FOURTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART I. 6 



The local communities there feel no responsibility; they feel that the 

 institute is a State organization; that it is under the management and 

 direction completely of this corps of institute workers, and those who 

 attend will come in and sit down and feel no responsibility, and in a 

 great many cases are but little interested. If the responsibility rests 

 with the local men and the local people have control and they manage 

 that institute, it is then their organization, their meeting, the respon- 

 sibility is with them and they feel under the necessity of making it a 

 success. They should have provisions by which they can get outside 

 help, and that, of course, should be continued and strengthened. But I 

 think no change in our institute law should be made that will take the 

 management out of the hands of the local authorities. This system, 

 where we have had the institute law in operation, that is, where we have 

 the institutes in force, and where the institutes are regularly 

 held, this system has developed, say in two thirds of our coun- 

 ties, the best institute meetings that have ever developed in any State. 

 I believe communities get more good out of those institutes under the 

 present system of local management than they do under any other 

 system. 



I think that the system we now have can be strengthened in the 

 respect I have named. One criticism that has been urged against the 

 present system is, that there is ho plan by which the institutes can be 

 held on consecutive days, and that is objectionable. There is a great 

 loss of time on the part of speakers going from one institute to another. 

 Now. if in addition to our present plan some system could be devised by 

 which institutes in certain localities or congressional districts could be 

 arranged in consecutive order, that would result in an ability to secure 

 better service, better institute speakers, it would enable those who do 

 institute work to attend institutes in various localities and to accom- 

 plish much more. I do not know just how that should be brought 

 about — just what would be the best plan. Various methods have been 

 suggested. I think it would be in order for this convention to take it 

 up and consider it and endeavor to devise some plan by which it could 

 be done. In connection with that, I may say that in some states an 

 institute car has been arranged and the railroads have co-operated; in 

 fact, I think they have borne a considerable part of the expense of fit- 

 ting up a car and transporting it from one locality to another throughout 

 the State, to meetings of a special nature and at regular institute ses- 

 sions, and that plan has been suggested in this State. It has received 

 some consideration. Whether anything of that kind may be brought 

 about I can not say. but in case it should, you can see the difficulty in 

 arranging for work of this kind without any co-ordination on the part 

 of institute organizations. There should be, in case a plan of this kind 

 were inaugurated, a series of consecutive institutes held in the same 

 part of the State, so that that car and corps of institute workers, when 

 called upon, could come to the assistance of the various institutes in 

 consecutive order. That applies also to institute workers, as I have 

 stated, who go from one institute to another. 



