other States. Compulsory laws cause the enrolment of large numbers of children whose previous training is chiefly of the kind that fosters vice, and whose surroundings outside the school-room are only such as encourage a distaste for restraint and an utter disregard for authority. All public schools must contend more or less with this class of pupils, but they are naturally more numerous and troublesome in the schools in which the attendance of all children of every class is compelled. They do not attend at all unless they are obliged to do so, and when forced to present themselves at school they take no interest in their studies, seek only to hinder the progress of others, and take advantage of every pretext to absent themselves from their duties. How to manage such children is one of the gravest questions with which school men have to deal. They must not be excluded from the schools entirely, but their influence tends to demoralize better disposed scholars, if instructed in the regular schools. They should not be committed to reformatories or other institutions for criminals, for they are not criminals, and association with vicious characters can only prove detrimental to them.

The most satisfactory means of dealing with incorrigibles of this stamp is believed to be the establishment of "truant schools," under the management of men peculiarly fitted for such work. The following quotations indicate the reasons for such belief:

"In September, 1885, the truant school was established. The design of this school was to provide a place where the habitually truant boy, the mischievous and ungovernable boy, the newsboy, and the bootblack who must have a portion of school time for their work, where all these could be suitably instructed and firmly controlled.

"The good effects of the school were immediately apparent. Habitual truants and the incorrigible were speedily gathered into this school, and punishment and suspension ceased elsewhere. The good influence of this school was not only felt, but it became tangible in reports. In previous years suspensions for inexcusable absence and for misconduct had averaged about 240; in 1884-85 they were 225; in 1885-86 they decreased to 98, and in 1886-87 to 92, while corporal punishment became a thing of the past. "There can be no question as to the wisdom of the board in establishing this school, nor as to its restraining and reforming power over all the schools of the city." [Superintendent C. B. Thomas, East Saginaw, Mich.]

"As much less complaint of truancy has reached me than in former years, it would seem probable that the existence of the county truant school has exercised a salutary influence, and though truancy is by no means obsolete in this town, I have no hesitation in saying that the school is of great value in restraining it, and trust that the institution may be kept up.' [Superintendent T. H. Day, Pittsfield, Mass.]

"I find that since it has been possible for the town to use the truant school it has been much easier to bring the truants into school." [Mr. Charles L. Frink, truant officer, North Adams, Mass.]

"I also desire to call the attention of the board to the demand for some means of separating the incorrigible and demoralizing class of pupils from those who attend school with unobjectionable habits and morals. This should be done without turning them into the street. My recommendation is that a separate school be established for truants and those who require corporal punishment. One teacher could do this work for the present, and it should be one of the most capable and conscientious teachers obtainable. Pupils should be transferred to and from this school in accordance with such regulations as may be established, and a truant officer should be appointed to assist in enforcing these regulations. * I believe this measure would be of great benefit to our schools." [Superintendent D. C. Tillotson, Topeka, Kans.]

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*

"I also recommended that we avail ourselves of these provisions of the statutes, and that for this purpose we invite two or more of the neighboring municipalities to join with us in a petition to the county commissioners for the establishment and maintenance of a school to which truants, and in case the Legislature shall give the requisite authority, those pupils who persistently refuse to comply with the reasonable rules and regulations of the schools' may be sent for discipline and instruction.

"Another year's observation and reflection have strengthened my conviction that the need of such a school is imperative, and that the best interests of our schools require its establishment. I again respectfully commend the subject to your consideration." [Superintendent Thomas Emerson, Newton, Mass.]

