Avhei-e and ]i(»w to a])ply it if we did. There are two ])laces. liowever. in which we can exjjend money, and where we must ex])end it. All of the children of this state between 14 and ExTEN^^iox OP Indi'st'rial and Agricl'ltural Training. 39 16 years of age who are in industry must have tlieir educational needs supplied. The only so far found sueees«ful way is the Oerman continuation school. We believe that the state of Wisconsin instead of relying upon the estal)lishment of trade schools such as have been set up in the thickly populated state of Massachusetts,. should be- gin at once a plan of providing for this period of 14 to 16 years of age by means of continuation schools. In that way we can reach the greatest number at the least cost and we can allow the system to grow gradually and Avith the best results. It is the general agreement of all investigators, as has been stated before, that boys are not generally w^anted as apprentices be- fore they are 16 years of age. Therefore if they leave school at 11 they practically waste their time. A more careful analy- sis, however, will show us that it is only in certain trades that boys are not wanted before they are 16. and those arc the trades Avhich require physical strength. There are trades, also, in which the apprentice system has nt)t l)roken dow^n completel^^ The investigations of child labor for the past 10 years, and the strenuous opposition put up b.y certain employers to the child labor law, show that there are some employments in which children under 16 years of age are of service. The statistics of children actually in industry under 16 years of age show a great and increasing number thus employed. No doubt this is due to the subdivisions of trades and to the increasing use of machinery which can be tended b.y children. The report of the Wisconsin labor bureau on children in occupations under 16 years of age shows that there were but 35 children in the build- ing trades (in which apprenticeship still exists), while there Avere 2,640 in factories and Avorkshops. It Avill be apparent at once that the building trades require probably more physical capacity than the other trades of a lighter nature in Avorkshops and factories. Of those in the latter institutions, 356 Avere en- gaged in scAving, 318 in leather Avork. 529 in retail stores, 350 in offices, in knitting 260, in Avood Avork 268, in hardware 272, in food making, such as candy making, icing cakes and cookies, canning and bottling, sausage filling, etc., 214. Most of these occupations are A'eiy light, and physical strength is not re- quired, while some of them, such as the leather trade and the textile trades, are very much subdivided and require the quick- ness of children. It is evident from the reports that conditions 4(' Kei'oht of tuk Commission Tpon Tlans for the similar to those in England are rai)i(lly forming in our state. It is certain that many of the children from 14 to 16 have very little outlook for the future in the occupalion in Avhich they are engaged and have begun no pai'ticnlai- pi-cpa ration for life work. Shadwcll ill his hook. " liuiustrial Kt'ficiciicy, *' sa>'s of P^ng- laiid: "It is a fact that a very large proportion of l)oys never leai'ii or attempt to pursue any trade at all. They follow the line of least resistance and as soon as they are released from school and often before, they begin to earn money by unskilled labor, as errand boys, shop boys, van boys, newspaper boys and other occasional occupations. There is always a demand for their services and the temptation is to many irresistible. Thus they grow up without any special knowledge or skill. As they groAv older and cannot live on boy's wages, they are thrust out by the constantly renewed su])ply of youngei" lads and drift into the ranks of occasional or inefficient labor.'' The above can be applied to Wisconsin almost without the changing of a Avord. We have condilions similar to tliose in England and they are rapidly getting worse. The report of the AVisconsin Bureau of Labor for 1910 shows that only 12 ])(']• cent of the children employed undei- Ki are in positions to learn a trade. These, our report says, are in the l)uilding trades, millinery, dressmaking, trunkmaking, core making and filming. It will be recognized in som(> of these. hoAvever, that it is very ])robal)le that only a slight division of a ti-ade can be learned. As the report states. 88 per cent of the childi-en are in occupations of the merest mechanical kind where skill is not developed of eiieoni'aged for that matter to any great extent. Says the report: "The great problem from the point of vicAV of educational value as presented by the larger number, appar- ently more than three-fourths of the total, who are engaged in tasks in wdiich it was not found possible to ascribe any benefit other than the Avages earned. The simple routine tasks to be performed in many factories are detrimental both to mind and character. A large number of children are employed in leather. box. candy, bag and net factories, wdiere practically no thought is required to perform the labor. Children working in these employments either liecome stu])id aiul mechanical or quit work and (li-ift fi-om ]ilace to place in quest of something more inter- Extension of lNDi;;t"KiAL and Agricultural Training. 41 •esting-. Failing to find congenial Avork, they drift away from settled and wholesome habits." Equallj^ injurious is the work of a considerable proportion of the messenger boys. Whatever fine theories we may have, it is apparent that we are not meeting the needs of this class of people. The high school will not meet them ; the trade school can meet them only to a certain extent, and we cannot meet them without compul- sion; that is, children will not go to school voluntarily; parents will not make them go to school, and many employers will not allow them to go unless the state rec|uires it. It is apparent that a wider moral, mental and manual training is needed in order to supplement this narrow deadening industrial status in which they find themselves. The only way your committee can see possible is that of the compulsory continuation school. It is very apparent that many of these industries hire boys and girls temporarily because they are cheap, Avith no inten- tion of keeping them after a certain age. But should a boy who is in the leather, hardware, or wood-working trade be dis- carded at 16, 17 or 18! Men are needed in these industries. In fact there is in many of them a demand for skilled labor which is greater than the supply. If boys can be supplied with an incentive to learn something about the broader aspects of a trade while actually engaged in some manual mechanical proc- ess connected with it, many of these boys will take up with enthusiasm work of this kind, progress in it, and eveiitually fit themselves to fill skilled and w^ell-paid places. AVhat is needed for this boy is a sort of cpiasi-apprenticeship which will provide an opening from these temporary positions into a permanent trade or a permanent well paying position. High grade skill is always in demand. The continuation school as advocated in this report can furnish this medium for attaining skill, at least to a certain extent. It provides a way by which, if the boy w^ants to enter a broader and more permanent employment. he is at least given a chance. The door is not shut to him. If he wants to enter a regular apprenticeship at 16, the worlc he has done has lost him no time. If on the other hand he wishes to change his occupation at 16 and go into another, he has been taught something about some particular trade or occupation for two years. He has, in addition to that, been taught arith- metic. English, and has a general education as his stimulus. 42 Hki'owt (IK Till': Co.mmi.-siox I 'pox I'i.ans i^'oi^ 'imik lie lias iidt Ix'cii allowed to (lr(i|) his li;il)its of sliuly and to lose the discipline wliieli g'oes willi il. lie has losi iiothiiiL;-, wli.it- evor he wishes to uiuh'rtake. For instance, the shop nialhe- inaties wliicli lie will have to leai'n in the eonlimiat ion scdiool. if he is en^ajied in the hardware work, will certainly he of use to him in woodwork or in clerical woi-k. if he wishes to enter eithc)" some other emi)loyment oi" a ti'ade school at Ki years of ajre. Whatever lie goes into, the compnlsory emit inujition school hetween 14 and IH will certainly heli) him. lie has not lost his time, and he has actpiired hesides. a ji'eneral education which cannot fail to be of nse to him whatever he does. Hilt the (|uestion comes u\\ 1h»\\" about the boy who is not in a trade, who does not wish to learn one, or who is in scattered emplo.N nients in which no special classes can be formed.' What about the b up the lai'ge part of the curri- culum." This is the very work that the continuation school could do. The plan here proposed would meet this situation exactly, as it would provide for this pic-apprentice training thought necessary by the Bureau of !a))oi'. Whether we wish it or not, the childi'en are already at work. As descril)ed in this report, the trade school could be at the same time the continuation school, if we follow the method now used in Germany. If it is possible for a boy to go to a preliminary trade school at 14 years of age. another boy at 14 years of age :Nvho is einidoyed all the time could be in the same class. He Avould of course be at work on a different task, as described in our discussion of the "task" system. The details of this task system will be later on described in our repoi-t. The continuation school is in truth an industrial school, if the clistincfion can be made between an ijulustrial school and trade school. In the trade school as now organized in ^Massachusetts and as advocated by the American Federation of Labor and by most of the manufacturers in America, children can be admitted without difficulty at 14 for full time, because the first two years take U]) the very preparatory woi-k advocated by the Bureau of labor. The continuation school as we have outlined it here. Avill insure a ])road industrial training and will insure at the same time that greater mnubers of students will 1al<(' this work be- cause of the compulsory features in oui- ])lan. It would be ideal indeed if we could compel all the children to go to the conunon school or high school until 16. but in prac- Extension of iNDurrRiAL and Agricultur.vl Training. 45 tice it has not worked out properly. The common school is not the place for any really practical trade education. The commom school may teacii some fundamentals, and the high school may teacli S(mie manual dexterity or tool knowledge, hut neither of these schools can supply the equijiment, the atmosphere or the teachers to teach the hoys who are already in an industry or who must work for a lixing. There is a consideral)le numher of children who would not be greatly benefited by going to the ordinary school beyond li years of age. Tender the present school system, a great many children fret under the kind of instruction which they get in the common schools at that age and naturally resist it. Some' children are so constructed that they must learn by seeing, hearing and handling material. They must learn by doing, and neither the common school nor the high school can supply this method. The continuation school can supply it and can give the fundamentals which should accompany the actual acciuisi- tion of skill in any work. For those who will go to work or V. ho must go to work, the only solution in sight at present is the compulsory continuation f-chocl to 16 years of age. Again, we assert that in carrying out the system of continua- tion schools we are only doing for trade, business, and manu- facturers what we have already done in agriculture. At least, we are using the same principles. The great success in agricul- tural education, when it comes right down to the question of turning out farmers or dairymen, we repeat, has been through the short course, or contiiuiation schools for those actually in the industry. The continuation school boy who goes from the factory into the school and from the school back into the fac- tory does not get merely theoretical training, but he adds theo- retical and cultural training to the practical tasks which he has- to meet in the faetoiy. This problem is not as hard as it seems at first. A law can be passed which will allow cities of certain classes to establish voluntarily continuation schools of a general or of a special na- ture, and whenever such schools are provided, then it shall be compulsory for boys and girls between 14 and 16 years of age, who are employed in industry to attend them ; or. a law can be passed M'hich will require cities and villages to establish such schools whenever the parents or employers of 25 boys or girls shall make application. But the compulsory law, providing for 4() J\'i:i'(>KT OP riiK Commission I'l-ox |- LANS FOR TIIK (•(»iiipiils(iry cciil iiiiuit ion schools ;iii(l for ihcir ('(luipiiiciil can l)c so (li'iiuii as to j>o into ctTccl in 1!)];5 tin on^lioiit tlic state. This will tiixc vilhiiit's and cities a chance to prej^are for sncli ad- ditional sciiool lacilitics as will he iiee(h'd ; and hy that lime an adininisti'ation de|)ailinent to lake eaic of snch schools iiuiy Ik; ostahlislied in the state. Tlie problem is not a hard one. Of course your committee docs not conlem[)la1e the estahlislunent of a eonipidsory law without having' some means i^rovided for tak'inij:' cai-e of llie children; ami hy tlie ahove een largely superseded by the new and more economical methods used now in the day continuation schools. The Ger- mans have not dime this without reason. It is the. belief of your committee that some of the reasons for this change have been found. P'XTKXSION OF iNDrS'-'KlAL AND AGRICULTURAL TRAINING. 47 A comparison of the woi-k done in these schools sliows at once that ill four out of tive pul)lic evening schools the work is de- eidedly inferior to the work done in such private evening schools as the Boston Y. ;M. C. A. and the great Poh'teehnic school in London. At the public evening schools one often sees rooms fuU of listless students, and hears the constant coni- [)iaint of the teachers that "the pupils will not work," and "they drop out towards spring,'' etc. Teachers will point with pride to snme y(uing man, who, through sheer determination and self control, is "Avorking himself up." But, on the whole, it is i)retty discouraging when one considers what ought to be done for these boys and girls who are striving so hard to better themselves. This is true not only in America but in England and (iermany. Those who have examined this problem thor- oughly, all agree that the economic "pace" today makes it very liar;! indeed for the growing boy or girl to do good work at night school after a hard, long day spent in tending a machine. Oui- work has changed; the piece work and the rapidity re- (piired in work upon machines makes labor nerve-racking and leaves the persons working under modern conditions, exhausted in the evening. A distinguished German educator told a member of the com- mittee that he believed that the evening school would soon be a thing of the past evei-ywhere. "It is merely a question of economics. Boys and girls between fourteen and twenty years of age should be allowed to develop physically; that is the first C(;ncern of the state. Y(ni can't do anything unless you have the foundation of health and strength upon which to work. Our division of labor, our factory system, our piece work, our pace, are devitalizing iniiuences notwithstanding all governm(Mits have done to bring about child labor laws and sanitary condi- tions in industries." ^Mr. and ]Mrs. Sidney Webb, the great P]nglish economists, in their famous "minority" report upon the i)oor law in England, hold practically the same views, and Avarn the English people that evening schools will not serve the purpose unless time is given off from the work in the day time. The Germans, after the most thorough and painstaking ex- periments reaching over a number of years, are now discour- aging the formation of evening schools for young people'under 48 Report of the Commission I'pon Plans for the 20 years of age. Every effort is made to bring- the work of in- dustrial education into the day time. Experience has taught them that this work is not good when pursued in the evening. It would be blindness and folly indeed, for your committee to recommend the investment of money in the state of Wisconsin in evening schools, unless we prolit by some of the experience of other countries and other states ; unless successful methods which are used in other states are considered. AV<; have not yet organized our sj'stem of trade schools or continuation schools, tlierefore we must do something to fill the gap, and it will be necessary, your committee believes, to establish evening schools for a while in this state, but only under protest, wjth the idea of eventually abolishing tliiMii for clnldvcit as the Ger- mans have done. The testimony seems unanimous upon this question not only in England but in America. John L. Shearer, president of the great Ohio mechanics institute at Cincinnati, which has done as good work as any evening schcdl in this eountry, says: "For moral reasons I cannot sanction the establishment of depart- ments in our pul>lic schools which make it optional for a child to attend either in the day time or in the evening. The tempta- tion becomes too great to utilize the child's ability for commer- cial purposes and the consequences of this irregular training becomes a serious burden upon the pn])lic in later years. I have not found that evening classes for children are productive of good results, but rather leave in their train many serious evils. This brings me then to what I consider the legitimate sphere of the night school. It should l)e a good school for adidts and not for children." The report of the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education gives us practically the same opinion. The report for 1900 states: "The student comes two or three evenings a week from seven or eight to ten o'clock. He comes more or less wor!i out by his day's toil and he reaches home long after his usual retiring hour, practically exhausted. His mind can- not be alert with his body in a fagged out condition, and hence this class of instruction is at once a great hardship, and in com- parison with day schools it is of relatively little profit. Men who are engaged in any kind of actual manual labor through the day are greatly handicapped in their attendance upon such schools. They are most valuable for clerks, bookkeepei-s. Extension of Industrial and Agriclt^tural Training. 49 dranglitsmeu and the like. They can never become ' a sub- stantial element in the technical education of the industrial classes." p]very authority in America and Germany agrees tbat chil- dren should not be put into the night school and nearly every authority agrees that the night school is not of the highest service to adults. It may be that the reason for the fact that so little interest is taken in the public night school is because of the unattractiveness ,of the school compared with the great amount of amusement which surrounds him in the evening in every walk of life at the present time. The very pace itself seems to breed a desire for excitement or amusement. As Jane Addams and others have pointed out so often, this is a perfectly normal thing, and if the school does not give it, some other, perhaps less worthy, institution will. The English have recognized this and have tried unsuccessfully to overcome some of the shortcomings and lack of interest in the evening school by brightening up intellects through healthy amusements in connection with those centers. However, the ordinary evening school which has none of these things certainly takes too much vitality from a student. It seems impossible for the strongest adult, let alone a child under 20 years of age, to go a long dis- tance to some evening school, to meet there again, repression, tired teachers and listless companions. Everything in the boy or girl, or for that matter the young man and woman, cries out for life or amusement, sympathy or companionship. The elec- tric lighted streets, the dance halls, call to them. It takes great will power indeed, or else stupid acquiescence to keep up such a routine. It comes to be merely mechanical attend- ance without effort. Why is it that boys will go to the evening schools conducted by societies or endowed institutions and gladly pay a high fee for such instruction, when the public schools, sometimes with expensive equipment and nearly always without fees, give ex- actly the same work? As has been suggested before, if there is success at all in evening school work, it is in these private schools. After watching the w'ork of the teachers in the pri- vate school, again the truth of the saying of the great French economist, Leon Say, comes home to us, "It is not merely the machine, it is also the machinist." .")(' 1\K1-()KT OF THE CoMMlSJ-IOX I'roN 1*I.A.