VERY large proportion of our per

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sonal incomes is spent upon what

we often call leisure-time activities. In this realm we are constantly called upon to choose whether we will

purchase our pleasure from a private commercial concern or whether we will arrange for it through some cooperative action.

For example, the automobile manufacturer is ready and anxious to sell us a pleasure automobile; the publishing company offers us a wide selection of books; the chewing gum manufacturers have quite a display; in fact, there seems no end to human ingenuity in figuring out an endless variety of wares, good and bad in varying degrees, to tickle the palates or the vanities of fickle human beings and to stimulate their emotions and interests while they are not at work.

I do not mean to imply that the satisfaction of leisure time wants and desires through private business is necessarily deleterious to health or morals. In appropriate moderation these interests are usually wholly commendable and the men and women engaged in them are rendering a service to society which is just as definite and as great as those who supply our material necessities of life.

Tempting wares

I do wish to point out, however, that privately-owned interests of this kind and social organizations supported cooperatively are necessarily in competition with one another. What an individual spends in one way to satisfy his leisure-time wants cannot be spent in the other. In this competition private business has all the advantage. It can spend and does spend millions of dollars in perfecting psychological approaches to the individual which are irresistible. Hence the wares of a private business concern are often far more tempting than those things which usually develop through cooperative action.

For example, the movies are certainly in competition with various efforts which we establish cooperatively for the instruction and recreation of our children. Some years ago in Akron we took a sampling of about 3,000 children to find out how attendance at Sunday School compared with attendance at the movies. Some

what to our surprise we found that while 55 percent of the children in the seventh and eighth grades attended Sunday School regularly, 35 percent occasionally, and 10 percent not at all, 89 percent went to the movies at least once per week and the other 11 percent occasionally. Some what the same situation prevails in the effective appeal of other types of commercial enterprises.

Criticism

Leisure time and self-improvement activities which we establish cooperatively must be paid for through self-imposed taxes, dues, and fees. They include, on the one hand, the church, the lodges, and a great variety of social organizations and,

New Task for Colleges

F, AS seems clear, the abundance of production in this country is due largely to research in applied science laboratories, it might be well at this time for the colleges and universities to turn their energies more largely in the direction of studying and working out a better system of distribution of goods. There is today the same vague but persistent feeling of need in this area that there was relative to increased production two generations ago. While the problem is somewhat more intangible and is more complicated by the factor of human selfishness, it is nevertheless susceptible to the same processes of study and scientific treatment. Increasingly we must look for a solution of the problem of distribution to the researches of college professors and to the men and women whom they train.

Commissioner Zook

on the other, all our public agencies supported through taxation. Among the latter the schools loom largest in total expenditure. It is to the great credit of the American people that they have been willing to employ a constantly increasing proportion of the adult population not needed in the production of material goods, in this public agency of individual and social improvement.

For a long time, however, we have all been conscious of a large amount of public criticism of the schools. Even now we find more lethargy about what we believe to be the proper financial support of the schools than we like. There can be no question that our first responsibility is to reawaken the American people to the fundamental significance of education in order that we may get it back on a basis at least as effective as in the predepression days.

Unless we adapt

I am convinced, however, that in spite of economies wisely administered and even a degree of personal sacrifice on the part of the teaching profession seldom seen among public employees, we may not again be able to capture the confidence and hence the support of our fellow citizens unless we can adapt the educational system to the demands of the new society into which we seem to be entering.

I do not believe that it is possible to recapture the confidence of the adult population of this country until they can be convinced that the program of the schools is adapting itself to the needs of the new era into which we are entering more rapidly than we realize. I believe further that the key to this situation is quite consciously to adopt the policy of making the schools of the future for men and women as well as for boys and girls. [From an address before the Department of Superintendence, at Cleveland, Ohio, February 28.]

Some time before I get through with the small part which I have in education, I hope that someone is going to write a book on the famous poor men of history. Perhaps the first chapter would be devoted to Homer, who went about from house to house, with a group of boys, singing, and begging bread.

And seven wealthy cities

Fought for Homer dead,
Through which same cities,

Homer living, begged for bread.

Certainly a great chapter would be devoted to Jesus of Nazareth, who had not place to lay His head but has given to the world more than all the rich men; Christopher Columbus, living and dying, a poor man; John Bunyan, writing Pilgrim's Progress in Bedford prison, and Walter Reed, whom some of us knew as an unknown Army doctor in Washington, going down to Cuba and Panama, tracing that mosquito to its lair, and wiping it out and saving untold misery and hundreds of thousands of lives that were lost through yellow fever. Congress had to give his wife a pittance for a pension because he did not leave a cent.

