XV. NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS.

DURING the session of the National Teachers' Association at Harrisburg for 1865, a meeting of State and City Superintendents there present was held, of which Rev. B. G. Northrop, Agent of the Massachusetts Board of Education, was Chairman, and Rev. L. Van Bokkelen, LL. D., State Superintendent of Public Schools of Maryland, was Secretary. At this Convention it was decided to hold a meeting in February, 1866, at Washington, for the purpose of forming a National Association of School Superintendents, to be composed of those devoted to the supervision of schools in the several States and Cities of the country, and the discussion of topics appropriate to such meeting.

A meeting was accordingly held on the 6th, 7th, and 8th of February, 1866, at which nine States and twenty Cities were represented. The Mayor of the city of Washington gave the Association a cordial welcome, and the President of the United States, on receiving their call, expressed great interest in their object, and in the extension of school instruction to every child in the country, and the Secretary of the Interior expressed to a committee on a memorial to Congress on a National Bureau, who waited upon him, his interest in the success of their memorial.

Papers were read by Charles R. Coburn, Superintendent of Com mon Schools of Pennsylvania, on "School Statistics;" by L. Van Bokkelen, State Superintendent of Maryland, on "The Practicability of Greater Uniformity in the School System of Different States ;” by E. E. White, State Commissioner of Ohio, on “A National Bureau of Education;" by C. M. Harrison, State Superintendent of New Jersey, on "Defects of our State System of Schools ;" and by Newton Bateman, State Superintendent in Illinois, on the "Leading Features of a Model State School System." These subjects were thoroughly discussed and resolutions pertinent to the same were adopted, and several committees were appointed to report more in detail to the next meeting.

A committee consisting of Messrs. White of Ohio, Bateman of Illinois, and Adams of Vermont, were appointed to memorialize Congress on the establishment of a National Bureau of Education.

The following officers were elected for 1866-7:-Birdsey Grant Northrop of Massachusetts, President; Charles R. Coburn of Pennsylvania, Vice-President; G. H. Hoss of Indiana, Corresponding Secretary; L. Van Bokkelen of Maryland, Recording Secretary ; Duane Doty of Michigan, Treasurer.

The memorial of the Association of School Superintendents praying for the establishment of a National Bureau of Education, drawn up in behalf of the committee by Hon. E. E. White of Ohio, was presented in the House of Representatives by Gen. Garfield of Ohio, who at the same time introduced a bill to establish the Bureau in the Department of the Interior. The bill was read twice, referred to a Select Committee of seven and ordered, with the accompanying memorial, to be printed. The committee, consisting of Garfield of Ohio, Patterson of New Hampshire, Boutwell of Massachusetts, Donnelly of Minnesota, Moulton of Illinois, Goodyear of New York, and Randall of Pennsylvania, reported, instead of the bill referred to them creating a Bureau of Educational Statisties under the Secretary of the Interior, in favor of creating a Department of Education, the head of which, appointed by the President, shall report directly to him, as follows:

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there shall be established, at the City of Washington, a Department of Education, for the purpose of collecting such statistics and facts as shall show the condition and progress of education in the several States and Territories, and of diffusing such information respecting the organization and management of schools and school systems and methods of teaching as shall aid the people of the United States in the establishment and maintenance of efficient school systems, and otherwise promote the cause of education throughout the country.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That there shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a Commissioner of Education, who shall be intrusted with the management of the department herein established, and who shall receive a salary of five thousand dollars per annum, and who shall have authority to appoint one chief clerk of his department, who shall receive a salary of two thousand dollars per annum; one clerk, who shall receive a salary of eighteen hundred dollars per annum; one clerk, who shall receive a salary of sixteen hundred dollars per annum; one clerk, who shall receive a salary of fourteen hundred dollars per annum; and one clerk, who shall receive a salary of twelve bundred dollars per annum; which said clerks shall be subject to the appointing and removing power of the Commissioner of Education.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Education to present annually to Congress a report embodying the results of his investigations and labors, together with a statement of such facts and recommendations as will in his judgment subserve the purpose for which this department is established. In the first report made by the Commissioner of Education under this act, there shall be presented a statement of the several grants of land made by Congress to promote education, and the manner in which these several trusts have been managed, the amount of funds arising therefrom, and the annual proceeds of the same, as far as the same can be determined.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the Commissioner of Public Buildings is hereby authorized and directed to furnish proper offices for the use of the department herein established.

AMERICAN SOCIAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION.

HISTORICAL SKETCH.

THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE PROMOTION OF SOCIAL SCIENCE, in its general plan, is an educational society of the largest scope, and embraces a section or department specially devoted to the interests of Public Schools, Universities and Colleges, and to all institutions designed for the instruction of youths and adults, and to all agencies which act on or determine the Popular Culture. It had its origin in some preliminary measures taken by a few gentlemen and ladies in Boston, in the Spring of 1865, and in a circular issued at their request by the Massachusetts Board of State Charities, in August, 1865, inviting a conference of persons known to be interested in the subjects embraced in the term Social Science, in Boston. This conference was held on the 4th of October, at the State House, in Boston, and was presided over by Gov. Andrew. After some comparison of views, it was decided to form a society which should embrace the continent in its plan of operations, and enroll members of both sexes from any part of the country-with the following Constitution and officers:

CONSTITUTION.

I. This Society shall be called THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE PROMOTION OF SOCIAL SCIENCE.

II. Its objects are, to aid the development of Social Science, and to guide the public mind to the best practical means of promoting the Amendment of Laws, the Advancement of Education, the Prevention and Repression of Crime, the Reformation of Criminals, and the progress of Public Morality, the adoption of Sanitary Regulations, and the diffusion of sound principles on questions of Economy, Trade, and Finance. It will give attention to Pauperism, and the topics related thereto; including the responsibility of the well-endowed and successful, the wise and educated, the honest and respectable, for the failures of others. It will aim to bring together the various societies and individuals now interested in these objects, for the purpose of obtaining by discussion the real elements of Truth; by which doubts are removed, conflicting opinions harmonized, and a common ground afforded for treating wisely the great social problems of the day.

III. This Association shall include four departments: the first, for Education; the second, for Public Health; the third, for Economy, Trade, and Finance; the fourth, for Jurisprudence, and the Amendment of Laws.

IV. The officers of this Association shall be a President, four Vice-Presidents, a Recording Secretary, a Corresponding Secretary, a Treasurer, and

five Directors, who shall constitute an Executive Committee of thirteen, and shall have power to fill any vacancies in their body which shall occur between the annual meetings. One Vice-President and one Director shall be assigned to each department; and these, together with a Special Secretary for each, shall constitute the Executive Committee for each department. The fifth Director shall act as Librarian. These seventeen officers shall hereafter be chosen annually, on the second Wednesday in October, and shall hold office till their successors are chosen.

V. The Annual meetings of this Association shall be held in Boston, unless some other place is specially designated. Special meetings may be called by the Executive Committee, or by the President and any five members of the Committee, at any time and place which they may think proper, but no officers shall be chosen, assessments made, or amendments to the Constitution passed, except at the annual meetings, or some adjournment thereof.

VI. The business of the meetings shall be to hear addresses, reports, and papers, and to conduct discussions on the topics before mentioned. When desir

able, the meetings shall be held by departments, over each of which a VicePresident shall preside. All members may take part in the discussions, but no papers shall be read which have not been previously submitted to the Execu tive Committee in each department.

VII. Before any meeting shall divide into departments, and immediately after the transaction of the regular business, the President shall call for, and the Executive Committee may bring forward, such subjects, not exceeding four in number, as are judged by them of immediate practical importance; and these shall have the precedence of all other subjects during the first session of the meeting.

VIII. Any person may become a member by signing the Constitution, and paying the sum of three dollars, and may continue a member by paying annually such further sum, not exceeding five dollars, as may be assessed on the members by vote of the Association at its annual meeting. Any person may become a life member, exempt from assessments, by the payment of fifty dollars. IX. Honorary members and corresponding members may be chosen, but shall not exceed the number of the regular members: and members thus chosen shall be exempt from the payment of assessments. All members, both regular, honorary, and corresponding, shall be entitled to receive a copy of the Transactions of the Association.

X. The Secretaries, under the direction of the Executive Committee, shall annually select from the papers handed in and the addresses made such as they shall deem proper for publication, and shall publish them, along with a report of the doings and discussions at the meetings during the year. This publication shall be called the Transactions of the Association. They may also prepare and issue such other publications as may be deemed best by the Executive Committee.

XI. None but regular members shall have the privilege of voting in the meetings, and none but members of taking part in the discussions, except by invitation of the presiding officer; but it shall be the policy of the Association to admit as many members as possible, and to encourage the cooperation of other societies having kindred objects in view.

XII. Whenever other associations shall be formed in other parts of North America, it shall be the policy of this Association to cooperate with them so far as practicable. For this purpose, the Executive Committee is empowered to call a convention of these associations, or to send delegates to such a convention.

The purposes of the Association are thus set forth by its Committee of Arrangements, in a brief Report to the Conference of October 4:

This Association proposes to afford to all persons interested in human improvement an opportunity to consider social economics as a whole.

The persons composing it are expected to meet together to read papers and pursue discussions, and to seek the assistance of those who have a practical acquaintance with reform, as well as that of purely abstract reasoners.