474 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. VOL. XX. No. 510. 



discussed and a far-sighted forest policy is 

 recommended. The setting aside of forest 

 reserves and the exclusion of stock is advo- 

 cated, as well as the planting of certain areas. 

 The paper is a most valuable contribution to 

 our knovrledge of the forests of these islands. 

 Charles E. Bessey. 



DECLARATION OF THE NATIONAL EDUCA- 

 TIONAL ASSOCIATION.* 



1. We can not emphasize too often the edu- 

 cational creed first promulgated more than a 

 century ago that ' religion, morality and 

 knowledge being necessary to good government 

 and the happiness of mankind, schools and the 

 means of education shall forever be encour- 

 aged.' This declaration of the fathers must 

 come to us now with newer and more solemn 

 call when we remember that in many parts 

 of our common country the fundamental ques- 

 tions of elementary education — local taxation, 

 consolidation of weak schools, rational super- 

 vision, proper recognition of the teacher as 

 an educator in the schools system, school 

 libraries and well trained and well paid teach- 

 ers — are still largely unsettled questions. 



2. We would direct attention, therefore, to 

 the necessity for a supervisor of ability and 

 tact for every town, city, county and state 

 system of public schools. Not only are lead- 

 ers needed in this position who can appreciate 

 and stimulate the best professional work, but 

 qualities of popular leadership are also de- 

 manded to the end that all classes of people 

 may be so aroused that every future citizen of 

 the republic may have the very best oppor- 

 tunities for training in social and civic 

 efficiency. 



3. The very nature of the teacher's task 

 demands that that task be entrusted only to 

 men and women of culture and of intellectual 

 and moral force. Inadequate compensation 

 for educational work drives many efficient 

 workers from the school room and prevents 

 many men and women of large ambition for 

 service from entering the profession. It is 

 creditable neither to the profession nor to the 

 general public that teachers of our children, 

 even though they can be secured, should be 



* St. Louis, Mo., July 1, 1904. 



paid the paltry sum of $300 a year, which is 

 about the average annual salary of teachers 

 tliTOughout the country. 



4. The Bureau of Education at Washington 

 should be preserved in its integrity, and the 

 dignity of its position maintained and in- 

 creased. It should receive at the hands of 

 our lawmakers such recognition and such ap- 

 propriations as will enable it not only to em- 

 ploy all expert assistance necessary, but also 

 to publish in convenient and usable form the 

 results of investigations; thus making that 

 department of our government such a source 

 of information and advice as will be most 

 helpful to the people in conducting their cam- 

 paigns of education. 



5. We would emphasize the necessity for the 

 development of public high schools wherever 

 they can be supported properly, in order that 

 the largest number possible of those who pass 

 through the elementary grades may have the 

 advantage of broader training, and for the 

 additional reason that the public elementary 

 schools are taught largely by those who have 

 no training beyond that given in the high 

 schools. 



6. As long as more than half of our popula- 

 tion is rural, the rural school and its problems 

 should receive the solicitous care of the Na- 

 tional Educational Association. The republic 

 is vitally concerned in the educational develop- 

 ment of every part of its territory. There 

 must be no forgotten masses anywhere in our 

 union of states and territories, nor in any one 

 of its dependencies. 



7. We , believe that merit and merit alone 

 should determine the employment and re- 

 tention of teachers, that, after due probation, 

 tenure of office should be permanent during 

 efficiency and good behavior, and that promo- 

 tions should be based on fitness, experience, 

 professional growth and fidelity to duty. We 

 especially commend the efliorts that are being 

 made in many parts of the country whereby 

 teachers, school officials and the general public 

 working together for a common purpose are 

 securing better salaries for teachers and de- 

 vising a better system for conserving the rights 

 and privileges of all and for improving the 

 efficiency of the schools. 