The great, the famous poor men of history-how much have we dwelt on that in

ARBOR DAY, first celebrated in 1872 in Nebraska, has now become a definite place in courses of study. Uncle Sam furnishes the following bulletins, leaflets, and films, which may be used to good advantage in the celebration of the day:

Arbor Day. 22 p., illus. (Farmers' Bulletin No. 1492). 5 cents.

Origin and spread of the observance and dates on which Arbor Day is celebrated in various States. Suggests kinds of trees to plant, how to plant them, and how to care for them.

Propagation by seeds, cuttings, layers, grafting, and budding, and of specific kinds of ornamental trees and shrubs.

Analysis of Special Jobs in Farm Forestry. 45 p. (Federal Board for Vocational Education, Bulletin No. 169, Agriculture Series No. 44). 10 cents.

Discussion of timber farming for profit, including woods management and tree planting of marginal,

submarginal, and idle lands. Complete list of references to United States Department of Agriculture publications, motion pictures, film strips, and lantern slides on farm forestry. Also lists State sources of information covering tree planting and sources of forest tree planting stock.

Our Forests-What They Are and What They Mean to Us. 34 p., illus. (Department of Agriculture, Miscellaneous Publication No. 162.) 5 cents.

Let's Know Some Trees (California). 38 p., illus. (Department of Agriculture, Miscellaneous Circular No. 31). 5 cents.

Education, and Gov. George White, and Federal Judge Walter C. Lindley, of Illinois, will act as chairmen of the meetings of the Citizens' Conference on the Crisis in Education. The regular Ohio State University educational conference will also be

held.

Forestry Clubs for Young People. (Department of Agriculture, Miscellaneous Publication No. 45.) 5 cents.

Useful to leaders of young people's forestry clubs. Suggests forestry activities and how to carry on these activities during each month of the year.

The Forest-A handbook for teachers. 72 p., illus. (Department of Agriculture, Miscellaneous Circular No. 90). 30 cents.

Suggestions for fall, winter, and spring sources of study for each grade of the primary, intermediate, and junior high school.

The following motion pictures on farm forestry prepared by the Forest Service will help the student to visualize much of what is talked about. They are available upon application to the Division of Motion Pictures, United States Department of Agriculture. The borrower must pay transportation charges only.

Two Generations-4 reels; Trees of Tomorrow-2 reels; Pines from Seed to Sawmill-2 reels; Dual-Purpose Trees-1 reel; Wood Wisdom-1 reel; The Forest and Water-1 reel; and On a Thousand Hills-1 reel.

The Superintendent of Documents has issued a price list of Government publications on "Forestry-Tree planting, management of national forests" (No. 43) which he distributes free upon application.

learning to provide emergency relief through the refinancing of accumulated financial obligations. The interest rate is not specified, but the bill provides that loans shall be so amortized as to retire the entire loan within 50 years. (Introduced Feb. 13, 1934, by Mr. Walsh of Massachusetts and referred to Committee on Banking and Currency.)

S. 2769

Authorizes the expenditure from any funds available for construction under N.I.R.A., approved June 16, 1933, of $38,000 for cooperating with Marysville school district no. 325, Snohomish County, Wash., for extension and improvements of school buildings on condition that schools maintained by said district shall be available to all Indian children of the district on the same terms, except as to payment of tuition, as other children of the district. (Introduced Feb. 14, 1934, by Mr. Bone of Washington and referred to Committee on Indian Affairs.)

H.J.Res. 257

Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to enter into contracts with States for the education, medical attention, agricultural assistance, and social welfare of Indians, including the relief of distress of Indians and to expend under such contracts moneys appropriated by Congress for such purposes; authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to permit such States to utilize existing school buildings, hospitals, and other facilities, and all equipment therein or pertaining thereto, including livestock and other personal property owned by the Government of the United States. (Introduced Feb. 1, 1934, by Mr. O'Malley of Wisconsin and referred to Committee on Indian Affairs.)

