Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 November 1907 — PAPERS BY THE POEPLE. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

PAPERS BY THE POEPLE.

AMERICAN PATRIOTISM FERVENT.

By Gov. Hughes.

The same patriotic ardor fills the breast of American youth as when they rushed from field and factory and college In obedience to their country’s summons. The wives and mothers of America are as loving, as devoted, as ready to sacrifice and suffer, as were those of forty-odd years ago. The men of the United States are as quick to respond to the call of duty, as keen, as resourceful, as valiant, as those of our heroic past. They are blessed with the memory of their fathers’ labors; they are enriched with lessons of their zeal; they are inspired by the example of their pa-

trtotlsm. We are engrossed In the pursuits of peace. Mind and nerve are strained to the utmost In the varied activities which promise opportunity for Individual achievement But the American heart thrills at the sight of the flag, the American conscience points unwaveringly to the path of honor, the American sense of justice was never more supreme In Its sway, and, united by a common appreciation of the Ideals of a free government, by a common perception of our national destiny, by a common recognition of the riches of our Inheritance, the American people should, and we believe will, go steadily forward, a happy, resourceful and triumphant people, enjoying In ever greater degree the blessings of liberty and union.

CENTRALIZATION NECESSITY, NOT CHOICE.

By Judge John Gibbons.

The States no longer are capable of grappling with and solving the great Interstate trust and transportation problems, not to mention the many grave International questions which now confront us as a people. At the present time and under present conditions It is untenable to maintain that the States are anything more than members of the national body. Nor does It detract any-

thing from their local sovereignty or Importance to say that they are members of the national body. The States must remain indestructible forever, and so far as It concerns their fiscal and prudential affairs and matters pertaining to health, morals and police, the States must continue In the future as In the past to exercise sovereign powers so long as those powers do not conflict with the national constitution. Our destiny as a nation is onward and upward, and It would be dangerous and unwise to permit the States to Interfere TH Interstate matters or international affairs. Hence the apprehension of certain alarmists to the effect

that the nation is usurping the powers of the States Is without any real foundation, because the powers now assumed by the nation, hitherto supposed to be reserved to the States, simply are an outgrowth of conditions which have arisen from circumstances beyond the contemplatlon of either the States or the nation. Duties have been cast upon the nation arising from the exigencies of the times. This does not mean usurpation of the rights enjoyed by the States. It simply means the mode of national life, the progress of events, the trend of Lofty statesmanship and fortuitous circumstances have placed us upon the crest of the flowing tide of expansion and national greatness. We must continue to drift onward and upward or wait for the ebbing tide to float backward and downward. We cannot remain Inactive and stationary. There Is no stopping place, no station In the life of the nation or Individual not marked by progress or retrogression.

AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL TENDENCIES.

By E. E. Brown, Commissioner of Education.

While there Is much In American educational history that adds of right to our national pride, we mußt not overlook the fact that even now we are only at the beginning of things, with new problems before ns and difficulties greater than those we have surmounted. Our secondary schools must become better differentiated to meet the needs of our people, and more widely extended to

meet the needs of all. Their adjustments to schools above and below must be made closer and more vital. Our universities have only begun to deal with the problem of educating vast bodies of Immature students in single Institutions, and their problems of professional and graduate study are numerous and are pressing for early solution. Compulsory education laws have been adopted and now are In force In thirty-six States. Such laws now are supplemented with their natural and necessary accompaniment—that Is, with laws restricting the employment of children In thirty-two of these thirty-six States, while In eleven other States there are child labor laws unaccompanied by laws for compulsory education. Vigorous organized efforts are making to Improve the operation of these laws and secure their adoption In States In which they are not In force. By truant schools and truant officers and children’s courts this movement Is, In various parts of the country, receiving added reinforcement. In spite, however, of all these efforts, our school attendance still falls below that which we ought to have If we are to be a thoroughly educated people. Modern education calls for schooling for those who no longer are In school. By means of evening classes and correspondence courses and various other provision the range of schooling Is Increased. Such increase must be regarded as extremely desirable and worthy of being regarded as among the first things to be considered In our next educational advance.