Director Soldan stated that, while he was willing in all things to follow the directions of the board, he much preferred that some other member from among the large number so competent for this service should be elected to the vacancy. Director Pearse, of Nebraska, moved that the Secretary be instructed to cast the ballot of the board for the election of Director F. Louis Soldan, of Missouri, as member of the Board of Trustees for four years, to succeed himself. The motion was seconded and carried without dissent. The Secretary having reported that the ballot had been cast in accordance with instructions, President Beardshear declared Director Soldan elected as a member of the Board of Trustees. On motion of Director Ramsey, of Virginia, Director William T. Harris was elected to succeed himself as a member of the Executive Committee for the term of one year. President Beardshear announced as the next order of business the receiving of invitations for the next annual convention. Director E. D. Ressler, assistant professor of education in the University of Oregon, presented an invitation from the cities of the north Pacific coast, stating that these cities had united in an invitation and an earnest request that the next convention be held at that one of the cities of the north Pacific coast which the Executive Committee should select as the best suited for entertaining the association. This invitation was seconded and supported in a brief address by Director C. M. Sherman, president of the Puget Sound Schoolmasters' Club. Director Charles M. Jordan, superintendent of schools of Minneapolis, presented an invitation from the city of Minneapolis for the next meeting, calling attention to the fact that the Board of Directors, at the Buffalo meeting, had voted in favor of holding the convention in 1897 in Minneapolis, but, owing to the fact that another convention had previously been located in that city on the same dates chosen by the National Educational Association, the Executive Committee deemed it advisable to hold the convention in the city of Milwaukee instead. He now wished to renew the invitation of the city of Minneapolis for the year 1902, with assurances that all the usual facilities for holding the convention would be supplied. Director Springer, of Michigan, moved that the matter of the location of the next annual convention be referred without vote by the directors to the Executive Committee with power to act. This motion was seconded and passed without dissent. Director Greenwood, chairman of the Committee on Investigations and Appropri ations of the National Council, presented the following resolution: Resolved, That the sum of two hundred dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, be, and hereby is, appropriated to defray the necessary clerical expenses of the committee named by a round table of the Department of Superintendence to collect information regarding the progress, means, and results of consolidating rural schools; provided, that all bills against this appropriation shall be certified as correct by the chairman of the committee aforesaid. Director Greenwood stated that the resolution had been handed to his committee, and had met with its approval and concurrence, tho it had not yet been acted upon by the National Council, and could not be acted upon by that body before its next meeting, on Friday afternoon, July 12. He further explained that, unless action was taken by the Board of Directors at this meeting, in advance of recommendation by the Council, the result would be that the matter would lie over for an entire year before it could be formally acted upon by this body. This would be a disappointment to the committee of state superintendents who desired to proceed at once with the formulation of the proposed report. On motion, the resolution was approved, subject to concurrent action of the National Council.' The Committee on Nomination of members of the National Council presented the following report: Members of the Board of Directors of the National Educational Association: Your committee finds the following vacancies in the National Council, viz.: By reason of expiration of term: James M. Green, Trenton, N. J.; Augustus S. Downing, New York, N. Y.; A. R. Taylor, Decatur, Ill.; Charles D. McIver, Greensboro, N. C.; R. B. Fulton, University, Miss. By reason of absence from two consecutive meetings: Frank Rigler, Portland, Ore., whose term expires in 1904. Your committee, deeming it a wise precedent to continue those members of the Council whose services have been especially valuable, nominate for reappointment for the term of six years the five members whose terms expire as noted above. 1904. To succeed Frank Rigler, of Oregon, they nominate R. H. Halsey, of Wisconsin, for the term ending On motion, the report of the committee was received and adopted, and the nominees declared duly elected as members of the Council. Upon motion, after brief discussion, an appropriation of $700, or so much thereof as may be necessary, was made to meet the expenses of the meeting of the Department of Superintendence in 1902 at Chicago, Ill. On motion of Dr. Harris, the following-named educators from South America and Central America, several of whom were in attendance on the sessions of the present convention, were elected corresponding members of the association: From Argentine Republic - Dr. J. B. Zubiaur. From United States of Brazil- A. Fontoura Xavier, Professor Alcides Medrado. From Republic of Chile- Julio Peres Canto, Carlos Silva Cruz, Guillermo Freudenburg. From Republic of Costa Rica-Senor Don Joaquin Bernando Calve. From Republic of Guatemala - Dr. Joaquin Yela. From Republic of Nicaragua-Don Alejandro Bermudez, Don Ramiro Gamez. On motion of Director Butler, of New York, the following resolution was passed with dissent: Resolved, That the sum of one hundred dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, be appropriated to pay the expenses for printing, clerical services, etc., incurred by the Committee of Fifteen appointed under authority of the resolution of the National Council of Education passed July 11, 1898, to inquire into the whole question of a national university; provided that all bills against this appropriation shall be certified as correct by the chairman of the committee aforesaid. There being no further business before the board, the meeting adjourned. IRWIN SHEPARD, Secretary. I The National Council at its meeting July 12 failed to recommend the granting of the appropriation provided for in the resolution; hence the action of the Board of Directors on this resolution is void. - EDITOR. FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PERMANENT SECRETARY TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES SECRETARY'S OFFICE, WINONA, MINN., October 1, 1901. To the Board of Trustees of the National Educational Association: GENTLEMEN: In accordance with your recent action requesting a report of the business of the Secretary's office, I beg leave to submit the following: The inference is that this report is expected to cover, especially, the time since I was elected Secretary by your honorable body. The work since 1893, when I was first elected Secretary by the association, is so interwoven with the work since election as permanent Secretary in 1897 that I have deemed it advisable to extend the report, in some details, over both periods. No