For the third time, the members of the Southern California Teachers' Association met in annual session in the auditorium of the Normal School building at Los Angeles, March 27th and 30th, inclusive.

When the Asociation convened on the morning of the 27th, the sky was heavily overcast, and the downpour of rain betokened little cheer. But the proverbial spirit of enterprise and determination,

which has ever been such a marked characteristic of Southern California, asserted itself in defiance of the storm clouds, and ere nightfall, representative teachers from nearly a dozen counties found their way into the Southern Metropolis.

The first meeting was held on Wednesday afternoon in the recep tion room of the High School building, and was devoted to a discussion of the subject of "English as It Is, and As It Should Be Taught in the High School." The discussion by University and High School teachers was earnest, and evinced the fact that some believed that the course and work should be varied from year to year, while others argued that great care should be observed in making such changes,

and that the old classics must continue to stand as the basis for all work in High School English.

In the evening President Kellogg, of the State University, delivered a very able, progressive and independent lecture on "Over Specialization.". His address is worth very much more than a volume of the proceedings (if published) will cost. He spoke substantially as follows:

"College studies are much more numerous than formerly, and by college studies I mean such as fit for professsional life, whether taken in a college course or not. This multiplicity has necessarily led to a separation of courses. Scientific schools grew up alongside of academic courses, as at Yale and Harvard. Still later came the adoption of the elective system, differentiating the academic courses. The modern tendency, therefore, is to specialization.

"This may easily become a danger to sound education. Too early specializing is a misfortune to anyone who is to study for a profession -either one of the old professions or one of the many new ones.

"Take the medical student. He needs a broad foundation for his professional work. He is to live in the eye of the public, and should be en rapport with all intelligent people. Even more is this true of the law student. It will not do for him to ignore the common requirements of the higher education. The engineer needs to know how to tell what he knows. The journalist should be omnivorous. The drain on a writer for the daily press is tremendous. All his acquisitions will come into play.

"Over-specializing is especially injurious to the teacher. He, of all men, should have a wide acquaintance with the thoughts of educated people. He must know much more than his pupils; and no range of acquisitions is too great for his work, for his own freshness of interest and power in the class-room.

"If specialization for professional study is in danger of being premature, much more is this true of High School studies. If the miniature pupil shuts himself up within narrow walls before he can properly judge of his needs, he may spoil his prospects for a lifetime. There is in the High School an election between several courses, but the courses themselves should be consecutive, and give a solid foundation for after-specializing. A single line of view is not enough. Specializing is important, but it must not be made to suffer by undergeneralizing."

Thursday morning was devoted to a discussion of the High

School, its proper management, its curricula and all adjuncts subsidiary thereto.

In the afternoon, Hon. S. T. Black, State Superintendent, delivered a carefully-prepared address upon "Recent School Legislation and Its Meaning," in which he deplored some errors that had been committed, and expressed disappointment in the fact that certain measures had not become law. However, he found some things upon which he wished to congratulate school people.

The Teaching of Physics and Chemistry in the Primary Schools" was discussed in a thoughtful manner by George Hitchcock, of Pomona. Miss Belle Frazee, of San Diego, read a paper upon "The Correlation of Studies in Elementary Schools."

At 7:30 in the evening, City Superintendent Search, of Los Angeles, spoke upon "Educational Economy." With a broad sweep, he took in the whole range of the subject, but dwelt particularly and forcibly upon the unjust loss entailed upon the individual upon whom a strict conformity to class work and class regulations is imposed by the, now, almost universal policy.

The auditorium, which had been well filled on Thursday, would scarcely seat the throng of people who came on Friday morning. Miss Ada McLaughlin, of the Los Angeles Normal, was the first speaker. With a commanding appearance, a thoughtful eye, and a soft, though well-rounded voice, all speaking in unison, she held her audience from the utterance of her first sentence until she retired, followed by a storm of applause at the close. Her subject was "Color and Form in Elementary Grades." She said:

"Our learning and skill are of no avail if we lack faith, if we do not truly worship the themes we interpret. We must be filled with love for our vocation, and fear nothing. Children learn to appreciate the beautiful in Nature and in ornament, and the principles also that give the production of beauty in decorative design. The taste and color and sense are cultivated by the use of colored paper and the paint box. The great delight in color, which is conspicuous in children, should be continuously employed as the natural stimulus to the mastery of correct forms. The essential difference between Greek and American art exists in our different comprehension of God. "American art has Christianity for its foundation. The Greeks had different conceptions of God. But all true art can have but a common aim, through beauty to educate now to a better understanding and a more perfect love of the Creator."

