and also that vocational training be required of minors up to 18 years of age with eight hours of study per week during the day.

In the teaching of English by the conversational method many subjects may be covered which will give the immigrant an understanding of American customs and manners as well as of our laws and institutions. By this method the foreign-born woman may be taught the American ways of cooking, sanitation and housekeeping and other matters of vital concern in her home life. Much of the present radicalism and adherence to revolutionary theories and practice among the foreign-born is due to ignorance and misinterpretation of the principles and policies of the American government and institutions. It is to correct this situation. that the Committee emphasizes the importance of thorough-going and convincing courses of citizenship training, as among the most effective means of checking the forces of disorder in this country. Patriotic training cannot begin too early with the children. The display of the flag in the schoolroom registers upon the child's mind so that the memory of it is not easily erased. The State of New York by law requires the display of the flag, which this Committee recommends should be rigidly enforced. Such laws are quite general, as are also laws providing for patriotic exercises. We quote from the New York State law as follows:

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"In order to promote the spirit of patriotic civic service and obligation and to foster in the children of the state moral and intellectual qualities which are essential in preparing to meet the obligations of citizenship, in peace or in war, the regents of the University of the State of New York shall prescribe courses of instruction in patriotism and citizenship, to be maintained and followed in all the schools of the The boards of education and trustees of the several cities and school districts of the state shall require instruction to be given in such courses by the teachers employed in the schools therein. All pupils attending such schools over the age of eight years shall attend upon such instruction. Similar courses of instruction shall be prescribed and maintained in the private schools of the state and all pupils in such schools over eight years of age shall attend upon such courses."

The committee recommends that this law should be rigidly enforced.

In many States the Board of Education is required to provide a flag or several flags with appropriate equipment for its display in every public school, and in some states the law provides for patriotic exercises in connection with the flag and specifies methods of saluting it.

The State of Washington requires weekly patriotic exercises part of which is the recitation by all the pupils of the salute to the flag. The states requiring and providing flags for school buildings, in addition to New York, are as follows:

Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.

In South Dakota, one hour per week in every public school throughout the state is devoted to teaching patriotism, and in Pennylvania and New Jersey it is part of the duty of the State Commissioner to provide and to have incorporated in school curricula suitable courses in patriotic citizenship and patriotic exercises.

This survey, unfortunately, is not absolutely complete as some of the state laws were not available at the time of compiling this report, but it serves to show the general tendency to reach all children with patriotic ideals.

CHAPTER V

Regulated Attendance

Having determined upon a policy that the immigrant should be educated in the English language and trained in an appreciation and understanding of our government, and having discussed the necessity of selecting and training suitable teachers for this work, the next question which presents itself in providing a completely rounded program of citizenship training is how to get the foreigner to avail himself of the facilities provided.

All sorts of policies of varying degrees of stringency have been and are now being applied in the matter of attendance, from the laissez-faire attitude of some of the southern states, where the immigrant does not constitute a serious problem, to the legislation of the State of Utah, where the problem is not complex but where compulsory attendance is required for adults up to the age of fortyfive or until attaining a knowledge of the English language equivalent to that demanded by the fifth grade of the common schools.

Much is said on both sides of the question of compulsory attendance. Most of the objections, however, are reserved for the compulsion of adults. Compulsion for minors meets little opposition except where it seems impossible to provide the facilities for their training or to enforce any laws which might be passed covering this subject. Citizens do not attain their full civil rights until the age of twenty-one so that legislators appear willing to deny them the rights of deciding upon their schooling until that age, but several instances have been brought to the attention of this Committee of the defeat of bills which have been framed to require the attendance of adults. In fact, Utah is the only state that has succeeded in passing such a law.

In pending legislation in the Federal Congress, dealing with adult immigrant education, the compulsory features have been stricken out. When compulsion is suggested in many circles great opposition is raised on the ground that it is un-American and oppressive, and that it would create suspicion in and be repulsive to many alien adults, especially to those who have suffered from coercive laws in their native land. Of course the creation of such an attitude would not depend entirely upon legislation, but upon the circumstances of its enforcement. The

attitude of the teacher and attendance officers would make or mar its success.

On the other hand many educators argue that the very people who need the influence of American schools are the ones who will not attend classes unless forced to do so. Others argue that the progress which has been made among the illiterates by radical agitators would warrant educational authorities in adopting drastic compulsory measures. Still others would make continued employment contingent upon the attainment of certain educational standards.

Where the foreigner has manifested his willingness and desire to attend school by registering, there is the problem of keeping up his attendance. Lockport and Albany, New York, charge a deposit fee of two dollars and one dollar respectively, which deposit is returned if the pupil maintains a certain attendance. In Connecticut, the State gives a rebate for each pupil who maintains satisfactory attendance, thus putting the responsibility largely upon the teacher.

Virtually all educators and legislators are in favor of making good citizens of our minors, and therefore they are willing to endorse any method to keep track of the minor until he reaches the voting age, so that he will be fully qualified as a voter. But if he once becomes a voter or reaches the voting age and has successfully avoided a reasonable amount of education, the general consensus of opinion seems to be that he should be let alone, or, at least that he has the right to say whether or not he wants to learn.

The State of Delaware seems to have a sound policy in this matter: "We decided that, without settling for all time the pros and cons of compulsory English' the State of Delaware had a first responsibility in providing the facilities, and that compulsion, if it came at all, might well come later, if the facilities were not used voluntarily. Such policy provides for the improving and extending of facilities to meet the present objections of foreigners who are attending the school.

Many object, and justly so, to attending a night school after a hard day's labor. Many object to the attitude of teachers, and still others are perfectly reasonable in their dissatisfaction, where they have to sit in cramped positions on seats built for the use of children. Then there is the attitude of discouragement encountered so often when pupils are herded into a class without careful

attention as to the grading. It is not an easy matter to overcome these objections.

The educational authorities are confronted with a tremendous task in the establishment of factory schools, evening classes in the schools, the raising of the qualifications of teachers; providing proper school rooms and equipment, and giving individual attention to the proper grading of each pupil. When these have been done, if the foreigner still shows reluctance to accept the advantages offered to him, then compulsory methods may be considered, but by enforcing any legislation that may be adopted to compel foreigners to attend badly organized classes, taught by incompetent or uninterested teachers, in uncomfortable school rooms at inconvenient times, the result must be to breed discontent and to defeat the purpose for which it is enacted. Instead of extending compulsory education with minimum English requirements to adults in New York City, this Committtee suggests as an alternative the extension of educational facilities of a constructive, helpful and flexible character for both native and foreign-born adults, more closely related to their needs and more effectively instrumental in promoting educational interest on a voluntary basis, with, however, as large a measure of encouragement, stimulation and incentive as employers, officials, and others may exercise. The above suggestions apply to foreigners already in this country. What should be required of the newcomers from this time on is another matter. The literacy test for entering immigrants is a Federal matter. It has been suggested that the immigrant be allowed to enter with the understanding that he must learn English within a specified time, which varies from two to six years, or be deported.

To meet the serious conditions presented by the extraordinary amount of illiteracy in New York City, the State Legislature, in 1919 passed an amendment to the General Education Law of the state relating to attendance at schools by non-English-speaking and illiterate minors. The substance of this law, now known as Section 637 of Article XXIII of the Educational Law as amended July 1, 1919, is as follows:

"Every minor between fifteen and twenty-one years old. unable to speak, read and write the English language as is required for the completion of the fifth grade of the public or private schools of the City or school district in which he resides, shall attend some day or evening school or school