Marjorie Barstow and the Alexander

Technique: Critical Thinking in

Performing Arts Pedagogy Amanda
Cole
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebookmass.com/product/marjorie-barstow-and-the-alexander-technique-critical
-thinking-in-performing-arts-pedagogy-amanda-cole/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...

Psychotherapy, Literature and the Visual and Performing

Arts 1st ed. Edition Bruce Kirkcaldy

https://ebookmass.com/product/psychotherapy-literature-and-the-
visual-and-performing-arts-1st-ed-edition-bruce-kirkcaldy/

Critical Thinking 12th Edition

https://ebookmass.com/product/critical-thinking-12th-edition/

Thinking Through Poetry: Field Reports on Romantic

Lyric Marjorie Levinson

https://ebookmass.com/product/thinking-through-poetry-field-
reports-on-romantic-lyric-marjorie-levinson/

Critical Materials (Materials Today) Alexander King

https://ebookmass.com/product/critical-materials-materials-today-
alexander-king/
The Meaning of Criticality in Education Research:
Reflecting on Critical Pedagogy 1st ed. Edition Ashley
Simpson

https://ebookmass.com/product/the-meaning-of-criticality-in-
education-research-reflecting-on-critical-pedagogy-1st-ed-
edition-ashley-simpson/

Critical Thinking and the Process of Evidence-Based

Practice Eileen Gambrill

https://ebookmass.com/product/critical-thinking-and-the-process-
of-evidence-based-practice-eileen-gambrill/

Critical Thinking 12th Edition Brooke Noel Moore

https://ebookmass.com/product/critical-thinking-12th-edition-
brooke-noel-moore/

Critical thinking in clinical research : applied theory

and practice using case studies Fregni

https://ebookmass.com/product/critical-thinking-in-clinical-
research-applied-theory-and-practice-using-case-studies-fregni/

The Power of Critical Thinking: Fifth Canadian Edition

Chris Macdonald

https://ebookmass.com/product/the-power-of-critical-thinking-
fifth-canadian-edition-chris-macdonald/
Marjorie Barstow
and the
Alexander Technique
Critical Thinking in
Performing Arts Pedagogy
Amanda Cole
Marjorie Barstow and the Alexander Technique
 Amanda Cole

Marjorie Barstow
and the Alexander
Technique
Critical Thinking in Performing Arts Pedagogy
Amanda Cole
Griffith University
Brisbane, QLD, Australia

ISBN 978-981-16-5255-4 ISBN 978-981-16-5256-1 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5256-1

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2022

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights
of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and
retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc.
in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such
names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for
general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and informa-
tion in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither
the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with
respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been
made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps
and institutional affiliations.

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Singapore Pte Ltd.
The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore
189721, Singapore
 To Tim and to Olivia

And celebrating the memory of

Owen and Marie Cole
and
Anna and Murray Mardardy
 Acknowledgements

This book originated in a doctoral research project that began in the

Departments of Psychology and Music at the University of Otago.
Dr Tamar Murachver, Dr Alan Davison, Professor Henry Johnson and
Stephen Stedman supported the data collection on Cathy Madden’s
teaching. Terry Fitzgerald, whose research strongly influenced my own,
helped to rehouse the project at Griffith University when Tamar
Murachver died, and Kay Hartwig, Christopher Klopper and Dan
Bendrups helped it come to fruition. A large number of musicians,
academics and students have taken part in my research, all over the world.
William Conable’s enthusiastic support of the proposal for this book has
helped it to see the light of day.
Cathy Madden, through her remarkable teaching, was the original
inspiration for my research. She has been extraordinarily generous in
support of my work in countless ways and continues to inspire me with
her creative, critical, and ever-evolving thinking and her propensity for
play.
A great many other Alexander Technique teachers have also
contributed to this project: William Conable, Sarah Barker and Robert
Rickover in the form of interviews and follow-up emails; Aase Beaulieu,
Catherine Kettrick, Bruce Fertman, Jeremy Chance and Alex Murray in
the form of correspondence; and Paul Cook gave me access to Direction
Journal archives.

vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book is all the richer for the many photographs of Marjorie
Barstow. These appear thanks to support of Adrian (Dee) DePutron Hilz
and the meticulousness of William D. Selim, who provided the family
photographs, and to the fine preparation work and generosity of Kevin
Ruddell, author of the photographs of Barstow teaching in her later years.
Many librarians and archivists have facilitated my work over the years,
in particular, Thelma Fisher at Otago, Josh Caster at Nebraska University,
Becca Mayersohn at Walnut Hill, Ted Dimon at the Frank Pierce Jones
Archive in in New York, Luke Chatterton from the STAT archives in
London, Maggie Barlow at The American Society for the Alexander Tech-
nique (AmSAT), and Father Andrew Campbell at St Vincent Arch-Abbey,
Latrobe, PA, where Eric McCormack’s papers are housed. and Nancy
Forst Williamson, Gabriel Williamson and Diana Bradley in Lincoln,
Nebraska.
Countless people have sent me their work, published and unpublished,
including Terry Fitzgerald, David Mills, Missy Vineyard, Alex Murray,
Franis Engel, and William Conable. Jean Fischer answered many emails
about historical information, photographs, and the contents of the STAT
archives, and I have adopted his method of referencing biographical
details of the myriad people who turn up in any book on the Alexander
Technique, with the use of an asterisk.
I am grateful to you all.
 A Note on People and Organisations

