The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, June 2, 1919, Page 3

arents of Our T IS STRANGE that the generous-hearted Americah people, who Hours out their riches so prodigally in response to every patriotic, every chart . itahle appeal, and who accorded such enthusiastic and liberal support to every measure and to every group that helped win the war, shojld have neglected'to properly encourage ahd reward the services of one of the nob- lest professions in the field of human activities—a profession-that in lofty ideals, in unselfish principles, in sacred responsibilities; stands side by side with the ministry of the Gospel itself. ; ; ~,: We wish to bespeak, with whatever power and authority we may have and with-such words as may be granted to us, some measure of considera- teachers of the United States of America. “There is no class of workers of whom, we demand so much. We com- mit into their keeping the minds, the bodies, and the very souls of our children in the tender and formative years of their lives, and they, receiv- ing these children, can indeed be said to hold inthe hollow of their hands‘the future of America. We'expect these devoted men and women,-to,"watch tion’ for the fost€r-fathers and-mothers of our children—the school- , over and care for our sons and.daughters as tho they-were their very.own, S /, to drill them in the arts and sciences, to train them for business and for citi- zenship, to instruct them in manners and in.morals, to do for them those things which we would do had we thé training and the leisure. . No class has assumed so heavy, sotrying a burden and a responsibility with such willingness as these consecrated men and womeri. No/class has performed its increasingly heavy tasks more devotedly, more conscien- tiously, and with less thought of self. whole-heartedly, more loyally, during the trying and tempestuous times of war, day by day pursuing its round of duty, day by day helping the young pople, and through the children the parents, to see the struggle in its true light, thus securing the cooperation of the community in every measure™ undertaken by the Government to win, the war. Bee fe + Truly they have made the*naticn theireverlasting debtor. Truly had they not done their Work so well this republic would not outlast the span of a generation. p - What then have the teachers received at-ous-hands in return? They ae have received little of honor and somewhat less of pay. Other classes have \ prosperéd; other classes through powerful organizations have secured gen- erous wages, ‘The teachers have no spokesman, however, to demand even the simple justice of a living wage,so to them we give their petty pre-war pittanée, so meager, so pitifully inadequate, that it places; a’burning: brand of shame and disgrace upon this nation. | The men and women who are making the Americans of to-morrow are being treated with less consideration than the janitors who sweep out the buildings in which they are employed; they are earning, on the average,. less than the wages given to the scrubwomien employed in the public build- ings of the United States Government. Normal-school gr@duates receive less salary than street-sweepers; high-school principals and superintend- ents less than section foremer; country school-teachers less for instructing the farmer's’children than he pays his hi¥ed man to feed his hogs.‘ «| i+ Tnacertain town of Illinois, for instance, the average wage of fifteen miners for one month was $217, while the/average monthly salary of fifteen teachers in the same town was $55. In another town ‘4 miner, who, by.the way, Was ah enemy. alien, drew more than $2,700 last year, while the salary of thé high-school principal in the same town was $765. We welcome with ~~ all our hearts the long-belated recognition that is being given to the nian” who works with'his hands.. We believe that this same workingmah will be ‘the first to join with-us in askifig better pay for those who teach his children. TONES OMT — «\ No class serV¥ed its country. more’ - i hildren No wonden there are fifty thoysand vacancies in the teaching forces of the schools. , No wonder the ranks are being filled with weak men-and with, immature Women who merely use the profession as a stepping-stone. to something better. No wonder,there are thirty thousand teaichers in the United States who have had no schooling beyond the eighth grammar grade. Small wonder, indeed; that seven million of our school-children ase being trained by teachqrs, mere boys and girls themselves, who ‘have had no professional education whatever. ae ee oe x x \ 1 When we consider that the 740,000 teachers of America are paid an average salary of $630.a year; when, morevover, we consider the fact:that living costs have actually advanced 103 per cent. since the beginning of the war, thereby cutting the:buying-power of those insignificant salaries in half, we can easily determine that only a fool or a martyr would, choose teaching as a profession, or would long remain in it unless these terrible conditions were swiftly remedied. ‘ What.a crime is this! What an indictment! What an unpardonable sitrat the Moors of an enlightened people who now.find themselves at, the head and forefi‘ont of the democracies of' the world! How can. we better. prepare for the great undertakings of reconstruction thar by setting our= selves immediately to remedying this perilous condition? In these trying and chaotic times when the world is beset by unrest, by anarehy, by revolu- tion, by the devil’s brood of appalling evils that follow in the train of war, we must make sure that the'foundations of our republic are set on a rock that it may stand against the flood. ren The peace and' security of the world of the future will be in the safe- keeping of the generation now in our schools. These boys and girls must weave up *‘the raveled sleeve” of civilization. Their hands must minister to the wounds of the nations. Their minds must meet and solve the diffi- cult and crucial problems that will‘be their inheritance. Their hearts must be so imbied with the horrors of war’ and’ with the ‘poverty and anguish that inevitably foHow-in its wake that-they in:their time will enter upon it only as a last resort in national self-defense or in support of some great . . principle of humanity. dy that the light of Mpiesssviens shall so shine that it ay Neyer‘has there been a More urgent need for. high-minded,. great-hearted, splendidly trained, 100 per cent. American instructors to drive home the vital lessons that, these times hold, Never has the future’ of the nation been so clearly committed into the hands of the teachers. And yet thou- sands of men and women of ability who ‘vould prefer to teach ‘are reluctantly leaving their chosen , ‘calling, forced by the hard necessities of their very existence. |“ é : G The teaehers ask no largess:at:the hands of fortune. ‘They enter their profession for service, not riches. But they invest years and money in préparation for their life work, and the knowledge they gain is shared with others who themselves usé-it to their own\profit. Teachers, then,’ by every right and‘in all justice expect a return‘ that will permit (thent and Seir dependents to ive decently and in comfort. - ooe Ps "" Inevery commianity reached by THE LITERARY DIGEST there are readers of foresight, of - vision, broad-minded men and thoughtful women who will see—nay, perhaps have long since seen— - the critical and compelling importance of this problem. We are directing this appeal to them. We urge them to compare the salaries of their teachers with the wages of those who are doing wark of , equal value. There will be a challenge in the facts that will stir the community to action. . 4 _, Lev each community. invest in. schools so that, it may thereby invest .in a trained manhood and womanhood that can play their part in'the great period of rebuilding and reconstruction that lies before us. Let each community set for its goal, as far as is practicablé;a minimum wage of at least ,$1j090 a iyear for: the teachers of America. This ‘would cost the nation perhaps as much ‘as we oe glotiously in‘but one week of thé Great ‘War. eee ee We att’ not pleading merely for the welfare of some single profession; we are not pleading for-a special class; we are pleading for America: for her larger, her brighter, her richer future, for the fulfilment of her glorious promise. We are pleading for a cbniing race ‘of men and women who’ shall-be qualified to make complete the work of our forefathérs who founded this nation and dedicated it to liberty, and who will bring to full fruition the new victories that we have won in free: ° dom’s cause. We are pleading for a wider teaching of the principles; the Purposes, and the ideals Of this nation that all men shail know hey meaning and shall have equal ‘access to her opportunities ; ee ; shall flood évery home, ‘every heart, in our' great land Since This Appeal Was Printed in the New York Papers, May 5th GOVERNOR SMITH has signed the Bill generously increasing the pay of the school teachers of New York State and in doing so wrote: “Neglect the school-houses and you provide a fertile field for the spread of the doctrines of the discontented, who, without a proper understanding of the benefits and blessings of our free country, cry out from the street corners of our important cities for the downfall of our state and the dissolution of :dur union.” os