PAGE EIGHT

Dr. R0bertson’s Address

At P. W.

The following is the report of ihe year's work given by Dr. SN. Robertson at the Prince of Wales commencement exercises Friday.

Prefiﬁcr. the Hon. Minister of Public Works, the Hon. Minister 0i Agriculture, "His \\'Ol’.'~lllp the

C. Closing

students so large as this body ls. [not all have been successful.

couldn't be expeucd tliatnil would. Among our number are some that,

for some reason or another. have ‘

not used their opportunities to the . full. We must remember that the occasion, the Sltlialllbll, is a trving

reasons-bis and proper crop. What is the good of attempting to do anything with an animal that is already spoiled by early 1198166’- and early training? All that can be done is only to make passable eﬂort of it. But li we could keep v the process going at the properly iseasonal time, for tillage and all !ti1e operations of the farm are . done in due season, what a mag- niﬁcent crop, not a wced, not a . seed that would fail to reproduce

itself and reach its full and proper .

development. l That would sound verb‘ much W

ltlayor of Charlottetown. the Hon- one. Our "lllﬂnlm especially the > _v mm b t arivy President oi the Alumni As- |couutrv o have left homc for , W!" diffs)’, llkfouilcillllfrllflﬂ" th-rouguh 50c "on oi this Institution, the the first tune for any lcizrhy C91’ all‘? “i? 4 more siudenm I p s andlfriends of the stud- stay. They have got aw ironi ﬂ BT91! mﬂnl’ r

_ that have conic out this niom— ln-r to our ciosiug exercises, we bid

l ' ivcicomc. We you are mak-

k>CL‘ a :1 zi guidance

we horve that

g 1

i c ti . nth iL at pre. . .. encouraged to continue gix-d rvark.

ii

Come as Itcliri

Pr‘ cf

m...” rfs» 3 mine .

to the s as a great re- to bc no more partition for » (teniiug so fur 2e the ere lsVio be no f. ptting up in thr- niul hurryiuz of! to the and no more 3on2. ted- o<rn exercises going on ‘ c paint oi exhaustion. ow relaxed. and the nothzn! forever and

opcr tvord. because the v.’ lift} doesn't run along sel and it certainly doesn't "v in an cosy downgrade. Life's or cue 1on2. tedious, ex- ztfort. Rather do we

iLs of life ‘by short. . . efforts followed by a . ti o. rclnrcation on the levels t we thereby’ attain. There is c1 :‘.' we this morning, . to took w-ith con- io the arrival of

D-

Rhythm of Nature

Our life is. as we said. just to

i v what you mizht call the z-I “.1 of nature. We have t0 r c our ulnter preceding the

we have to have our day the nicht, and we came . September girded and for nninc months’ strug-

have that

ye come now by n t. We have toiled .- cent; level. and

_ down our work .c a holiday,

nus rlwirlng the ses- F/i a large body. We

no your sizidenis‘ a .r.g or entrance into

is well worthy of l l1ave lived and that \r»-.ir children up

a the clodng exer- I .-. - teachers l

others '

i

i cc.

itime; but things. went wrong with I

{the parental care and soliciiucles l 911mm "muse ‘he “vrd "siudems" l

'that watched ovcr them all the i earlier days. They have come into ‘a town. and I mizht iell llis Wor- ship the Itiivvor that it is not. by ‘any means, n slow tozvu. There are so many distractions-so many novclucs, if we do not call them ' us l i have becn tothe "cry one of them is Brit. tl:cy' ap- sn that It ]1*£‘i'f‘fi"ll(‘F 1 ltzitinn. e in this v . cm. no e to then: in dork. hut rafter of teachers class system. . you can . quin- a pcopic

suppose. what. ac"'c .r- is patients acute and - arc the acute . ..ir experien-

\ ales last Sop- llilfi e. cood hcakhy .v1:'e aﬁvays able to educational meals and had pvrfcct educational di- iou aizii aasimzlntloir up to that

ory, t take their 'Eicv

tiwm. As I sajv, oihcr factors came into their life, and the result is just. what I have described-fall- ure where success mizh: naturally have been expected.

