Our Schools in War Time—and AfterDean, Arthur D. (Arthur Davis)
History
Our Schools in War Time—and After
Dean, Arthur D. (Arthur Davis)
Education -- United States; World War, 1914-1918 -- War work -- Schools
4. To demand the freedom of the earth for its inhabitants,
under proper recognition of vested rights. The conception of the
freedom of the sea has had an interesting evolution,--the escape
from the old sea fear, the long years of piracy, the buccaneers,
letters of marque and reprisal, treaty ports, smuggling, and all
the rest; finally has come the demand of equal opportunities for
all and the open door. We must have the open door to fields and
shores, to commanding hills that should not be exclusive property;
find trails and walks and avenues to places the people ought to
know. All this requires exploration, tramps far and near, maps,
propaganda. All scenic parts will be marked. The public shall know
all good places.
5. To protect the products of the earth; and to protect the
earth itself. The products to which I now refer are those not the
property of individuals,--the birds, the beasts, the fish, the
vegetation. The bird sanctuaries now so well accepted are good
beginnings, as also the wild-flower preservation societies, the
nature-study groups, and many others; but the individual is not yet
sufficiently impressed with this feeling in his own action.
To protect the earth is to save its fertility. This is the
fundamental conservation. Not all persons can participate here,
but every citizen can be mindful of the necessity of it and aid
in creating public sentiment. I wait for the coming together of
new organizations or societies that shall have for their purpose
the conservation of fertility. These will be much more than
agricultural and rural organizations, and their work need not be
technical or occupational. They may include all persons, and the
discussions and interests may run the range of man's relation to
land.
To leave his piece of earth more productive than when he took
it is the obligation of the good farmer, for there are constantly
more persons to be supported. In the large sense every one of us
is a farmer, for the keeping of the earth is given to the human
race. We begin to understand vaguely what relation the good keeping
of the land bears to national questions.
6. To keep the public health,--to protect it by keeping one's
body well, by taking care to commit no nuisance, to contaminate no
source of public infection, and to lend one's self to participate
in the correcting of abuses.
To be physically fit and uncomplaining is a public duty. Maybe
we shall find ways to demand physical training of the people as
effective as that afforded by military training but without its
sinister intentions.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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