A STRANGE KNIGHT IN THE Field.

Prof. T. H. Kirk, ex-Assistant State Superintendent of Minnesota, next addressed the Association.

Professor Kirk is a man who does his own thinking in an unconventional, unfashionable, and un-cast-in-the-mould sort of manner. As a speaker he is fearless, self possessed, and deliberate.

He says: "Our methods, in spite of efforts to the contrary, are crude in the extreme. Am not satisfied with either induction or deduction- certainly not with certain kinds of deductions. There are fewer quacks among teachers than are to be found among the members of any other profession. Yet there are among us those who have hobbies, and others who adopt fads! Hobbies and fads differ in that the former are individual and the latter general or public. Hobbies are of three kinds-the automatic hobby, continually asserting itself; the inoffensive, wooden hobby, and the vicious hobby which, like the famous Trojan horse, contains within itself a score of enemies. A thing becomes a fad when it is adopted as being popular. Unfortunately, some teachers adopt fads. I am inclined to believe that while we are bright and progressive enough as teachers, we are disposed to be acephalous. In following future lines of pedagogy, we should be more systematic, more united in purpose. Let us have such a coördination of studies as will place every subject in such manner that each will help all of the others. In all these things we must have a leader. Where is our Moses? Let us study "Individualism" thoroughly before we go to an extreme in favor of or against it. We should remember that the reclusive does not tend to the highest order of development. As yet, we have poor facility for "Individualism." Shall we first get the facility and then proceed, or shall we proceed until we gain the confidence of the people and then acquire the facility? Trust your pupils; but don't let that trust begin by instituting a police surveillance to see them become incarnate by the Devil."

A READY CHAMPION.

During Professor Kirk's address, it was noticed that the erstwhile cool climate of Los Angeles had become perceptibly warmer, and at the conclusion, Professor Earl Barnes, of Stanford University, influenced by the mercurial pressure, gained the floor. He began by saying: "Mr. President, I have a wild desire to talk on this subject. I must protest against the position taken by the speaker. It was once only necessary to damn a man by the word 'heretic.' Now, it seems

almost as easy to damn any new work by the word 'fad.' A good thing should have the cordial support of every educational man until it is proven bad. A man who undertakes a great thing should not be branded by the odium of ' faddist.'

Professor Barnes had understood the allusions of Professor Kirk to apply specifically to the individualism in instruction now in vogue in Los Angeles under the supervision of Superintendent Search.

Prof. John Dickinson said: "In these days of evolutionary thought many scientific facts, when first presented, are hooted at. In the matter of the modern education of the twentieth century, we must accept the old apostolic creed of 'prove all things, and hold fast to that which is good.'"

Professor Keyes said: "Far be it from this Association to bar any one from the position of critic; but let him be sure that he knows what he talks about. Let us not obstruct. It means much. It will take time to develop this, and the future education of Southern California, which is of the widest interest to all, will be affected for years by the result of this work. Each should bring all that is good to bear on it, but no one should criticise it until it is tested."

Professor Search said: "The present graded system does not meet the requirements of the time. Individualism will. It recognizes the necessities of the child, not in conformity to a type, but to his needs. The work has no daily limit. It makes self-reliant and independent workers. As a system in Los Angeles, it is now in its infancy, but it is a work receiving wide attention all over the United States."

Although Professor Kirk was, in a measure, misunderstood, the discussion, which was participated in by others, was of great interest and value to the Association.

Mr. M. B. McDuffie, President of the School Board of Santa Barbara, read an able paper upon "English in the Public Schools."

AN INTELLECTUAL MICROSCOPIST.

Dr. Angel, of Stanford University, was next introduced. His subject was The New Witchcraft." In the discussion, he established his right as an authority; for, like a veritable wizard, he held his audience as in a spell. A rich vein of humor enters into the doctor's composition and serves very happily in bringing out in bright relief the rich gems of profound scholarship and thought which make the man.