Following a technique used by Jean Fischer,* an asterisk after a name indi-

cates that an introductory or explanatory note can be found in the section
“Biographical Notes” at the end of the book. These notes give the reader
some context about teachers of the Alexander Technique, philosophers,
Barstow’s students, and others who engaged in the discussion about the
Alexander Technique (AT) and its pedagogy. It has not been possible –
and is probably not necessary – to obtain information about all players
in this story. Where a biographical or explanatory note exists the name
is marked with an asterisk (*) where it first occurs. These notes are in
alphabetical order.

ix
 Contents

Acknowledgements vii

Prologue xix
About this book and who it is for xix
The AT as Education xxi
So, what IS the Alexander Technique? xxiii
Who was Marjorie Barstow? xxviii
Structure of the Book xxxiv
A Note on Sources xxxv

List of Figures xv

List of Plates xvii

Part I F. M. Alexander and Marjorie Barstow

1 The Problem with Alexander’s Technique 3
The Evolution of the Passive Experience 4
Reinstating Education into the AT: Barstow and Dewey 12
Conclusion 14
2 Marjorie Barstow’s Constellation 17
What Is a Philosophical Constellation? 17
The Constellation 19

xi
xii CONTENTS

Overview of Parallels Between Barstow and Dewey 42

Summary 43

Part II Dewey’s Principles in Barstow’s Teaching

3 Making Ideas Clear 47
The Essence of the AT 50
The Essential Process of the AT 53
4 Reconstruction: Barstow’s Reconstruction
of Alexander’s Principles and Terms 83
PART A: Identifying Alexander’s Principles 84
PART B: Reconstructing Alexander’s Terms and Methods 86
Term 1: Primary Control 90
Term 2: Inhibition 96
Term 3: Direction and Directions 107
Term 4: Positions of Mechanical Advantage (and other
Procedures) 115
Term 5: Sensory Re-education 138
PART C: Philosophical Pragmatism in Action – The Parallel
‘Reconstructions’ by Dewey and Barstow 144
CONCLUSION: The Reconstructed Alexander Technique 146
5 Desire, Application and Art 149
The Question of Desire in Alexander Studies 152
Ends-In-View Versus End-Gaining 158
The Application Approach 161
The Problem with Inhibition-as-Stopping
and Non-Application 164
Lighting the Spark for Performers 166
Conclusion 168
6 Democracy and the Social Context 171
The Beginnings of Barstow’s Group Teaching 172
Dewey, Community and Communication 174
Barstow, Community and Communication 176
Criticism of Barstow’s Teaching 179
Response to Criticisms 181
Barstow’s Community 183
Group Teaching and the Alexander Technique 185
Coordinating Benefit 1: Observation and Thinking 186
 CONTENTS xiii

Coordinating Benefit 2: Constructive Thinking &

Communicating 194
Coordinating Benefit 3: Democracy, Independence
and the Social Context 199
Summary 203

Part III Integration

7 The Art and Integration of Teaching and Training 207
Creating the Conditions for Learning (CCL) 208
Teaching by Example and Implicit Learning 210
Meeting and Accepting 214
Training Teachers 220

Conclusion 235
Notes 241
Biographical Notes 285
Appendix: The Alexanders and the Alexander Technique 305
References 309
Index 321
 List of Figures

Fig. 2.1 Barstow’s constellation 20

Fig. 2.2 Constellation timeline 20
Fig. 2.3 Timeline of Philosophers of Pragmatism 21

xv
 List of Plates

From the Barstow Family Archives: Courtesy of William

D. Selim
1922. Marjorie Barstow with Porta Mansfield Dancers, California 62
1902–1903. Marjorie Barstow and Frances Foote Barstow 63
1903. Marjorie Barstow and Frances Foote Barstow 63
1920s. Marjorie Barstow, Dan dePutron, and John dePutron 64
No date. Marjorie Barstow 64
1926. Marjorie Barstow and Frances Barstow 65
1932. Marjorie Barstow, United Kingdom 65
1939. Marjorie Barstow with Frances Foote Barstow and William
Townsend Barstow 66
1939. Marjorie Barstow with Helen Barstow DePutron 66
1947. Marjorie Barstow in Lincoln, NE 67
1960. Marjorie Barstow in Denton, NE 67
1960. Marjorie Barstow Christmas Card 68
1961. Marjorie Barstow with Bob Selim 68
1966. Marjorie Barstow with Quarter Horse, “War Bond Leo” 69
1974. Marjorie Barstow in Denton, NE (Seated) 69
1974. Marjorie Barstow in Denton, NE (Feeding horses) 70
1977. Marjorie Barstow in Denton, NE (On horseback) 70
1940. F. M. Alexander 71

From the Barstow Institute and Doane College, Nebraska

1940. A. R. Alexander 71

xvii
xviii LIST OF PLATES

From the University of Nebraska Archives-Lincoln

Libraries
1918. Alpha Phi, University of Nebraska 72
1919. Sophomores, University of Nebraska 73
1919. Women’s Athletic Association Executive Board, University
of Nebraska 74
1919 Women’s Self Governing Association, University of Nebraska 74
1920. Student Council, University of Nebraska 75
1922. Women’s Athletic Association, University of Nebraska 75

