THE PUBLIC SCHOOL AND DEMOCRACY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17564, 4 March 1919, Page 8

THE PUBLIC SCHOOL AND DEMOCRACY.

ADDRESS By Mli W. D. BAYLBY.

Mr W. D. Bayley, a teacher of histoid and citizenship in tuo jjigh bciiools ot Winnipeg (Canada) &i>oiio last mglit m tne Burns null, under the auspices oi uio Duncdin LmDour His subject was ••'ilio Public School and Domocrucy," and hi 4i lucid and able address on consumptive lines, lie clearly examined many ot tlw prcsent-aay problems and propounded wiiat he believeu would provide a solution tor much ol tne industrial unrest of to-day. 'Xliere was a numerous audience.

The Hon. J. T. Paul (chairman of the Dunedin .Representation Committee), who occupied the chair, extended a, very nearty Welcome to Mr liayley as a fellow-Labour-ite—(applause—and as one who had tho complete ■ confidence of tho workers of Canada.—(Applause.) Mr Baylcy 'began by expressing his pleasure at speaking on behalf of the Labour Party, especially as it gave him a change from Prohibition, which, was attex all a negative reform, and one which, while very necessary, would have to be followed by positive constructive advance. in the task of reconstruction the people would not have to be impatient with one another. Abusing the landlord, vilifying tile capitalist, or calling labourites Bolshevists would not usher , in tho better era of the future. Continuing, the speaker said the present industrial unrest was a result of social inequalities and injustices. But the fault was not in the waywardness of humanity as much- as in tho laok of mental power to grasp the gigantic problem and to find the solution. Most of our troubles originated in the lack of development of the grey matter a-bove our ears. Therefore, tho institution to which we had to look for emancipation was the public school.. Popular education Was at once the greatest hope as well as the greatest danger to society. The school developed mentality, impressed the child when inost receptive to truth, made no class distinctions, and was run for service and not for profit, and provided equal facilities to rich and poor for 6elf-development. Thus i; was the most democratic institution we had. But it was not necessarily a bulwark, of Democracy. An immense sacrifice had just been made to " Make the world safe for Democracy," , and. to end the rule of militarism. Victory for the Allies was proclaimed to be tho downfall of Prussian militarism. But if tho result of the war meant that our schools were to be . made centres for military drill it might well be asked whether we had secured what we had made such immense sacrifices to obtain. In Winnipeg schools were named after lords, generals, and captains of industry., 'Gladstone was the nearest they ever got to putting before the children the names of Democrats. The school that the speaker last taught in was built in the form of a fort, and named after the general who led the Canadians to battle against the Americans in 1812. But, strange to say,, the school history had nothing to say about the* treaty of disarmament that was signed in 1817 and that had resulted in 100 years of peace between the two nations of North America. Technical education ran tho risk of becoming a means of developing efficient wage' earners or wealth producers without producing, citizenship. .Some of the patriotic songs contained sentiments quite out of accord with • the relations now existing between the Allies, and certainly fostered a kind of national pride which would not help the League of Nations in securing international goodwill and confidence. Sometimes, tho school was used to circulate literature representing the antidemocratic forces which was a menace to social progress. Proceeding the" lecturer 'said his working theory of education was that the child of tho cradle—helpless, speechless, and devoid of any ideas of any kind—had to be led by an, educational process through the various stages that the race had passed through in its journey from savagery to civilisation. But the process had to be completed in a score of years before the ballot was entrusted to the young citizen. This task demanded the best brain we had and the policy of putting a large share of this work on the shoulders of young and immature persons was a crime against the State. Mr liayley illustrated from his own lessons his theory. History often led a child through the -careers of Julius Csesar and "William the Norman. It mentioned Ma-gna Charta and enumerated the wives of Henry VIII. But it. very seldom elucidated the social conditions of to-day. The first lesson of the term in his classes was to inquire how the sidewalk in front of the school came to be there. By the time that question was answered the class had faced the whole problem of government, elections, city council, committee of works, petitions for sidewalks, tenders, contracts, taxes, eto. The children gained some idea of social organisation, of co-operation and of government. Then when they turned to their history they had some* interest ha tracing the development of government in England from the autocracy of William to the present constitutional monarchy. They also took a peep forward as to the way in which things were moving, and so became more ready to U3e wisely their ballots. In geographv it Was o* more importance, he said, that a child shall know a hundred things about his own city than one thing each of a hundred cities in which, he would never live. . Government, drainage, water supply, lighting, police, parks, etc., were all fascinating studies in social progress. Incidentally the students who had studied these things would make more intelligent electors on polling day. The arithmetic books, he continued, were compiled hi such a way as to convey the idea by inference that there was no other -way of handling land or of creating wealth except in terms of rent, profit, interest, discount, stocke, shares, etc. One would think there neter had been any social co-operative experiments such as the post , office, government telegraphs, 'co-opera-tive stores, or even the school itself. Surely some arithmetic problems based on the activities run for service alone and not for profit should find a place in school work. At present children were prejudiced against co-operative enterprises simply by the absence of- any mention of them in arithmetic. The great need of civilisation was , a socialised conscience, the realisation of interdependence and of responsibility to serve one's day and generation. A tour through a boot factory where tho pegs came from the Canadian forest, the machinery from the United States, and the leather from Now Zealand farms, and where each operative only made one small part of tho whole shoe, showed the-'child mind how he was to bor come a member of a great brotherhood. This socialising of the 1 - consciousness of our future citizens would lay the foundation of a future state where service to society and not selfish gain would be the incentive to happy and efficient work. In conclusion. Mr Bayley iißged tho Labour party to pay more attention to •educational bodies. In order to secure democratic teaching the universities and training schools for toachere must have democratic curricula. Latin barriers and musty old matter would hav© to givo way. Centres of education would have to be freed from influence by spooial interests so that teachers miprht impart the truth without fear or favour. The child of to-day was the voter of to-morrow. There," concluded the speaker. Vmodei your educational so that when h"_ is turned loose on society tno ■ will not be in an unknown land equfprted only with ideas of feudalism and capitalism when the future calls for co-operation and service."

Mr Br-yley's address, which was marked by many .bright flashes of humour, -was listened to with the closest attention throughout, and was punctuated by frequent outbursts of, applause. At its conclusion Mr Paul conveyed to the weaker the thanfcs of all present, his remarks being- endorsed by a very cordial round of applause.

EAST TAIEEI PATRIOTIC BAND

The following goods have been sent to the Otago Women's Patriotic Association: Eighteen pairs socks, 2 day shirts, 3 balaclavas, 184 dominion wrappers. To the Red Cross, Dunedin: 36 pairs socks, 6 suits' pyjamas, 7 pairs -under-pants, 11 hospital coats, 5 pairs ward slippers, 1 pair bed socks, 3 nnder-flannels, 11 eye bandagea