\S K(»|; Till': It is ii ci-xiiiii- ^^liHiiic — it is a ri-imc. that Wisi-oiisiii has scarcely any evening sehiM.ls whalKi.ever of any elass, hut after Jill it is in line with the neg'leet of all tiie rest of the country and with the lark of adjustment and tlie stui)id methods pursued everywliei-e. The eveninji' schools — the only schools which we have had in America for the working boy and girl — are taught generally by tired teachers; the same teachers who teach in the day schools, and who Avish to make a little iiiniicy by teaidiing in the eveinng schools. Many teachers also come from the I'anks of college studeids or from those who. through illness or ndsfortnne. are unable to teach in the day schools. These, with a few enthusiasts, who are giving their time and strength to uplift — these are the teachers, of those who are \n l;e the bene and sinew of our people. These are the teachers who must teach onr industrial classes the things which pi'c- pare them to meet the battle of life. The man oi" woman who woi-ks all day teaching cliildi'eii and comes tired at night to teach tired students is at Ix'st l»ut a second rate investment for onr educational s\stem. howe\H'r noble the efforts of such a teacher my be. The Y. M. ('. A. and pi'ivate institutions have professional teachers for th's kind of wor]<. They make a study of it. They have the en- thusiasm ami freshness of the ex])ert ; they understand thai sonu'thing must l)e done to interest the student upon the social side as well as on the educational side. Usually they have da.v classes as well as eA-ening classes, as in the i'olytechnie school of London. l)id always arrangements are made so that the teachers come fresh to their work. Ad.justment of time is made so that teachers maintain theii- vitality and their inter- est. This is true also of the best Oerman industrial schools. Wherever the (Jermans have evening sclu)ols they are \'ei'y careful indeed to have these taught by fresh teachers, who understand the right methods of evening scdiool teaching. This arrangement can easily ])e instituted where trade schools or evening schools already exist. The second point of success which the professional evening school teacher has over the regular day school teacher who works in an evening school is in the method of teaching. Nearly all these schools are industrial in some sense. They ai-e industrial in theii- nattiiX' because the vount>' of the industrial classes need Extension of Ixdis-kial and AciHicri/n-RAL Training. '51 them ; they aic industrial because the .ureatcst interest can lie Uept up \)y industrial leaehinii'. The workman leaiiis tlirougii doing, sometliiug- which had a eonnection witli his everyday work. Consequently to meet these demands a complete revo- lution of method is necessary. It is essentially diti'erent trom that used in teaching pupils in common schools, in high schools or colleges. The "teaching by doing"" metiiod so common in all industrial education in Germany as well as in successful in- dustrial education in America, is the only one which can he used with any degree of success in our (n-ening schools in Wis- consin. The teacher who has been teaching all her life in pub- lic schools, does not realize and cannot realize that she has to change all her methods to become a successful teacher of boys and girls who are working in shops and behind counters all day. The private schools do not merely teach mathematics; they teacli shop mathematics. The ])upil in the ordinary {)ublic school be- gins to learn arithmetic in a lower grade. After c'ertain lessons are given and a certain time spent, the pupil goes to the next grade and so on up to college. It is the same with every study. At no point until a man enters a profession, is there a gathering of all these different studies to work out practical every day problems, which confront the individual in dealing with his work. This method cannot be applied to the teaching of work- ers, as there is either no fixed objective point to be reaehed or it is so far away that the workman loses it. The whole vital differ- ence in the success in the methods of teaching, is here. The suc- cessful evening school method is that one, which recognizes the objective point to be reached. If, then, the teacher in the ■evening, teaches the boy cei'tain mathematics, and the next year he comes and learns more mathematics in the same manner as does the boy in the grade, he will not be interested and will not go to school. He gets the idea that he will be an old man be- fore he gets what he wants. r>ut if at once he is given some- thing which helps him with his daily problem, then his incentives are aroused and he is encouraged and becomes at once interested in his classes. The splendid drill in priucii)les which children receive in the common schools may be all right, Init these methods will not do for evening schools. The pupil in the evening school nuist un- derstand the purpose of it all. must see how everything will give him immediate help upon the problems confronting him. 52 Report of the Commission Vvos Plans fok the Nine out of teu times his inability to solve these problems keeps him from earning more money. As the director of the New York department of industrial education says: "The teaching of application of theory should always be emphasized in even- ing instruction." In the Boston Y. M. C. A. for instance, one sees chemistry ap- plied directly to a shop problem. Problems are wo'r ked out with the instruments used in every day trade for wiring electricty and for measuring it. Automobiles are repaired and the principles of physics and mechanics are applied directly to their repair. So in Germany the boy Avorks with the object of his trade before him. For instance, at the jewelry continuation classes, the boys ciraw by free hand the designs used in the jewelry made in the factories. Arithmetic is based upon the calculations actually used in the trade or industry. In the class in mechanical draw- ing, the le&sons relate to every day work upon the machines or buildings. Great stress is now being laid upon free hand and mechanical drawing. The aim sought, of course, is to inspire idealism in the mind of the workman — to awaken his artistic sense and at the same time to make him understand thoroughly his work and to train his hand and mind together. The best models from all over the Avorld are sought, with vsuch thorough understanding of the nature of the pro])lems which the student meets, that practical results are obtained. Incentives should be studied and used. — President Elliott of Harvard shows that tlie tlesire to gain competence from a pro- fession is a great incentive. AVhy not apply this motive to evening schools? "Multitudes of American children, taking no interest in their school work, or seeing no connection bet^'cen their studies and the means of later earning a good livelihood, drop out of school far too early of their own accord, or at least otfer no effective resistance to the desire of unwise parents that they stop study and go to woi*l\. ^loreover. from lack of interest, tliey acfpiire while ill school a listless Avay of Avorking. Again, interest in their studies is not universal among that small proportion of American cliildrcn who go into a secondar;^^ sc'liool ; and in every college a perceptible })roportion of the students exhibit a languid interest, ' or no interest, in their studies, and therefore bring little to pass during the very pre- cious years of college life. EXTEX8I(^N OF lNDU!-.;rRIAL AND AGRICULTURAL TRAINING. 53 There are, however, certain regions in the total field of Amer- ican education in AA'hich the internal motive of interest in the work conies into full phiy. witli the most admirable results. In general, professional students in the United States exhibit keen interest in their studies, work hard, advance rapidly and avail themselves of their opportunities to gain knowledge and .skill to the utmost limit of their strength and capacity, no mat- ter Avhether the profession for which they are preparing is •divinity, law. medicine, architecture, engineering, forestry, teaching, business or corporation service. In secondary education the high schools of commerce and mechanic arts have a decided advantage as regards motive power within tlie pupil, over the ordinary high schools. The industrial schools, trade schools, continuation schools, evening and sunnner schools, l)usiness colleges and Y. M. C. A. classes in secular sul^jects show a large proportion of strongly inter- ested pupils. We ought not to be surprised that schools which avail them- selves of this strong motive get the best work from their pupils, and therefore do the best work for the community. All of us adults do our best work in the world under the impulsion of the life-career motive. Indeed, the hope and purpose of im- proving quality, or quantity, or both in our daily work, with the incidental improvement of the livelihood, form the strong- est inducements we adults have for study, productive labor; and the results of labors so motived are not necessarily mer- cenary, or in any Avay unworth>' of an intelligent and humane person. There is nothing low or mean about these motives, and they lead on the people who are swayed by them to greater service- al)leness and grciiter happiness — to greater serviceableness, b;'- cause the ])ower and scope of individual productiveness is thereby increased — to greater happiness, because achievement will become more frequent and more considerable, and to old and young alike happiness in work comes through achieve- ment.'' Practically no attempts have ))een made to work out the in- centives which lead students to study outside of hours. If these incentives are not examined, a great deal is lost in method. If in teaching illiterates or foreigners who wish to gain a few hun- ."•4 RkI'OHT ok TlIK COMMI.-SIOX I'l'OX I'l.ANS FOR Till'; filed words (il the lOiiuiish hiii^iui^c. \vc l)i' gets at the in- terests of the student and strives to keej) it. No [public school -56 Report ok tjik Commission Upon 1*laxs for the can compete sueeessfully witli a private school unless it uses these methods, ami tlie public school cannot use these methods unless it ji'cts Icaclicrs who ctin use them, and in ordri- to c/btaiu teachers we must train them professionally. The methods of the Y. ]\I. C. A. eveninof school teacher are all right if they meet the broad ends of education. They can be supplemented by broader teaching- in a few scholastic (,r so-called cultural sub- jects. The teachers from a day continuation scIkkiI. such as proposed in this plan, would be the neai'cst thing to the suc- cessful teachers of private schools. Arrangements cmild be made, so that l)y shifting teachers, some could work in the evening and others in the day. If we should copy the Scotch law. and fui-nish state aid for centers for continuation schools and foi-m evening classes upon tlie basis advocated in this report, we may be as successful v.ith beys and gii'ls and witli adults, as the limits ol' the even- ing .school work aMow. Eventually, however, we should raise the age limit provided by the Scotch law to 18 years of age. The boys who would come, to the e\-ening schcol would be tirighter and fresher aiul the lesuH would be a lietler invest- ment for the state. Consider again for a moment, si>me of the social activities which private institutions have provided in connection with the evening school, and it will be understood of what aid these at- tractions may be made in bringing young people together for serious study and uplift, and what a force against evil can be encouraged by talking over some of these attractions witli the aid of public funds. As a counteracting force to the outside amusements and as a stinudus to the .jaded mind, lectures, en- tertainments, music, gynuiasiums, athletic teams, bowling, all have been used in ju-ivate evening schools with success. Be- sides these private evening scIkjoIs often are (^m])l()yment agencies and do a great deal in giving advice and vocational direction. Now these are all good advei-tiseinents and useful in imlucing ])e()ple to attend these scliools. But it is e(|ually tme, that in many cases they may become serious distractions and are not conducive to hard, thorough study. This has been found true unless they are undertaken with moderation and keeping the chief end in A'iew — that of higher education for the working man. Nevertheless some of these things are of the greatest educational value. The debating and lecture divi- Extension of Industrial and Agricultural Training. 57 sions of the University extension division could be used to sup- plement the regular work of the evening school and could have a regular place in the credit for work completed. Not the least among such activities would be lectures in patriotism and classes in citizenship, such as are carried on by the Peoples' in.stitute of New York, and the Civic service house of Boston. The latter has had for some time a vocational direction bureau for young men about to enter the industrial life. Evening schools in England. — Considering what we have just said about the cleticiencies of the evening school in this country, a striking parallel and a striking confirmation of our investigation is the result of our study of evening school edu- cation in England. Without compulsion or without the bene- fits of time oif during the day, except that which occasionally employers give, the results are shown by the following descrip- tions of conditions in England. Cluirles Winslow of the Massa" chusetts commission, who made an investigation of these schools in England (juotes an important meml)er of the Liverpool Trades Council as follows : ' ' We have practically no free technical education unless a boy secures a scholarship, and those are limited, as the competition for them proves. We ask the boys to make sacrifices and improve themselves by attend- ing evening classes. That means that the lad has frequently to get u]) at 4:80 o'clock and go to work; he quits work at 5 o'clock in the evening, swallows a mouthful of food and rushes to his classes. We require him to do that three nights a week. 1 am an advocate of evening schools only because I can get nothing better. What I should like to see in Liverpool is in- struction being given in the master's time and not in the boy's time. I am afraid tliat under the cdmmercial system of to-day instead of making artisians we shall be making automatdc machines merely, that will be the curse of the future. Therein arises the necessity for technical schools. No one, I venture to assert, can gainsay tlie importance and excellence of the work of these evening schools; and yet the general public is comparative- ly indifferent to that woj-k. Between 8000 and 9000 students only have entered these classes during the past session, and in proportion to our population in comparison with other cities, it is estimated that at the very least the evening schools of Liverpool should have 15.000 pupils in them." Shadwell, in 58 Kki'oh'I' ok 'niK Commission- I'l-ox I'lans kok thk .•-l)C'akiiij»- about iiuliistrial ('(hication in Kn^rland says: "With tlie universities, the national j)hysieal hihoratory and tlie eoni- iiiii' iiiipei'iai eoUejic at Kensin|^oii. it is uai schools that we laei\, l)nt schohu's. '" In ecnipariny" the schools of Gei-niany and Kii^iland. he says: "When eoninai-isons are made l)etween the innnbei" oF stu(h'iits of en^'ineei-in^- in science schools here and in Germany or elsewhei-e, it is |)utting tlie hoot on the \vi-on than with the object of ])roviding for re- quirements needed in a business. Also that arithmetic was re- garded as a sort of mental gynniastics instead of means of solving problems to be met with in the offices or workshops. As a, rule, arithmetic often proved a useful agent in the training for a commei'cial career, but was not as useful to a student if he entered the woi'ksho])." All testimony shows tluit it is l)y the hai'dest. im st persistent effort that any gi"eat numbei' can be ])i'ought into the evening schools; that the attendance is xrvy low comparatively and the Work is not of a very high ord(M-, except in ^Manchester and Avhere the manufacturers have given a certain amount of time off in the day. AVithout any great degree of success, almost vxvry device has l)een exhausted in oi'der to ]>ut life into the evening .schools and to get first class results. Says the bulletin on continuation schools in the Ignited States, speaking of Eng- lish methods: "Various methods have been triinl to secure Extension of Indi'strial and Agricultural Training. 59 more rcii'iilar atteiuhnire but lunc met with little or no siieeess. Feturnin^- the whole (.i- part of the fee, annual outings c.r soeial evenings duiing- the session, lantern entertainments and concerts, making- the school absolutely free, are experiments which have only been successful in isolated instances. The lack ii any real liking for study, of any desire to learn on the part <'f the students, and counter-attractions have proved too strong." As a result of the investigation and i-esearch which this com- mittee has done, and frt)m the experience in (tliei* countries, we find, first, that the evening school is not as good as the con- tinuation school ; second, that we shall probably hav(^ to use the evening scIk ol in future until our system is well started, but that we sh(.uld not encourage it without careful supervision of the methods and the teachers who teach in such schools. We ■sh(;uld do everything in our ])ower to l)ring about the hearty co-operation (.f manufacturers and employers in the matter of granting time off during the day time in order that the boys ('.nd girls may be fresh for tlit^ evening. We also recommend that all illiterates under 21 years of age ])e compelled to go to evening school wherever they are established. Evening schools can ))e established by petition as in Massachusetts. If 25 per- sons petition for an evening schi ol, it shoukl be started. As far as possible, evening school work should lie supplemented by lectures, debates, etc. TRADE SCHOOLS Difficulties relating to the third factoi* in the order of progres- sion is the trade school. In most cases this has been the starting point in America. It is easier to put up a building in some city than it is to work out a comlnned system for the whole city or for the whole state. The costly building and equipment, and the many questions of adaptability and methods make the trade school problem the most serious one of all and the hardest plan ■ to carry out properly. In the case of the trade school, we come at once to the discussion as to whether trade schools should be ■encouraged in America, or whether high schools should take over the trade school work. There are those who believe that trade ischools should not be established and that the high school ought to do industrial work of this kind. AVe know, however, from our (•() KKroKT OK 'riiK Commission I'i-on I'i.ans kor the statistics that a lar^c inajority of hoys and gii'ls will never go to hiiih school, and t'oi- this ma.joi'ity sonicthin^' must l)e done. The connnittee on industrial and technical education of tlia National council of education July 1, 11)10, says: "From the ev'idence whicli the committee has ol)tained, clearly hoys who en- ter mechanical trades almost without exception leave the public schools before graduatinj? from the orannnar school, and it should be recognized therefore that tlu' hciiiiniiugs of trade education if such education is to articulate with our present school sj'stem,. must be had in schools that draw their pupils largely if not en- tirely from the class of pupils wlio have not graduated from the- elementary schools. Such schools. — intermediate, industrial or preparatory trade schools— cannot be really paralleled with the existin<>- high school. In order to prevent possible misunder- standing ])}' the ])ui)ils of the public .school, the intermediate in- dustrial school should be freely recognized as independent in its re(iuiiements for admission and its courses for study, lis (M>urses of instructi( n nuist lie short, 'i'his is essential if some Schools are to come within the (n-onomic possibilities of boys and girls who will follow manufacturing trades." This l)rings up the (pu'stion : AVhat specific subjects shall he taught? What is a trade? What is industrial education? What is skill? How can we give such training and yet not deprive the boy of the American privilege of cutting out the future for himself? The establishment of a trade school means one thing in one industry; it means another thing in another industry.' The mer- est investigation of Americaji industi'ial conditions will show at once, that the leaders of today in our gi'cat iiidustrial enter- pri.-es have often come fi'om the )'anks of manual skill into the ranks of managei-ial skill. If that is so, are we to teach merely mechanical things .' 11 we do not teach more, how bi'oad will our education be to fit into the entire life of the people? How much individual efficiency, or how nnich group efficiency nuist be taught? These ai-e (|uestions which have never been thofo\ighly investigated in America. To some the learning of a trade means the learning of a few mechanical processes. To others it means a thorough grounding in fundanientals. Again in some trades boys cannot begin at 14 yeai's of age. Apprentices are not taken on in ti-ades such as those of locomotive engineers, or firemen, or stationary engineers. ^Most of these are ti'ades where the apprentices really do not begin t(» leain the EXTEXSIOX OF lNDrHi"KIAL AND AgRICI'LTTRAL TRAINING. 61 tiade until llicy ;iif 17 m- 18 yi-ars of age. They are not physic- ally strong eiiouuli. What kind of an intermediate school must Ave provide for siu-h jx^ople :' The trade school problem, then, is a far more dirfieult one than tliat of the continuation school. The public cannot afford to put all of its money into a costly building to educate 50 to 100 boys in a community, where the same money spread over a large territory will educate in some degree thousands of boys. This committee has sought to find some way of combining trade schools and continuation schools, evening classes and extension work into one unified and economi- cal system. Fortunately a trade school can be so built and con- ducted that, by combining it Anth the other factors of industrial education just mentioned, that its efficiency will be doubled and its econcmiic cost In-ought to a minimum. It can be so combined, in fact, that it will be adapted to the needs of all industries and will fill in the gap in our industrial life in which manual train- ing fails. What are the problems of the trade school which manual training in the high school cannot solve? Summing up in a rough way the statement from the National council of education report of July 1, 1910, it is evident that the methods which we described in discussion of the evening school can be applied in the trade school much better than in the high school. It is evi- dent that the high school will be more or less dominated, even if trade education is brought within its walls, liy an effort to direct that trade education toward engineering and the higher kinds of technical work. The trade school then is neces.sary in order to get the point of view, to get the right atmosphere, the right means of working, the right attitude of mind. It is necessary in order that the standards may be correlated and made to meet the particular needs of the particular individual in direct re- lation to his life work. Your committee, after examination, believed that the establish- ment of separate trade schools should be strongly encouraged in evers^ city of the first, second and third class in this state. However, a careful industrial survey is absolutely necessary be- fore any such costly equipment should be placed. Trade schools should be established as the needs arise, and by the co-operation of the community and the state in a manner similar to the IMassachusetts plan. A recent article in the Survev on "How Girls Learn the Mil- t<2 Repokt of TiiK Commission I'l'ox I*i,.