in, what was it, thirty days? The goal not even yet in sight? No,
because better pavement was imperative--and it came. Still something
lacking? An up-to-date street lighting system--you put some of your men
to work on it and it is now our pride and our neighbors' despair. And so
I might go on, I do not need to. Only let me say that it will be a sad
day for Grand Forks when we shall think that we have really reached the
goal--when there is not something toward which we are striving.

I am glad that, in this same spirit, you have now turned your gaze to
the school house. Let us apply there the same principle of free,
intelligent discussion and hearty, generous co-operation, each trying to
outdo the other in loyalty and generous support, hoping, eventually, to
make our schools the "finest in the Northwest," and "up-to-date in every
respect."

But this is a pretty big subject for treatment in an after-dinner talk
of from 15 to 20 minutes. It involves so much, embracing within its
scope, as it may, everything from finance to theology. The very function
of the school, in the large, might well be considered under such a
topic, and scores of details. I might well talk upon the education of
teachers as I do before my classes, or upon educational
psychology--vital subjects all, but scarcely appropriate here. It is,
indeed, a large and interesting subject, lots of places to catch hold.
Manifestly, I can treat it only superficially. All that I can do is
merely in the line of suggestion, trying to direct your attention to
some of the general features, somewhat objective in character.

The first suggestion I have to make is along this very line--the
greatness, the many-sidedness of the educational problem and the need of
general community intelligence in regard to it. Indeed, there are many
aspects of the school work, countless number of details touching books,
courses of study, immediate and remote ends, as well as the larger
philosophical bases, in which the public is deeply interested but
imperfectly informed. Many a parent is ignorant as to what the schools
are trying to do, and why? Not comprehending the end in view,
unintelligent as to the means being used, and with little time or
ability to investigate, friction often arises. The public and its
educational system, the homes and the schools, the teachers and the
parents, should in some way be brought closer together and an
opportunity given for their mutual understanding. The