The Bureau of Education, he said, gives wider publicity to a study than any organization not Governmental can possibly do. Very little has been accomplished in studying the multifarious problems connected with the enforcement of the compulsory education laws; and the few investigations that have been undertaken have not been distributed free to compulsory attendance officers and to city and county superintendents.

The subject of the "Minimum educational and age qualifications for employment permits" was treated by Supt. Charles E. Chadsey, of Detroit, Mich. He remarked that it was the duty of compulsory education officials to spread the doctrine that all training is radically insufficient until the eighth grade is reached. Paul Kreuzpointner, of Altoona, Pa., discussing the "Unconsidered factors in industrial education," said that what mostly concerns us to-day in the United States is to discover a social-economic basis upon which the millions of industrial workers can

rest securely and contentedly with justice to their rights as citizens, so as not to endanger the stability of our institutions and the peace and order of public life. Industrial education is much more a social-economic problem, an ethical problem in training for intelligent citizenship, than it is a problem in training in the manipulation of tools, however valuable and necessary this is.

H. R. Pestalozzi, of Milwaukee, Wis., made an address on "Where shall our work begin and where shall it end?" speaking from the viewpoint of a truant officer.

Resolutions were passed advocating uniform and adequate birthregistration laws; the establishment and maintenance of a permanent census bureau in every city of the United States; and in favor of the unit system of control of industrial education rather than the dual system.

CONFERENCE ON THE EDUCATION OF BACKWARD, TRUANT, DELINQUENT, AND DEPENDENT CHILDREN.

The tenth annual conference on the education of backward, truant, delinquent, and dependent children was held in Buffalo, N. Y., August 26-28, 1913. The first session was opened by Elmer L. Coffeen, of Westboro, Mass., who spoke on "The correlation of school and trade work." The second session, held conjointly with the National Probation Association, developed an interesting general discussion on the problems of delinquent and defective children. At the fourth session, Lewis M. Terman, of Leland Stanford University, made an address on "Special characteristics of the BinetSimon test," which dealt with the psychological principles underlying the Binet-Simon scale. At the fifth session, a paper on "A State's program for the defectives" was read by Alexander Johnson,

of the Training School at Vineland, N. J. Many interesting photographs of feeble-minded children were presented to illustrate the author's theme. Mr. Johnson remarked that one of the very best kinds of work for the feeble-minded, especially the boys, is to clear and subdue waste land. He spoke of the work accomplished at the Vineland school. The subject of "Mothers' pensions" was treated at the sixth session by Robert W. Hebbard, of New York; and at the closing session the "Care of delinquent girls as to discipline and vocational training" was ably presented by Mrs. Amy F. Everall, of Lancaster, Mass., who thought that vocational training in its technical sense has no real place with young or mentally or morally weak girls. She said: "It is only efficient where girls are mature and have fundamental grounding in education." "Sex hygiene in its relation to vocational training and the defective delinquent" was discussed by Mrs. E. A. Whitney, of Washington, D. C.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL ACCOUNTING OFFICERS.

The third annual convention of the National Association of School Accounting Officers was held in Memphis, Tenn., May 19-21, 1914. The subject of "School accounting from the standpoint of the needs of the Bureau of Education" was discussed by Dr. P. P. Claxton, who dwelt upon the responsibility which devolves upon boards of school control for the economical and scientific expenditure of public funds in the administration of public schools. He spoke of the Bureau of Education and its methods of compiling statistics; and its dependency upon the association for much of the information published in its reports. Henry R. M. Cook, of New York, president of the association, delivered an address entitled "Some school affairs,” in which he discussed teachers' pensions and other problems of school administration. An instructive paper on "Standard units of school measurements" was read by George W. Gerwig, of Pittsburgh, Pa. The concluding address of the convention was delivered by Charles P. Mason, of St. Louis, Mo., on "Preparation of the budget," in which he gave an exposition of the budgets of the States and municipalities as well as boards of education. He made a comparison of methods and procedure between American and European municipalities, with regard to the passing and administering of the budget.

GENERAL EDUCATION BOARD.

The General Education Board, the functions of which comprise the advancement of practical farming and the development of a system of public high schools in the Southern States, likewise the promotion of higher education throughout the United States, has,

since its foundation in 1902, rendered annual statements of its activities to the United States Department of the Interior, brief extracts from which have been regularly published in the yearbooks of the Bureau of Education. These statements have been, for the most part, financial in character. No report of an elaborate nature has been issued in past years, owing to the fact that the board considered its enterprises to be experimental; it desired to avoid premature expositions regarding the scope and outcome of its labors. However, after something more than a decade, the board in February, 1915, published a volume of 240 pages, giving a complete account of its activities, from its inception in the year 1902 up to June 30, 1914. The General Education Board, founded by John D. Rockefeller, was incorporated by act of Congress, January 12, 1903. The charter set forth the general purpose of the corporation as "the promotion of education within the United States of America, without distinction of race, sex, or creed." As the report says:.

This broad object was specifically stated to include the power to establish or endow elementary or primary schools, industrial schools, technical schools, normal schools, training schools for teachers, or schools of any grade, or higher institutions of learning; to cooperate with associations engaged in educational work; to donate property or money to any such association; to collect educational statistics and information; to publish and distribute documents and reports; and in general to do and perform all things necessary or convenient for the promotion of the object of the corporation.