Now. these cas s, I am glad to F85’. are not i1‘ v, but we would like if the irumbcr could be re- duced to the clzsappcarance point if possible.

Tracing the History l

'I‘hen. there are others that the medical doctor seisdown as chron- ic cases. The trouble, while it may have broken out in the ﬁrst year l work of Prince of Wales College. l‘ perhaps may have shown itself, more or less definitely at the time i oi the entrance examinations to the Prince of Wales College. At any rate. the medical doctor in- vestirzates the history: of the case. i and he ﬁnds on tracing back that. there were timcs in the 9th grade , and in the 8th grade and in the 7th wade. when the paper was marked by more lassltudc and list- lessncss. and he might go tracing back further.

The Primary Grade

I believe the difficulty goes back Perhaps to the prinmry grade. That is the place whprg I think I most y-oung miitds are derailed and no astraﬁ in the primary school.

\'PI‘\‘ .‘

I but bring through a much larger I number of men and “when. W“ Icoulcl reduce the number oi fail- ‘ ures that life is iillcd with if “c

system.

i

Preparation Necessary

i The medical profcs~.ioi1---lnrik a‘ the long term of preparation that l lS required if a person is going to t staisfy the demands of the profes- ision, and look after graduation at the tremendous amount of past- ‘ graduate work that has to be (lore if the medical man is to satisﬁ- ihe demands of the individual pa- l tients that may seek his seiwice: , And what is true of the medicu" doctor is true also oi the legi. ‘profession. and it is true in fir: agricultural profession, and i‘. l: al profession. Th~ only place I know of where youll" and immaturity are no barriers l. work is in the school room-qwer- haps I should sav the school room of Prince Edward Island, as till" would be more deﬁnite. You s;i\ ‘our schools are rioinc good work. ‘Those young teachers are doing l marvellous work.

Credit to Parents

I don't believe you are giving lproper credit to the parents when tYOll are estimating the amount o!‘ Iwork the school performs and who '15 the agent that does it? It i:- ithe parent at home that studies

the child, that secs that that child

has the environment that school ‘work demands. The parent at ‘home is the greatest assistance to the young teacher in tho school: ‘and were it not for that parent at home. I believe we would have a much larger failure in report in‘ our public school sysetm of Prince Edward Island.

Teachers of the Past

Now, that naturally goes on be- coming worse and worse. I think any person that looks at the edu- cational system at the presentiimc must realize the last twenty. thirty and forty years have produced a tremendous chance. I wouldn't like to increase the number oi years in case the audience might feel I was reminiscentj but years ago we had in our schools. in the , teaching profession, a. large num- l ber oi choice, experienced persons i Every village school and many of

the strictly rural districts had

teachers oi maturity in the school. as well as teachers of native and natural ability to develop greatly These persons not only ministered tn the school and to thechildrenthnt came to their schools, but they were the standards to which al’ younger teachers Joining the pro fcsslon looked. and they were th-

the primary gratin; Thm-e has idcalsby whichevery young teach~ been an old (ivilviclryn that m, er sought to improve himself place for mp [good {Qarhpr f5 in The doctor's methods-attend our the senior q; 3,. bofflufp 131,. ‘york Teachers’ Convention. get assist-

is more or‘! difficult nud the assistance oi fﬂﬂliiﬁlf‘ teachers is required. But. I tliznk that per- haps, while that may be iruc in

c r’ i0 or more students some measure, the good {onghgr

' ‘m 11”)“- An hi“? Pfiillirl)’ bﬁﬁllffs in the primary ‘" 11ml veri; school, esprit illv iu caraiii- One U}? DH‘- and (trade 'l".vo and (irazie Thrcel

M! 6P1‘ and Grade Four, whore {Piece is’

