THE PRO GEE SS OF SCIENCE. 



379 



nected with administration, and per- 

 haps more especially in those relating 

 to salaries, tenure of office, pensions and 

 the like. At the recent meeting Presi- 

 dent Carroll D. Wright, of Clark Col- 

 lege, presented the report of the com- 

 mittee appointed to consider these ques- 

 tions, giving valuable statistics shortly 

 to be published. There are in the 

 United States nearly 000,000 teachers, 

 and it appears not unlikely that the 

 National Educational Association will 

 develop into a trades union representing 

 their interests. The average salary, 

 including the highest paid for super- 

 vision and the like, is said to be $300 

 a year. President Roosevelt, in his 

 address which is printed above, told 

 his audience of 10,000 teachers that they 

 were performing an incalculable serv- 

 ice by the very fact that they be- 

 lieved ideals to be worth sacrifice and 

 that they were eager to do non-remun- 

 erative work. The speaker prefaced 

 these remarks with tne statement that 

 he believed in the movement to secure 

 better remuneration for teachers. The 

 rhetorical effect would have been better 

 if the order of the sentiments had been 

 reversed, for the audience cheered con- 

 tinuously for several minutes the first 

 statement, while they listened to the 

 latter in silence; and we are inclined 

 to think that the teachers are right. 

 The illustrations of men such as John 

 Hay and Mr. Elihu Root, who were 

 stated by the president to have sacri- 

 ficed their material interests for the 

 nation, can only carry a limited weight, 

 when the teachers reflect on the great 

 wealth acquired by these men, in part, 

 at least, as the result of political affilia- 

 tions. 



The Rev. Dr. Nathan C. Schaeffer, 

 state superintendent of public instruc- 

 tion in Pennsylvania, was elected presi- 

 dent of the association, and it is ex- 

 pected that the place of meeting next 

 year will be San Francisco. It is un- 

 derstood that in this case the group 

 that manages the association was de- 



feated; there is naturally a certain 

 amount of politics in such an institu- 

 tion. Sonic complaints are heard that 

 the association is not sufficiently demo- 

 cratic, and that the present methods of 

 administration will be made permanent 

 by the charter that it was voted to se- 

 cure from congress. It is inevitable 

 that an association of this character 

 should be managed by a small group 

 who maintain a permanent interest in 

 the work, and it is also probable that 

 one man will be dominant. So far 

 as we are aware, the group in control 

 has acted wisely, and the democratic 

 character of the association is main- 

 tained so long as this group can be de- 

 feated or a new group placed in power, 

 should this meet the wishes of the 

 majority. The constitution, which it 

 will be extremely difficult to alter if 

 once adopted as a bill passed by con- 

 gress, lodges the control in a board of 

 directors, which consists of the officers, 

 the past presidents, certain life-direc- 

 tors, who we believe purchased the posi- 

 tion for $100, and one member elected 

 from each state. These officers are 

 nominated by a committee containing 

 one representative from each state or 

 territory, elected by the active mem- 

 bers of each state. There is, however, 

 at least one state with only two active 

 members, and it does not seem entirely 

 democratic to place such a state against 

 the hundreds of members representing 

 New York or Illinois. Further, if a mem- 

 ber is not elected by the state, the ap- 

 pointment is made by the president, and 

 hitherto the constitution of the nomi- 

 nating committee and of the board of 

 directors has been dictated by a small 

 group of men. A more democratic form 

 of government would probably be se- 

 cured if the active members elected 

 their representatives by ballot, which 

 could be sent through the mail, and if 

 the number of representatives were pro- 

 portionate to the number of active 

 members in each state. 



