pay all money's collected by them from any source whatever for school purposes into the county treasury to be placed to the credit of the special fund of their districts. I know of no law whereby this provision may be abrogated in city districts. It is essential that all funds collected and disbursed for public school purposes shall be duly accounted for by the county superintendent of schools in making the annual school report for his county.

District Clerk Acts Only by Direction of the Board.

By the provision of Sec. 1651 of the Political Code, the clerk of the school district must under the direction of the board of trustees, provide school supplies, make repairs, etc. The clerk performs certain prescribed duties by the will expressed by a majority of the Board. He calls meetings of the board only upon request of two members; at least one other member of the board must join him in a request for a meeting of the board. He has no greater authority than any other member in the management of school affairs. The business of a school district is under the control of the board of trustees, and such board is governed in all matters by a majority of its members. THOMAS J. KIRK,

Superintendent Public Instruction.

A PEN PICTURE OF THE HUMBOLDT INSTITUTE. Scene, the city of Eureka, surrounded by redwood forests, fronted by Humboldt Bay. One hundred and fifty teachers were gathered in from valley and mountain-some ladies had to ride horse-back 60 miles to get there. The program was solid lectures for four days, with neither music nor discussion to break the proceedings. Job Wood, of Sacramento, gave practical talks on arithmetic and reading, illustrated by actual classes. Edwin D. Starback, of Stanford, spoke on physiology and psychology; Harold W. Fairbanks, of Berkeley, gave lectures on the physiography of California, illustrated by stereoptican views. Edward Hyatt, of Riverside, spoke along the lines of Nature Study, Methods of Teaching and Bodily Culture. The teachers were remarkable for regularity of attendance and absence of tardiness. Superintendent J. B. Brown, who has more years of service to his credit than any other superintendent in the state, insists upon honest work being done. His sallies upon the few absentees created much amusement. One young man had a bicycle collision with a hen in the back country, and got in, somewhat damaged, the next day. The superintendent thought he "ought to be required to produce the hen.” Charles M. Drake, under the nom de plume of Jonathan Green "roasted" the lectures and the lecturers in the daily papers with good-humored impartiality. The county fair was in progress, so that there was plenty of music and entertainment for all leisure time of teachers and instructors, too.

WESTWARD THE STAR OF EMPIRE TAKES ITS WAY

THE WESTERN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION succeeds to the subscription lists, advertising partonage, and good will of the Golden Era, established in San Francisco in

1852.

Subscription, $1.50 a year. Single copies, 15 cents.

Remit by check, Postoffice order, Wells, Fargo & Co., or by stamps.

ADVERTISEMENTS-Advertisements of an unobjectionable nature will be inserted at the rate of $3.00 a month per inch.

MSS.-Articles on methods, trials of new theories, actual experiences, and school news, reports of teachers' meetings, etc., urgently solicited.

Address all communications to THE WESTERN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION, 723 Market Street, San Francisco.

HARR WAGNER, Editor.

THE WHITAKER & RAY COMPANY, PUBLISHERS. Entered at the San Francisco Post-office as second-class matter.

The Official Organ of the Department of Public Instruction of the State of California.

The Stanford University Constitutional Amendment.-The editor of the JOURNAL OF EDUCATION has asked Prof. Cubberley of Stanford to prepare a statement as to the purpose and need of the constitutional amendment relating to the University, which is submitted to the people for ratification at the coming election. This will be found elsewhere in this issue. It should be read carefully by every teacher, trustee, and friend of education in this state. We feel that this is one of the most necessary amendments ever proposed to the people of the state for adoption. It was passed almost unanimously by the last Legislature, and the people should ratify it in the same

way.

That the University is in real danger there is no use of denying. That the University has been and will continue to be of inestimable service to the state cannot be questioned. What it has done and will do in the future, has been done and will continue to be done without costing the tax-payers of the state a single cent. In return, the University now asks the people to vote to ensure its foundation act and its endowment from legal attack; to permit it to receive property by will, wherever located; to permit the Legislature to give its trustees sufficient corporate powers to carry out the purposes for which the University was founded; and to permit it to invest in other than government bonds, so as to obtain a larger yearly income with which to buy more books and apparatus, pay more professors, and do more good for the state. This no one should refuse to do. More than this, every citzen should urge his friends to vote for the amendment. There is much danger of the amendment failing to carry through not being understood.

Editor Brown, of School and Home Education, takes several pages to grill Prof. Arnold Tompkins for unprofessional conduct. The unprofessional conduct as charged is as follows: President Tompkins re-organized the Illinois Normal University on paper, changed the faculty, and prepared to carry on the work in accordance with his ideas, then suddenly resigned

peremptorily to accept the presidency of the Chicago Normal School. For this Editor Brown charges him with the betrayal of a public trust.