I‘ "i" "close has troubled us- . one .1111: we have had tlivldiml cases oi ill- mr-uilnuerl illness. In to two of our Eran a promising young l a promising young wom- "c removed (luring the ses- Bu’.

r quantity ni work. The acquitted themselves lou to ihclr teachers LJFIlPTS in Prince of to. they say. are exact- . . .-{ i‘. is perhaps an un- fr mind rcpﬁrl’! lyas going to say YAHouW-hut work is sup- ‘ "cl to no on apare in the in- "‘."_I‘ll, and certainly the stu- = ~'=: have. responded to all the ' :- ‘ oi‘ ilicir teachers. and they r out from us this mom-

‘ chem, The wealthy man is going to see

a iarre kbociv {of situdentslthat ma; his mp5 gels a map"-

" YWP" "'1? "M"?! 8 RTE‘? o. h‘ n education. The educated parent.

of tilﬂllrlll’; l?! ihetir daily ‘H W "g Nfeded is going to sec to that. loo.

W11 lﬂllﬂ“? Ml V‘ P11011011? w; My; er». , d He is going to increase his min- will follow thcm outand wish that o.v.(,rhnunnqzl “nfmafmra isirailons at homc. He is going to "h u-o-uil may earlv find out just mﬂcmnpry ‘V6 have got m be" see that despite all handicaps. his

an. in» rmi worth oi those in- 'rlv:"l students really is. and '1 n. ‘l! welcome them and m.

l could talk more lengihilv on i. ' irlmt the magnificent attitude . ruled conduct of the student lw .v of tins institution really ls. in.‘ I think perhaps it is better 1-,’? in inc imnrziiiniion than to ma: fcrv words ihnt might fail to cxurcxs it.

Not All Successful

Now. of course, in a body of

ilzev

n.,»;.-rinw~

ii GAVE MMI!

Jump out of bed full of life. Say Rand-bye to dull, tired mornhigu. Help yourself to glowing health.

Co! rlri n! Urn), uluﬂllh, bid-tuna, hr-nilachy mnrnln n. l-‘o ow lhn cum I0 o! thounnndn w o ham ngnlned health Ind energy with Prult-l-tlven. Th: preurrlrtlnn 0| I ilmnul Canadian doctor, Fru t-l-tlvu contain utrlcls ul Iflllll nnd herbs um] lct to bring normal, healthy liver action, lllmnllllnﬂ the ﬂow

o! bile, helplnﬁlourulher villi or . a clean», ch vnlnltlon Inc: o to: and hon . tom! to urll tho bloml

cldo. ul 4-! ven’ unique, gale eIac':“l;:-'|n-|n"r|'zr 01:31, no: health‘. - - . or an" everywhern. Con: In low. 26c “h. LIVER '

rnuir-A-nvri 1......

i posed as a pcnriliy. Enjoyment is l the line of natural development.

WAKE iii tutti

practical gcncral hclpIc-ssness on: the part of the pupil. y There is a great energy and ml-‘ tive curiosity in the ‘child spoking. to know and anxious w ﬁnd out ‘ That natural curiosity, ma; native. curiosity, is very strongly markgd_ The enerllv is there. If vou only had 5 FY0179!‘ Person at the wheel to keep the machine going in (he right direction. you wnuid attain tremendous distances in a very very short iimc, and w}- wmudrfi wile "Dimming in the Prince of ales Coileize these persons that have been pressed along, than passed along m m,“ rooms. tiirnse pcysong “110 been so much deprived of um natural advantages that m? Con? muniiv should have provided for

in mind that education and the‘ development of the. native, inborn abilities of ihr- child. that educa- tion runs coniranv to nature. We must lwar in mind that the hum- m1 being is just a human animal living among other animals and getting his pleasure, his eniov- ment. in this nature round about. him. Effort and sacriﬁce and modiﬁcation of plan and method, these are all demanding work on his part: and if we read the story arizht. work, you know, was im-

Contrary to Disposition

Now. if education runs contrary

ance from them in private conver- sation or in public discussion.