The report gives an interesting résumé of the work of the Peabody education fund, the John F. Slater fund, and the Southern Education Board in upbuilding education in the South since the War. It cites the fact that

neither they nor the General Education Board ever possessed or sought authority; they have simply had such influence as has resulted from public confidence in their disinterested devotion, sympathy, and intelligence. More flexible than governmental bureaus, less restricted in their choice of agents and advisers, more continuous in policy, these organizations have for years devoted themselves to furthering educational plans which represent the consensus of the best judgment obtainable.

Prior to the actual incorporation, Mr. Rockefeller gave $1,000,000 to the General Education Board, stipulating that the principal be used in promoting the educational interests of the people of the Southern States, and that it be expended during a period of 10 years.

The first permanent endowment of $10,000,000 was received June 30, 1905, and was designed to furnish an income

to be distributed to, or used for the benefit of, such institutions of learning, at such times, in such amounts, for such purposes, and under such conditions, or employed in such other ways as the board may deem best adapted to promote a comprehensive system of higher education in the United States.

In February, 1907, Mr. Rockefeller made a further gift of $32,000,000; on July 7, 1909, an additional benefaction of $10,000,000. Besides the above-mentioned sums, the board received on April 17,

1905, the sum of $200,000 from Miss Anna T. Jeanes for the assistance of the negro rural schools in the South.

The resources of the board at the present time are estimated at $33,939,156.89, of which $30,918,063.80 constitutes a general endowment fund and $3,021,093.09 a reserve fund. The gross income from these funds for 1913-14 was $2,417,079. 62; the Anna T. Jeanes fund yielded a gross income of $9,231.64.

The appropriations of the board up to June 30, 1914, have been as follows: Colleges and universities, $10,582,591.80; medical schools, $2,670,874.11; negro colleges and schools, $699,781.13; miscellaneous schools, $159,991.02; professors of secondary education, $242,861.09; Southern Education Board, $97,126.23; rural school agents (both races), $104,443.18; farm demonstration work-South (including boys' and girls' clubs), $925,750; farm demonstration work-Maine and New Hampshire (including boys' and girls' clubs), $50,876.45; rural organization service, $37,166.66; educational conferences, $18,108.23; administrative expenses, $304,794.99; total, $15,894,364.89.

A considerable part of the report is devoted to farm demonstration work in the South. Unfavorable economic conditions have been responsible for much rural poverty. "It was obvious," says the report, "that the General Education Board could render no substantial educational service to the South until the farmers of the South could provide themselves with larger incomes." A lack of scientific knowledge of agriculture was apparent, and the board therefore determined to undertake the task of educating the farmer, on the theory that, if he could be substantially assisted, he would gladly and more liberally support better schools. An extensive investigation was made as to the most efficient means of conveying to the average agriculturist of the South, in his manhood, the most efficient known methods of intelligent farming. This inquiry resulted in the extension of the so-called cooperative farm demonstration movement. The services of Dr. Seaman A. Knapp were engaged. Dr. Knapp knew that through seed selection and intensive farming the productivity of lands could be immensely increased. In farming communities that had been afflicted with the boll weevil he undertook to propagate his methods by actual demonstrations of their value. He sought to teach farmers not only how to raise cotton and corn, but how "to conduct farming as a business, how to ascertain the cost of a crop, how to find out whether they were making or losing money." The boys' and girls' corn and canning clubs were outgrowths of the demonstration idea. "The Southern club movements," says the report, "may contain the germ of the solution of the vocational problem in the rural districts." The remarkable work of the United States Department of Agriculture in the agricultural uplift of the South is commented on.

The appropriations of the General Education Board in connection with the secondary educational movement of the South totaled $242,861.09.

An interesting part of the report is devoted to colleges and universities. It is illustrated with graphic statistics. The attention of the board as regards the question of higher education has been concentrated on what is ordinarily known as "the department or faculty of arts and sciences-the core of the American college or university." Only within the year 1914 has it undertaken to deal with one of the professional schools, viz, medicine. The sum of $1,500,000, named the "William H. Welch endowment for clinical education and research," was appropriated to further clinical teaching at the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., where it was proposed to organize the main clinical departments of medicine, surgery, and pediatrics on the full-time or university basis. The board has also cooperated with Washington University, St. Louis, Mo., appropriating $750,000 toward $1,500,000 for the endowment of university departments in medicine, surgery, and pediatrics. The sum of $500,000 was given to Yale University medical department toward the reorganization of the main clinical departments on the full-time basis. The board authorized the expenditure of not exceeding $45,000 during the current year for the salaries and expenses of rural education agents in 11 Southern States, and resolved further to extend similar offers to selected States in the North, East, and West.

It is the duty of such agents to assist in making complete and dispassionate surveys of rural education in their respective States, including laws, organization, finance, equipment, teaching force, and methods, etc., cooperating with other organizations and agencies and working under the direction of the State departments of education. The General Education Board has made appropriations to negro colleges and universities as follows: Atlanta University, $8,000; Florida Baptist Academy, $13,000; Fisk University, $70,000; Lane College, $7,000; Livingstone College, $12,000; Shaw University, $18,000; Virginia Union University, $11,500; total, $140,000. Speaking of the higher education, the report says:

A higher education ought to be furnished to capable negro men and women; but the mere attempt to deliver the traditional college curriculum to the negro does not constitute a higher education. His own needs, environment, capacity, and opportunity should be fully studied, and college curricula should be framed in the light of the facts thus elicited. Moreover, these curricula should all be regarded as experimental.

Concentration on a reduced number of institutions is urged.