"The number of actual truants in our school is very small, but the difficulty of dealing with them is just as perplexing as if their number were larger. The absence of a suitable institution for the confinement, discipline, and instruction of habitual truants makes a great deal of work for the truant officers. They have no effectual means of inspiring the boy with a wholesome respect for their authority, and thus to enforce his attendance at school, except the fact that if caught he will be returned to school; nor can the committee devise any means to assist the officers in the absence of a truant school, which are not objectionable because of their dangerous results. Boys who play truant are not criminals, and cannot be treated as such. They stay away from school simply

because they do not like the restraint which constant application to study requires. If they should be sent to the State Reform School, or any similar institution, the stigma upon their character may turn them into the very path from which they should be kept. "At the same time, their absence from school, wandering about the streets, inculcates idleness and shiftless habits, and leaves them to engage in evil practices which may lead to criminal acts. The scholars who attend school and are inclined to truancy, seeing that the efforts of the officers to return absentees to school are vain, become emboldened, and try playing truant themselves, and the result is to extend the evil of truancy among those scholars who are at first inclined to attend school regularly. So long as public officers dawdle with a question of so much public importance as the establishment of truant schools, we shall be without a remedy for this evil." [From the Report of the School Committee of Marblehead, Mass.]

"The confining in reformatories of children between eight and fourteen years, who have committed no crime, but who refuse to obey parents, and allowing them to associate with older children who have been committed for crime, appears to be a very grave matter. On this account very few children are committed each year.

"To remedy this evil it seems to be necessary that a reformatory school should be established, under the direct control of the board, for the discipline, instruction, and reforming of habitual truants and non-attendants. In this school the children should be taught some business or trade, so that when they leave school they will be fairly equipped to gain a livelihood." [Superintendent John Jasper, New York City.]

"No provision has yet been made for truants and incorrigibles. The superintendent, in annual reports and in monthly communications to the board, has urged the necessity of establishing a school where such persons could be taught and trained. The publicschool principals have also advocated such a measure. This question is of vital importance, not only on account of those who need special training, but also, and in larger measure, for the sake of all our pupils whose character depends so much upon their association with each other.

"The great majority of children are obedient and well trained; they should not be in danger of contamination by a vicious element. A city home should be established, to which children who need a special training could be sent for instruction and reformation, but not as criminals for punishment. They should be obliged to live there, undergoing a regular system of duties and instruction, subject to rules appropriate to the institution." [Superintendent Clarence E. Meleney, Paterson, N. J.]

"In my opinion, a special school should be established in this city, into which confirmed and persistent truants should be sent and confined for a reasonable length of time, as a punishment for non-attendance at school. Many parents and guardians who fail to properly discipline their children, either from negligence or want of ability, or who have lost control over them, would welcome such an institution and heartily indorse the plan. It should not partake of the character of a penal institution except in the feature of confinement for a reasonable length of time, and children should be admitted only for truancy or refractory conduct in the regular schools. As soon as an inmate could give a satisfactory guarantee of future good conduct and faithful attendance in his regular school, he should be discharged, and taken into a regular school on probation.

"I believe, as I have said in a previous report, that the knowledge, merely, of the existence of such a school, would largely deter truancy.

"Such a school would never become large, and need not incur a great expense, while its benefits to the school system would be immense in the way of discipline, not only to the truant element of the school, but to the whole department.

"But there is another view of this subject to be considered, and of far more seriousness than the mere absence from school of the truant and his educational loss. It is the moral view. Truancy in many cases is the first step toward the walks and haunts of criminals. Many at first well-disposed children are indulged in 'playing the truant' by kind parents, and, occasionally, by careless or indifferent teachers, until they come in contact with the 'street Arabs,' who skulk from place to place watching for an opportunity to pilfer or commit some depredation, and thus become the tyros of State criminals." [Superintendent James F. Crooker, Buffalo, N. Y.]

"Inexcusable absence, tardiness, and truancy are rife in too many of our schools. This last-named evil is still rampant, for our incorrigibles know too well that until a truant school becomes a tangible entity, or the Lawrence Industrial School can take all of Lynn's truants, they are free to defy all law and order. Some of our citizens view this desire for a truant school as a mere sentiment or convenience on the part of teachers and school officers, believing that it is an effort to rid schools and teachers of a few unruly boys, assuming that if schools are attractive and teachers loving and amiable there will be no truants. We can fully assure all such opinioned advisers that if they will give one week of thorough personal experience to this whole matter, with us who know the 'ins and outs' of truancy, they will find that the attractive school and the amiable,

