DUTY OF HUMANE SOCIETY 35 



But you will hear from the teacher: "Am I expected to fulfill all 

 of this huge contract ? Am I to be parent, spiritual adviser, as well 

 as teacher of the three R's 



There is no question regarding the fact that the proper place for 

 the moral development of the child is first in the home, then the 

 church, but unfortunately parents are often wholly or partially 

 neglectful of the principles of right conduct. Then the responsi- 

 bility falls upon the State. It has been aptly said that it is as 

 impossible to teach a pupil to play a piano by ear, as to teach 

 humane education by any set of rules. The nature of the subject 

 makes it impracticable to limit it to any formal scheme. The 

 teacher must be imbued with the spirit of the task — that invisible 

 something which we call humaneness, and be sufficiently interested 

 and intuitive to devise ways of expressing that humaneness to her 

 pupils. Then, and then only, will the spirit of the lesson emanate 

 from her to them, and as a superintendent of a school where this 

 has been successfully demonstrated says : "It becomes the strong- 

 est and most vital of all the forces in the school." Again, we come 

 to the duty of humane societies — to so present this matter to the 

 schools that it shall not be a subject new and strange, but that it 

 may slip into the school life without friction or controversy. 



It is an encouraging fact that in no school where this subject 

 has been intelligently treated, has it proved a failure. Lack of 

 interest and co-operation on the part of those who should be 

 responsible for its success, is the usual cause for its failure. Such 

 expressions of approval as: "I wish you to know how successful 

 the humane training has been in our school," — "I feel that this 

 training will in time decrease very materially the sum total of 

 suffering in the world." — "The work of our school is easily adjusted 

 to meet the demands of humane instruction." — "Of all the topics in 

 our curriculum, I consider this the most important." — are con- 

 clusive evidence that when the methods employed are practical 

 and attractive, the results are all that we would desire. 



New York State has upon the statutes as good and effective a 

 law as any in the country. The fact that the length of time required 

 for the teaching of the subject shall be prescribed by the Board of 

 Regents is a measure of strength rather than weakness. Again, it 

 is the spirit not the letter of the law we wish to impress upon the 

 school people; not the number of minutes per week. When this 

 spirit of humaneness once permeates the school, the benefit will 