Marjorie Barstow teaching: Courtesy of Kevin Ruddell

1989–1990
With unnamed child 76
With Stacy Gehman 76
With David Mills 77
With Catherine Madden 77
With Ronald Phillips 78
With Catherine Kettrick 78
With Randel Wagner 79
With Rupert Oysler 79
With Kevin Ruddell 80
With unidentified student 80
With Rupert Oysler 81
With Heather Kroll 81
With Geoff Johnson 82
With Serge Clavien 82
 Prologue

About this book and who it is for

What do the Alexander Technique, Critical Thinking, Performing
Arts Pedagogy and John Dewey have to do with each other?
The Alexander Technique (AT) has had a mixed reputation amongst
performers.1 There is also considerable confusion about its aims, prin-
ciples and value. Is it a relaxation technique? Is it psycho- or physical
therapy? Is it postural re-education? Does it cure performance anxiety?
This confusion is partly due to the contradictions its founder, F.M.
Alexander,* left behind, and the resulting schisms within the Alexander
community that continue today.
The contradictions in AT teaching stem largely from the fact that the
steps Alexander took on his own process of discovery about behaviour,
and which led to the development of the Alexander Technique, were
different from the steps he taught to others when passing on his “tech-
nique.” This creates uncertainty for those who wish to follow in Alexan-
der’s footsteps or benefit from what he discovered about coordination and
co-operation with human nature. The vast majority of early Alexander
teachers chose to follow the practices he told them they should follow
when teaching his technique. These included exercises such as helping
students in and out of a chair, “lying down work” or “semi-supine:”
(done on a table and also referred to as “table work”) and procedures such

xix
xx PROLOGUE

as “monkey” and “hands on the back of the chair.” These are discussed
further in Chapter 4.
Marjorie Barstow was one of the few who chose instead to teach
students how to focus on the principle he discovered, that of a central
coordination. She taught this by teaching the observation steps and the
thinking process that Alexander himself had followed in order to change
his own behaviour in responding to stimuli. It is for this reason I have
given this book the subtitle: “Critical Thinking in Performing Arts Peda-
gogy.” While the Alexander Technique is not exclusively for performing
artists, my interest in it has always been from the point of view of a
performing artist and teacher, or “teaching artist.” Further, it is the
usefulness of the AT for performers for which Marjorie Barstow became
particularly well known in her lifetime.
Barstow made the distinction between Alexander’s “discovery” on one
hand, and his “technique” on the other, calling Alexander’s teaching
methods his “technique” and the steps of his experimental process and
the discoveries he made along the way his “discovery,” and pointing out
the inconsistency between the two. This book is essentially about the ways
in which Barstow separated Alexander’s discovery from his technique,
sticking steadfastly to his principles: (his discovery) and reinventing its
pedagogy (his technique). Her pedagogy was aligned with the thinking of
John Dewey, one of the greatest philosophers on education, who was also
a great supporter and critic of Alexander’s work. To highlight the signifi-
cance of Barstow’s thinking, I show how her teaching shows parallels with
Dewey’s philosophy, known as critical pragmatism or instrumentalism.

Who is this book for?

First and foremost, this book is for performers who are interested in the
AT. As a performer myself, I wish there had been a book about Marjorie
Barstow when I began to learn the technique. I enjoyed lessons and found
the technique helpful but bewildering. This book is therefore also for
anyone who has tried to learn the Alexander technique and been confused
or nonplussed or unimpressed, but who senses there might still be some-
thing valuable in it. It is for anyone who has reached a certain level of
expertise and skill in a particular area and wonders why increased effort
and commitment do not necessarily translate into further improvement.
Musicians and actors are usually the people I meet who have heard of
the Alexander technique. This may be because it is still taught in some
 PROLOGUE xxi

tertiary music and drama programs. It is perhaps here, however, that

the widest range of experiences of the technique exists. It was a singing
teacher who initially recommended the technique to me. Soon after I
commenced lessons, another singing teacher told me that the AT had
“nothing whatever to do with singing.” Voice pedagogue Patsy Roden-
burg, in her introduction to Kelly McEvenue’s book on the AT, points
out that McEvenue “does her work when and how she can without
devaluing the Alexander Technique but aware that she can’t be precious
about it when a company’s demands on an actor are so complex.”2 McEv-
enue studied extensively with Marjorie Barstow.3 Rodenburg’s implica-
tion is that some approaches to the AT are precious and give rise to the
negative impressions, like those described by Jane Heirich* (see page xx).
This book is an invitation to performers to consider Barstow’s approach to
the AT, even if they have experienced the AT before and found it difficult
to perceive its applicability or relevance to practising or performing.