\ns koi{ 'riii-: liiiery Trade, "" shows us the iieinl ol' cjuilioii and of a eareJiul' survey. "Should there be schools for ti'aining girls for special trades? If so. at what age is it desirable that girls should re- ceive this trade traiuing? Of what type should these schools be? For exain])le, if they are for girls between 14 and 16 years of age, should they be day schools with general and special trade- training, or day schools limited to spcn-ial training, or day scliools witli |)ar1 lime woi'k in ti'adc .' II' foi- girls over 16, should they be si)ecial technicrd, or trade day schools, or should they be evening or day continuation trade schools for woi-kers already in trades"? How high a standard should they demand for their leaching force? How exacting sliould be the rc(|uire- ments for entrance and for the continued attendance of pupils? How discover a girl's aptitude for a s])ecia] task? How supply the demands for an industry wbicli wants many workei's who can do one thing well? How train these woi-kers so tliat they can do that one thing and yet be efficient workers in the broad social sense? How should they test tbeii- i)U|)ils" work and their own methods? It is api)arent that, if we answer all these (|uesti()ns lu't'oi-e we attempt to estalilisb a trade school we will nor waste public funds, and it is apparent that such question.s cannot be ansAvered unless some expert advice and s(mie investigation can be given in each pai'tieu'ar case, foi- the trade school ref|uirements in one place and in (me ociuipation will lie absolutely different from those in other situations. They cannot be standardized. It is for this reason that your committee favors a gradual evolution from the continuation school through the trade school as the surest means of getting the greatest econo)ny in industrial education. This does not mean, however, that the trade schools and con- tinuation schools should not be established in a small way at the same time in certain j)laces which are of sufficient size and con- tain enough workers for such demands. The building trades, inetal trades and shoe and leather woj-ks in Milwaukee are all of sufficient im])ortaru t> to justify trade schools, ^lany other cities in tiu^ state iiave industries which we know at once would be benefited by the trade school, and th(> schools could l)e made centers for all othci- work by means of the task syst(Mn as de- scribed previously. Your co)innittee, in discussing' trade schools does not use the term nai'fowlw It liicans to the connnittce a vocational scliool. Extension of Indusi^rial and AoRiCLrLTURAL Training. 63 ijiduslrinl or ooiiimerci.nl. Tliese schools ^vill have to be estab- lished sooner or later in Ihis country and in our state. The great lack of efHcient help of a certain grade and the disoi- ganized state of the a]'>})reiitice system to-day will compel their establishment. Howe\er, how far they will go, what work tut;/ will do, and how they will be combined with onr other educa- tional work, are as yet unsolved (luestions. Tavo different opinions seem to exist in the world toijay as to the future of a trade school. As we have previously said, the trade school is not the basal unit of German industrial educa- tion. That basis is the continuation school. Dr. Kerchen- steiner of Munich says that the tendency of the future will be that industrial education will be given in the school and not in the factory. He holds that the school can give a broarl basis for the future, and that a shop cannot produce a good mechanic ; that the variety and prospective, scope and range required for sound industrial education, cannot be given in a factor}' today. He holds that most of the factories are un- able to give any broad educational basis to their students. On the other hand, some of the leading authorities today assert that the trade school alone never can produce the workers who are fitted to meet industrial wants. They point out that in the trade school the pupil does not work under actual trade conditions, that he is often wasteful and extravagant in ma- terial and spends too long a time at each task. He does not learn any of the economies which the pressure of shop condi- tions makes necessary. The criticisms of the men actually in the industry are W' rthy of attention, and no doubt they have facts on which to base what they say. In the article before mentioned on "How Girls Learn the ^Millinery Trade," attention was called to an investigation made in New York showing the results of some of the best trade schools for girls in America. After interviewing 200 of the employers, the investigators found that one-half of those in- vestigated had formed j)Ositive opinions about trade school teaching. "Only three expressed uncjualitied approval; nearly one-fourth Avere indifferent ; more tban one-half disapproved. 'They don't do our kind of work;' 'It is desirable but it has its limits;' 'They dim't know how to do any one thing well ;' 'They don 't know how ; ' ' Schools don 't keep up with the styles ; ' ' The girls are not quick enough;' 'The schools are not good be- G-h lii:i'()in' OF TiiK Commission I'l-ox Plans for the CMUsc tli»'\' .lie not husiiiC'S-likt' : " 'We li;i\f no use I'oi' ti'adc scluiol liifls; they have nn ideas of llicir own:" ' rrulesiiahle ;' '^Measures aiul cliarts arc not nscd in work- rooms;' 'Tiu'v learn liow to make oidy one Iia1 ;" 'Tlie seliool.s ai'c no ji'ood hut they onjilit to he." '" .Mannfactni'ers in all kinds of indiLstries who have been interviewed, on the whole, approve of trade schools, but most of them have some complaint and all are strivinti' to discover wherein lie the deficiencies. It is therefore with the greatest caution that we should advocate trade schools in our state. Investigation must be thorough, a keen analysis nuist be made and the latest up-to-date elements of success must be studied. It is the easiest thing in the world to dogmatize about a trade school; but from the investigation which your committee has made, it is evident that trade schools Avill l)e as varied as are the trades, and that there will be no set pattern to wb.ieh all can conform. There is no doubt tliat in some trades the apprentice system coml)ined with continu- ation schools and the various other methods which will be descril)ed later, will serve the purpose, but there are other cases in which no such arrangement can be made. A workman today has to steal his trade in a great many in- dustries, and in so doing he has created trade schools. Trade schools exist today in great numbers and at great cost. In fact, every factory is a trade school. A boy steals his trade, and by doing so makes the manufacturer pay for it. He gets a position by misrepresentation and then i)roceeds to try a machine and of course spoils and wastes until found out. When he is discharged he proceeds to do tJie same thing again in some other place, until finally he becomes a fair workman on his machine in some subdivision of a trade. But at what cost to the manufacturer, to industry, and to the public, and finally, at what cost to organized labor ! In an article in one of the bulletins of the National society for the promotion of industrial education a factory superin- tendent says: "Very few of us have kejit an account of the cost of the trade schools which we are maintaining in our respective factories. Of the actual outlay for wages never earned, for the ac- tual loss and merchandise damaged while learning, and the cost of superintendence." Again, the report of the Industrial edu- cation commission of Massachusetts says: "The net results of this inability to raise up skilled workmen is that our factories P]XTEXS1()X OF IXDIS'.'KIAL AND AGRICULTURAL TrAINLMG. 65 are bet'oming filled with unskilled ignorant laymen and our present trouble is to find enough men to direct intelligently their efforts. In some lines where our fr.renuui formerly eontroUed 25 or 80 workmen, he ean now direct the efforts of onh^ 6 ov 8 of these machine operators." In the bulletin of the National society for industrial education we read again: ''The manu- facturer is additionally handicapped because very few opera- tors are skilled enough to take proper care of their own machines. A superintendeut says: 'in the fiictory where I am foreman that not a day passes but what some operator has to have assistance in keeping his machine in good running order.' There are plenty of operators who do not know enough about tlu^ir ma- chines to lace a belt or put it on after it is laeed. Anyone who has had e.iperience in runing a shop knoAvs to his sorrow his pergonal inability to hire pre. per lie p ' n all parts of the work." Attitude of organized labor. — The labor organizations are not oi)p()sing trade schools. They realize now the cost of such inefficient labor to them, as well as to the manufac- turers. A union is secure if its men are skilled. Unskilled labor cannot form a successful union. The higher the skill the greater the ]iay. and llio security, and the higher the standard of life. It is ol)vi()nsiy to the interest not only of both capital, and lal.-r l-ut of t]u> 'Millie as well, that efficient industrial instrui'ti('ii l)t- given tln-oug!i the trade school or some modifica- tion of it. Organi/ed labor will not t.pp(\se trade schools in whi'-h car- penters, ])lumbers, bi-ick: 'ayers or others wdio must learn a complete trade thoroughly, are taught; that is, if courses oc- cupying a certain length of time and requiring a certain degree of thoroughness are assured before the boy goes out to work. What organized labor is afraid of, is the reckless and indiscrim- inate establishment of so-called trade schools which only inten- sify the problem of the unskilled man. The difficulty in shoemaking is. at once, apparent. This is a trade which includes from 60 to 100 different processes. It is easy for a man to pick up a ])art of one of these processes in a couple of months and if trade schools would form for that single process there is no doubt that they would soon over- crowd the ranks of partially skilled and inefficient work- 5 (j6 Report of tiik Commission Tpon Plans voh tiik men, and not lead to that liiL>h ])a.sis of indnstrial education which is sought by all thinkers and students of the suhj(M-t. Again, the necessity for research and investigation Ix'fore a "trade school is established in any particular trade is api)arent, when we consider the following con)plexities. The l)road- minded manufaeturer wants men who can tit into all the grades between the unskilled lal)()i'('i- and the engineers and architects at the top. The narrow-uiindcd manufacturer will l)e glad to get all kinds of partially skill(>d lal)or. There is no doubt that there is some justiiication for this, lie is often hard put to it to get a man who can run a machine, let alone an expert Avho knoAvs all about a machine, or a group of machines. There are certain conditions in certain kinds of factories which require nothing but speed in attending to machines. This kind of speed or so-called "skilT* cannot be worked up in the trade school nor should a trade school exist for forming a medium for certain employees to acquire speed. Public funds should not be invested to bring about such results. The manufacturer wishes to turn out workmen. But what are workmen? There is a great misunderstanding between the manufacturers and the union upon this (|uestion. There is no doubt that the best of the union men and the best of ' the manufacturers are seeking the same purpose: they are seeking skill and responsibility and initiative; they are seeking a higher order of man than is now turned out by our industrial system. There is nothing inconsistent in the recommendations of the American Federation of Labor at Toronto and the following quotation from the recent report in July, 1010, of the Conunittee on industrial education of the American Manufacturers' asso- ciation. Says Mr. Anthony Ittner in that report: "We propose to make the boy a skilled workman, superior to his father in efficiency and shop experience. We propose also to give him, during the time he is learning a trade, more and better school- ing than his father was able to get, and consequently the boy can go directly from the trade school to a good wage-earning position in any shop simply upon his own merit." The manufacturer really needs and knows it is for his best interest to get this kind of a workman. A few years ago he could import this kind of workman from Europe, but the Extension of lNDrs):"RiAL and AoRicrLTrRAL Training; 67' conditions there have become so good tliat such workmen do not come to this country as formerly, although the statistics sho-vv that in certain highly skilled trades in America the workmen are still nearly all of foreign birth and training. It is obvious that in order to have no misundestandiug be- Iween labor and capital in this state, with the help of some sort of expert commission, as recommended in this re- port, agreements should be reached before a trade school is started in any particular trade. For instance, if it is desired to run out skilled workers, and the question comes up as to what are skilled workers, it should be determined at once with the highest good of the trade and of the public in view. In the article referred to above, upon "How Girls Learn the Millinery Trade." we find the following quotation: "All employers Avant skilled workers. The Fifth avenue employer Avho wants a girl to copy an imported hat Avants a skilled worker; the Broad- Avay firm which advertises for a copyist on ready-to-Avear hats Avants a skilled Avorker; the retail milliner Avho Avants to hire frame workers wants skilled workers ; the manufacturing house- that needs 25 Avire frame makers Avants skilled workers. Few girls possess all these kinds of skill. Few firms agree upon their- definitions of a skilled Avorker. The girl at the end of a feAV years in millinery is willing to agree Avith the employer Avho said that the 'millinery trade is about 25 different trades.' "' Exactly the same kind of thing can be said about the boot and shoe work and about a great many other trades. It is evident that a good deal of this so-called skilled Avork is not Avhat the trade school should or can teach, but it Avill be agreed to at once that the trade school should teach men responsibilit.A^ should teach men so that they can advance, become captains of machines, become foremen. There is no real disagreement upon that point in any trade, either among the thinkers like John Mitchell on the side of labor or Mr. Ittner upon the side of capital. We must teach these things in a broad w^ay in our trade school, or else the taxpayers will not get the return for their inA'estment in the end, and the state will not get the benefit of the existence of a great body of happy, contented Avorkmen with a true, high standard of life. We must, in some eases, teach correlation between parts of trades. We must teach "ability to comprehend complex relations, to correlate Avithout friction and Avithout Avaste, the factors of industry ; to ()8 RKi'oirr oi' 'imik Commission Ui-ox Tlans for rrffc: make an iiidiistriai orjiiiiii/.atioii a siuootlily wurkiii'^- macliiiic. '' The bi"assiii;iUci-s of liiriniiiyliaiii i-ccently sciil a delegate to Gei-Hiaiiy 1o cxaiiiiiic iMuulitions there. They say: "AVe have fre(|ueiitly been asked. 'Wherein lies the eause of the better «oeial eoiulitiojis of the lierliii brass\\'Orkei' .' ' The answer is sniniiied u]) in the words: 'duty, i'('s|)oiisihiiit\'. (h'sciplitir. Avork, order and metiiod." Tliese (jualities are iiineh in e\'idenee aniony: the officials and eini)loyei"s of laboi-. and the work- ])eoi)le.'" Vour coniinittee believes that the |)rodu(-1 of oni- trade sehools should be up to (he standard. IWit w>' must do more We nuist iiive vision and perspective to our men; we nuist keep np the spirit of Ainei'icanisni of the past. We cannot teach this by teaching- some kind of skill or dext(M-ity in runnin>i- one machine: we must give irulustrial training and also encourati*-. inspire and swing the doois wide for equality of industrial opportunity in the future. If a situation arises like the above, it is not the schoolman who can settle it. It must be settled in the first instance at least by agreement between capital and lalxu'. We teaeh the elements of numagerial skill while we are teaching manual dexterity. We read the following from the repoi't ol the committee of the Society foi- the 'promotion of en- gineering education: "It must not be f\)rgotten that many of our most ingenhis and capalde machinists aiul mechanical in- ventoi's. who have become the pi-oprietors of the finest machine tool works in the world, have had no special technical education. hut have come up through the old system of apprenticeship."' Whatever other countries have done, this spirit of progress from the lowest to the highest, this encouragement of ambition, which has made America lead in the past, should be kept, and the trade schools should keep it. To accomplish its true aim the trade schools should be the means of inspiring num to try to climb the ladder. The union man and the nuuuifacturer are in sympathy with this point of view and can l)e trusted to preserve this spirit. The union men with good right can insist that these ele- ments be taught in the trade school Avhenever such schools are estal)lished. The union doc^s not want indusli-ial training simi- lar to manual training as it exists in the high school, and does not want skill Avhich will merely overcrowd a trade and not teach the fundamentals of it; it wants this inspiration element. Extension of IxDrK^HiAL and Agrici'ltural Training. 69 this helpful hroadeuiiig and, at the same time, an ediieatiou whieli will allow the man to earn his own living as soon as possible. How dangerous a trade school may become to the woi'kingman anil to the highest needs, after all, of our entire in- dustrial system, is shown hy statistics given in the article above quoted on "Hoav Girls Learn the Millinery Trade," from the Survey of April 16, 1910. In a footnote we find the following-: "A statement in the Millinery Trade Review^ the official journal of the trade after quoting eensvis figures showing that in 1890 there was one milliner to 323 w^omen 15 years of age and over, and in 1900, 1 in 285, adds if the manual training school and technical institutions continue to turn out milliners in the next ten years as they have in the last decade, there will be one milliner to every 100 women in the not far distant future." All will agree that the union man has a right to be protected against this sort of trade education which produces crowding into unskilled trades without furnishing any basis for an hon- orable living for the future. The unions "realize that their power and safety comes from having the gap between skilled and unskilled labor just as wide as possible, and any agency that will lielp to widen that gap by making skilled labor more effective and efficient, they will wel- come. They will oppose any school that seeks to turn out large numbers of half trained men who will tend to lower their standard of average ability and capacity. The good judgment of the American workman will make him see in the school, that helps to lift and uphold the standard of his trade, the most potent ally that has l)een offered him." (Editor of the Shoe Technical Journal). The unions will favor ]niblic trade education rather than })rivate trade education and there are certain principles upon which this preference is based. First, the union wants to do away with the necessity of a man stealing his trade. In this, it will at once be seen that the manufacturer and the workman agree. Both are united upon this question of providing means for a man to learn a trade in an honorable way. Secondly, the union man favors public education because he thinks he should not ])<■ coiiqielled to learn a trade through some kind of favoritism. lie Avill oppose any trade education or any system of it, which may involve even the possibility or shadow of id I\'i:i'()irr of tiik Commission I'l-ox Plans i-'oh tiik favoritism. It is this wliidi makes tlu- iiiiidii very cautious al)out ^n>iii^' into part time schemes. In England very little attention is paid to the education of jueii wiio are not already in tlie trade. The lal)or union leaders there all express the opinion that the emphasis should be laid 4ipon the education of men wlio are already in some kind of work. They are opposed to the training of green labor, as a general policy. Of course the continuation schools recom- mended in this report would pi-oxide foi- this Ivind of work and the evening school would also provide for it to a certain extent. But our American labor union people take a broader stand. They do not want to see their sons excluded from learn- ing a trade, if they wish to do so. and want some sort of a public way of giving them the opportunity. As it is now in <'ertain industries, notably in the shoe center, Hrockton, Mass., (which is highly unionized) there is no way of learning a trade in the city, and there is no ])u])lic school for that purpose. The union labor man sees liimself in a peculiar position. A man has no chance to send his boy where he can get the vocational training which he desires. Tf he goes into a factory, he must take the chance of stealing a trade. However, the demand for labor is satisfied l)y men who have leai'ned the trade or some part of it in sonu' small manufacturing estal)lisliment in another part of the country. After a man has learned some part of the ti"a(b' he will then go to Bi-ockton and the union nuist sooner or later admit him because he is a serious menace if al- lowed to Hoat around. In this way the son of the union labor ■man is dej)rived of his o])portunity to learn a trade and his place is taken by an outsider who has stolen it at the cost of the small outside manufacturer. The American mechanic then, welcomes any fail* proposition which will give him a •chance to educate his l)oy so that he can eai-n a living. There is a possible use of the trade school which is of vital interest to the trade union men .just at present. There is one unfortunate situation which is constantly i-ecuri'ing. and that is the case of a man who has been, working at a machine his en- tire life and finally finds that this machine has suddenly gone out of existence because of a n<'w inxcntion. When a machine is Avorn out and a new invention comes in the man is a Ism practically Avorn (uit. and is thrown upon the scrap heap. A bi'anch of the trade school woi'k is necessarv which Avill deal Extension of Industrial and Agricultural Training. 