purely because of the happy accident of having at the top in this hierarchy as superintendent, assistant superintendent, principal, etc., broad-gauged, democratic minded men, who believe in consulting their teachers. As a matter of fact some of the teachers have no safeguard whatever against autocratically minded men, and the school systems in this country have, on the whole, an autocratic rather than a democratic flavor.

Must Democratize Our School System

We believe in democratic government. We always hope to have high grade men to govern us, but we must not rely on that too much. We try to throw safeguards around our offices, so that if a czar-like man should get into an office we would have protection. But our public school system do not have sufficient safeguards. In the last few years no effort has been made to democratize our school system. In the last few years we have stood more emphatically for democratization in the school system than we have for increased salaries, and we have secured the co-operation of organiized labor in that claim; and in this city, with the high school organizations co-operating, and with the hearty co-operation of Mr. Mortenson and the Board of Education there has been established a high school teachers council, so that now our high school teachers are not mere cogs in a machine.

But there is another reason why we have failed to prepare for life in American communities. If our chief duty is to prepare for participation in industrial and economic life, how would you expect us to avoid failure when the teachers of this country, for 50 years, have prided themselves on their aloofness from the realities of community life? They have actually prided themselves on knowing nothing about economic, social, political or industrial life of a community; and I submit to you that the American Federation of Teachers that I represent is the only movement on the horizon at the present time that offers teachers an opportunity to connect themselves, organically, with the realities of community life. And we find, where we have been organized, superintendents and boards of education and school authorities in 90 per cent of the cases, comment on the increased effectiveness of the work of the public schools which has been made possible because of direct, intimate contact of the teachers with the problems they have been supposed to prepare themselves for as teachers. Some people seem to believe that the less a teacher knows about a certain subject the more effectively she is able to teach it. (Laughter).

The Atmosphere of Servility

There is another reason. We surely want to turn out upstanding, independent, fearless American citizens. Do you know of any group, any considerable group that can find as many things to be afraid of in a given length of time as teachers? I have never been more pleased with any public response than right in this city

when I made the simple statement that the citizens of Chicago had a right to know that their children were not exposed daily in the classroom to an atmosphere of servility.

John Dewey-I think he is still connected with Columbia University, though now in China-John Dewey, in praising our union -and we no sooner had a local in New York than he applied for membership-made the indictment that, as teachers, we have not had intelligence enough to be courageous. And he said one of the chief benefits he sees in the affiliation of teachers with organized labor, is the increased backbone that the consciousness of support will give them, and when you realize that pupils are exposed during their most impressionable years to whatever atmosphere the teachers may bring into the class room, an atmosphere which it is impossible for the parents and other agencies in the community to counteract adequately in case it is vicious when you realize that, and know how prone teachers have been to wonder how their official superiors would regard it before they draw a deep breath -many of them seem to be led around by the ears, as if they were being led by a first ward heeler, you will understand the seriousness of this matter.

Why Teachers Must Organize

The chairman gave me a better opportunity than I expected in his remarks, to mention organization, in which I am very deeply interested. I had not intended to mention that, but I believe the remaining five minutes I have I will devote to that, and I do not think that I will be abusing my privilege. In the present hysteria of public opinion on economic matters and on matters in which organized labor in general is concerned, I think there is special need for it.

I have found the very people who are the most prone to praise us to the skies as the saviors of society, and even as the winners of the great war because we have been credited with that by some of these people, too-those are the very people who show an insulting lack of confidence in the American teacher wherever our movement is mentioned. For example they bring up the strike as an objection to our organization.

We Do Not Use The Strike

Of course we do not use the method of the strike. If a local of ours should attempt to use that method I have no doubt the charter would be revoked. Although I am but an individual, I know the sentiment of the organization well enough to be sure of that. But I cannot help wondering what these people think of the present situation in the public schools if they are fearful that the only thing that will keep teachers from going out on srike is some nonstrike clause in the constitution. If the public schools of this country reach the point where nothing but the exercise of superior

authority will keep American teachers from going out on strike. 1 do not think it will make very much difference to the community at large whether "school keeps or not." (Applause) We do not use that method. We have prevented it in one or two instances, where the teachers have been simply maddened by public indifference— we have prevented strikes in those cases.

We have no provision for a strike in our constitution. There is no such animal as a strike, sympathetic or otherwise as far as we are concerned; but we insist that the reason we do not strike is not any technical reason in our laws or constitution, but is our sense of our function in community life.

Another insulting charge that has been made recently, made by people that are supposed to be co-operating with us too, is that organized labor wants us to affiliate with them so that they can make the schools agencies for organized labor propaganda. Teachers have been trained for 50 years as I think no other group has been against the abuse of their official position in imposing their personal ideas on the pupils under them. Very rarely do you hear à Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, Republican or Democrat teacher accused of proselyting, attempting to make young Methodists, Baptists, Republicans or Democrats out of the pupils under them; and it is as absurd to think that the teacher would attempt to make little unionists out of the pupils.