Unsuitable Exercise

Now. any person looking ovcr ‘v

our present school teacher body will see that. a tremendous chanuv has been wrought, and the conse- quence is that we have got a largr body of children that oughtito be in school. that have lost inicrcsi in the school exercises because the-

Ischool exercises are not directed

by proper pedagogic development in the teacher, exercises that were altogether unsuitable for the child at that particular grade. Now. as that. goes on, it naturally becomes worse. and I think that ii we look about us and see our countryside and our town streets filled with persons that are really unprepared to live their life, we ought to feel forced to consider some change and see if something more could not be done for tho ordinary child I am not afraid for the million- aires child, I arn not afraid for the child of the educated parent.

child is going to be properly pre- pared to live a. useful and enjoy- able life.

Overcoming Environment

You have just to look over, as we look over, the history oi the students that come to this institu- tion year by year, to notice bow they trace back to certain aute- oedents, the son nr daughter oi’ a former student. Much more often it was the mother that was the student and that looked to the proper education and development oi the child, and kept it interested by the success that attended the

had a proper way to reform our

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l

l l I l a

every kind

1k

[IAN

of commodity and service.

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AIIIAN

perform a social function peculiarly and deﬁnitely their own. Anyone in need of work, a home, help or certain goods ‘turns to them naturally. They are at once the greatest and buisies! employment agency in the world, and the market-place for

When skill seeks opportunity, or when employers require " competent help, they make

their wants known through the classiﬁed columns. The meeting place of employer and employee, of

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DAILY

alike.

columns.

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Gateways!!! ﬂppnrlunily i

The classiﬁed columns of the daily newspapers

buyer and seller, this section of the daily news- papers is one oi‘ the greatest aids to the economical and efficient operation of household and business

Today more than two million readers of the Canadian daily newspapers, when confronted with an urgent need, instinctively turn to the classiﬁed

The value of this service to the individual is incalculable and every year it becomes a more important feature of the local daily newspapers.

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NEWSPAPERS

Fl

ing the examinations that are not reaching the standard of this in- stitution.

v

Community Falling Down

And so, the fact that tracing back our student body year after year we get back to certain famil- ies, shows how far the community is falling dawn in doing its proper work educationally in this prov- iuce.

Now. I‘ know that the numbers of the Government are anxious in make all the changes that can be suggested in looking towards the betterment oi our educational syl- tem. All that they need is the voiced demands and l eats of

child's effort in Grade One. Grade Two, and saw to it that tho

to natural disposition and inclina- tion. isn't- school Mnching. thcn, a difficult task? This is the most important work this world knows —gctting those young started right, kcnping

couragcd while their curiosity is

still active. and easily molded, and ‘ um“ "mm and easily‘ buaus" ‘

directed through proper channclai Isn't. the school teacher's business ' inc most important business that we know of? What. is the good of attempting to do something with n crop that is half vrown? You can't bring in the process of treat- ment that is going to give you a

mammcgf i he would come io Prince of Wales

child's curiosity travelled along good 11nd proper lines. and so brought l the child, despite all difficulties of

environment. along to the time ’ when after passing at every grade,

College and pass all his examina-

ihe work in Prince oi Wnlea Col- lege is directed and measured by persons oi experience. by teachers of experience; and every parent. I think, has to bear support to our statement that with reasonable and nniive ability. and with reasonable effort in his dnilywork every child. bu little if any dlﬂiculty in pass-

the parents that conditions should be improved, that children should - have a. proper chance, that they ishould not be condemned while lihey are still infants or children j to an unsatisfactory living and life. They should not be on the outskirts of civilisation and on the edge of privation and starvation all their lifetime body and soul. New. if our parents throughout tna province-and you can't appeal to all the parents, but you can appeal to the educated parentsthe parents that are at present seeing |io it that their own children are iiletiinﬂ proper advantage: - if ‘these parents would only take a wider view and would look om a

larger horizon and set about doinq something for tho other person's children. seeing to it that thv school would provide the oppor- tunities that the day labourer coult not provide in his own home fm the education and development of his children. so that a labourer“ child-and 1 use the term respect-- fully-would have aiighting charm to grow up into a reasonable man or woman. 'I'hat is what we re- quire in Prince Edward Islandand we require it at once.