71 merely with the question of skill of a limited degree and not "with the broad question of industrial education. If a man is knocked out at 45 years of age and can't get a job on a machine, something must be done. It means utter demoraliza- tion for his family. It prevents the attainment of a higher standard of living for the workman. He can neither buy his home nor educate his children. Other workers will observe what has happened to him, become discouraged, seeing no hope nor opportunity before them, and consequently become discontented •elements in the ranks of labor. It is the duty of the state and public educational institutions to reach out a hand to this man and lift him over the stile. In the past in some trades or jjarts of trades, the unions have done this themselves. Notably in the printers trade, when the new linotype machine came in and replaced the hand work, the printers put up machines in their quarters and taught the old men the new machines. The same thing was attempted Avhen the plain loom became the fancy loom, and also in the case of the moulding machine. It is admitted by most labor leaders that this arrangement can be carried out in some trades. If it is properly organized the trade school will be ac- ce])ted by the public as a great democratic school, helping the ordinary Uian to meet the ordinary duties of life. To ])e a great democratic school, it must l)c something more than a trade school or an industrial school. As Professor Person says in his book upon industrial education: "A system of industrial education fcr instance, nnist not be a rigid, inflexible instru- ment, attempting to shape all the individuals it touches after the same image. It must accentuate differences of ability and of temperament; it must build up individuality." There is no greater work wdiich the (Tcrmans have done for their country than this building up of individuality through the industrial schools. The class distinctions of Germany are being rapidly d kind, especially when the wages which the hoy receives •when, he finishes his term of indenture are not greater than those of some man who lias stolen his trade, or those of some ■"handy-man" who has picked u|) a. machine in a "rush" period and who by sheer i)luck and ingenuity "made gcod " at it. This is especially true of our .\mericaii hoys. (,^uick and iilert, they prefer to get quick i-esults and high pay rather stealing a trade and obtaining work at once, most boys do not care t(! become apprentieej-, and we are ni;t turning out the thorough workmen <;f the old standai'd. In fact, if a man asks "for a job in a slice factory today and tells the emp'oyer that he is a shoemaker, it is very probable that he will n(.t get a job un- less he can show skill in (.ne ])artieular jji'cccss. AVhat ai'e "wanted ai'c rapid workers at some jiarticular part of the trade. Again it is apparent that a definition of ''ai)i)rentice" and a <',efinition of "trade" is necessary in evei'v ])articulai- occupa- tion. Jn fact, many employers say that they cannot get n^gnlar apprentices, and ^li'. Di'ajK'i", ccunuissioner of education for the state of New York' is the authority for the stat(>ment that then^ ^re many less apprentices in the tmdes than the i-ules of labor organizations allow. TTowever. a good niany industries still maintain appi'cnticcship. and in them, rules are fairly well kept. This is notab'y so am< ng bricklayers, carpenters, ])lumb- ;ers and others. If there is any trouble with the apprentice- ship system in these latter tr-ade--. it is because they adhere too closely to the manual and technical side and do not do enough in the teaching of the bi'oader things which are essential to a more complete comprehension of the work. For instance, a man ma>- be apprenticed t(» a bricklayer and haxc \evy little knowledge of building construction or draAving or business jHi-ithmetic. but he could Inive thesi^ taught to him. This ap- prenticeship system can be \\orl\ed out very satisfactorily in Extension of Industrial and Agkicultural Training. 77 these latter trades in eonjnn(*ti(iii witli eoutinnation schools.. The difficulty arises in the more siih-di\ided trades where the handy-man. extra man, or the man who steals his trade pre- dominates. The eompulsoiy eontiniiation school as outlined j.reviously will .do very well up to 16 years of ag'e, hut as we have already learned, some of these trades do not take ap- l)r<'ntiees hefore Hi years of ajje. The right kind of an appren- ticeship system in these sub-divided trades- will be a means of broadening the knowledge (f the workmen and lilling in a £rap in industrird education. The finest thing in the workman is his ambition, his desire for fine work of an artistic rpiality, and his pride in his trade. If the comprehension of the whole trade is denied him by a system of apprenticeship which does not carry with it a knowl- edge of these elements, then that apprenticeship system is in- deed of small use. Incapable workmen are produced, and as time goes on these workmen often become burdens on the state because, as has been stated, a new invention comes along and throws them out of work. An apprenticeship system for in- stance which would teach merely how to sew shoes would not be real apprenticeship. This kind of ai)prenticeship is dis-couraged by the leaders of industrial education in America today. There is no need to waste time on it ; it will kill itself. However, the apprenticeship Ahich will teach a man some of the fundamentals in the trade,, as outlined in the plan proposed by your committee, can doubt- less be worked out. The plan in ^Milwaukee at the present time by which class rooms are fitted up for workmen in the factories, and the instruction is being given by the university extension division in the factory at the expense and time of the employ- ers, is an example of what can be done. This work should be made still broader in the future. It is well known that many of the big manufacturing enter- prises and railroads in our country have strong special in- structional departments in their plants. ]\Iost of these combine some general education of a specialized type with the actual manual education, and some of these will form a good guide for us in the study of this question, ^lany systems of this sort, rdthcugh temporarily effective, are too narrow for our stan- dards. Says the late Carroll D. Wright in a paper before the Nat- 78 JxKi'oirr OF TiiK Commission Tpox Plans kok tiik i(.iuil s()ci('t_\' for the pi (Hiiot ioti (if iiidiistrijil fducal ion : "Some liiiic a^'o a1 a licarin^- on the stilj.jcct oi' indii^li-ia! education, I asked tlic inanaKcr of a ^reat works engaged in the production of niachiiiery if his apprentices knew anything whatever of the ])hysics of thcii' woi'k, whetlier tliey couhl make a calculation Telative to the power applied hy the dilTcrcut diaiiictcrs of ■criving wheels or of the different sizes of cog wheels, and he ^mswered me very promptly that they knew nothing whatevei- of such methods. The a])pi'en1ice system, |)ure and simple, would not teach them. P>ut the industrial school i)ri:i)ei\v vcpiipped would have taught the men all such things. The thoroughly skilled mechanic ought to undeistand not onl\- the physics of his work, the science ami the mathemalics. hut something of the art itself. It Avould then he possih'e'in one of our great modern manufacturing establishments to secure for this apprenticeship system from the industrial school, the very best possible equipment that could lead to the highest efficiency. This is the need of the day in the work that is progressing." There is no doubt that the extension division of the uni- versity can add a broadening element of this kind far the small manufacturer or for the single manufacturer in a small town. The continuation school can do it wherever it is estab- lished, and the evening school can be of service in doing it. Part time arrangements can be made with trade schools which can fill in this gap. But whatever form of apprentice system is adoi)ted, it will not succeed unless the apprentice ccnti-act eon- tains an assurance of this broad training. It will not succeed, for men will not go into it, since it off'ers no i)articular o])por- tunity in the future, and it is not the right kind of an educatit)n. Part time arrangements. — This brings us to the consideration of the whole (luestion of "part time" in apprenticeship. "Part time" schemes have the elements of great success in them, be- cause they are as a general thing by nature ''short courses." The value of the "short courses" has already been discussed. Suffice it to say, that if the apprentice Avorks in the factory and at the same time takes some kind of a "short course" work or ^'part time" work in an educational institution, he is probably getting, if not the broadest industrial education, the most effi- cient education of Avhich we know, for it is related to his needs, more than any other. However, "part time" arrangements have limitations also: thev are often too nai'row. ExTEXsiox OF Indt'strial and Agrico.tural Trainikg. 79 Apprentieeshi]) continuation schools and "part time" schools really differ very little in the main concept ; they are all means of givintr more training* to students between 14 and 20 years of age. The agricultural "short course" is a "part time" and <-bvious'y i\ho a continuation school. In the Fniversity of Wisconsin, although the emphasis is laid upon the practical dairying, butter-making, stock judging, etc. in the "short courses," yet the broader aspects of education have not been altogether neglected. As has been pointed out, the continua- tion school in Germany allows the boy who is actually in trade to give a part of his time to school work each week. In that sense, it is a "part time" school. All kinds of "part time" arrangements have been tried. In England the "sandwich system" provides for long periods. 6 mrnths in a factory fol- lowed by 6 months in a school. In all cases which have been successful, however, the instruction is made to fit into the actual work. The boy gets instruction especia'ly adapted to fit him for his work in the factory, and ability to answer the questions which he must meet every day. Pitchburg system. — Many make-shifts are now existing in America which, although they do excellent work, do not accom- plish the same results as a "part time" school. The "Fitch- burg system" by which a boy working in a shop takes one week in the shop and the next week in the high school, while his mate takes his place, is open to certain objections. In its application to high schools in America it should be carefully studied before being adopted. Unless the high school methods conform to those which we have discussed in the evening school, trade school and continuation school, it cannot successfully do its part of the work. Unless specialized teachers and specialized courses can be given in the high school, the system does not really meet the demands and the result, although it may be good, will certainly not be that broad understanding of industrial conditions so essential to the improvement of our modern conditions. Unless we have special instruction and guidance in the factories and special methods in the school, the results wl]1 be much the same as the eld apprentice system. The students in this work have not been separated from the otheirs while being taught in the high school, and adequate provision has not yet been made for cor- related shop instruction, in fact, a complete apprentice system cannot be said to exist. There is also no general supervisory 80 Rei'ORt of tup: Commission I'i-on I'i.ans for tiik body. Kiuploycs or oryiiiiizcd l»()ili('s of lliciii li;iV(' iiotliiiig to- say about wiiat shall be tauglit, or liow it sliall lie tau«rht, in hijj;h st'liool or factory. Evitlently this plan is in course of evolu- tion. As sufjgested before, tlie American Federation of bdjor does not advocate this kind of an ai'i-annciuent. In the tirst place, tlie boy has to tind his phice in tiie factory before he can yo to schcol. In roviding for correlation between the continuation sehool and the usual ap- prentice work should be put upon the statute books of the state Extension of Ixdis-'kial and Agricultural Training. 81 of "Wisconsin. Tliis law should provide that at least 12 hours a week of correlated, broadening education should be given until at least 18 years of age or until the apprentice has completed at least 2 years of apprenticeship. The Wisconsin apprentice law was drafted in 1840 and is useless paper today. Unversity extension in relation to apprenticeship. — We have^ in this state today, factory villages. These factories are not large enough to employ instructors, but by fitting up rooms in them for the university extension workers in the man- ner now provided in Milwaukee, together with the estab- lishment of co-operative classes in the high school, similar to .those in Beverly, Mass., a good beginning could be made. If the high school will co-operate intelligently in the plan, and establish classes which will tit into the work done by the extension division in the factory, which will he closely related to the special industries of the locality, it is very probable that a make-shift of some value can be devised. However, before such a make-shift is adopted, it should receive the approval of the industrial de- ]iartment which is recommended by your committee. These matters should be very carefully studied, because they may easily cost a great deal without giving commensurate return, and be- cause of the opposition which may come from trade unions unless they conform to the idea of free public trade education which the trade unions are so persistently advocating. The modified Fitchburg-Beverly scheme should be closely studied. There is no essential difference between this system ot apprenticeshij) and the compulsory apprentice continuation school of Germany, if compulsion is introduced between 11 and lb and the apprentice law be changed as suggested in this re- port. If em})loyers must send all boys betAveen 14 and 16 to school for a short time each week and if they are also compelled to fix their apprentice system so that a good deal of special correlated instruction every week be given, as suggested, until 18 years of age, then the chief argument against the Fitchburg system is removed and the high school can l)e effective to the ex- tent to Avhich it adopts methods and teachers which will bring about good results. It is unwise to think of establishing a minutely perfected state system at once. It must be a matter of first steps of growth, of evolution. First steps are all right if they are economical and we know at what we are aiming. Best results will be obtained in the end, when all such schools 82 Hki'ort oi' 'nil'. Commission I'l'ox I'laxs fok the ai't' as far as pussilili' public schools. When tlicy arc j)iil)lic schools, they will lia\c the diicctioii l'i-om school men as well as I'coin employers aiui employees; and a comi)romis(^ tx^tweeii the school men and the em]iloyers and employees will he the rip;ht one in the end for all coiicernetl. in some trades the compromise has already been made between employers and the employees, and the apprentice system is regnlated by both. This is i)artic- ularly ti-ue in some oi' the building trades. But there is always a third element. — the public, and this element should he eonsid- ered, in order to have the proper balance. It will be seen at once that there are very delicate ciuestions involved in any system of ap])rentice work. The conditions of lahor, the strife hetween lal)or and capital, make this question one of greatest difficulty, when any plan is sul)mitted which calls for co-operation between a pi-ivate appi'entice system, and a tax supported public school. For instance, what will become of the apprentice in case there is a strike in the factory? The employees naturally want to have such relations closely defined and are xovy doubtful about the ultimate success of any kind of an apprentice system wliich does not have a pu])lic school hasis. Beverly plan. — In the Beverly school scheme tlie factory has a M'orkshop fitted up for 25 boys. One week 25 hoys work and the rest go to the high school, and then another division takes its place. The company hires competent instructors in the factorv and the city binds itself to provide instruction in shop inethods, English, mathematics, drawing, chemistry and other studies. These studies are so arranged that they dovetail into the actual work of the factory. The company takes in boys from 14 to 18 who have passed the 6th grade. The remarkable point and the safe point, both from the standpoint of capital and labor and also from the standpoint of true industrial education, is that the arrangement is controlled entirely by a committee composed of 5 members of the school board, and one or more citizens of Beverly appointed by the mayor. Every factory has a representative ap- pointed by the mayor upon nomination of the proprietors of the factory. As an additional safeguard, the whole is under the control of the Massachusetts commission on education and state aid is given the city of Beverly to cany on the work. This seems a good combinati(m, Init unless the factory is as large as the United shoe machine company at Beverly, the shop instruc- tion will not be adequate. It is not often that firms are found EXTExXSIOX OK IXDI'STRIAL AND AgRICTLTURAL TRAINING. 83 who will see matters in as broad a way as the United shoe ma- ehine eonipany of Beverly. There are few places indeed in Wis- '(•o)isin where sueh co-ojieration eoiild he carried out. If siieeess- fully carried out, it would provide a means for making the high school a real factor in tlie life of every eonnnunity. Boston continuation schools. — In Boston the merchants and husiuess men have realized the necessity of part time appren- tice or continuation classes. Through the splendid work of Prof. Paul Hanus, Mr. A. L. Filene and others, a clear under- standing of the value of these arrangements has come about. There is the most enthusiastic co-operation between the dif- ferent elements. The school committee of Boston announced recently that it would give class room and equipment if the business men would co-operate. The result is that con- tinuation classes have been started in the leather industries, wholesale dry goods and salesmanship. Some of the large stores, 'like the Filene store, have part time arrangements or continuation schools of some kind, right in the store. In this eontinuatioii school program, two afternoons are given every week for these classes in special rooms in the center of the city. The merchants allow their employees to go to the school without loss of pay. ^^he whole problem in industrial education would be soon solved if we had sueh business men everywhere. If the manufacturers of the state of Wisconsin, so justly noted for their enthusiasm for industrial education, would join in this helpful manner and if the trade unions would give that hearty support to arrangements of this kind which is given by their brethren in Gennany and in England, we could solve the ques- tion of part time and apprentice systems very quickly. Chicago building- trades agreement. — The following descrip- tions of the system now used in Chicago in the building trades is given from a paper by Luke Grant in bulletin No. 6 of the Na- tional Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education: "To show that the wage-earners are in favor of industrial and tech- nical education for the youths entering skilled trades, I wish to give an illustration in this city. Through a mutual agreement between the building contractors and the organized carpenters and bricklayers, the apprentices in those trades are reciuired to attend school for three months each winter during their appren- ticeship period. An allowance in the length of the apprentice- ship period is made if the boy has received a certain amount of technical education before he goes into the trade. At the present 84 IxKroHT OK TiiK Commission- Tpox Plans for tiik tiiiu' there are suiiietliiiiy like 4(H) ai)i)reiili('e carpenters attending- school in Cliicago. There are about an ecjual number of brick- layer apprentices. While the credit for inaugurating this system of education for the api)renti('es is due in a large measure to one l)r(iiuiii(Mit contractor, the workiniiiiien i-eadily took u|) the idea and have worked hand in hand with the employers to inake it a success. In fact the Avorkiugmen are now moi'e enthusiastic over tlie i)lan tlian ai'e the contractors. Although the system was inaugurated only 6 or 7 years ago and is not even now as ])erfect as might l)e desired, its effects are discernible in tlic (piality of the young men that are being turned out to earn their living as skilled workmen. I am informed that in a few ijistances in the carpenter trade, boys have been selected from the ranks and given responsible positions. During the months the apprentice youths attend school they are paid a regular rate of wages agreed upon according to the length of their term of apprenticeship. They are not under tha control either of the carpenters' union or of the employers' as- sociation, but are under the control oL' a joint board composed equally of contractors and journeymen. If for special reasons, such as the supi)ort of a mother or of yoiniger members of a family, an apprentice desires to remain at work instead of attending school, liis particular case is investi- gated and if the permissicin is granted, lie is re(iuired to attend a night school in lieu of the day attendance. I should, perhaps, explain that most of the apprentices are paid a higher rate of wages than the s1i])nlate(l scale while Hiey are at work, and are paid only the stipuhited scale wliile they arc attending school. This naturally creates a desii-e on the ])art of some of the boys to shirk school if possible, bnt on llie whole tlie rules are well car- ried out.'