The AT as Education
According to John Dewey,* the Alexander Technique bears the same rela-
tion to education that education itself bears to all other human activities.
“It contains,” in Dewey’s judgment, “the promise and potentiality of the
new direction that is needed in all education.”4 This quote is bandied
around in support of the technique. And yet, little thought has been given
to how Dewey’s philosophy – significantly, a philosophy of education
and of scientific process and discovery – might improve the teaching of
Alexander’s work. Given that Dewey’s and Alexander’s work overlapped
in so many ways and Dewey is recognized as one of the greatest thinkers
in education in the past century, it makes sense to examine how the
teaching of the AT would look with Dewey’s ideas applied to it. This, as
I argue, is what Marjorie Barstow’s pedagogy looks like. With a Deweyan
emphasis, the educational aspect of the AT is brought to the fore, and
Dewey’s claim for the technique is fulfilled.
Dewey’s promise to education appears to have been forgotten by those
who pass on the AT as if it were a remedy, a therapy, or a treatment.
Alexander made significant observations about behaviour and movement
but his thinking about teaching appears to have been limited. He did
not appear to be especially concerned with improving his communication
or evaluating or reflecting on the efficacy of his teaching. In realigning
Barstow and her “school” with Dewey and his philosophical pragmatism,
xxii PROLOGUE

I hope that her teaching may be recognized as a pedagogical “force to be

reckoned with.”5 I aim to show that in her alignment with some of the
most advanced educational ideas of her day (and today) she actually saved
the AT from obscurity, or, worse, irrelevance, amongst performers.
There have been several studies in the past couple of decades that
examined the role and efficacy of the AT in a number of medical condi-
tions. In these studies the technique is regarded, necessarily, as a kind
of adjunct therapy. Broadly speaking, too, the Alexander Technique is
usually classified as being concerned with physical or mental health.6 It is
variously understood to be a form of complementary medicine for anxiety
reduction, an aid to posture, or a method of releasing unwanted tension.
Even when evaluating its usefulness for performance, researchers tend to
focus only on its impact on performance anxiety7 or in preventing or
alleviating injury.8 As a performer and performing arts teacher myself, I
am principally interested in the role the AT plays in enhancing perfor-
mance, coordination, and technical, musical and artistic skill, and that is
the focus of this book. That is, the educative role of the AT. The useful-
ness of the AT for musicians has been shown in several studies.9 The
AT has been introduced into performance academies and colleges around
the world. But there is also some dissatisfaction with – and mistrust
of – the technique, as evidenced by Heirich’s observation that voice
teachers are put off when students return from AT lessons as “devitalised
robotic wimps.”10 Further evidence that the perceived value of the AT
for performers may be waning is the fact that in 2010 the Royal Academy
of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London retrenched three full-time Alexander
teachers.11 This change may reflect differences in teaching practice. When
the AT is taught as a kind of therapy, it gives the impression that the
student can passively receive a treatment. It is less likely to appeal to
performers as a vital part of their practice and more likely to appear
as an adjunct remedy for injury or anxiety. Differentiating the teaching
of the AT – or even naming the different approaches, which may be
more sensible – requires, amongst other things, clarifying and defining
one’s approach to the technique as either education or physical/medical
treatment.12 This book is about the Alexander technique as education
and as a practice that can enhance one’s coordination and performance.
Alexander was certainly interested in the health benefits of his technique.
But, as Richard (Buzz) Gummere* observed in the 1980s, the increasing
focus on the problems of the body rather than on Alexander’s whole
psychophysical and moral concept, including heightened creativity and
 PROLOGUE xxiii

a new consciousness, “could subtly distract our profession away from

his larger mission, the elevation of the human race.”13 When scrupulous
attention is also given to the manner in which it is taught, as Dewey hoped
it would be,14 it becomes a means of demonstrating and furthering good
pedagogy, or, education about education. Such attention also aligns with
Alexander’s own emphasis on what he called the “means whereby.”
A more nuanced appraisal of the Alexander Technique appears to be
overdue. But, within the Alexander community, differentiating between
approaches is often called factionalism and tends to be viewed with
suspicion or disdain. There is an overwhelming commitment to reduce
difference and boil everything down to one cohesive whole. By contrast,
the need identified in this book to recognize and even name different
approaches is seen as a sign that the Alexander Technique has reached a
point of maturity, just like other significant fields of practice or inquiry.
In studies that set out to show the technique’s usefulness, there is no
description of how the technique is taught, or what teaching approach is
taken,15 which, as I hope this book will show, is a crucial aspect of its
quality and value.

So, what IS the Alexander Technique?

Because this book is about Marjorie Barstow, this first description of
Alexander’s work is in her words. It is a transcription of part of an inter-
view she gave in 1986 at the Stony Brook Alexander Congress in which
the interviewer points out Barstow’s skill in demystifying the technique.
Barstow’s response is a succinct description of the Alexander Technique.
The Appendix gives a brief outline of Alexander’s work and the genesis
of the Alexander Technique.