H.R. 6621

Empowers the President to establish a commission of at least three persons to obtain information concerning districts which have been unable to compensate their school teachers and to make provision whereby such districts will be provided the necessary funds to reimburse their teachers; teachers of Catholic, Protestant, Hebrew, and other sectarian institutions of learning shall be included under the provisions of this act; the commission may also be empowered to compensate teachers and professors of colleges and universities and other schools of learning; the provisions of this act shall be retroactive and the President shall have the right to secure the necessary funds from the Treasury Department. (Introduced Jan. 9, 1934, by Mr. Dunn of Pennsylvania and referred to Committee on Education.)

H.R. 6968

Authorizes and directs Secretary of Commerce to issue research fellowships, no one of which shall exceed $1,600 per annum, to any citizen having completed 4 years of education leading to a bachelor's degree in any reputable college or university in the United States and who is technically qualified to conduct research work in the various colleges and universities for the benefit of the various departments of the Federal Government or for private industry in the fields of chemistry and physics and the applied sciences relating thereto, including electrical, civil, sanitary, mechanical, chemical, and aeronautical engineering, and medicine; authorizes $400 per year per fellowship for equipment and supplies; sets aside $20,000,000 for the purposes of the act. (Introduced Jan. 16, 1934, by Mr. Hoeppel of California and referred to Committee on Education.)

H.R. 6971

Authorizes Reconstruction Finance Corporation to purchase at face value valid and unpaid warrants issued by legally organized school districts in payment of salaries of teachers and employees. (Introduced Jan. 16, 1934, by Mr. McClintic of Oklahoma and referred to Committee on Banking and Currency.)

R.H. 7015

Authorizes Reconstruction Finance Corporation to make loans to any college, university, hospital, or other institution of learning or charity that can and does offer adequate security for such loans and can satisfy the R.F.C. that such loan is necessary to enable said institution of learning to enlarge or expand its service to the public or that without such loan it will probably be compelled to curtail and reduce its service to the public. (Introduced Jan. 17, 1934, by Mr. McSwain of South Carolina and referred to Committee on Banking and Currency.)

Authorizes an appropriation equal to not less than $2 per enumerated school child to be immediately available for allocation by the Secretary of the Interior to each county treasurer in each State for the use of public schools; no school shall receive any of such aid unless such school is unable by taxation or otherwise to maintain its school term as it was maintained for the school year 1931-32 and previous years; provides that no department of Government shall exercise any control of any of said schools receiving such aid; all school warrants for payments of salaries in public schools issued between January 1, 1932, and July 1, 1934, shall be considered eligible for purchase or loans by Reconstruction Finance Corporation, such loans to be made at face value and bear interest at rate not to exceed 1 percent per annum. (Introduced Jan. 31, 1934, by Mr. Cartwright of Oklahoma and referred to Committee on Education.)

H.R. 7525

Provides for Federal aid to education. (Introduced Jan. 31, 1934, by Mr. Brown of Kentucky and referred to Committee on Education. Same as S. 2402.)

H.R. 7546

Authorizes Reconstruction Finance Corporation to make loans to school districts to enable them to reduce or refinance their outstanding indebtedness. Such loans shall bear interest not to exceed 4 percent per annum and may be made for periods not to exceed 33 years. (Introduced Feb. 1, 1934, by Mr. Terry of Arkansas and referred to Committee on Banking and Currency.)

H.R. 7595

Directs Secretary of the Interior to establish a grazing district out of vacant public lands in certain townships in Oregon and provides that 25 percent of funds received from such grazing district during any fiscal year shall be paid to the State of Oregon for the benefit of public schools and public roads of the county or counties in which the grazing district is situated. (Introduced Feb. 2, 1934, by Mr. Pierce of Oregon and referred to Committee on the Public Lands.)

H.R. 7754

Authorizes the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to make loans to municipalities and public-school districts for the payment to teachers of unpaid as well as current salaries, such loans to be made upon school warrants and real-estate tax warrants issued in anticipation of collection of taxes in amount not less than 80 percent of the face value of such warrants; not more than $500,000,000 shall be loaned under this act; the rate of interest shall not exceed 3 percent per annum and loans shall be made for a period not to exceed 10 years. (Introduced Feb. 7, 1934, by Mr. Britten of Illinois and referred to Committee on Banking and Currency.)

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NATIONAL conference on the education of Negroes sponsored by the Federal Office of Education will meet in Washington in May for the purpose of studying fundamental problems which are peculiar to the education of Negroes, and to focus the attention of the thoughtful people on the educational issues involved in the development, side by side, of two races as common citizens of the Nation.