* Here is a condition which seems to be almost ich'al. But it shows us also how different some trades are from others. It shows us the necessity of investigating different trades with a view to iinding out how this "part time" work can be worked out. This arrangement is very nuich like the "short course" at the Uni- versity of Wisconsin and such an arrangement could be entered into with a trade school in a big city or with a university ex- tension division in a small city. In the older countries, the labor unions insist upon the most rigul ol)servance of educntitmal standards by apprentices. If Extension of iNorsTRiAL and Agricultural Training. 85 the luanufacturers and lal)Oi'ers t'oni])iiie and maintain the stand- ards ;is Ix'for'e suggestefl in this report, doulitless the proper plan ean l)e worked out, hut your conunittee still insists that the pub- lic has an interest in the matter and that the public should be bodies in all these arrangements. Your conunittee has drafted ajid is submitting to j'ou a bill for a revision of the apprentice laws of the state along the lines herein advocated. ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL Your conunittee recommends that state aid for industrial edu- ■cation be distributed by some department created by the stale for the encouragement and supervision of industrial education. Preferably this should be division of the state superintendent "s department. The law should provide for a secretary who should have charge of the organization and inspection of these schools. It should also provide for a temporary commission lasting C years to be appointed by the governor from employers and em ployees of this state. The director of the extension division of the T'niversity of Wisconsin should be an ex-officio member of this conunission. Ft should work in co-operation with the indus- trial education secretary of the state superintendents' office. This secretary should be a[)pointcd by the state superintendent sul> ject to the appi'oval of tliis commission, and the funds for the state aid for the diflCerent schools of this state should also be ap- ]M)rtioned witii its api)i<)va]. It should be a very important part of the work of this conunission to aid in the organization of in- dustrial trade schools or industrial education centers through- out this state, in. very much the same way that the state free li- brary commission does at the ])resent time in the organization, of libraries. State aid should be given only in ])roportion to the effort made by the community. Your committee has drafted a bill which is to be presented to you, along the lines here advocated. It will be observed that in our recommendation for a separate administra- tion we are only acting on the experience of Germany. In the first place, in that country nearly all these schools were under the general educational de|)artment. Prussia began l)y giving 8t) Kki'okt of tiik Commission I'pox Tlans for tiik the cdiitntl fi) tile l>uic;iii of coiiiiiicrct' and industry; it linally was transtVri'cd to the hiircau wiiicli controls matters relating tO' i^Toni'ial I'lliR-atioiud atlairs; it was louiid tliat this made the work aitogthcr too schohistic and theoretical, and this arrangement lasted loi- ojdy (i years, when again industrial schools were placed. under the eonlrol of the eommeree and industry dei)artment. For a while there was a tentlency directly away from educational supervisory l)()dies, hut reeently these educational bodies have been given supervisory i)o\ver mostly, in an advisory capacity. There seems to be no division of opinion among experts as to the necessity of placing the supervision in the hancLs (to some degree at least) of employers and employees. Albert A. Snowden in a pamphlet upon industrial schools in Wurttemburg says that AVurttemburg has in common with other European nations been driven to establish an agency essentially separate from the ordi- nary educational administration, for th'e direction of the indus- trial schools. For history clearly impeaches the ordinary educa- tional administration foi- the failure to furnish adequate instruc- tion in the industries. It is I'^uropean experience, tliat thoy even fail in many cases to do all that lies within their power in this regard until forced to adopt a practical attitude by the fact that the majoi' responsibility for ])r()viding such instruction has been placed upon another ministry (industrial or commercial) or body closely in touch with tlie industries and tlic coinmereial needs of the country. rrof(>ssor Fii-nst C ^Meyei", fornu'rly oL" the I'niversity oi' Wis- consin, who wrote the valuable pamphlet upon industrial educa- tion printed as a United States special consular report, volume 'S'S, has the following to say aliout the administrative methods in Germany: "The experience of Germany in the administration of her industrial schools goes to show that tlie suboi'dination or the system of industrial education to the same administrative body which controls the system of general education, is unwise. It also goes to show, on the other hand, that the total withdrawal of the industrial scliools from the influence of the administrators of the schools for general education, is likewise deti'imental to their most efficient development. As will l)e at once recognized^ this is due to the fact that industrial schools have two sides to their constitution — an educational aiul an industrial side. Proper educational methods must lie employed and the (mIuci- tional needs of industrv must be wisely judged. One recpiires Extension of Industrial and Agricultural Training. 87 knowledge of educational method, tlie other of industrial aims and requirements. A wise administration has hence been found to involve the participation and eo-operation of two administra- tive d('[)artments — that wliich has charge of educational affairs and that which has charge of industrial affairs. As was seen, such co-operation, though expressed in various forms, is prac- tically universal in Germany, that department in wliich is vested the administration of commercial and industrial affairs almost invariably exercising a predominant control, while the educa- tional interests of the industrial schools are generally safe- guarded l)y advisors, councils, commissions, and other bodies well informed on modern educational method." In the light of the fact that despite the great vigilance ex- ercised by the manufacturers over the schools in CJermany, they are still perhaps too theoretical — that too much impractical work is taught, that the student wastes much material, is too slow or makes designs which will not sell ; in the light of all this, it seems to us that we should not be afraid at this time to emphasize the practical side. We should fairly meet the situation and through our local administrative bodies and through our central administrative l)odies lean towards the practical side rather than the theoretical side of the. work. The results will be probably a compromise which will include the best part of the scholastic work as well as the best part of the practical work. AID FROM CAPITAL AND LABOR Again there are other reasons why employers should be directly interested and have a medium for expressing that in- terest. If the employers give their personal attention to this work, contribute towards it, look upon it as the chief aid in their business in the state, there will be no doubt about its success. We not only have to educate our workmen, we have to educate our manufacturers and merchants to understand that every investment they make in time or in money in work of this sort, comes back a hundred fold to them. Your committee realizes that if the manufacturers of this state organize and contribute with the same enthusiasm to the state wide scheme that they did to the Milwaukee school of trades, the whole matter will go forward and become successful. SS Report ok tiii: Commission I'l-ox I'lans for the 11" the work hccoiiics tlicorclic;!!, tlic maniirjictnix'r is to l)laiui'. ]!(' imist be tile otic who, tlii-oii^li liis oro^anizations. must in- sist that the emphasis be j^laced upon praetieal results, in- sist upon tlioi'oii<>lniess, and by a liroad and liberal policy, strive to build up tlic skill and ingenuity of the average man. It is i'or this i-eason, that youi' connnittee believes that manufactures, employers and merchants should have a place upon this state advisory commission. It is the manufacturer's own fault after he is represented on this commission if he fails to get results. If he does not take interest in the local committee, if he does not aim to make each local trade educational center something which will be a benefit to his industi-y. then it is his own fault if tlie woi'k is not ])ractical. Supplementing the j'egular legal rei)resentation. manufactur- ers should have special organizations to urge upon their mem- bers continuetl action foi- the benefit of the schools. The trades iniions should imitate also the splendid work now being dono by the American fedei'atioii of labor in encouraging the or- ganizalion of trade schools. Organized lalioi- in England is now contributing a very lai-ge fund to industrial edu- cati(.n through a strong organization for thai pui'pose. If every trade union man in this state contributed a little mite each year to this great object, it would mean a wonderful re- turn to everyone in i)rosperity and in the broadening out of the status of his children. For this reason the employees should be given a representative upon the local boards and the central boards. They shoidd see to if that the proper kind of educa- tion is given, and that their interests are guarded. The in- terest of the manufacturer and the employee is after all, the in- terest of the ]mblic. In Germany the trades unions work with enthusiasm for in- dustrial education. Both in Germany and in France they reconnnend teachers, attend classes, and criticise the instruc- tion. It is genei'ally expected that labor unions will support these schools in eveiy way and contribute financially. In Ger- many one finds the labor unions, uiasfei-woi-kmen and manu- facturers vicing with each other in tbeii' pride in the local schools and contributing not only money but sometimes tools, machinery and designs. This coojieration Ave must have in America, before there will be any real success in the work of in- dustrial education. Extension of lNDrs"RiAL and AoRicrLTrRAL Training. 89 .Miiiiiit'nctui'crs cspee-ially can cooiu'rate not only in advice to local connnittees and in the establishment of schools, but also by a. hearty response to the re(inest for shorter hours for the boys and girls so that they can attend the continuation schools or evening schools, in the payment of tuition, in the donation of prizes and scholarships, and in many other material ways. Professor Reber in his analysis of the facts given in Sadler's book on "Continuation schools in England," says that he found the 88 firms out of 97 examined, "pay a i)art or all the fees charged the apprentices by the schools. In some cases the wages are increased according to combined reports of the teacher of the school and the superintendent of the shop. In some firms the privilege is not limited to apprentices, but ap- plies to employees generally." In the investigation made l\v the ^lassachusetts committee on industrial education it was found that the industrial schools in Ireland "which have been started with a consideration for for local conditions and local demands and in which the instruction has been strong and of the right kind, have flour- ished, while those they started and managed under the opposite conditions have languished and died out or have been but weaklings if they have survived." It is the duty of the em- pl<\vers and employees to see that these schools are so formed and managed that the lesson of Ireland will not be lost to its. The carefully worked out system of state aid in Germany is supplemented to a large extent by gifts from local communities and hx^al societies. Thus according to I\Ir. Arthur J. Jones in his pamphlet. Continuation schools in the United States: "The sources of support for the industrial schools in Berlin in 1896 and 1897 were — State 86,089 marks City 329,363 marks Guilds 9,1 15 marks Societies 12.520 marks This shows also that state aid although a large factor, is supplemented by the enthusiastic work of all the different elements concerned in industrial education in Gernumy. It is this hearty co-operation which will make a success of industrial education. f)() Kkpoht oi' TiiK Commission I'l'ox Plans for the OTUIOH ADMIXISTKATIVH .METHODS AND DHVICES There are certain methods and eertain (U'tails of achninistra- tion whieli must be considered, in order that mistakes will not he made in the organization of industrial education. As youi' committee has said repeadly in this report, it is necessary when we do start, to start ri fact that the classes are so small, heavy e(|uipment is rcMpiired, and the close personal attention of the teacher is demanded to a greater degree than in public schools or leetuj-e woi'k. In some cases a tuition fee is not only paid by pu])ils, but also by the employers. It is obvious that in starting a trade school or any system of industrial education, the (piestion of tuition should be a matter of serious consideration. In America we have believed that such instruction should not cost the man who is working any more than it costs the man who is not working but giving all of his time to stiuly. Yet therc^ is a great ditTerence of opinion among expei-ienced students on the (piestion. John L. Shear.^r, president of the Ohio ^rechanics Institute, says: ''A free evening school is not a success as a I'ule. Those who receive ElXTENSlON OF InDI'STRIAL AND AGRICULTURAL TRAINING. 91 valuab.i.' iustruetioii in subjects that mean better financial re- turns and greater efficiency, do not wish to be considered ob- jects (if charity. The price must be within their reach and in -no case will tlie income from tuition meet expenses. But this tuition should pay a portion of the expenses, and thus lead the man who invests something in himself to appreciate what he is getting. One who is unwilling to make some sacrifice for his own good is not worth much. 1 recall many cases where ap- parently wortliy students were given all conceivable help but were failures in the end. On the other hand, many who have made sacrifices for their trade developed at the same time noble characters and became useful citizens and important factors in the industries with which they ■ became connected. These lessons of sacrifice were the making of them. Their struggles de\'eloiied character and backbone, as many a suc- cessful man could testify. The Y. ]M. C. A. charges as high as $45 for a six months' (durse. ^lany of the Y. ]\1. C. A. workers have now admitted that this is too high and a mistake. ^Ir. Jones, in his pamphlet upon continuation schools in the rnited States, says, in relation to the Y. M. C. A.: "It must be frankly admitted that as long as the membership in the educational classes conducted by the association is limited to membership of the organization, and as long as it is necessary to hold a $5 annual ticket besides paying for a class ticket, ranging anywhere from 1^^2.50 to $5.00. €r even $10.00 extra, not counting the cost of class books, v.'hich must be jiurchased by the men individually, it cannot l)e said that educational worlc in this institution is seeking the masses of the poor, for they cannot afford to pay so much for it. The association und(.ubtedly appeals to a class of more or less .successful young men who wish to improve their conditions along specified linos, so it is natural that the men who make a financial outlay at the beginning of the term are not likely to drop out when the work begins to stiffen." In P^ngland every effort has been made, according to Mr. Jones, to get those in charge of such work to charge fees for students at- tending evening classes, and a report upon this plan in England in 1905 says: "The experience of these years, 1902 to 1905, has tended to confirm them in the view, that a charge of this kind is in the best interests of education. They realize, however, that in a few of tlie rural districts and in the poorer ])arts of some r»2 I\i:i'()irr ok tiii-: ("om misskin I'i'on Tlans kok tiik lowns. tlic ntloplidii nf llic I'cc cluwiiiiii;' system i-('(|iiii'('s to be inlroduccd uradunllx' .iiid. indeed, in a small iiuml)er ol" cases is still inadvisable." I Iowcni'i-. in Manchester the fees have been dropped, and j.ecoi'dini:' lo .M r. Jones. " the increased attendance has amply justified the e.\|)erimeiit and the plan has been con tinned. "" In .Massaeluisetls the state textile schools forniei'ly charged tnilion. but the industrial connnission of Massacliusetts al)olished the fees after a good deal ol' exi)eriment and a thoi'ongh inx'esti- gation. In a repoi't ujx)!! the industiial woi-k of the Interna- titmal Typograi)hical Tnion, Mv. W. 1>. Pi-escott says: "Thougli tJie tuition fees are as close to cost as it is ])ossible to make them, the connnission, believing tliat a taint attaches to a pi'ofit mak- ing educational system, has ai'ranged that insti-uetion can be se- cured for less than cost. In oi'dcM- to (h) lliis, the union will give a rebate of $5.00 to students who have by theii- assiduity and per- severence shown thcmselvc^s to l)e deserving. This method of re- ward differs fi'om the usual one of offcreing lai'ge ])ri/es for a few specially capable students. The connnission aiul tlie union reasoned tliat the average man sutfeicd most by reason of tlie inadequacies of the appi'cnticeship system, antl it is this man the union is most desirous of helping.'* From all this discussion it is evident ti'.at ])i'i\ate institutions as a whole. belie\-e in the tuition system, while in the |)ublie in- stitutions there is a tendency towai'd theii- abolitioru It is very probable that in ottr state some anangements will have to be made, at first, for a slight tuition. This was fouiul necessary in the uni\'ersity extension work, ("eitainly the tuition should l)e reduced to a point where it is a stimulus rathei- than a hardship. Of course, wdth our compulsory continuation school woi'k, it is very probable that there shoidd be no tuition at all. because that work is comi)ulsoi'y and the stiuudus is not needed to the same extent, it may l)e that this whole (piestion of stimulus is ex- aggerated and that the experience of .Manchester and of the textile schools in aMassachusetts should be followed in oui' state. Ilowevi'r. your connnittee has set forth these facts for what they are worth. They have set them fortb as a warning, for every school will have to meet this situation as soon as it begins to oj'ganize. Thei'c is another administrative (|uestion which comes up at once in relation to all this woi'k. and that is the ipiestion of some Extension of Ixdi'stkial and Agrictlttral Training. !)o sort of M reward or certificate t'(.r e()ni[)lete(l courses or subjects. ]t would seem that souie kind of a state examiuation sliould lie i;i\en and some kind of a state certificate issued in accordance with tl'.e work completed &:o tliat every man who comj^letes work will ha\e pride iu receiviuu' such a certificate. The Drivate com- jtanics lia\-e found this a very good expedient in all apprentice work, and there seems at first glance to be no reason why we eould not use it in our pul)lic work. However, a difficulty arises ui)on a more careful examination. The varying standards in varying schools must he taken into account. The different kinds of w^ork makes the problem quite a complex one. The Y. M. C. A. has found it a strong stimulus. It has an international examina- tion, and many colleges have accepted the diplomas from this work. But your committee recognizes that we must not stand- ardize at this time. We must follow free play and elasticity if we are to get the best results from the plan we have recom- mended. Sale of produce. — Your connnittee wishes to put in another Avord of warning at this jioint. There are those in the country who would advocate the sale of produce in the manner of the Eochester schools and of the ^lanhattan trade schools for girls in New York City. The latter school is really a continuation school of the best kind. The girl goes from the bench, wheie slie is actually working upon goods made to sell, to eontinuatioii school classes in art, arithmetic and physiology. Certainly such arrangement can be made very satisfactory. The point has been made that it gives a. shop atmosphere to the work, but there is another consideration besides this — the financial gain. The Man- hattan trade school for girls pays about half the salaries of the school from this source. Some of the other schools add materi- ally to their funds by this method. The subject is a grave one. The possibility of competition with local industries is a matter Avhich must be looked into thoroughly by your governing body. Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages? The value of trying after new devices and new discoveries at the cost of bung- ling and making unsaleable goods, is the basis of new discoveries and progress. If we merely make things which sell, a serious change may creep in which may blunt the creative instinct. No trade school estalilished in this state sliould take this step with- out the most thorough examination of it from every standpoint. This brings us to the whole question of experimental work. 94 Repdht of the Commission I pox I*i,.