School Must Not Be Made Agencies of Private Propaganda One of the main reasons for our oragnization-and this has a definite connection with democracy in education-is to save the schools from being made agencies of propaganda. In the city of New York the Board of Education ordered its teachers to teach the wisdom of universal military training in time of peace. I take it that we may all be agreed on a military policy in time of war, but still that is a debatable question, on which honest men can differ in times of peace, and still these teachers were ordered by their official superiors to impose that doctrine upon the helpless pupils under them.

One of our prime reasons for organizing is to secure sufficient independence on the part of the teachers to make them refuse to subborn themselves to that kind of private propaganda. (Applause.)

You know what these people are really afraid of: they are not really afraid that we will ever turn the schools over as propaganda agencies for organized labor, but these people realize at the present time there are propaganda agencies against organizd labor; they know at the present time the teachers of this country secure all of their information on vital problems of that kind through the newspapers and they know that it is impossible for a square deal to be given to a controversial question, even in the upper years of the high schools, where boys ought to be talking about the things

which will concern them most of all in a very short time, and they know, through this movement this affiliation of ours, the teachers will get both sides of the question, and they are afraid of giving the teachers who have had training in making up their independent judgement on the basis of data presented to them-they are afraid of giving those teachers data on both sides of questions. (Applause)

Working Together for Educational System

But the primary reason—and I am going to close with this thought the primary reason for organized labor welcoming the affiliation of the teachers was expressed most aptly by a Philadelphia working man. When we were talking to the Philadelphia teachers the question came up "What does organized labor expect in return?" A gentleman jumped up and asked permission to answer that question. He said "During the last three years the war was still on, and I have been able to triple my wages through my organization, until now I can supply my children with good clothing, good food and the comforts of a good American home, but there is one thing that I can't give them and that is education. For that I must depend upon the pubic schools and the teachers and I know my children are not getting a square educational deal now but I am not trained to put my finger on the reason why." He said, "I can give a shrewd guess that underpaid teachers and over crowded classes have something to do with it," but he admitted that he lacked training to diagnose the ills. He said, "We want the teachers to affiliate with us primarily so that they can send delegates to our local and state bodies; tell us what is wrong with our system; work out a remedy, and they, with their specific knowledge and we with our influence in the community, working together, will be able to give this country and this state and this city an educational system worthy of democracy." That I have heard paraphrased in every community where that question has come up, where laboring men were present.

I wish I had time to tell you about the Smith--Towner bill--the Smith--Towner bill was dead until the American Teachers Federation secured the support of organized labor for it; still some are making scurrilous attacks upon us. I am not going to be personal here; I will not mention the names, but I will ask you whether it is reasonable to expect any real recipe for democracy of school education is tot come from a member of the faculty of Columbia University. (Applause.)

VIII. Public Ownership of Government

WANTING AND GETTING PUBLIC OWNERSHIP

By Walter J. Millard

Field-Secretary for American Proportional
Representation League

Prof. Chas. Zueblin a distinguished member of the Executive Committee of the Public Ownership League conducted a series of debates last summer on a Chautaqua circuit, supporting the affirmative side of the question "Shall the railroads be owned by the people?" He opened his speech by declaring that he spoke as an "ultimate consumer" for he consumed about thirty thousand miles of railroad travel a year.

I begin to feel that I have the same right to call myself an ultimate consumer as Prof. Zueblin for it seems to me that in the last few years I have, so far as this country is concerned, been everywhere twice. My observations have convinced me that if a national referendum could be held on the question of nationalization of the railroads, that the question would carry by a huge majority. I am convinced that the program for great changes in our social order has in a general way been "sold" to the people of this country.

The street-car situation is acute in many cities and it is evident that the successful candidates for mayor in those cities were in every case, those who not only capitalized the anger of the people against the street-car companies but also those who came out definitely for Public Ownership. Everywhere the sentiment Public Ownership especially of the utilities that a city must have to function properly, is overwhelming. But we must admit that the list of the utilities that are publicly owned and operated is still very small as compared with those in private hands.

Why the People Do Not Get What They Want

Why is it that the public want Public Ownership but cannot get it? To this there can be but one answer, the machinery through which it must work to get what it wants can be manipulated by a cunning minority to thwart the wish of the majority. That machin ery is the political machinery provided by law; in other words, it is the method by which nominations are made, votes are cast, final elections held and the result determined.

While it is not charged that the election systems generally in use in this country were deliberately designed to frustrate the wishes of the people, yet it would be hard to design methods con

178