directions having been given as to the matter to be included in this report, I have chosen such data as seem to me most interesting and valuable as information to your board and to the active members of the association. When I came into the office of Secretary, in 1893, no records or documents of any kind were on file, excepting a few letters of recent date and a book of minutes of the meetings of the Executive Committee. From 1893 to 1895 the most important work was editing and distributing the annual volume of proceedings. A plan of distribution was established, and since continued, by which every volume sent out can, if necessary, be traced and delivery shown, or, if not delivered, returned to this office. Special attention was given in 1893 and 1894, with considerable success, to the sale of volumes of proceedings of the International Congresses of Education and former publications. THE ACTIVE MEMBERSHIP In 1895, by amendment to the constitution at the Denver meeting, the class of active members was created. From that time an annual salary of $1,500 was allowed the Secretary as compensation for a part of his time, with provisions for the employment of a stenographer and clerk for the Secretary's office; a salary of $750 was also allowed the Treasurer as compensation for the performance of the duties of his office and for clerical assistance. The conduct of the registration department at the time of the annual meeting and the collection of membership revenue from the various railroad companies were included in the duties of the Treasurer until the time of the election of a permanent Secretary, when these duties were transferred to the Secretary, and the Treasurer's salary was discontinued. The records of over fifty thousand annual memberships, printed in the volume of proceedings extending from the Madison meeting in 1884 to the Denver meeting in 1895, were, in the year following the Denver meeting, analyzed and classified, and every person who was eligible and who had been a member more than one year was invited to join the active class under the provisions of the amended constitution. For two years following the Denver meeting no enrollment fee was charged. At the Milwaukee meeting the constitution was amended, requiring an enrollment fee of $2 in addition to annual dues, making the first payment of an active member $4. It has been the policy to date active membership from the earliest year of continuous annual membership, and to allow lapses in annual membership to be recovered by payment of the omitted dues. The following table shows the growth of the active membership from 1895 to date: The number of active members present at the Los Angeles meeting in 1899 was 530, or 24 per cent. of the active membership; at the.Charleston meeting in 1900, 546, or 23.5 per cent. of the active membership; at Detroit in 1901, 1,173, or 41.6 per cent. of the active membership. At the Los Angeles meeting the active membership constituted less than 5 per cent. of the total membership enrolled, both active and associate; at the Charleston meeting, about 19 per cent.; and at Detroit, about 20 per cent. of the total enrollment. Under these circumstances it will be seen that the collection of the dues of active members not in attendance at the annual convention is an important feature of the work of the Secretary's office. The annual withdrawals from membership, shown by the above table to be considerable, are mainly confined to the less permanent element in the profession and to those who were enrolled before an enrollment fee was charged. It rarely occurs that a member in a permanent position, or in high professional standing, discontinues his membership. For this reason the active membership is annually growing stronger and more representative, as well as larger. A noteworthy feature of the active membership is the number and character of the educational institutions which have enrolled-nearly all within the past three years. Most of these institutions have purchased sets of the published proceedings and reports, and have enrolled for the purpose of securing future reports as they are published. enrollment of institutions at this date includes the following: The It is interesting to note that recently the following libraries enrolled as active members and purchased certain back volumes of the proceedings: Cardiff Free Public Libraries, Cardiff, Wales. Even among individuals the idea is gaining ground that it is profitable for those teachers who cannot attend the annual meeting regularly to become active members, that they may secure the published proceedings. The value of the active membership list as a reliable educational directory influences many to seek representation in it, but, without doubt, the leading motive is the desire to be permanently and actively identified with the association and its work. SPECIAL COMMITTEE REPORTS With the Saratoga meeting in 1892 a new movement was inaugurated by the association in the appointment of the special Committee of Ten to investigate and report on courses of study for secondary schools. This report was made in 1893, the year in which 1 From this date the enrollment fee of $2 was required. 2 The record for this year is to date. Some changes will occur before the record is closed. See statistical table at the end of the volume, no session of the association was held. The report was published and distributed extensively by the United States Bureau of Education, but unfortunately was never included in any published volume of proceedings. In 1893 the Committee of Fifteen on Elementary Education was appointed. The report was made to the Department of Superintendence in 1895, and published in the volume of proceedings of that year. In 1895 the Committee of Twelve on Rural Schools was appointed by the Council. Their report was made to the Council in 1897, and published in the volume of proceedings of the Milwaukee meeting. The Committee on College-Entrance Requirements was appointed in 1895; on Normal Schools, in 1895; and on the Relations of Public Libraries to Public Schools, in 1898. These three committees reported at the Los Angeles meeting in 1899, and the reports are all included in the Los Angeles volume. The following is a table showing approximately the distribution to date of the reprints of the several special committee reports: The plates of the report of the Committee of Twelve have been loaned without charge to several state superintendents for use in publishing state editions for free distribution, which have aggregated sixty thousand copies. In addition to the above table, the reports have received the circulation of the volumes of proceedings in which they were pub lished; parts of each report have appeared in the reports of the United States Commissioner of Education and of several state superintendents of public instruction; and extensive reprint editions have been made by various publishing houses of several of the reports which were not copyrighted. The reports of the Committee of Ten and of the Committee of Fifteen were copyrighted and a contract made with the American Book Co. for their publication and sale at 30 cents per copy, the company to pay the association a royalty of 5 cents per copy on all copies sold. These sales have been as follows: REPORT OF ROYALTY SALES OF REPORTS OF COMMITTEE OF TEN AND COMMITTEE OF FIFTEEN BY AMERICAN BOOK CO. |