\ns for the Experimental work. — We have before sliowti the value of ex])eriin('ntal wdi'k. hiil llie (|iiestioii eouies up. how can we ])ro- vide for it? There is jusl at present a iireal (h-al of diseussion in Germany upon this (juestion. There are those who hold that the experimental shops do little good and eost out of proportion to what they are worth. There is no douht. h(twe\-ei-. tliat if we can preserve the element of experiment or the eleiueiit of origin- ality in our seliool woi-k tiiat it will add a very sti-ong psyehologi- eal l)asis to our industrial insti-uction. All the diseov(M"ies in the ditferent fields of industrial life tod;iy must not lie left to our engineers. Everytliing possible should tie done to encour- age the ingenuity of our woi'i-(>i-(liii;il idii rcc(>iiiiii('ii(lc(l ill tills rcpoii. Cci't :iiiil\- if it cMn l»(' w(irl<<'(l. it will sohi- the pnihlcm i>\' unitiiiu- the tradr MC'hool, till' (lay coiitiiiuat ion school, the hij^h school, and the cvcniiiLi' school in one l)uil(Iiii<>' witli one e(|ui|)inent. The ditfi- culty will be eiKMiiiitered in adapting' this systeiu to any broader aspects of iiidiisliial education which will inclnde of course, some lectures. If the lectures come as a matter of pro- j?ression. they will necessarily form a time element in the worK and yet this ditfieulty is not iiiisiiniioiintable. The "task sys- tem" is not a cni-e-all : but woilxcd out in connection with the general scheme, it Avill be found eminently practical. The <:i'neral |)oin1s taken up in this chapter have been treated here because they deal more directly with tin' wiu»le ({uestion of industrial edueation. as established locally. The part that the uni\-ersity can play in this work has been discussed from time to time, but it is necessary to consider it more fully in order to see its relationship in all its aspects to all other factors. UNIVERSITY EXTENSION The uui\'ersity extension division cannot, from its very nature, do the permanent work of tiu^ continuation and trade Bchools. There is a parallel between its methods and work and those of the early church organizations. It was necesary at first to have some kind of missionary work, as perhaps some little local demand became evident. Then circuit riders w"ere sent around ; men who preached one Sunday in one little town and the next Sunday in another ; the circuits grew smaller as time went one until churches were built, pastors secured, and permanent organizations esta])lished in each town. The university extension Avork can follow the same method. "When little centers are established permanent buildings erected and permanent teachers secured, then the universitv extension work can l)e used as a sort of circuit riding organization for the still higher grades of work until the needs of the higher grades are supplied by permanent organization. In this way the uni- vesity extension Avork can form the means of luiilding up the whole system from one which deals even with the needs of a 'single individual in a little community to a complete system for Extension oi' 1xdi-s"kial and AimiCLLTrRAL Trmxing. 97 the whole state. Tliis very elasticity, resulting in a variety of results l)y which ditit'erent grades of students and ditferent grades of work can be taken eare of, is just what made Ger- man indiisliijil education succe-sful. Witli a mistaken pol- icy, yciiie (if liei- e(hica1 ioiial directors, fortunately, how- evei-, iKtt llie K^adeis, luive recently tried to grade and (lualify this work. Tliis has Keen defeated and the work saved fr< m I ecoming static. The i)resent system in that country ^\■ith local schools adjusted to local needs, with varying degrees of schools from the lowest continuation school through to the highest technical school, has been a far better arrange- ment for Germany, and for that matter can be a far better method to start with in this state, than that brought about by a more strict classification. lii the proceedings of the con- ference of teachers of continuation schools recently held in Germany, we find the following: "Privy Councilor Dr. von Steefeld, who represented the Prussian ^Minister of commerce and industry, deprecated any minute definition and classifica- tion of the uuiiiei'ous vocatiouiil continuatien schools, intimating that such luiiformity would lead to mechanical drill while the greatest merit of the oitire sys'tem of special schools lay in the fact of its not being a system. The wonderful variety of the vocational schools offered a i)Ossibility of adapting the school to local needs or to the industrial peculiarities of the locality in which they were situated. The whole subject of classification and of more defiJiite organization of the system was referred to a committee for a future report." If is just this element of elasticity which Privy Councilor Dr. von Steefeld advocates, fhrif makes the extension division of peculiar significance. It is fortunate for us at this time that we have this organization in our state. In a state like ours, confjiining many small \illages \vitli one or two manufacturing establishments, the question upon which our whole scheme must fall or must live, is what can we do with industrial education in each little place? The large manufacturer does not have to be discussed. He can teach; he can gather in his apprentices and train them, but most of the factories or mercantile estab- lishments in Wisconsin are not large enough to manage an undertaking of this kind for themselves. Most of our schools in the northern part of the state, especially in the scattered 7 f.'8 Rki'okt ok Till-: Commission I'i-on Plans koi^ 'imik villages, have not enough inoiicy to give any kind ol" an ad- vanced course. If Ave cannot give these courses by one means ■\ve must give tliem l)y another, and the only Avay in which w<' can give theni and reach out to all, is thi-ongh the extension division, its coi-respoudence methods and its traveling k'Lturers and teachers, i'l'ol'essor Person in his book upon industrial education says: "Except in those i-are instances of liiu'lily centralized states which are able to impose upon theii- ])eo])le educational systems created de novo, such an institution must he the i-esult of gradual dexclopiiieiil . Wlieii its scope is en- larged to meet new situations, to reach new chisses or to traui for new activities, this enlargement should be accomplished neither bj^ creating new instruments unreUited to the general system nor by wholly reconstructing the already exisl-ng sys- tem. This should be accomplished by develo|iing new m-'uibers which tit into the existing system and Avliich heeonie integral parts of it.'' "Wisconsin is not a highly centi-alized state and cannot impose upon its peoi)le an educational system created de novo. The imiversity extension division will not interfere in any way Avith tile existing system, but will add a new iiiein1)ei' which will dovetail into the gaps in the wliole. It will not only lit into the gai)S of the whole system, hut it will be I'le medium hy wliicli the results of the highest eeonou.ic research and the results of the best econemic and industrial methods can be added from time to time. It will be a long time in this state before ever.\' city of the third or fourth class can have any very efficient higher industrial education. The ehunentary grades will nec- essarily be taken care of first and the simple nee. Is ;ulminis- tered to. If the spii'it in which this re|)i)rt is written be car- ried out, the greatest number will be sei'ved in a little way until something can be doue for those who demand more sjiecal woi'k. Put it is by means of the extension division thar these si)ecial cases can be taken care of. If a young man l imist come to them in some way. Says a Bulletin of the New York State Educational Depart- ment : "Experience teaches that evening schools are so over- crowded in the elementary course that these advance .:'udents suffer tlirough insufficient attention. If spccinlly provided for. they might become our fareinen. superintendents, and teachers. Not only nuist each school year's work be driven home and clinched, but each series of year's work mnst be so clinched as to meet the needs of industries which shall demand th;-r.;Hghly trained men for foremanship." When we have scarcely any evening schools in Wisconsin' at the present time, how are we going to meet this need .' The fact that the investigation made about five years ago by a mem- ber of your committee showed that at least 35,000 students were taking work in private correspondence sehoi)ls in this state and the fact that the Massachusetts educational commis- sion foutul at least 50,000 men and women taking work in like schools in Massachusetts, is unanswerable evidence of th* great demand for this kind of work. If the need did not exist, people would not be paying their money. If they could have evening schools ready at hand, they would go to them, but it also shows that there is a demand for instruction right at home, for work- which can be accomplished by a single individual after his day's labor. The extension division of the university not only has proved this, but it has worked out new means of teaching. Its group system has been a vast improvement over the work done by any of these correspondence schools. It is now capable of taking a workman at any stage and dealing with him as an indi- vidual : it can take classes of two or three men. or take classes of ten men or more, as is now done iu the shops of iMilwaukee. These classes can be cared for until regular teachers can be secured and regular centers established, thus meeting the new miscellaneous needs which are constantly coming into being. This method will be an economical one for our state, because it insures a gradual and healthy growth. No impractical work JUU J^Kl'OHT OK Till-; C"()M.MI>!~1().\ I'loN TlaXS FOK THE Avill he (lone. It will iml create i\e novo i)nt it will he a sti'i>- ping stone from the (.)Ul to tiie new. It does not seem impossible for the (Miiiiiicci'iii^' school ;it the University of Wisconsin to extend its suiniuer school work so that high class mechanics can come to this school jnst as the farm hoys now j^o to the ag'ricnltnral short conrsc. The he- iiiiiniiiu' of a school sucli as now exists in (Mieiiinilz. (icnnany, "where thonsands of this class of students assemhh' from all over Germany and go back to fill np all grades from mechanical engineers down to skilled tenders of engines, can be estab- lished. For the adnlt, who is and)itious to learn some techni- cal process of a special kiiid, this work can be of particular value. For those who have passed the trade school ])('i-ii»d. ])Ut who must work oi- have families to sup])ort. tin' ditrei-i'iit meth- ods of corresj)on(lence teaching can be used. Whei'c the cxcn- iug school does not exist or where it is rudinicntfii-y. then the university extension work can always fill in. Your conunittee, however, believes that liberal provision shouUl be made by the state of Wisconsin foi- this work, and the c(;st of it to the indi\'!dual should b(^ mateiially I'cduccd. The Avork has shoAvn its worth, but the cost should not fall so heavily upon the man who is striving to impi'ovc liimsclf. Sucli a nuin is the best asset the state has. and the state can ^ve11 afford to give him the education In' wants at a greatly reduced cost. The unJN'ersity sunnner school should be better ai'ticulated with the whole system so that by cooperation betweoi this s(diool and the correspondence methods and other methods pui-- sued by the extension division the i)esi i-esults ca!i be secured. Yonr committee, therefore, i-econnnends that fees in the exten- sion department be reduced, and that the appropiial i( n I'or this depai-tment be iiu-reased. Movable s(du>ols. institute methods, traveling professur^. short courses, lectures— all these means of coniu'cting the eilu- cational centei's with the peoi)le. are not new. Th(\v have been tried all over Kurope. As long ago as ')(• \e:ii-s. 1 raveling teachers were at work in Austria and (ieimany. and many of (he good lessons learned in continuation s(du)ols and the trade school woik of these coiuiti'ies came I'l om tlu' Icu'inning made hv this kind of teaching. AVe have, it seems to us. in the \Vi>- KXTEXSIOX OF Ixors'-RIAL AND AgRICULTIRAT. TrAIXIXG. 101 cousin Free Library Coniinission, a cooperative luetliod -wliipli has not yet been inlly .leveloptHl t)ei ause of lack of funds. The traveling libraries in cooperation with the extension divi- sion, can brino' into onr small industrial centers not only the industrial and technical lil)raries necessary, the most up-to-date iiislructior.al n:aterial upon c\ery pluisc of i:idu;trinl lif >, l)ut als;) all o'her necessary travcliiiji' ccjuip ne;;!: of all kinds. Traveling books in small villages will solve many of the (lucs- tions of research, and traveling apparatus Avould. it seems to us, to some degree at It^ast. supidement this work. TEACHERS In our description of German industrial education it was shown thgft even in Germany the complaint is made that good tcnchci's ca'inot be secured. The ordinary man fi'om a Technical sch(K^l is too theoretical; the ordinary skilled workman cannot teach well. In spite of ad the influence of manufacturers, the woi'lc is still t( () theoretical, because the teachers are to theor- cti('-al. This syi-tem could be easi'y remedied in AVisccnsin. We have .'•ca'cely any traditions of industrial education to fight in this matter. Therefore, we can do what we are doing in agri- culture. The boys, from our long course agricultural courses are now becoming the teachers in the Wisconsin agricultural schools. This same thing can he done in the mattter of good trade school tccichers. With our workshops at the University, with our school for artisans, with the university extension work, we siioidd be al)le to fill the needs from the division of tlie edu- cational school of the university, which has for its purpose the training of teachers of trade work. The establishment of a school for teachers of industrial educatii n is greatly needed in this state. With the criticism which can be given to the methods l^ursued in such a school by the actua' worker.s who are now in the field for the university extension division and who are teaching in the shoi)s and factories in close relation to the prol)- l(Miis which the manufacturers have to meet, a school fi.r trade leachers situated at the state university will have great advan- tages over any other school in the country. The men who wish to be teachers in this woi-k can be R'iven chances to teach in con- l(l"J l\KiM)KT OK •nil': Commission I'i-on I'i.ans kou I'lih: 1 iiiujil imi scliodls w ticrcNcr cstnlilislicd in tlic stnlc li.r p'^-icl ice \\()rl<. Such men (•;in he KMjuii'cd to spend ;i cerljiin time in the actual work in factories in the state in order to obtain their eer- titicjttes. Thus we can combine the |)i-oi)ei- teaeliin^' inethcsds with the ;ic1u;d practice. In this way we can buihl up a body <\' men who can su])i)ly our teaching' force in i.ur ceid inuatioii schools, (lur ti-ade schools and our technical schools. In Ireland a plan has been recentl\' started to instruct teachers. Jiy this system, schools that aie now open in three or i'our large cities in li'e'and give training foi' men who are alrcadx' in industi-y and wiio want to teach the trade in wliieli they are ]»i"oficient . Suuniier sclnols are also provided foi' teachers who ai'e teaching the (ommoii bianchis and haxc been tia.ined in the general school work so that they will get the pi'actical instruc- tion so necessai>' in ordei- to bei'ome an efficient instruct' r in the trade seliool. The Tniversity of Wisconsin conld open such summer schools and it would be we'l perhai)s to centi'alize the Moi'k there for a while in order that the most tlKU'ougli and jiractical methods could be worked out, and in oi-dei- tiiat the manual training spirit will be superseded by actual fact r\- spii'it. AVe should not recruit <:ur teacliing foi-ces in this state t'roiM manual training teachers who have alreadv set i:ism().\" I'lox Plans fok tiik SKCU.X 1 )A K V ( •( )XS| I )K UAT I ( ).\S It \v;is the German philosophe:'. Iluiii!)()!(lt , wlio sjiid: "WliMt- cvci- vdu put i'lto the StHte yen must liist |)ut iulo the sdi-ols'". If Ihc industrit'il ediu-atiou ndvocnted hy your couimittce will h'jid UMM'cly to a better ei-nnomie iiiau. il wiil iiol re;ii-h its liiiihest aim. It must Ix- judLi'ed hy its by-i)i-(;duets as well as hy its icsult iu dollars ;ni(l ( ents. I1 imisl he jud.u'ed hy its efit'eet upon the life of the peii)le and upon human ha|)i)iuess and a varying numher of our greit prohlems, social and eeouo- mie and moral, witli wliieh we liave to (h-al today. To ])e in itf? truest sense efficient, it must he a truly democratic education, an edneation which will tit all the needs of all the peoi)le. This does not mean. then, tliat it mnst l)e merely ntilitarinn. hut tlie effect of it nuist be such that we can answer definitely the (jnes- tiou: will it im])rove the moral situation:' Will the l)oy who is industi'ially educated und.M- this system he a better man oi- a better husband.' Will he he a better citizen.' Will he have a higher sense of moi-al obligition? Will he be m;:re tiaitliful, lionest? Will he Iwive a ])etter IMiysi(ine? Will he be a better factor in our life today .' It is obvious that in order to make this system so that all these (|uestions can be answei'ed in the affirmative, additions mnst be made to the iiidustri-d ]')roDiam. The Germans have not for- gotteu to do this. They are noted as a law-abiding and ])atriotic people. Thei-e is no doubt that tlie system l)y which citizenship is taught iu the (ierman contiiniation schools has its ( tfect upon this spii'it in that country. In this connection, Dr. George Kerschensteiner. of ^riuiich lias the following to say : "* * *As yon see, professional effi- ciency is ])ut foremost becanse those who cannot stand npon theii' cwn feet vocationally ai-e unable to help others and pre- vent them from falling. But in closest contact and intimately related with vocational education mnst go the second aim of our programme; to develop insight into the connection and relation of the interests of all citizens alike, ami especially of onr coun- try, to take care that that interest manifests itself in the exer- cise of patriotic self-sacrifice, justice, self-control, co-operative spirit and rational hygiene, sensible frugal habits of living. If EXTEXPION OF InDI'STKIAL AiXD AGRICULTURAL TrAIXIXG. 105 we kee]) the tirst aim only uppermost in our educational eudea- vors, then there is danger of training up an excessive profes- sional and individual egotism." "And just here we touch the critical point in our considera- tion of the value of industrial schools and education. If we in- struct the prospective industrial mechanical worker not only in the mechanical-technical part of his trade but likewise introduce him into the mysteries of social and economic conditions, not only of industrial life but with equal interest into the social and economic life of the community and nation of which he Is a citizen ; if we train him from early youth to make him feel that he is a part, however small a part, of the larger whole of the nation to which he is inseparably tied by all his interests, then he Avill be more or less able to counteract and modify, if not to annul, the evil tendencies of modern industrial conditions. ''"We should not forget that economic and social conditions are not only the product of natural laws but to no small degree they are the product of the moral and educational standards of the people * * * ," There is no doubt that industrial training in itself will be of great service in creating the sense of order, discipline and i^R- tienee so necessary to good citizenship. Commissioner Draper in an address in Albany in 1908 said: "I hesitate not a mo- ment in saying that good citizenship, and the thrift and morals of the country are quite as dependent upon the mass being trained to skilled work with their hands, as upon a class being advanced in scientific knowledge or in professional accomplish- ments. The greatness of the nation is contingent upon bring- ing the trutlis which science unlocks, to the life, and particularly to the viu-atious, of the people. But that can be done only where a people is inured to work; where they have, and love, voca- tions. The successful workman is a happier man and a more relia- l)le citizen, a nuich larger factor in giving strength and balance to his country, than the unsuccessful or the only half successful professional man. It adds little to one's value as a civic unit that he be elaborately trained in theory, or in science, or in skill, if his training has been at the cost of his balance; if he knows one thing at the expense of many other things which every good citizen is bound to know, and of that balance which every good citizen is bound to have. And it makes little addi- j(l(i I\K1'»IHT (IK TIIK C'(iMMl>>l()N I'toX Pl.ANS KoK T 1 1 K tioii to the strength of a nation that some of the people have the higliest Jearniiig, even that the advanced schools and the pro- fessional life are overcrowded, if the masses have not love and capacity for (jroniiig I kings and for niaki)i(j lhi)ii- tlic medical inspection of children. This n)edical inspection in the cities where it has been tried, has proved that many children can be brightened and dullness prevented. It has shojvn that a gi-eat deal of the waste and human wreckage comes from poor i)hy.sical condition. The examination has shown a large percentage of obstruction to breathing, of throat and eye troubles, and of curvature of the spine aiul similar diseases. But this medical inspection exists only in a very few cities and in a very superficial way. It seems lo your connnitlce that tl:e workers in the factiu-ies should have the I t'uetits of nu^dical inspection extended to them and a chance to buikl up impaired health or to cure deformities. Incipient cases of tuberculosis could l:e noted at once if these courses in hygiene incliuled medical inspection in all the conlinuatiorr schools. trad(^ schools or evening schools. If in colleges and high schools we have gynuuisiums. physical examinations, etc., it ap- peals to our reason that we should have the same thing in all thes:e schools for our industrial army. It is (mly reasonable that the continuation school should be a great factor in build- ing up the strength of the jjcople if this kind of instruction and examination were instituted there. If it is an investment for the state or city to put large sums of money into colleges and high scliools for gymnasiums and heahh instruction, tlieii surely it is an investment of a greatei' dc^gree lo do the same thing f(U' the great