loving teachers, are sweets that truants do not cry for, do not long for. No person unacquainted with the proclivities of these children and their various conditions and circumstances in a city like Lynn, is qualified to ascribe to mere sentiment or convenience any effort of teachers or school officers to suppress truancy. Our city swarms with habitual and incorrigible truants whom parents can not induce or the law oblige to go to school. * * * They are becoming the worst class of juvenile offenders, some figuring as petty thieves, burglars, and vagrants. Not until Lynn, as a city, insists that the county commissioners comply with the statute requirements, will there be a truant school established, unless Lynn is forced to build one in self-defence, and which it well can do with pecuniary as well as great moral benefit." [Superintendent O. B. Bruce, Lynn, Mass.]

"Provision has already been made for the confinement, discipline, and instruction of habitual truants. Is it not equally important that a law be enacted under which a child who attends school, but who persistently violates the rules and regulations necessary to secure the object for which schools are maintained, shall be dealt with in a similar manner? The truant suffers personal loss when out of school, but does not occasion loss to those who attend; while the persistently disobedient and refractory pupil profits little, if any, by being in school, and seriously interferes with the progress of others. In dealing with such pupils at the present time, the only means available as a last resort is to expel them from school, and by so doing make them companions of the truant, thereby defeating the very object sought to be accomplished. A year ago an effort was made to secure a change in the law relating to truancy, so as to include among the classes of children affected by its provisions those who persistently refuse to comply with the reasonable rules and regulations of the school. *

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"The importance of securing these amendments can not be realized except by persons familiar with the work of schools. It is often the case that a single boy by his repeated acts of disobedience almost monopolizes the time and vitality of the teacher, and thereby deprives the other pupils of the instruction to which they are entitled. Such boys are the anarchists of the school community, and should be treated as the worst enemies of its order and welfare; but the means of dealing with them are insufficient. There can be no worse policy than to let them remain where their presence is a constant injury to others. It is hoped that during the coming session of the Legislature the proposed amendments will be adopted, and the incorrigible pupil, as well as the truant, provided with 'a suitable place' where he can receive instruction without interfering with those who are disposed to make good use of their school privileges.

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But

"By statute all cities and towns are required to provide themselves with suitable places for the restraint, discipline, and instruction of truants. In Cambridge, and in many other cities and towns, the almshouse is the place to which truants are sent. there is a general feeling that an almshouse is not a proper place for the confinement of this class of children. A truant school should be one of rare excellence, and all the surroundings and influences should be helpful. In the management of our truants at the present time there is no cause for complaint, for the superintendent of the almshouse is an exceptional man for such a position. The objections lie in the character of the place, and in the fact that the school is but an adjunct of the institution, and from the nature of the case must be considered of secondary importance." [Superintendent Francis Cogswell, Cambridge, Mass. ]

SUBURBAN SCHOOLS.

In many localities the city board of education must, in addition to the management of the city schools, supervise and, to a certain extent, control the schools in the contiguous country districts. As these schools are usually of a rather inferior character, the following from the pen of Dr. A. P. Stone, city superintendent, Springfield, Mass., is pertinent and to the point:

"There is no good reason why the suburban children should not have as good school accommodations as those in the larger centres of population. And the same remark will apply with equal force to their opportunities of instruction. If music, drawing, and penmanship, well-taught, are desirable for the central schools, so must they be also for those in the outlying districts. The fact that such pupils have their homes remote from the city's business activity, with less opportunity for mingling with their fellows, and for social privileges, rather emphasizes their need of the best schools that can be given them. Neither locality nor sparseness of population should interfere with equality of school opportunities. It is injustice to children to curtail their privileges because their schools are small and expensive. The reasonableness of the expense of schools is not to de decided by the cost of a single school; but rather by the average for the whole city or town, with all due allowance for circumstances. The United States mail delivers many letters in small hamlets at an expense many times greater than the cost of the

stamps affixed to such letters; but while that is true in comparatively small communities, it is also true that, in large cities and towns, where the population is massed, the Government derives a revenue from every letter delivered. The department is judged by its average expenditures and receipts. It may cost more to educate a child at Sixteen Acres or at Dry Bridge than in one of our central schools in the city; but the excess of that cost above the average is more than offset by the difference in the cases of the many whose rate is lower than the average."

