Schools of Patriotism IN A RECENT bpeech Secretary Root expressed a fear that our country was growing so grea" , and filling with so many conflicting interests, that bye and bye it would break of its own weight. The thought of some has been that to reconcile interests in-terests where states conflict, the power of the Federal Fed-eral government should be increased. The presi dent has advocated this in messages and speeches. And that there is doubt where state authority should stop and Federal authority should be paramount, para-mount, has often been seen of late, in the decisions de-cisions of the higher state courts and the supreme court of the United States. And! often decisions are rendered by a bare majority of the bench, a pronounced minority dissenting. This is evidence of great unrest in the highest Bpheres, as though men most capable of declaring the law were In grave doubt. Secretary Root seems to think there should be more careful work on the part of state legislators, higher work; that only the ablest men should be given places in state legislatures. leg-islatures. If this could be done we do not see how it could cure any present wrong, for that would but give a more pronounced tone to state; prejudices. A strong man, who' is a gifted lawyer and an old legislator, has made all the rumpus in the California legislature during the last month. Ho has been the voice both of the more 'timid conservatives and of the solid element; ele-ment; of the men who dread the coming of .Hla-tics .Hla-tics because of the menace their coming in great numbers would be, and of the other class whose minds are filled with the spirit of boycott and violence. Our thought Is that a higher patriotism is the one thing needed. How can that be fostered? The states give all the children free schools; free public schools, and in some of the states free high schools are added. Minors are supplied sup-plied with free school rooms, books and teachers, these pupils accept as their right, and in these schools as a rule, there is very little patriotism taught, and few of the studies' are Calculated to give children any special knowledge of the great, benign government above them, or how it is different from the governments of other countries. coun-tries. We believe the generosity of the governments, state and national should go a little further, but as It advances there should be a change of tlie rules. We believe the high schools should be reserved re-served for such as in the public schools show their worthiness to go higher, and that in those schools a new text book should be added, in which by questions and answers, the principles o our government should be made clear and the difference dif-ference between our own and every other government gov-ernment shown. Then, we think, every state should have a state university into which students could only enter on merit. That it should be as free or ex-pe' ex-pe' , to the students as the public schools, but that every student would fsel Jhat he or she was t l ' v there as rqward for honest work in the lower fll schools, and feel that they are wards of the state 111 and that not to do their best would be a disgrace ill to them and a wrong to the government that jjll gave them the oportunity to advance. Students ril for this school should be nominated by the gov- 1 ornor on the recommendation of the state and II county and city school superintendents. To l graduate from such a school would make any 111 young man a patriot. In the same way the gen- II eral government should have a university; its l students in the same way to be selected from all fil the states, not by congressional appointment, but II on merit alone. The influence that would go out II from these universities would, after twenty years, II hold the country together and make the SI men of every state; feel that to bo an American II citizen was greater than to be a king.