mass of the people. In Germany some periods each week are given to gymnastu? work. It must not le forgotten that the si)leiulid "Turner" movement is now being connected with these schools. Nearly all the contiiniation schools have some kind of gynniastic work, and many of them have i)hysical examination. Vocational direction. — The (Jermans try to lit a boy to the voction wliicii he undertakes. Pamphli'ts are sent out describ- ing the standards of strength neic-sarx foi- certain ditferent trades and warning parents ami children what diseases are in- herent in certain of them. For insiance. if a child has a history which may show a tendency toward tulcrculosis. then that child is directed away from occupations in which the statistics show thai a liiiih rate of tubercidosis exists. If a child is plivMcally Extension ok Ixdisirial and Agrici'ltiral Trmxing. Ill not strong, he is not advised to go into a trade where physical strength is demanded. This question of vocational direction is involved with the ques- tion of Scinitation and hygiene. Vocational direction is used in the state einphjyincnt agencies and lalior exchanges in Germany, and it has now been tried in the schools of New York and an official has been secuied whose duty it is to see that the work is prop(n-ly (ariied out. In Host( n, too, a vocational liureau exists and in many of the Y. ]\r. ( '. A. and social settlements, vocational direction bureaus have been recently established. It seems to your committee that as an integial part of this whole system, vocational direction should be used in continuation schools, evening schools and trade schools. Your committee does not care to confuse the issue l\y recommending too manj^ newly tried educational experiments, but it would suggest that this may be a matter which can be left to the discretion of the industrial -education connnission^ whicli your connnittee has recommended. Certainly medical inspectii n and vocational direction would be valuable assets and valuable investments to any system of indus- trial education. Social factors. — Your committee has already called attention to the fact that in England and in many of the private evening schools of Amei'ica, attempts have been made to counteract the social dissij>ation of our times by l)ringing together young people in healthy .social diversion in the evening. The university ex- tension lias i('ccnt]y secuied a director who is to l)uild up the Mork oc making the .schools social centers. It would seem to ns that this is not a fad ; that the proper development of social functions woiiUl 1-e a great stimulus to ediu-ation. Boys and girls cannot work all the time and must have certain social di- versions. Tliese social diversions can be the incentives, as has been pointed out, for other and mtn^e serious things. As ]Mr. Jones of the New York department of edueatitm says of this work in England: "Each school is for the most part a little center of life and civilization, not merely a collection of classes. One advantage of this work is that it develops the feeling of co- herence of the spirit of democracy. Social gatherings are al- lowed in the evening school rooms once a month or on evenings when the school is not in session. No fee is charged for this. The scjiools are in a measure the social clubs of the common Ill' Ki:i'(lK'P OK TIIK Co.M MISSION Ul'OX Pl.ANS FoK Till-: people aiitl are of very ^reat: influence and iinportanee. ' " It would seem lo youi' eonnnittee that this socialization of evening schools throuirh the extension division is an important element in this work, a great incentive to education and a very real need in the lif<* of our people today. MISCELLANEOUS Sl'dCiKSTlONs Blind alleys. — It is very easy to lix ihe coiine'-tion l)e'wcja the elementary industrial classes a. id the higher classes or the uiiivei'sity. It will ie veiy easy, lor instance, to siive a hoy a chance to continue toward higher eduiat'on, hy maldng provi- sion for a connecting link--a course from which students of the county agricultural schools and industrial s(h(»ols can <'iitei' the university. This could be so arranged that the boy could enter classes in the university along the lines in-which he had already specialized and at the same lime be prepared by nu-ans of sub- collegiate courses, in subjects in Avhich he is deticient. In this manner he can go on to the highest grade work. Such a cours" would cost very little, and would form the one < iuin(^ tinu' link ])etween trade schools, county agricidtural scin)ols and the higlier education which so many opponents ot industrial s houls point out as necessary in America. The same principle could be applied to any of our nor!iial sch:iols. As has been suggested previously, in the contiiuiaticn schools until a boy is 16 years of age he should be given, with the ap- proval of the authorities and his parents, a reasonable < Im ce of subjects not related to the temporary occupation in which he happens to 1 e engaged. This certainly will answer the argu- ment that a boy once in a trade will have to stay in it if he goes to the industrial school. If carefully supervised, the boy who is already working, can go on through tlie cont -nuat ion schools and work his way up the ranks in the same way as his mt)re fortunate bi-otlier. There are blind alleys in "ducat ion at the ])resent time. They can be ab/olished by industrial education, connnercial educatioii and continuation schools, and instead of forming (dass distinction, thest' schools will help to l)re:ik up an\' tendencies towards social gradaticns just as they are now helping to break up class distinction in the old coimtries. EXTEXSIOX OF IXDrs'KlAL AND AgRICLLTLRAL TRAINING. 113 Cost. — ^There may be those who Mill hesitate at the cost of this system. It is not a question of cost at all — it is an invest- ment. Says James E. Kussell at a meeting of the Columbia college convocation: "We accept the politician's dictum that we are too poor to spend more than we do on education, when the fact is that we are too poor to spend so little. More, much more, than we now spend on education Avould be money in our pockets if only we knew how to spend it right." In business we do not ask, "How much will it cost.^" witliout thinking "How much can we make out of it ? Is it a good investment?" AVe do not have to defend the appropriation of any reasonable amount of money for this work, as it is an investment and will bring Imck prosperity and happiness to the state. Should be always fcr the many. — Finally there are some warnings which your committee wishes to give. There will be of course an inevitable tendency to make educational institu- tions aristocratic, to work for the few rather than the m.vny. We must see to it that trade schools remain trade schools in fact. Time and time again institutions have been started in America Avith the ideal of reaching trades or industrial education, and after a while one advanced study after another has been intro- duced until these schools become technical institutions. The original purpose of what are now our engineering colleges in our state universities was to reach trades or mechanical arts rather than merely engineering. There seems to be something in the psychology of the teacher which makes him prefer to teach a few high grade scholars rather than the general mass of the people. With this warning before us, every effort should be made to keep industrial education from going this course. The institu- tion of general and local committees of employers and em- ployees as proposed by your committee has been an effective device in Germany and should be as useful, here. 114 Hki-oht ok Till-: C'ommismox I'l-ox 1'i.ans fok the l^ART III. Agricultural Education. In presenting brietly the situation as it relates to agriculture, it has been decided to limit the discussion to the conditions as they exist in tlie state since an attempt to treat of agricultural etlucation broadly Avould involve a treatise. The two phases of the subject considered are — the value of agricultural training and the condition of agricultural teaching in the state and sug- gestions for its I'lulhcr improvement. TIIK VAIJ'E OF AGRICri/n'KAL TRAIXIXG Agricultural teaching has a duut this is not all. To th( se who engage in farming", agrieultural training so awakens the intellect to the various processes of nature invi; ved in the oeeupation. tliat the industry itself may aff( I'd the lublic schools of the state. Of this number, at least 250. OOU are being educated tlirough the schools, which should educate chiefly for the agricultural industries. In all proba- bility, at least 50,000 more pupils should be in these schools. Of the total number of public school teachers in the state (15,000), not less than 9.000 should be able to teach effectively. from the agricultural point of view. Not that the field of activity of the rural schools should be restricted in any way; but the necessities of the great majority of the pupils should be the basis for the organization of the work of the common lis l\Ki'()irr OK 'niK Commission I'ion I'i-ans for tiik SL'liuuls (if llu' country. This is not the case; iicitlicr \vill rt b(% until the people of llu' state and tiieir ri'pi"eseii1 at i\cs liec;)in<' alive to the great injustice done to the hoys and uirls, \\ho. hy circumstances, must obtain jjractically all of their educaton in Tliese schools. The gi'eat (piestion of Nocational education is- fully as iniportaid to the coutdi-y as to the city; as important to tile fann as to the fadoi-y. Ktfective agriculluial edui-ation is ill tl>e end a matter of tinding efifective agricultural teachers. For the betterment of tlu^ teacliiug of agricultural science and ])ractice in the common schools, the resources available in all the state institutions for the training of teachers "will need to be utilized to tlie largest extent. The county training schools for teachers have proven their worth. It is extremely desirable that the standards of the existing schools of this kind lie gradu- ally raised so that their graduates shall have a longer and sounder training than is possible under the present oi'uaniza- tion. The question of Avays in which the several normal schools of the state may be enabled to contribute to the solution of tlie problem of agricultural training in rural schools is one Avorthy of careful consideraTion. When the issue becomes moi'c dearly defined, undoulitedly new avenues of usefulness will lie discov- ered for the normal sidioel. especially in the direction of edu- cating and training teachers for vocational '\v(M'k in the state graded schools. It would seem that the largest responsibility rests with the University, especially wntli the College of Agriculture, for pro- viding ways and means for the training of special teachers, and supervisors of agriculture, and principals and sujierintendenTs of sch(^ols serving an agricultural population. No otl'.er insti- tution in the state has, or can have, equal facilities and men for effective instruction. A certain proportion ($5,000) of the Fed- eral approjjriatiou to the agricultural college ma.v. under the Nelson amendment of 1906. be devoted to the training of teach- ers. The establisliment of the Department of Agricultural educaticu in the College of Agriculture, in 1908, marked the beginning of a new and positive policy. Through this Depart- ment and the allied dei)artments of tlie T'niversity should come those men who are to be tlie leaders and the pioueei-s in the establishment of successful vocational education for tliat part of the people of the state engaged in agricultural ]iursuits. Extension of Industrial and Agricultural Training. 119 State Aid for Agricultural Training A lunv jxilicy is iioAV needed whereby special subventions of the state may be utilized for the development of those pliases of education which represent the more pressing needs of the day. This neAV polic}^ should be directed to the encouragement of both agritultural and industrial training:'. One conclusion is perfectly clear, namely, that carefully planned agricultural education, adequately subsidized by the statc^ looking toward the readjustment of existing educational institutions should be made. If any state-wide plan for industrial education is projected. — - and certainly no plan can be state-wide that does not include adequate provision for the elementary education of agricultural workers, — the two factors considered will need to become ob- jects of legislative attention; (a) Provision for better facilities for the training of teachers of agriculture and of supervisors of agricultural schools; (b) The enlargement of the policy of ex- tending special state aid to schools in the agricultural sections so that state aid shall be granted for industrial training in agri- culture. In ad.^ition to these, provision must be made for increased compensi. I n of teachers, as explained in Part I. and the vari- ous specific flcps taken which are considered in the remainder of the report. TIIP] PRESENT CONDITION OF AGRICULTURAL TEACHING AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT This section has to deal with the part that the various classes of schools from the district school to the university should play in the development of rural education. I'nder each heading is to I)e f(nuid a ])rief analysis of the facts that obtain in each class of schools, with suggestions as to the possibilities of future de- velojmient. and specific reconnnendations for constructive legis- lation. Tlir Coioifi/ Traiuiiic) ScJiools. The county training schools were established for the special purpose of training teachers for the rural schools. Twenty-four 120 l^Ki'OKT OF Till-: Com .MISSION I'roN Plans for tiik ttl' these .si'hooLs c-nruUing 1.500 stiulcnls and eustiiig the state nearly $100,000 annually are now in operation. While these schools are doing their work \\<'ll along the standard lines, like all the rest of our schools, they have not yet given suffieient at- tention to the subject of agriculture. If agriculture is to be taught ill our rural schools, and the law says it must be so taught ; and if the county training schools are to train teachers for the rural schools, then it is clear that upon the training schools rests the chief responsibility for the success or failure of agricultural instruction in the I'ural schools. Some of the principals of the training schools fully recognize this responsi- bility and are extending th(> length of time given for instruction in agiicultui'e from tlie oi'iginal meager ten weeks to twenty, and even foi'ty weeks. This is a step in the right direction, but cannot yield satisfactory results alone. According to the course of study in use in most of these schools fifty hours is given to the study of agriculture or one-thirty-sec(uid part of the entire time. To your commission that amount oi- i)repa.ration appears wholly inade(|uate, especially in view of the fact that many of these i)rospective teachers are city and village girls compara- tively ignorant of farm conditions and rural life. Your commission recommends the introduction at once of at least one unit of agriculture into the courses of study of thes^e schools. ITtimately two units of agriculture should be intro- duced. In case favorable action is taken on the matter of special agricultural instructors mentioned in another section of this report (see p. . .), these may be placed with the county training schools by co-operative arrangement with the College of Agri- culture. These specialists may give the instruction in agricul- ture to teachers' training classes and organize short course classes for winter students, for which service, the county should share such proportion of the expense as may be determined by mutual agreement. This plan of utilizing a portion of the time (;f the proposed agricultural specialists receives the unqunlified endorsement of your commission : but if this is done it will be only the first step toward adequate instruction in agriculture in the county training schools. As soon as they can be ob- tained, at least one teacher in each of these schools, should be specially prepared to teach the agricultural subjects. Extension of Industrial and Agricultural Training. 121 The Rural iSckools. There are about !*.0()() rur<.l schot)ls in the state which should serve approximately 300,000 hoys and yiris, since there are not less than this number between the ages of 4 and 20 in their tributary area. A few rural teachers have grasped the true spirit of the situation and. under favorable conditions, are do- ing creditable work in agriculture, as provided by the law; but the three chief defects of the rural schools, are, the small school. a lack of efficient i)reparation of teachers, and a lack of organ- ization of suital)le material for instructional purjioses. The last of these defects the College of Agriculture has made an effort to correct. During the past two years it has prepared and sent to one-fourth of the rural schools several economic nature study circulars on special phases of agriculture, deemed of vital im- portance to the farmers of this state, and along the same lines in which the station is directing its teaching and its extension work. Given a body of teachers with the right persi)ective, in full sympnthy with agricultural education, and with a goodly num- ber of pupils, the rural schools ma.y readily become potent fac- tors toward the general practice of scientific agriculture. At the svime time they may draw much of their material for their instruct! rI purposes from the world about them, create a love for farm lie, and add dignity to its labor that wall tend to check the tide of emigration now flowing toward the cities. At present the great nmjority of the teachers are women, brought up in the city, unac(|uainted with farm life, and much of their agricultural teaching has little weight. The rural schools need a competent body of young men, brought up on the farm, trained in agricultural schools, and experienced as teachers. "With state aid sufficient to encourage the payment of adequate salaries for efficient workers, these schools would reach 300,000 young people annually, and come in close personal contact with not less than 50.000 farmers, or one-fourth the entire number in the state. Fully one-half of the pupils in these schools are girls and their needs should be supplied by providing instruction in domestic science as eft'ective as that asked for agriculture. Tin Coiisol id (/{((] ('oiDih'ji Sclinols. "When two or more disti'ict schools are united in a single unit for school purposes, the resulting unit is known as a consoli- ]'2'2 Kki'okt ok TiiK Commission ('ion 1*l.\.\s kok tiik dated scIkkiI. To siicli a school llic distaiil |)ii|»ils arc usually ti'aiisi)orted at i)ul)]ic' expense. The larger comitry sehool house re[)resents the chief need for the reform of rural education. The isolated, one room country sehool is hoiuid, under the necessities of modern rural life, to pass away: hut its passinij will be a slow process. The move- ment for the consolidation of school districts, and the transi)()r- tation of pupils to the lai'iie school is on. the countiy ov(M*. The advantages of a consolidated school have been demonstrated in too many states and under too many conditions to be ojx'n to debate. Fi'oiii tlie standpoint of administration, finance, gen- eral education, and agricultur-al ti-aining, this enlarged scho;)l sliows the way out of many of the piescnt difficulties. It makes po.ssible the construction of artistic modern l)uildings. ])roperly heated, ventilated, lighted, ecpiipped. adecpuitely provided with sanitary ari-angements, clean drinking watei". etc. ; in fact, just the necessities of the modern school which the one-room district school does not have, and never ha.s had. ]\Iore important than these obvious advantages, the cojisolidated school provides for overcoming the inherent difficulty of the rural school, namely, the attempt to instruct by one teacher, (i to 16-year-old pupils. Three generations ago, the city leariu'd that it could edu- cate its children more successfully and more economiaclly by placing those of the same ability and near the same age to- gether, with teachers who understood aiul could teach them as a group. The country has expected of its teachers, generally far less capable than the teachers in th(^ city, the impossible task of satisfactorily teaching children of wide range of age and ability. It may be stated, that, until the state of AVisconsin sets itself deliberately to the task of organizing counti'y education on the basis of an adndnistrative unit, largei- than the school district, as it now exists. com])aratively little will be accomplislu>d in the way of establishing vocational training that will contribute largely to the jiroblems of oui' agricultural i)oj)ulation ami of agricultural production. Notwithstanding numerous enactments of the legislature during the past ten years, looking toward the consolidation of schools, little or nothing has yet been accom- plished in this state in this direction. AVitliout doul)t. climatic conditions and geographic situations ha\c hiiulered the i-apid progress of this mo\ement. X(>vei"theless. then' are numci'ous Extension of Industrial and Agricultural Training. 123 localities where no physical obstacles bar cons-^lid 'ticii, aiul where the district schools are too small to be effective. Gio. W. Kiiori', Si^ecial Field Agent of the Bureau cf Sta- tistics. Washing'icn, J) .C., makes out a strong ea^-e for the con- solidated school in Bulletin Xo. 232, Office of Exi e'iiiient Sta.