EVENING SCHOOLS.

In the accompanying table are shown the number of teachers, total enrolment, average attendance, and per cent. of attendance in the evening schools of 148 cities. Of the 684 cities from which returns were received only these report evening schools. The reasons for the universal complaint of irregular attendance in these schools may be readily understood after an inspection of Column 11 of the table, especially if it be remembered that a low percentage of attendance in evening schools indicates a far more rapid decrease than the same percentage in the day schools would show.

The smallest attendance in proportion to enrolment shown by any city is that of Fitchburg, Mass. In explanation of this, the superintendent, Mr. J. G. Edgerly, says in his report:

"A great many persons attended the evening schools for two or three evenings. Their names were placed upon the registers and they were reckoned as members. Some of the schools were in session three months. This accounts for the small average attendance as compared with the whole number."

And in another connection: "The schools have not accomplished as much as their friends anticipated, for they have not been well graded, the attendance has been irregular, and experienced teachers could not be obtained. More system is needed. Each year's experience aids us."

In regard to the explanation that those who attended only two or three evenings were reckoned as members, and that to this fact is due the low percentage, it may be said that such is the rule in the majority of cities, and ought to be in all city schools of every kind whatsoever. If the number of such pupils is large the assumption is warranted that there is something wrong with the school, and there is no reason worthy of a conscientious teacher for "doctoring" the statistics by excluding those who discover in two or three sessions that the school is neither a pleasant nor a profitable place. There can be no doubt that the principal reason for the particularly unsatisfactory attendance in the case mentioned lies in the fact that "experienced teachers could not be obtained." The very best teachers find it difficult to make evening schools successful, and if skilful and experienced instructors are not obtained the fate of the schools can not be long in doubt. The experience of every city reporting to this Bureau has shown this to be true.

The inexperience of teachers is not always the cause of poor attendance. The conditions that lead to irregularity can not be removed by the most competent instructors, or by the most careful attention to the comfort of the pupils, and it seems to be certain that a high standard of attendance is unattainable in ordinary evening schools open to all applicants, except, possibly, by the strict enforcement of some law similar to that in force in Massachusetts, of which mention is made below.

Reference to the table will show a number of instances in which the percentage of attendance exceeds 75. It is likely, however, that these high averages are almost invariably due to either some arrangement to prevent the enrolment of all but the most studions, or to some very peculiar method of keeping the records.

New Brunswick, N. J., reports the highest ratio of attendance, 87.7. Examination into the methods by which such a percentage was attained shows that a cash deposit is required of each pupil as a guarantee of good behavior and regular attendance. Further investigation shows that though 1,894 children of school age were not even enrolled in either the private or public day schools, only 57, all told, were registered in the evening schools. But these were quite regular in attendance, progressed well in their studies, and no doubt praised the efficacy of the deposit plan in keeping out "undesirable " pupils.

The passage of the "Illiterate minor bill" by the Massachusetts Legislature has had the effect of greatly augmenting the attendance in and importance of evening schools in that State. This bill forbids the employment of any minor over fourteen years of age who can not read and write in the English language, in any town or city in which eve ning schools are conducted, unless said minor be a regular attendant of a day or evening school. Even with such a law in force it will be seen from the table that but few of the cities and towns of the State have secured note-worthy regularity of attendance, even in those localities in which the statute is supplemented by the deposit plan. At Worcester, the birth-place of the dollar-deposit idea, the ratio is but 46.5.

The schools of Chicopee, Mass., are worthy of distinguished commendation, for in them the instruction appears to be excellent and of sufficient attractiveness to hold the pupils to their work with remarkable steadiness. The deposit plan is in use, but it is probable that the objections to it are largely obviated by the operation of the compulsory law.

The Lawrence, Mass., schools evidently improved during the session of 1887-88, for the last printed report received by this Bureau gave no intimation of the high state of efficiency indicated by the figures for the past year.

TABLE 19.-Statistics of Teachers, Enrolment, and Attendance in Evening Schools.