Interviewer: Well, I think that you’ve done a great deal to help, what I
will say, demystify the technique for a lot of people and make it as clear
and as simple as possible, given that it is difficult. How would you talk
about what Alexander called “direction”?
Marjorie Barstow: Oh, direction, what he meant by it is… Well, I’ll just talk
about helping a person. I first ask them to take a look at themselves.
Now what does that mean? It just means, I can sit here and I can look
at myself. I can just tilt myself and I can see what I’m doing. I can feel
if my legs are stiff. I can find out, notice if I’m in a little bit of a slump,
why don’t I go down here? Now this is the way most everybody sits
xxiv PROLOGUE

(slumped). There’s no harm in it if we don’t overdo it. But when I do

this I’m putting a heavy downward pressure on my whole body. You
can see that, can’t you?
All right, now that pressure has put a lot of excess tension through
my whole neck, which affects my voice. It has dropped my chest so I’m
robbing myself of the space that my lungs need to work efficiently. And
I have a lot of heavy pressure down here in my hips and this drop-down
really is wasted… it’s burning up energy. So that’s what I help people
see.
Then, when you want to stop this, instead of just sitting up straight,
as most people would do, that simply transfers this heavy pressure to a
thing like this (throws shoulders back and looks stiff and over-tall), see,
and I say to them, “How long do you stay there?” And they laugh and
say, “Nah… ”
So, this is the thing Alexander discovered and then he said, “There
must be some way that I can move to release this pressure” and he finally
discovered that this back-and-down pull of his head was the beginning
of the slump and the pressure.
So then I can help the person learn how to just redirect that energy.
And the minute I start moving my head very easily, I’m changing the
relationship of the poise of my head to my body. And I’ve lost what I
didn’t want. That’s all there is to it. It’s too simple, isn’t it?

The second description of the Alexander Technique is again in Barstow’s

words, this time as a transcription of a class she gave in 1986 at the Stony
Brook Congress. This provides an example of an Alexander class as well
as an experience of Barstow’s teaching, including her sense of humour.

Barstow: It’s great to see you here this morning and I think this is a
wonderful occasion for everybody. And I don’t know what I’m supposed
to be doing, but I’m here and you’re here, so we’d better get busy and
do something, don’t you think? All right, let’s talk about Alexander’s
discoveries. He really discovered something. And I’m sure you all know
that he discovered something. And I think it is such a little delicate
something that people call it difficult. Now I don’t quite believe that.
I believe it’s very little and it’s delicate, but I think we’re the things
that are difficult. Why do you look so sober over there? (laughter) You
wouldn’t think that you were difficult, I wouldn’t think that I was
difficult, but I have discovered that I’m the difficult thing; not what
Alexander discovered. It is so simple that I have taken a long time to
comprehend it. So, what did his discoveries have to offer? A very unique
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
familiar to be repeated here. … In his inaugural address to
Congress last month, on being again installed as President, he
[president Diaz] referred to the achievements of Mexico in the
last twenty-five years, and modestly said that in it there
were no brilliant deeds to chronicle. From that notable
address I make this extract: 'If it were true that a peaceful
and laborious people have no history, the administration
period I am about to review would almost be devoid of history.
But, on the contrary, those nations that deserve to be called
happy in the only intelligible sense of the word, far from
being without a history, have a very glorious and interesting
one, if, besides being peaceful and laborious, they are also
progressive. That history is the history of their progress,
their achievements, their growing prosperity, of the
improvements of every kind which they have introduced—a
history which, in this modern age and the present constitution
of civilized societies, is as interesting as that of their
past and just as deserving of attention.'"

A report for 1900 by the British Consul at Vera Cruz is to the

same effect. The result of the recent elections he describes
as an assurance of prosperity and a guarantee of the foreign
capital invested in the country. Few countries, the Consul
observes, can boast of such rapid and beneficial reforms as
Mexico; these have, in a short time, prepared the way for the
development of her extensive resources, which are themselves a
sufficient assurance of the future. The finances have of
recent years been brought to a high state of excellence, and
commerce throughout the Republic has flourished. Foreign
capital has flowed in steadily, railway construction has
progressed, and other modes of communication have improved,
the telegraph and postal service have been reformed. The
improvement of inter-oceanic communication across the
Tehuantepec isthmus, with the harbors now being constructed on
both coasts, will revolutionize the foreign trade of Mexico.
It will take more than three years to complete the
reconstruction of the railway and to put the ports in a
 condition to enable freight to be taken from the ship's side
at one port and placed alongside the ship at the other within
24 hours. The Consul thinks the route is destined to become
one of the principal thoroughfares of the world, competing
with all other routes between Europe and the Far East.

{308}

Of what has been done for public education in Mexico under the
Diaz government the following account is given in one of the
publications (1900) of the Bureau of the American Republics:
"Education in Mexico has been for many years the subject of
serious consideration on the part of the Government, on
account of the difficulty experienced in combating the
conservative ideas prevailing in the Republic. The main
obstacles have, however, been overcome, and the country to-day
enjoys the benefit of a liberal system of education, which is
administered under three branches—gratuitous, lay, and
obligatory. … The law making education compulsory was
promulgated March 23, 1888, but its enforcement was not
decreed at that time, and the first Congress of Public
Education was convened for the purpose of adopting such
measures as should tend to establish an efficient and uniform
system of education. This congress met on December 1, 1889,
and closed its sessions on March 31, 1890. … A second congress
was convened on December 1, 1890, which solved certain
problems on compulsory elemental education, fixed the methods
to be followed in the schools of superior primary education,
and settled matters pertaining to normal schools, preparatory
education, and special schools. As the result of this
congress, the law of March 21, 1891, was enacted, regulating
compulsory education in the Federal District and the
Territories of Tepic and Lower California, which law became
effective on January 17, 1892. …

"On May 19, 1896, the law of public education was promulgated,
its salient points being as follows:
Official primary elemental education in the Federal Districts
and Federal Territories was placed under the exclusive control
of the Executive; primary superior education was organized as
an intermediate educational system between elementary and
preparatory instruction. A general board of primary education
was created, charged to develop and maintain the same under a
scientific and administrative plan. Preparatory education was
decreed to be uniform for all professions, its extent being
limited to the study of such matters as are necessary to the
development of the physical and intellectual faculties and the
morals of youth, it being further directed that professional
education be reorganized, limiting it to technical matters
which pertain to the profession or professions to which each
particular school is devoted.