- tit.'us. Statistical data eo lected by him show (a) that the per capita c(,st (;f instruction is lessened though the total cist is usu- ally inci eased, (b) that the average daily attendance is iii- creasetl, (c) that the i)upils remain in school longei. (mi ire years and more days in each year), (d) that the recitation time is increased and the study period diminished, (e) that better wages are paid aiul hence better teachers emplcyed, (f) that these schcols are better supeivised, both by the principal and ly tile county superintendent, and (g) that better material .eqnijJiiKnit is ])r( videtl (buildings, libraries, hc^'iting and sanita- tion ) . ^,h. Knoir has further shown that consolidation has been more (asily elfected when the ccunty or township is the unit of scli(;t;l administration as in Ohio and Indiana, and that great tJifficulty has been experienced in effecting consolidation where the disti'ict system prevails. The reason is obvious, — it is far easier to obtain a majority in favor of c(,ns( lidation in a single unit tiian it is to obtain a majority on the same side of the (|ues- tion in se\''M"al units. He further calls attention to the fact that the inevitable ten- ■dency, where the district unit prevails, is to get the consolidated unit too small, a decided menace to the whole cause of consolida- tii n. Again, topographical conditions may seriously interfere. There ai'c several other factors not mentioned in the report quoted above that bear upon the Wisconsin situation and which should be mentioned here. One of these is found in the mixed nationality of our citi/eusliip, and the tendency of these na- tionalities to remain distinct in their own settlements. As yet the foreign sjiirit is so stnmg that these colonies do not readily "fuse'' as is lUM-essary in consolidation. All these facts are worthy of the careful consideration of the legislature. Nevertheless there are in Wisconsin a large num])er of rural schcols with less than ten pupils each. In tliese schools no inspiring work in agriculture or any other sub- ject can be done, as the classes are too small. The per capita cost of instruction sometimes readies $200 per year. The aver- 124 Ki'.i'dirr ok tiik ("ommisskin I'i-on Tlans fok tiik iiiic cost ol' iiis1ni<-t ioii foi- llicsc siiiall (less than ten piij)!!) M-hools I ill the state ol' Miiui('s;)ta ) is $r)6.4i) per pupil, an amount entirely too liigli when eompared witli $11.11 for the wliole stale of Wisconsin. Thei-e ouii'ht to 1)e some way devised foi- (liscotiliiiuiiiii' Itiese small schools and suhst it u1 iiii!,' moi'e ef- ficient seliools. It fo h;\vs fidin the ahovc Ihat I he (ir-t ste]) necessary I'of the si)lnti(.n of tlie difficulties inliei'cnl in the disti'icl sell' ol system is to create a centi'al Ixiaid of education for each couiit\' witli- power to enfoi'ce the necosary c( nsolidati(.ns. and in othei- ways exercise such a degree of administi'ative contiol ovci- the pub- lic schools of the county (outside cf cities) as will ensure ade- ([uate educational pi-ivileges for a I the children of the county, I'ills to accomplish this refoini hav(> been preented to the leo-is- lature of the stale (U seycial I'eceiit (cca^ions witlioul fa\'erable consideration. Ycnir C( mmis^ion is of the judgnieiil. however, tliat the genetal conditi(ni of |)ul)lii- e(lucati(;n (if the airricul- tural ])oi"tion of our pcjile fully wai-rants a marked change of policy, wh'ch cannot be effected undei- the existing m-IiooI dis- liict oi' township system. Your connnissicn thei'cfore recommemls that a central board of education, composed of five members elected at large, be' created for each county: this board to have power in pai'ticular, fl) to emjdoy a county superintendent of schools: (2) to con- solidate school districts and discontinue schools when such will contribute to the lietterment of education of the children: that such consolidated schools receive state aid equal to that granted to state graded schools, viz. : $200 for a two-department school and $8(}() for a three-department school and that addtional state aid to an erpial amount be granted to those schools whieli in- troduce not less than two units of agi'iculture, oi- agriculture and domestic economy, provided that the courses of stuen1 status of these schools. lIowe\'ei', nothin.y' is said about the teaching of agriculture in these schools, proljably ])ecause so little has l)een accomplished. it is tlie o])inion of your conunittee thai the township high school affoi'ds a i)ai'tii'ularly favoralile oppoi-tunity for the suc- cessful teaching of agriculture. Its tributary area is normally ])ut six miles s(puire. Its puj)ils ai'e all within easy driving distance from home, and they are sulificieiitly mature to do this woi'k understandingly and well. Those who complete the course of study are in continuous attendance throughout a period of four years; they are in lii'st hand daily touch with fai-m li^e. and have constant opportunity to ])ut into ])ractice at home the interesting lessons that they learn at school. Tf secondaiy agri- cultural education is to be of real significance to tlie farmers, they nuist come to I'calize its importance and take a (leejxM- and mote acti\-e interest in their township high schools. The State SupcM'i/itendent in the I'cport (pioted abo\e has called attention to the vital defects in these schools so far as it a])plies to agriculture, which have inadequate ecpiipment. ineffi- cient and innnature teachers. If the state will grant special aid to encourage the teaching of agriculture in these schools, and at the same time provide for the training of mature, efficient teachers, ca])abi(^ of l(^a tent factors in demonstrating the jiossibiltiy and practicability of agi'icultural teaching in rural high schools. The Township High School law jn'ovides that Township higli schools may recei\-e state aid for the salaries of teacliers to an amount e(|ui\'alent to that paid by the townships, limiting, how- ever, the amount which may be |)ai(l to a school having in addi- tion to a princijial one assistant, not to exceed ^!M)(), two assist- ants not to exceed $1,200, and thi-ee oi' more assistants not to exceed -i^l .5(10. and with the further limitation that the total to the townshij) high sciiools shall not exi-eed $00,000. Your com- mission recommends that additional state aid e(piivaleiit to that Extension of Indtstkial and AGRicri/rLRAi. Training. 127 granted for manual training, !i^250 per aninini be granted to tcwnship higli schools after having introdneed courses contain- ing not less than two nnits of agriculture, or agriculture and domestic ec( nomy, provided that the courses of study and the teachers are approved by the State Superintendent. The Yillar/r and Cifii Higli Scliooh Over thirty thousand jjiipiis are enrolled in the Village and City High Schools. The state contributes $125,000 annually to their support. Twenty-eight of these offer courses in manual tiaining and domestic science, to which the state makes a second contribution of $8,100. Attention has been called to the fact that (nir high schools are educating away from industrial pursuits. As yet little has been done with agriculture in Wisconsin as a high school study tluuigh twenty-eight schools are now receiving state aid for man- ual training. The reason for this lack of interest in agricultural teaching lies in the fact that agriculture has not received proper recognition as a means of education. Few persons have pre- l)aretl themselves for teachers of this l)ranch because there seemed to De litle demand for such teaching; and partly in consequence few high schools have attempted to give much in- struction in agriculture tor lack of ade<|uate teaching force. ]\[any educators have small faith in the ultimate success of this work. The state gives no financial encouragement to agricul- tui'al teaching in high schools. Further it is argued by some that agricultural education is sufficiently caied for in our county schools of agriculture and that the introducticm of agriculture in the high schools will destroy these special schools. Those who favor agriculture in the high school, especially the rural high school, call attention to the following facts: — ■ 1. In these schools the student body already in attendance is recruited largely from the neighboring farms. 2. Their courses of study may be easily modified to include practical instruction in agriculture. Such courses, especially those that are four years in length, admit of a broad general training as well as considerable work along luii-rower vocational lines. ?>. The laboratories and equipment of these schools need but slight modificati(m and but little inexpensive additional equip- Uient to be easily adapted to this work. 12S KKi'oirr OK 'rill': Commission Cpon Tlans kok the 4. Aji-iiciillural cuiii'.-cs (if study may he easily and ('coiKiiiiio- ally admiiiisltMT(l in tlu'sc scliools. • 1. Most states aie eiieoufa.uiiiii tli<' itil rndud ion oi; a<;ricultiii'e inti' the secondary scliools. (). It is the opinion of the nia.jorit\' oi' men who have fjiveii Ihoiiylit lo this suh.ject that agricultui'c can he siiecessfidiy taught iji the City Iliuli School. 7. High schools can not do the work now done hy the special schools heeaiise they do not sei\-e the same class of students, lleuce they will neither injure nor supplant the special schools, hut 1)N' encouraoins' a wider sentiment for agricultural eduea- ti( n. will g\\e addcil impetus to the work of such schools. These special schools will not reach their limit of efficiency un- til the high schools create a sentiment that will turn a sti'cam of hoys and girls in their direction, there to receive the finishing touches of an agricultural education, exactly as they are now doing for the normal schools and business colleges. ^Minnesota has recognized the im])oi'tance of agriculture as a means of high school education and now gives !|;2..")0() annually to each of ten schools oiTering instructis. it is ]U"o])al)lc that the numbei- possible under the present law will suffice until tlie next meeting of the legislature. These are essentially trade schools and should alwavs l)e maintained as such. Extension of LxnrsTRi.vL and Agricultiral Training. 129 Besides supplying the real needs of agricultural instruction in their counties, these schools serve a class of people the coun- try and high schools fail to reach; they cany on their own lines of field work among farmers; they organize cow-testing and grain-growing associations; they furnish assistance in planning and erecting farm buildings; they hold farmers' meetings; they are the logical centers from v/hich the agricultural field work service, carried on by the State College of Agriculture, radiates. Their value lias l.ci'u clearly and unciuestionably demonstrated and the state should encourage them in every possible way. By some it is feared that the introduction of agriculture into the high schools of the state will injure these special county schools. But your commission wishes to suggest that tlie introduction of agriculture into the high schools will give the county schools of agriculture an opportunity for development and specialization otherwise unattainable. Bast experience demonstrates that these schools reach their greatest efficiency when they develop along departmental lines, with a trained specialist in charge of each department. Their teaching equipment involves as a min- imum, a teacher in agriculture, one in manual arts, and one in domestic science. Into such trade schools many high school students will iii('vital)]y drift when their attention has been called througli tlieii- high school instruction to the business of agriculture. The following tal)le may shed some light on the necessity for modifying our method for the distribution of state aid to fhesc schools : COUXTY SCHOOLS OF AGRICULTURE STATISTICS. Total Cost of I Total cost County. Assessed [ Building 1 Maintain- Valuation. (Estimated. I ance. I I I I Cost to ! Valuation: iCounty. i per $1. 00 I cost. ! ' jt. ' ! [ Dunn l-|i2-2,472,00O j $20,000 | $10,423 70 | $6,423 70 i $3, .500 I Jt. 1 ' Marinette ; 26,049,000 20,000 7,156 00 1 3,136 CO i S.WO I ' Jt. I ; Marathon ' 4.3,f;92,000 | 20,000 1 5,933 9.5 | 1,975 00 1 23,10«1 ! ; I I ■! " La Crosse 41,032,000] (0,000 | 14,28102 1 10,281 02 | i,(m I : I I 'I Winnebago ! 67,715,000 J 40,000) 7,044 36 | 3,04153 1 22 240 III! ••:!() Hki'oht ok TiiK Commission I'l-ox I'lans kok tiik County Dunn :M:iriiicltc ^larallioii La C'roHsc Wiiuicbiifo ■Cost to ' Valuation County per $1 cost per Pupil. ; to State. $ ,6:s (i,12 11, -J^^ : 0.270 Hi, 129 The county afi'i'icultui'iil schools now receive not to exceed Iwo-tliii'ds of their cost of maintenance from the state, provided such sum docs not exceed .$4,000 annually. From the table given it is appaient that those schools which an- making the strongest impression on their conniumities are spending nnicti more than $6,000 a year, it seems highly })robal)le that the matter of state aid to these schools might with advantage he changed from the ])roportion which lutw obtains and Ihe maxi- mum amount of state aid he considerably increased. The fact that these schools have no organic relation to the I'est of the school system may well be consideicd. A continuation couisc at the Agricultural College would affoi'd an opportunity for the graduates of these schools to get a broader outlook, furnisli ; n incentive for them to graduate at the home institution, and give these schools a place in our system of public education. Your commi.ssion therefore recommends tluit the rniversity of Wisconsin establish in the College of Agi-icidtui'c a "con- tinuation course" for graduates of comity agi'icultural schools to which its shoi't course graduates may also be admittcnl. Your commission furtluM' reccninnends that the present law ])ei'taining to state aid for coiuity agiicul1ui-al schools be amended so as to change tlie limit which may b(> ])aid by the state to any one school from $4,000 to $H,000 : but with the |)r(:- vision that if niore than $1,000 be paid by the state that the countv shall c()ntiil)ute not less tlian an e(|nal amount. TJu r ii'n'rr.sih/. Agricultural instruction in llie I'niveisity I'cgan in 1^76. At that time the four-year long course was oi-ganized. This course was based on the same enti-ance I'equil enieiits as all other course^ Extension of ixDisTKiAL and AGRicri/n kal Thaixixc. i:}! of the rniversity; it iiu-liidcd two years of woik in liberal arts as a foundation to the te.'hnieal work in agriculture which fol- lowed in the jiuiior and senior years. This course, when organ- ized, was ahead of the demands of the time, as but few students or parent:-; realized the necessity for formal instruction of this type. The failure to resell the farm boy through the medium of the Iciig cr.uise led in 1885 to the establishment of the so- called short cour>e. Xo stringent entrance requirements were exacted. Taking the boy as he came from the country school. and with considerable experience already in farm practice, this course has be::i l-:ept upon a piaitical basis and amounted to a continuation school, although not know'n under that name. The success attendant upon this educatiom.l experiment (for this course was the first to break over the traditional boundaries of agricultural education in the land grant colleges) was not as- sured from the l)eginiiing. and it was cmly after the most per- sistent etfort that the course began to grow in the estimation of the farmers of the state. In 1890 a similar type of practical work was started for the training of creamery and cheese factory operators. The discov- ery of the Babeock test and its application to factory dairying made possible the development of instruction in this line, and the Dairy Course of 12 weeks held in the winter has been crowded ever since its inception. It is noteworthy that at present nearly all agricultural col- leges have adopted the short course idea in some form or other. The increase of students in the short course work has now be- come so great as to tax the resources of the University. The grade of students ' attending this w^ork has greatly impro^'ed within recent years. In 1909, two college or university gradu- ates, and foi'ty-two high school graduates were in attendance on this course. Seventy-seven students out of 460 had had a year or more high school work. This short course work has exerted a more ])owerful effect on the state than any other line of agri- cultural educational work which has been done by the I^'niver- sity. It is important to note in a recent census made of its graduatc^s that 91 ])er cent were engaged in some form of agri- cultural work, and that 80 per cent were to be found on Wis- consin farms. The increased attention given to agriculture within the last decade has greatlv stimulated interest in regular university 132 Report of the CoMMiyjsio.x L'rox I'lans foh the work in cigrieiiltiire, the graduates finding in practical, scienti- fic, and teaching work, a wide, rapidly developing field for their efforts. In ]y()8, a two year "^Middle Course" was organized with the same entrance (|ualificatious as for the Long Course (four years of high school work), in which are given substantially the first two years of the Long Course with the substitution of more practical agricultural work for German and mathematics. With the several types of courses offered the needs of ])i'ac- tically all students are here considered. The Short Course takes the boy from the farm directly and on a country school founda- tion (or higher), gives him an opportunity to continue his train- ing along vocational lines. The Dairy Course is essentially a trade school for the dairy factory ojierator. The IMiddl^ Course is designed for the high school graduate of the smaller town or rural high school who is unlikely to finish the four year course of university training, and who expects to return to a farm occupation. The Long Course offers the best training in the various phases of agricultural endeavor. While many of its graduates are returning to the farms as practical operator!*, managers or superintendents, others are going into experiment station work, college positions, teachers of agriculture in sec- ondary and high schools, and into agricultui-al .iournidism. These higher courses ai"e ali'cady clos(»ly articulated with the public school system of the state. Doubtless with the introduc- tion of agriculture in the high school eurricuhun. the relation of the college to the high school will Ijccome more intimate. The Short Course is not articulated at present with any ])ortion of the secondaiy school system. Its work is most nearly allied to that of the county agricultural school, and in the evolution of agricultural training, it is entirely possible that the further de- velopment of th(\se schools may diminish the necessity for con- tinued emphasis of this line of instruction, although from present appearances, such a condition is not likely to obtain for some years to come. It would be easily possible to correlate a type of work that could be given in the Short Course so as to extend the woilc of the county agricultural school by an addi- tional winter's work at the university, as has been previously recommended. Such a mode of procedure would be helpful in aiding these special schools of agriculture in the development of their work. Extension of Industrial and Agricclti^ral Thaixino. 1:^3 The University has long recognized its chligation to the farm- ers of the state, and has for years g^iven hirgely of its resonrec-; in tiuK^ and energy to the npbnilding of the agriculture of the state. Long before the idea of field work had gained the ground v.-hieh it now occupies as in integral jjart of the work of the agri- ciiltnral college, many lines of activities were under way in which direct help was given to the person in need of such aid. Beginning with the organization of the Fanners' Institutes movement in ]885, from one hundred to one hundred ana twenty meetings have been held annually in the winter for one or two days, the circuit closing with a three day convention known as the Round-up Institute. The talks and addresses here presented are incorporated in a Farmers' Institute Bulletin of two hundred or more pages, and distributed the following sea- son in an ''dition cf 50,000 to 60,000 copies. This work has been closely affiliated with the Agricultural College. In 1908 the Agricultural Field Work service of the college proper was organized, the work being divided into two general lines: (1) Demonstration field work of various kinds carried on during ;«ummer conditions where the farmers can be brought in direct contact with the actual necessary operations and see just how they were carried out. (2) Lecture and Demonstra- tion Courses held during the winter. These courses, known as Farmers' Courses are held at the University, the county agricul- tural schools and other selected points. They range from five to ten days in length and consist of lectures, demonstrations and practical exercises given by a corps of ten to fifteen of the agri- cultural college staff. These meetings supplement the Farmers' Institute, covering a much wider field and emphasizing the dem- (mstraticiual features as much as possible. The close co-opera- tion with the county agricultural schools has aided greatly in the development of this work. Through the medium of the local school, the work of the Farmers' Courses can be most effectively advertised, while at the same time the local school is always available as a center of crystallizing into effectiveness the prac- tice recommended. A most valuable phase of field M'ork has also been developed in the Faryners' School which is a more intensive development of the farmers' idea. In this type of work the subjects consid- ered are restricted to not more than two definite lines, as live stock, farm crops, soil problems, etc., and specific class room ];U l\i:i'()in' OF 'I'liK Commission I'ihn I'i.axs koi^ the instruction for six hours dniiy is ^ivcn, iit ttMHliincc ui)()U llui- sanu' l)rin<4- ri'quii'cd by prcxioiis rej^'istrat ion. The salient feature of tliis type of tielcl eftoi-t is that it is suftieiently in- tensive to awaken positive effoi-t to puf proper methods in actual practice. It is a matter of uuich in(Uiieiit that tliese tiejd efU'orts are exercised Avliere jxissible through the medium of tlie ajuricultural school work. At present in tlie county scliools, and it is to he hoped later in the hii;-li schools in which a.u'riciil- lure will he developed, this i)ropai;'anda work can be lu'st con- tinued. This puts the local teachiujj- ajiency in direct vital con- tact with the problems of tlu' farm, thus \ivifyino- the efforts of the instructor and creatiug a most wholesome relation be- tweeu the school and the community. The field workers from the rniversity conu^ in pei-sonal con- tact with the ])eople whose problems ai'c i)i'essing for solution, through the medium of the siunmer work and also in these Avin- ter courses, but the continuous iiresence of an active local agency to Avhich tli(\v can look for helj) has l)een found to be