Oi course, when things go bad. everybody rushes into revolution. In Russia things went bad and “they felt that they had to pro- Eceed to all extremities if they would get n. chance to introduce the ideal system. In Germany things went bad, and they found out the causes were the Jewish people among them, and as soon as they get all of them extermin- ated they expect the millennium. Everything went bad. In Spain things are bad certainly, but it would seem as if the nations of the world felt that constructive work could not begin in that coun- try until all the inhabitants were killed oﬂ‘.

Same In Education Now it is the same my in edu-

CItIOn. Just in it is the same way in Klillltlbh. And In have the

same thing in the ﬁnancial would. Things are wrong there and there are all sorts of remedies. We get perhaps one extreme remedy in Alberta, and we get another on: applied by the ﬁnanciers that are trying to hold onto the gold stan- dard. Everything is wrong. and it is wonderful that things should be wrong educationally. and that re- medies Just as wild should be aug- gested as the cure?

I think if we measure up the siimtion and bear in mind that this human nature of ours is pret- ty much the same in 193"! as it was in 1837, and every tirne we 80 to church we ﬁnd that the human nature that ls described there in zhe characters that are discussed. is pretty much the nmenature we ﬁnd within our own communities in 1937. 5o that the education and development of that human nature could not vary by revolu- tion. I would not like to use the term evolution. but it should be the change that life produces.

Life Vurlel Slow]!

Life. you know. varies very-ill“- ly in um life is only wwlble "I that variation. not the extrrme- S0 we must bear in mlnd that education needs its ohms”. hi" that they should not be revolut- ionary or extreme. It may be the subject: of our curriculum are not

‘ be the proper

Just what. they ought to be, or It may be that the emphasis that is put upon certain subjects may not. emphasis; but I can't believe that in 1987, where we have a. continuous story of the

. world's doings and of the human

races attainments away buck in the early stone ales. I may say I can't believe that we have abso- lutely failed.

I cannot believe that in Prince Edward Island. that a small prov- inca as we are. that we are to be the persons that are going tobrinl in the changes that the other part: oi the larger world do not really support. So remembering that in Prince Edward Island we are just part oi’ that story of man's prol- reas. and man's elevation has been a. continuous one. that it ha: gone along by the easy change! such ll we find in life. we ought to fell that when revolutionary methodl and suggestions are made. that l question mark certainly should b0 placed and a pause be made be- fore we make any great lerioul change.

Proper Fitting Necular!

Ijustwishtonythatultalk along in this fashion, our ltudenh that are leaving u: this morninl may feel that perhaps the whole thing in a great large mistake. They rend the awry of the troub- led condition of the would and the

unemployment that. reigns here an there, md they wonder just whrf they are going to ﬁt in. and a have no doubt that a great man of them are ﬁlled with discourng? ment u they look around "W" them. l was much struck in". = statement that I saw ﬂilllblli? to a very prominent man. ll!" there never was a time in m world when a man properly!“ h‘ a better chance for advancomen than at the present time. I l" lieve it is true. As I look over J1 unemployed u they come benenxt‘ my inspection, r find that I" time: out. of ten an easy exblllmn tion can be given that the Plfwor has not been properly train" h developed for employment. thﬂi is largely, nine times out of if irresponsible.

Question of Uvellllﬂod

And so 1 would say to ill!‘ dents that are aolnl 0"" “do; you have not madelmlstakcin veloping yourself thmuah you" intellectual development. You m‘ bear in mind that you are 10w out into a world that in BMlFI-nd‘ mingle with human beinufflavo and geniiiea too. a: $31“ ~ got pay your . not find u» Jyalcal pm sail}, [rent one ll is the moral an

(continued on 9i