"By virtue of this law public education ceased to be in charge

of the Board of Aldermen (ayuntamientos) of the
above-mentioned sections. At the time of its promulgation the
municipality of Mexico contained 113 schools, supported by the
Board of Aldermen, 14,246 students being entered on the rolls,
with an average attendance of 9,798. Each State defrays the
expenses of public education, either with funds specially
appropriated for that purpose or with the municipal funds.

"According to statistical data, in 1876, there were throughout

the country 8,165 primary schools, with 368,754 students of
both sexes. In 1895 Government schools reached the number of
4,056, of which 2,189 were for males, 1,119 for females, and
748 for both sexes; municipal schools numbered 3,394—for
males, 1,754; females, 932; both sexes, 708. These comprised
7,380 primary, 32 secondary, and 35 professional schools, the
number of students enrolled being 310,496 males and 181,484
females (a total of 491,980), and the mean attendance 338,066.
The total cost to the Government and the municipalities for
the maintenance of these institutions was $3,973,738. In the
same year private schools to the number of 1,816 were being
 conducted, 659 for males, 460 for females, and the remainder
under a coeducational system. In addition, 276 were supported
by the clergy and 146 by associations, the total number of
students enrolled being 68,879, of which 40,135 were males and
38,744 females. The total number of private schools was
accordingly 2,238, of which 2,193 were devoted to primary
education, 34 to secondary instruction, and 11 to professions.

"The statistics for 1897, which are the latest available, give
the following figures:

SCHOOLS. 1896.
1897.

Federal and State Governments. 5,852

6,141
Municipal. 3,218
1,953
Private institutions. 1,953
1,797
Supported by the clergy. 303
285
Supported by associations. 186
122

"Using the figures given in 1896 for Vera Cruz and the Federal
District as identical for 1897, it may be safely assumed that
on December 31, 1897, the public schools in Mexico (Federal,
State, and municipal) stood as follows:

Number of schools. 9,065

Students enrolled. 666,787
Average monthly attendance. 458,035
Private institutions. 2,361
Number of students. 92,387
 Average attendance. 75,857

"The total expenditures for the support of Federal, State, and

municipal schools amounted in 1897 to $6,291,000. In addition
to the normal and primary schools, the Government also
supports the following institutions:
School of jurisprudence,
school of medicine,
school of agriculture and veterinary instruction,
school of engineers,
school of fine arts,
school of arts and trades for men,
and a similar institution for women,
school of commerce and administration.
National conservatory of music,
preparatory school,
schools for the blind, for deaf-mutes;
reform schools, etc.,

also 9 museums, and 17 libraries containing from 400 to

159,000 volumes. Beside the Government institutions above
mentioned, there are throughout the country 26 museums, 83
libraries, 32 scientific and literary associations, and 457
periodical publications."

Bureau of American Republics,

Mexico: a Geographical Sketch,
page 313.

MEXICO: A. D. 1899 (May-July).

Representation in the Peace Conference at The Hague.

See (in this volume)

PEACE CONFERENCE.

MEXICO: A. D. 1900 (January).

Re-election of President Diaz.
 President Porfirio Diaz was reelected on January 1, for
a sixth term of four years.

MEXICO: A. D. 1900 (October).

Census of the Republic.
Gains shown in five years.

Announcement was made from Washington, on the 24th of

February, 1901, that "complete official returns of the census
taken on October 28, 1900, received by the Bureau of American
Republics, shows that the population of Mexico is 13,570,545,
against a population of 12,632,427 [given by M. Romero as
12,570,195—see above] in 1895. The gain in five years was
938,118, or 7.43 per cent. due in part to the greater accuracy
of the latest enumeration. The Federal District, in which is
located the City of Mexico, is the most densely populated
portion of the republic, and contains 530,723 people.
{309}
The City of Mexico increased about 20,000 in five years, and
now has nearly 357,000 inhabitants. The population of seven
States, Jalisco, Guanajuato, Puebla. Vera Cruz, Oaxaca,
Michoacan and Mexico, is 6,995,880, or a little more than
one-half of the entire population of the country. The
population of the States of Sonora, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala,
Morelos, Tabasco, Aguas Calientes, Campeche, Colima, and the
territories of Tepic and Lower California, the total area of
which is more than one-fourth the entire country, is slightly
in excess of 1,380,000, or a density of only about 2.7
inhabitants to the square kilometre. The central and southern
portions of the republic are the most thickly populated, the
Western and Northern States being the most sparsely settled,
and the Gulf region, or eastern coast, contains a larger
number of inhabitants than the Pacific Coast region. … The
greatest percentage of increase is noted in the northern
States. These States, in addition to being good agricultural
districts, are enormously rich in mineral wealth, and the
 large increase in population in this part of the country is
chiefly due to the rapid development of the mines of the
republic, the erection of smelters and manufacturing plants,
and to the general stimulus given to trade and commerce by the
construction of railroads and the heavy investments of foreign
capital in the republic."

