g, and educated persons.

Not long ago I had occasion to visit a teacher's institute in a
northwestern state, in which there were enrolled 350 teachers. Some of
these were college graduates and many of them were normal school
graduates from various states. One had only to conduct a round table in
order to experience a very spirited reaction. Colonel Homer B. Sprague,
who was once president of the University of North Dakota, used to say
that it always wrenched him to kick at nothing. There would be no
danger, in such a body of teachers as I have referred to, of wrenching
oneself. I have had occasion many times every year to meet these western
teachers in local associations, in teachers' institutes, and in state
conventions; and from my observations and experience I can truthfully
state that they are fully as responsive and as progressive as the
teachers in other parts of the country.

=Rural Schools no Better than Formerly.=--Notwithstanding all this, it
is probably true that the rural schools of to-day are, on the whole, but
little better than those of twenty years ago. About that time I served
four years as county superintendent of schools in a western state. As I
recall the condition of the schools of that day I feel sure that there
has been but little real progress. Indeed, for reasons which will be
stated later on, it can be safely asserted that in some parts of the
country there has been a deterioration.

About thirty years ago I had the experience of teaching rural schools
for several terms. Being acquainted with my coworkers, I met them
frequently in teachers' gatherings and in conventions of various kinds.
If my memory is to be trusted I can again affirm that the teachers of
those days do not compare unfavorably with the rural school teachers of
the present time. And if the teacher is the measure of the school, the
same may be said of the schools.

Nor is this all. About forty years ago I was attending a rural school
myself. I received all of my elementary education in such schools and I
am convinced that many of my teachers were stronger personalities than
the teachers of to-day.

=Some Improvement.=--It is not intended here to assert or to convey the
impression that there has been no progress in any direction in the rural
schools. It is the personnel of the country school--the strength and
power of initiative in the teachers of that day--that is here referred
to. Although there has been some progress in m