THE ENGLISH TEACHERS' CONFERENCE

The twelfth annual May Conference of teachers of secondary schools with members of the faculty of Dartmouth College was held in Hanover, May 16, 17, and 18. This year the conference was in charge of the Department of English, and the general subject for discussion was "The Teaching of English and Public Speaking in the Secondary School." About fifty teachers, mostly from New Hampshire, were in attendance at the sessions; members of the faculty, students, and townspeople were also present at many of the meetings.

The conference opened on Thursday evening with the State Championship Debate in the New Hampshire Debating League for a championship cup given by the College. The schools competing in this final debate of the series were Sanborn Seminary of Kingston and Kimball Union Academy of Meriden. The Kimball Union Academy team, which supported the affirmative of the question, "Resolved: that in New Hampshire women should be given suffrage rights equal to those of men," won the debate by a unanimous decision of the judges.

The program of the regular sessions was planned in such way that the discussions of the successive half-days.were given to problems in argumentation and debate, in composition, and in literature. Friday morning was entirely devoted to the consideration of public speaking. The chief papers were those of Professor J. W. Wetzel of Yale University on "Public Speaking in the Secondary School," and of Professor J. A. Winans of Cornell University on "Debating in the Secondary School." Both of these speakers stressed the modern ideas of general simplicity and of the conversational tone in public speaking; Professor Wetzel especially urged his hearers to bear in mind that they are at all times when in the classroom "teachers of public speaking," and that it is therefore their duty to cultivate in themselves pleasing modulations of voice, accurate pronunciation, and distinct enunciation. At the close of the session a permanent organization of the New Hampshire Debating League was effected. An advisory committee, consisting of Principals C. A. Tracy of Kimball Union Academy, F. Y. Hess .of Lebanon High School, and Z. W. Kemp of Sanborn Seminary, was elected to act in conjunction with the members of the Department of Public Speaking of Dartmouth College.

The papers of Friday afternoon dealt with composition teaching. Professor James Tufts of Phillips Exeter Academy opened the session with an address on "The Relative Emphasis upon Composition and Literature in Secondary School Teaching." Professor Tufts defended the placing of approximately equal emphasis on both phases of the work. In the discussion which followed, State Superintendent H. C. Morrison presented arguments for the minimizing of composition work, to the extent of but one theme a month, asking, however, that all exercises written by pupils in subjects other than English be looked upon as work in English composition and be subjected to criticism of according severity. Professor Licklider, taking an opposite view, urged the teaching at least of weekly themes, and, if possible, of daily themes throughout a student's entire.course. Mr. C. S. Thomas of Newton, Mass., discussed "The College Entrance Requirements in English." Papers were also read on "The Necessity of Elementary Correctness" by Mr. F. A. Smart of Tilton Seminary, on "Study of the Paragraph" by Miss Helen Thomas of Boston, and on "Composition from Models" by Mr. Follett.

On Saturday morning the session, which considered questions in the teaching of literature, was opened with a paper by Professor Page on "Poetry in the High School." Both Professor Page and Professor Richardson, who led the discussion of this paper, emphasized the necessity for the early cultivation of the pupil's liking for poetry, for the encouragement of poetry reading "for the fun of it," and for the training of youth to read aloud. Dr. Bradsher on "Shakespeare in the High School" and Mr. J. A. Wallace of Waterbury, Conn., on "Outside Readings" were the other speakers of the morning. In closing the session, Mr. Thomas of Newton set forth the claims of the New England Association of Teachers of English. At all of the sessions open discussion followed the papers; the leaders of such discussions included, in addition to those already mentioned, Principal Tracy of Kimball Union Academy, Principal Kemp of Sanborn Seminary, Miss Anna G. Brewster of Northampton, Mass., Miss Clara F. Preston of Nashua, and Mr. M. B. Perkins of Phillips Exeter Academy; also Professor Hastings, Mr. Shaw, Mr. Baird, Mr. Doak, and Mr. Childs of the Dartmouth faculty. Professor O'Neill and Professor Emery acted as presiding officers.

On Friday evening occurred the most delightful feature of the conference,— a public lecture by Professor C. T. Winchester of Wesleyan University on "The English Lakes and their Poets." With his inimitable charm of urbane style and clear presentation, of vivifying imagination and keen humor, Professor Winchester introduced his hearers again to the works, personalities, and environment's of Southey, Coleridge, Lamb, De Quincey, and Wordsworth. After the lecture, an informal reception to Professor Winchester, Professor Richardson, and Professor Page was held in the living room of College Hall.