----------MEXICO: End--------

MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD POPULISTS, The.

See (in this volume)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1896 (JUNE-November); and 1900 (MAY-NOVEMBER).

MILAN, Ex-King:
His later years and death.

See (in this volume)

BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES (SERVIA).

MILAN: A. D. 1898.
Revolutionary outbreak.

See (in this volume)

ITALY: A. D. 1898 (APRIL-MAY).

MILES, General Nelson A.:

Operations against Santiago de Cuba.

See (in this volume)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1898 (JUNE-JULY).

MILES, General Nelson A.:

Commanding expedition against Porto Rico.

See (in this volume)

 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1898 (JULY-AUGUST: PORTO RICO).

MILES, General Nelson A.:

Charges against the Commissary Department, U. S. Army.

See (in this volume)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1898-1899.

MILITARY ESTABLISHMENTS:
Armies of Europe and America and their cost.

See (in this volume)

WAR BUDGETS.

MILLENNIUM, The Hungarian.

See (in this volume)

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1896.

MILNER, Sir Alfred:

Governor of Cape Colony and High Commissioner for South Africa.

See (in this volume)

SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1897 (FEBRUARY), and after.

MILNER, Sir Alfred:

Governor of the Transvaal and British High Commissioner.

See (in this volume)

SOUTH AFRICA (BRITISH COLONIES): A. D. 1901 (JANUARY).

MINDANAO.

See (in this volume)

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.
MINERS, Strikes among.

See (in this volume)

INDUSTRIAL DISTURBANCES.

MINNESOTA: A. D. 1896.
Constitutional amendments.
Use of the Referendum.

Several constitutional amendments were submitted to the voters

of the State and adopted; among them one requiring citizenship
of the United States for three months and residence in the
State for six months before permitting a new-comer to vote;
another vesting the pardoning power in a Board of Pardons;
another empowering cities to frame their own charters, subject
to the State laws. At the same time, the Referendum was
brought into practical use, by the submission of several
legislative acts to the popular vote. One of the acts thus
submitted, providing for the holding of a constitutional
convention, was rejected.

MINNESOTA: A. D. 1898.
Outbreak of Pillager Indians.

See (in this volume)

INDIANS, AMERICAN: A. D. 1898.

MINOS, The Palace of:

Its supposed discovery.

See (in this volume)

ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: CRETE.

MISSIONARIES, Christian:
The outbreak against in China.

See (in this volume)

 CHINA: A. D. 1895 (AUGUST);
1898 (MAY);
1898-1899 (JUNE-JANUARY);
1899; 1900 (JANUARY-MARCH), (MAY-JUNE);
and 1901 (MARCH).

MISSIONARIES, Christian:
Outbreak against in Madagascar.

See (in this volume)

MADAGASCAR.

MISSIONS, Christian:
The Ecumenical Conference of 1900 in New York.
Statistics of the Protestant foreign missionary
work of the world.

The third Ecumenical Conference on Protestant foreign missions

(the second having been held in London in 1888) was assembled
at New York on the 21st of April, 1900, under circumstances
related as follows in volume I. of the official report: "The
immediate origin of the Ecumenical Conference of 1900 was the
discussion of a question put in the 'question box' at the
Annual Conference of Foreign Missions Boards of the United
States and Canada, which met in New York in January, 1896, as
to whether it would be advisable to invite the secretaries or
representatives of societies from the other side of the
Atlantic to meet with the Annual Conference of the American
societies as it was then held, consisting chiefly of the
officers of the Boards. The Reverend F. F. Ellinwood. D. D.,
speaking to the question, said: 'I have had a hope that in the
year 1898, ten years from the great London Conference, we
might invite our brethren from all lands to a great Ecumenical
Conference on Missions.'

"Following this suggestion, a committee of five, consisting of

the Reverend Drs. Judson Smith, F. F. Ellinwood, A. B.
 Leonard, S. W. Duncan, and William S. Langford was appointed
'to consider the advisability of calling an Ecumenical
Missionary Conference, to meet in this country within the next
four years, to make preliminary preparation therefor, if
deemed advisable, and to report at the Conference of the
following year.' This committee corresponded with missionary
societies throughout the world, and at the next Annual
Conference recommended that such a Conference be held in New
York City in April of the year 1900; that this recommendation
be communicated to the societies, and a final date agreed
upon. In January, 1898, after further correspondence, the
place and date were finally decided." Measures were taken to
raise a guarantee fund of $30,000 for expenses, and other
preparations were made. Then "under date of June 1, 1899, a
general invitation was sent to every missionary whose name and
address could be secured, to attend the Conference and
participate in the discussions."