Immediate aims of preparatory committees: To gather salient features of the body of facts resulting from the many educational studies which have been made concerning the Negro during the past few years; organize them into a unified whole; present them in such manner as to show their vital relation to an integrated program of Negro education; evaluate the implications of the data in terms of a feasible educational program.

Long-range objectives: To furnish a large body of crystallized and correlated data on problems of the education of Negroes directly to persons having to do with the control and administration of Negro schools; discuss these problems; canvass the desirability of a series of regional and local conferences as a followup of the National Conference; suggest definite changes in curricula, organization, and control of Negro schools in terms of the findings of the committees; suggest the need of and probable means for more adequate support of Negro education; serve as one additional step designed to bring about equalization of educational opportunity for the Negro.

Several committees are now at work which will report to the Conference when it convenes in May. The following is a list of the committees:

Group I

The Conference is under the general chairmanship of the United States Commissioner of Education, Dr. George F. Zook, and is directed by Dr. Ambrose Caliver, Federal specialist in the education of Negroes.

There is a planning committee composed of 28 colored and white leaders in educa

tional, economic, social, and religious life among Negroes. In addition, there is a group of consultants composed of some of the leading colored and white citizens of the country. The names of the members of the planning committee and the consultants follow:

Planning committee

W. W. Alexander, director, Southern Interracial Commission, Atlanta; E. T. Attwell, National Recreation Association, New York; Mary McL. Bethune, president, Bethune-Cookman College, Daytona Beach; Fred Brownlee, executive secretary, American Missionary Association, New York; Ambrose Caliver, senior specialist in the education of Negroes, Office of Education; T. M. Campbell, agricultural extension work, Southwestern States, Tuskegee; Mabel Carney, Teachers College, Columbia University; Marion Cuthbert, director of education, Y.W.C.A., New York; V. E. Daniel, dean, Wiley College, Texas; John W. Davis, West Virginia State College; J. C. Dixon, supervisor of Negro education, Atlanta; Clark Foreman, adviser on economic status of Negroes; T. Arnold Hill, acting executive secretary, Urban League, New York; D. O. W. Holmes, Howard

Group II

Elementary education, secondary education, collegiate education, adult education, and rural education.

Group III

Public institutions, private institutions, financial support of education.

Howard University; Willis J. King, Gammon Theological Seminary, Atlanta; Fred McCuistion, Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, Nashville; R. R. Moton, principal, Tuskegee Institute; F. O. Nichols, American Social Hygiene Association, New York; S. L. Smith, Julius Rosenwald fund, Nashville; C. C. Spaulding, president, The North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Co.,

Durham; C. H. Thompson, editor, Journal of Negro Education, Howard University; C. H. Tobias, senior secretary, Y.M.C.A., New York; F. B. Washington, director, Atlanta School of Social Work; Walter White, executive secretary, N.A.A.C.P., New York; G. C. Wilkinson, assistant superintendent of schools, District of Columbia; F. M. Wood, director, Baltimore colored schools; C. G. Woodson, director, Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, District of Columbia; A. D. Wright, president, JeanesSlater funds, District of Columbia.

Consultants

Ben D. Wood, Columbia University, New York; Thomas W. Turner, Hampton Institute, Hampton; Monroe N. Work, editor, The Negro Year Book, Tuskegee; Fred J. Kelly, chief, college and professional schools, Office of Education; W. E. B. DuBois, editor, The Crisis; George Foster Peabody, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; Emmett J. Scott, secretary, Howchief, special problems division, Office of ard University; Katherine M. Cook, Education; O. Latham Hatcher, president, Southern Women's Educational

Alliance, Richmond; Edwin R. Embree, president, Julius Rosenwald fund; Eugene K. Jones, adviser on Negro affairs, Department of Commerce; C. T. Loram, professor of education, Yale University, New Haven; J. G. Eichelberger, general education secretary, A. M.E.Z. Church, Chicago; A. S. Jackson, educational director, A.M.E. Church, Waco, Tex.; E. L. Twine, educational board, National BapJ. A. Bray, educational director, C.M.E. tist Convention, Inc., Jackson, Miss.; Church, Birmingham; W. H. Fuller, educational director, National Baptist Convention, Austin, Tex.; George S. Counts, Teachers College, Columbia University; Benjamin Brawley, Howard University; Clifford Woody, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Charles E. Hall, Census Bureau, Department of Com

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