We do not know the merits of the case, but we do admire the ability of Mr. Brown to express his views. The betrayal of a public trust is a serious charge. Of course it is not a "low down," "mean" delinquency like mule stealing, nor is it as bad as a man who would deliberately write a letter of recommendation for a teacher who is unworthy of the words of commendation. The public each year grants more power to the leaders, and each year the leader has greater responsibility. There have been dozens of cases this year in California where men have accepted positions and resigned just before the opening of schools to accept a more remunerative place. President Burk, of the San Francisco Normal, is chairman of a committee to draft a code of rules defining unprofessional conduct. We hope that these rules will not apply only to the elementary teachers, but to all teachers. There is great need of the quickening of the conscience on matters relative to educational affairs.

President Benjamin Ide Wheeler, in a recent article in the Examiner, says that the weakest place in our educational fabric is in the selection of county superintendents. He is opposed to the election of superintendents by the people. His opinion is based on theory, and not on the knowledge of the county superintendents of California. There is no intention on the part of President Wheeler to reflect on the personnel of the present officials. However, no system of appointment that could be devised, no educational qualification could be required that on the whole would give us an abler body of superintendents than the one now in existence. Of course, if the superintendent had no other duty than to supervise the actual teaching of the teachers, then men could probably be selected with university credentials whose training would be helpful. The county superintendent, however, must be an expert clerk, a lawyer, a teachers' agency, a financier, a lobbyist, a teacher, judge, an educator, and a man of the people. He must not only know the laws of mental fatigue, but must know how to settle a neighborhood quarrel. One hour his conversation with the teacher may be on James' psychology, while the next may be devoted to suggestive plans for the new schoolhouse. There is hardly a problem in this complex, modern life of ours that the superintendent is not required to face every day of his official life. The first requisite of a county superintendent is common sense. A few political conventions knocks all the "sissy" out of a man, and gives him good credentials for the work he has to do. Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Virginia, and other states where superintendents are not elected, have no advantage in superintendents over California. Trust the people. The work of public school education is not complete until every man is an expert citizen; until every community, city, and state is sufficiently expert to elect its own officials.

Educational Associations and Teachers' Institutes.

EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS.

The California Teachers' Association, San Francisco, December 26, 27, 28, 1900. J. W. McClymonds, President; Mrs. M. M. FitzGerald, Secretary.

Northern California Teachers' Association, Marysville, November 1, 2, 3. F. S. Reager, President.

The San Joaquin Valley Teachers' Association will hold its annual session at Fresno, December 20th, 21st. Prof. C. J. Walker, Tulare, President.

The Superintendent of Public Instruction will probably call the Educational Commission together about October 15, 1900.

The State Board of Education will meet October 20, 1900.

The Washington Teachers' Association will hold its session December 27, 28, 29, Supt. F. J. Browne, President.

The Southern California Teachers' Association will hold its session in Los Angeles, December 20, 21, 22.

INSTITUTES.

The Alameda County Institute, Supt. Crawford, will be held at Haywards, November 27-30.

Stanislaus County Institute, Supt. J. A. Wagener. will be held at Modesto, Novem. ber 7. 8, 9.

The cities of Alameda, Berkeley and Oakland will hold a joint institute October 9-12. Supt. E. B. Wright of San Joaquin will hold his institute November 27-30.

The Monterey County Institute will be held at Salinas, October 8th to 12th, Mrs. J. E. Chope, Sup't.

The Plumas County Institute will be held from October 16th to 19th, M. P. Donnelly, Sup't.

The Napa County Institute will be held October 15th to 19th, J. A. Imrie, Sup't.

Butte, Tehama, Shasta, Yuba, Sutter, Colusa, and Glenn County Institutes will be held the 29th, 30th and 31st of October.

Superintendents Ramsay, Graham, Crookshanks, and Doub have decided to hold their institutes the week beginning Monday, December 17th.

Western School
School News.

R. H. Mitchell of San Francisco has been elected principal of the Redding schools.

Oakland is preparing to expend $280,000 additional for buildings and equipments.

Henry G. Crocker of Coronado has accepted a position in the Los Angeles High School. Isaac Wright has been elected to teach the Dinuba High School, Tulare County.

Principal L. R. Smith of Santa Clara High School is meeting with great success in his work.

In 1890, Los Angeles employed 160 teachers; 1900 there are 501 teachers regularly employed.

Principal D. W. Lindsay of the Los Banos High School reports that a new high school building will soon be erected.

President Frederic Burk has announced a course of lectures at San Francisco Normal School. The first course subject: "The Course of Study," by Prof. Ellwood P. Cubberley, of Stanford University. Other courses will be by Dr. Elmer Ellsworth Brown, of Berkeley, and Henry Weinstock, of San Francisco.

The cities of Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane, show a large increase in average daily attendance. The schools are overcrowded in each city.

Dr. J. W. Keene, who has been principal of the high school at Julian, San Diego County, for a number of years, is now principal of the National City Schools.

Superintendent J. H. Ackerman of Oregon, wrote an excellent article for the Portland Telegram September 1st, on the "Future of the Educational Balance Sheet."

Stanford University is making vast improvements in the way of building. The new buildings now in progress when completed will cost upwards of three millions of dollars.

A number of editorials have appeared in the Stockton Mail and elsewhere against the State Normal Schools. The ground of complaint seems to be based upon the fact that the normal schools do academic work. There is nothing very serious in the complaints however, and they do not represent public opinion.