{310}

The Conference was opened in Carnegie Hall, New York, on the

21st of April, 1900, and continued its sessions, there and in
neighboring churches, until the 1st of May. "The personnel of
the Conference was broadly representative. It consisted
(1) of delegates appointed by organizations conducting foreign
missions outside of Europe and America;
(2) the missionaries of such organizations, and
(3) members elected by the Executive Committee.

The British and Continental and other foreign societies were

invited to send as many delegates as possible. The American
and Canadian societies were limited in the number of their
delegates; the total from both countries, being fixed at
1,666, was apportioned among the societies on the basis of
their expenditures in foreign missions. All foreign
missionaries in active service or retired were received as
full members. Some of the honorary members and vice-presidents
who were unable to attend desired to have their names
connected with so historic a gathering. Members of committees
and speakers, who were not already delegates, were by a
general act of the Executive Committee, constituted 'special
members.' In addition to the members of the Conference a large
number of persons came from far and near to attend the
meetings. Over fifty thousand tickets to the Carnegie Hall and
alternate meetings were distributed among this class of
visitors. Many thousands more attended the sectional and
overflow meetings where no tickets were required. The
Honorable Benjamin Harrison, for four years President of the
United States of America, occupied the chair, and made an
opening speech."

The magnitude of the organizations of missionary work, all the

interests, needs and fruits of which were discussed in the
Conference, is most succinctly represented in the subjoined
tables, prepared by Dr. James S. Dennis, which are given in
the appendix to the official report (pages 424-426, volume 2).
The classification appearing in the tables is explained as
follows:

"The Bible Societies, the Tract and Literature Societies, the

United Society of Christian Endeavor, the Epworth Leagues, and
similar organizations, philanthropic specialties like that of
the Pundita Ramabai in India, with a considerable number of
organizations, foreign missionary in title and purpose, but
simply rendering financial or other aid to existing
societies—demand recognition, and yet should they be counted
as strictly and technically foreign missionary societies? It
was chosen for the present purpose, to differentiate and
classify, naming three classes of societies as follows;

Class I. Societies directly engaged in conducting foreign

missions.

Class II. Societies indirectly co-operating or aiding in

 foreign missions.

Class III. Societies or Institutions independently engaged in

specialized effort in various departments of foreign
missions."

MISSISSIPPI: A. D. 1890-1892.
New State Constitution.
Qualification of the suffrage.

A new State Constitution, framed and put in force in 1890 by a

constitutional convention, without submission to the people,
established a qualification of the suffrage which heavily
diminished the negro vote by its effect. It imposed a pool tax
of two dollars per head, to which any county might add a
further tax not exceeding one dollar per head, which poll tax
for the year every voter must have paid before his ballot
would be received at any election. A further clause of the
Constitution on the subject was as follows: "On and after the
first day of January, A. D. 1892, the following qualifications
are added to the foregoing: Every qualified elector shall be
able to read any section of the Constitution of this State, or
he shall be able to understand the same when read to him, or
to give a reasonable interpretation thereof. A new
registration shall be made before the next ensuing election
after these qualifications are established. Electors in
municipal elections shall possess all the qualifications
herein prescribed, and such additional qualifications as may
be prescribed by law." In 1892 the Supreme Court of the State
affirmed the validity of the Constitution, which had been
challenged on two grounds, namely: that it had not been
submitted to the vote of the people, and that it was in
conflict with the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of
the United States.

So far, the disfranchisement of the mass of blacks seems to

have had an unlooked for evil effect. "The Negro eliminated,
 only one political party remains, and political stagnation has
followed. In Mississippi, the requirement that a poll tax be
paid long before the election deprives many white men also of
their votes. But it does not bar them out of nominating
conventions. Many communities are ruled by a mere handful of
whites who cannot even cast a ballot. For instance, there are
320,000 males of voting age in Mississippi, but the whole vote
cast in the State in November was only 59,000. This is 11,000
votes less than were cast four years ago under the same
restrictions of suffrage. In other words, the whole State of
Mississippi cast practically 110 more ballots to elect seven
members of Congress than were cast in a single congressional
district in New York. (The fourteenth New York district cast
58,000 votes.) In the town of Eudora, where a mayor, a
marshal, a treasurer, and four aldermen were elected, only
eight votes were cast, and of the eight voters seven are said
to have been candidates for office.

"'The same men,' says a trustworthy despatch from New Orleans,

'were voters, candidates for office, and judges of election to
pass as judges on their own votes as voters for themselves;
and in spite of all their efforts they could get only one
outsider to come to the polls and cast his ballot.' This is an
extreme case; but in every State that has disfranchised the
Negro (making a discrimination between him and the ignorant
white man, in the white man's favor) political activity has
constantly disappeared, the vote has shrunk, public spirit in
politics has died. In Louisiana the total vote in November
fell from 99,000 in 1896 to 61,000; of Mississippi, from
69,000 to 59,000; of South Carolina, from 68,000 to 50,000—the
shrinkage in four years in these three States being nearly
68,000 votes, in spite of the increase of population."

The World's Work,

February, 1901.

MODDER RIVER, Military operations on.

 See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE FIELD OF WAR):
A. D. 1899 (OCTOBER-DECEMBER); and
1900 (JANUARY-FEBRUARY).

{311}
{312}
{313}