of which he has little conception. Every citizen should have an intelligent conception of the obligations assumed by him.

In what language should such instruction be given? In our schools there is just one language which should be permitted, and that is the one in which the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were written. States should take such action as will prevent the use of any other languages in school sessions anywhere except it be in the advanced grades where it is desired to give instruction in foreign languages. The study of a foreign language should be an incident, and not the main language in which the school sessions are conducted, as has been in some cases in the past. There are, however, men and women of middle age who have come to America for the sake of their children, for whom it is a physical impossibility to learn a new language. We can not force such to converse in our language, but every discouragement should be given the constant use of any other in the home, newspaper or church, with the ultimate aim of making every citizen, whether by birth or naturalization, familiar with a common vehicle for the expression of truth.

At the basis of such a campaign to exterminate illiteracy must be the schools. The Germany of today is the product of its school system of yesterday. It was an efficient system so far as technique is concerned, but it corrupted the fountains of citizenship. Just as surely as Germany is the result of its school system, so will the American of tomorrow, perhaps the world of tomorrow, be the product of the American school system of today. Our schools have not been perfect. The fault lies with the teacher as well as the public; but in the final analysis the blame shifts back to the public for allowing some things which educators have sought to foster. The public must learn that the teacher, no less than the laborer, is worthy of his hire; the teacher must realize that sufficient capacity and training are required for him to earn his hire. The ordinary business man who will not intrust his life to a doctor who is capable of earning less than $20,000 a year, or his property to a lawyer who makes less than $25,000, is perfectly willing to intrust his children to a teacher who would

drop dead of heart failure if he were offered a salary of more than $1,600 a year for his services. Missouri, where in 1917 its 20,000 teachers received the munificent wage of $1.46 per day, is a typical instance. A man must be assured when he enters the profession of teaching that he will be compensated as much as the day laborer, so he may be encouraged to look forward to the duties and responsibilities of a family, as expected of men in other professions. The woman must look forward to teaching as a career, unhampered by laws ostracizing her if she takes on a husband, just as she may look forward to an unhampered musical or artistic career, even if incidentally she is married. The teacher must be made to realize that to undertake this work requires specific preparation, and that having put the hand to the plow he can not turn back. The teacher should feel that in entering this vocation, to give it up is a confession of failure, just as much as for the lawyer or clergyman to change professions. Instead of unmatured boys with no specific preparation paying debts by teaching a couple of years, we may hope for more exemplary leadership. Instead of the girl following her first impulse after her high school commencement and teaching school for a year or two so she can provide extras for her wedding, let her feel that her preparation must continue, and the realization of her career can not come until after years of experience and diligent work.

In this campaign to swat illiteracy, the teacher must possess the spirit of service. Ridicule of unfortunate conditions which usually accompany ignorance is not effective. Helpfulness in getting rid of those conditions and assisting the individual to improve himself must pervade the American people. Service is the watchword of the hour. The teacher must get this view or his work will be nil. The business is serious, the job is big; but it must not be approached with a spirit fit for a shroud or with a look befitting a king who is abdicating. Optimism must be possessed, and the spirit of genuine service must be the motive of the teacher.

The German Empire shows about one-half of one per cent of illiteracy, the highest degree of intelligence of any nation in the

world. Does not this dispute the statement heretofore made that intelligence is necessary for a civilized government? While Germany has a very high degree of literacy, it has neglected the second pillar of government, necessary for an autocracy as well as democracy-virtue. The German nation has possessed secular intelligence, but not virtue. It has cultivated Kultur of the head but not culture of the heart. It has employed "science without conscience," stripped "learning of its moral restraints," and used "every faculty of the human mind to do wrong to the whole race." Germany's church has lacked virtue in spiritual thoughts, its schools have taught what the State desired regardless of truth, and its people have thought those thoughts and had those feelings which the virtueless militarists told them they should have. The nation forgot the proverb which has been preserved for us through three thousand years, that as a man "thinketh in his heart, so is he." Thoughts are the power houses for action. If thoughts lack virtue, the actions will not conform to a high moral standard. The example of Germany has merely proven the statement at the basis of this discussion, that intelligence and virtue are each essential to all governments; and the pressing problems before us especially emphasize their necessity in democracies.

With illiteracy successfully combated, no danger will come in America from allowing each individual, so long as his motives are pure, to participate in the affairs of government to his heart's content. The first job for America is to make her people capable of exercising the functions of government already extended, and as capacity increases the participation may be increased commensurately.

V

The Education of Women

BERTHA B. GILLIAM, DEWAR, OKLAHOMA.

¿Â¤ÂME‡ IEWING the colleges and universities today we find large numbers of women present, equaling the men in all lines, far surpassing them in many lines of work. It is hard for us to realize that woman has not always held the place of equality with men. Only during the last few years has the field of knowledge been open to her. This was brought about through the efforts of educators who realized. that women are the equal of men.

As the training of the youth among primitive peoples was intended largely for the satisfaction of immediate wants, so the girls were probably taught, in a crude way, by their mothers, the preparation of the food and the making of the clothing. Most of the ancient oriental nations treated woman as if they were of a lower caste and taught them to perform the household duties only; but the Jewish people respected women more than the other nations did. The Spartan girls were given practically the same training as the boys. While yet young they were sent to barracks and given gymnastics for the purpose of training mothers of warriors. Plato, in his Republic, said, "Neither a woman as a woman, nor a man as a man, has any special function, but the gifts of nature are equally diffused in both sexes; all the pursuits of man are the pursuits of woman also, and in all of them a woman is only a weaker man.” So far as women have the same qualities of character they are to be educated and to be adapted to society as men are. The education of women is to be settled on the same principles as that of men, and to include the same subjects, however much it may differ in detail. The differences lie in the difference in character, not in the difference in sex; “a man and a woman when they both have the soul of a physician may be said to have the nature, and hence should have the same education." Plato, however, lived too far ahead of the times for

the people to grasp the truth in his theory. Even Aristotle, years later, thought that women should not receive the higher education given citizens. At Athens the people had begun to realize the need of training for girls and they were trained by their mothers in household arts.

In Rome the mother held a position far superior to that of woman in Greece. Within the home she was dignified with a position of independence and responsibility. She was more the companion of her husband socially and more his partner in the management of the home than was the woman in Greece. She herself reared and cared for her own children, instead of turning them over to a nurse. She also trained her daughters in household duties and especially in spinning and weaving wool. The children were taught by their parents to read and write. No other ancient people furnish such illustrations of the influence of woman as are found in the mothers of Coriolanus and the Gracchi. During the fifteenth century, Erasmus, leader of the Humanistic movement in the North, taught that the women should have the same educational advantages as the men. They were to study the writings of classical authors, the Scriptures, and also rhetorical analysis and appreciation. A study in religious literature and participation in religious services should form a part of their training. We have no record, however, of his teaching being put into effect at that time. During the next century Martin Luther tried to establish public schools for both boys and girls and attempted to get a school law passed compelling all pupils to attend. About this time Mulcaster was also an advocate of universal training for girls. Later the education of girls was discussed by Rousseau in the fifth period of his book, “Emile." In this Rousseau does not give women credit for having any individuality of their own, but considers them merely supplementary to the nature of men. He thought that they should be given bodily training for the sake of physical charms and of producing vigorous offspring. They should be taught to sew and embroider, in order to make their dress beautiful. The purpose of their education was to make them more pleasing to their husbands. Most