i8 AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 



situation, both urban and rural, he recognizes the probable need 

 of federal aid in the following words: 



For all these reasons (referring to our industrial situation) the problem 

 of a better education of an industrial type, in both country and city, has 

 steadily become more acute. It is extremely doubtful whether these growing 

 needs can be met in the near future in the majority of the states, unless the 

 encouragement of federal appropriations be added to the efforts of the 

 states and of local communities. 



While approving the measure in principle he urges "that any 

 forward step which the national government may take in the 

 encouragement of public education should be carefully weighed, 

 and given its proper place in a well-digested general policy." 

 Furthermore, the conditions in several states are widely different, 

 and any bill should be framed with a full knowledge of these 

 differing conditions in order that it may be made sufficiently 

 flexible to accomplish the best results in all parts of the country. 

 In order "to make possible for Congress to act on bills like S. 

 3,392 with full knowledge of the situation and needs of the 

 country" he recommends that a commission be appointed to make 

 a thorough investigation of the question and "report to Congress 

 on or before January I, 19 lo." 1 



Neither the Davis bill nor the Commissioner's recommenda- 

 tion became a law. The bill was an indication of the interest of 

 the country at large in extending agricultural education into the 

 elementary and secondary schools. The attitude of the Bureau 

 of Education was one of accord with the general principles on 

 which the measure was based, but at the same time one of 

 caution, recognizing that national appropriation to agricultural 

 education, when given, should be of the greatest possible service. 2 



1 For permission to quote from letters to Congressmen Davis and Senator Proctor, and for 

 other assistance in getting material for this chapter, the writer is indebted to Commissioner 

 Elmer Ellsworth Brown. A portion of his letter to Senator Proctor appears in the Commis- 

 sioner's Report of 1008. 



"The provisions of the Davis bill have been revised and amended and presented at each 

 session of Congress. In its present form (Page bill, 1912) it has a much wider scope than the 

 original Davis bill. Dr. P. P. Claxton, United States Commissioner of Education, is not only 

 actively interested in the proposed legislation, but is making an active campaign for the 

 betterment of rural schools. 



