Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-06-15
GEORGETOWN AFFAIRS.
Correspondence of The Star.

| OhohoETOWN, June IS57.
An item of ours in the Star Of the 18th instant,
| in relation to what is known as the gag law in
| our Public Schools, having given offence to the
Secretary of the Board Of Guardians and the said
individual having seen fit, in a lengthy commu-
| nication, to attempt upon the tanning process
even lmpugning our motives, &C., YOU will please
permit us, in self defence, to reply as briefly as
| the nature of the case will permit
His attempts to draw us into a controversy are
| subjects entirely foreign to the 'gag law 8 be.
cause we have seen fit to hold the complaints of
parents; and his no,proof assertion of our enmity
| TO the Public Schools for the same cause shall
| pass on unheeded, except with the simple re-
| mark that we certainly have not in the Public
| Schools an enemy that we desire to punish, or
particular friend to reward. When we penned
the article alluded to, only object was to call
the attention OF the proper school authorities to
the introduction OF rule Of discipline which had
given great offence to many of the parents whose
children attend these schools, and which had be-
| come town talk, under the IMPRESSION that i'm.
| mediate steps would be taken to silence the clam.
| or by removing the cause Of offence But to the
card OF Mr. Hyde, secretary.
Mr. II attempts to make it appear that we in
| our article have done violence to the truth and
morality. In regard to this charge we ask the
| careful reader and discerning public to peruse
carefully both of our articles, and then decide
between us. In our article simply stated that
this unpopular species of punishment had been
Introduced into a portion of our public schools
| We did not say upon how many it had been in
ficted what Kind Of stick was used for the pur-
pose-whether long or short, thick or thin, rough
| or smooth, pine or oak. We only asserted flat
| gag law had been resorted to in the schools by
| some Of the teachers, and this charge Mr. FL hon.
estly and fully corroborates in his card Of Satur
| day last.
So according to Mr.. Hyde's own showing,
We have not been guilty Ofanv breach of moraii-
| ty in uttering the charge. Mr. H. further says
that we were appealed to to retract what We had
| said. This we must emphatically deny. He is
the only Interested person who asked us any
questions in relation to the paragraph, and he can
pear us witness that he made no such request
Not he Mr. II. Is ! man of too much good
sense and prudence to ask of us or any one else
| the retIaction OF statement, which he himself
has publicly corroborated as true Again, Mr.
IL. says: "But two children had this punishment
inflicted upon them,' and that I" in less than one
minute'' the gag produced the desired effect viz:
secured silence. We suppose it did while in the
mouth Of the child, but not i'm the sense in which
| he woald have us believe it did. This We think
| is setting the pegs up rather too straight Now
| so far from there being only two, upon whom this
punishment was inflicted, we think we can find
him ten times that number, and some, where the
| children have been taken away from school, by
their parents or guardians, and afterwards were
permitted to return upon the solicitations of the
teachers and the assurance that the gag should
no more be inflicted upon them.
| As to the cure being effected to the extent Mr.
| II. would have us believe, in less than one min
ute, all that we have to say is that ii was won
derful achievement; and that "a little soft clean
| pine stick, ,, Is certainly wonderful charm
Again: Mr. IL. endeavors to make it appear
| v,
per inquiries about the matter. To whom would
he have us go for the truth To the delinquents
Surely, he don't suppose US verdant enough 10
pursue such course as that Does not Mr. HYDE
himself assert that this odious rule had been the
| subject of town talk two weeks before our article
was penned And, notwithstanding, he seeks to
| make 1t appear that our item raised the clamor
| He acknowledges that the complaints had become
so general that some of the Guardians and one OF
| the City Fathers deemed the matter of sufficient
| importance to demand of them an investigations
IN he a I'll,
were awarded to the pupils viz: Friday, the 5th
inst, just six days before our article made its APP
pearance.
We regret the necessity which compelled us in
the first place to notice the matter, but so much
having been said upon the subject, as Mr. H. ad.
mits in his communication, by parents who had
either sent or were sending their children to the
public schools, that We felt il our duty to notice
| 1t. We could not say to the parents what Mr. H.
| tells them In his communication, "you are mis-.
informed, every ninety nine out Of hundred who
make complaint know nothing personal about
it," for the simple reason that did not think
| that the one hundredth parent would come for
| ward admitting that that number send their
children to the schools) after the ninety ninth
one had been thus treated. Neither could we
consent that parents should accuse us of conniv-
ing at the aforementioned punishment, or of
certainly would, had we, as the only channel to
the public mind - kept silent upon the subject.
Under all the circumstances, we deemed it our
duty to bring the matter to the attention Of the
School Guardians, but little dreaming that in SO
doing we were to be made the object Of a violent
attack in advance of any action Of theirs
One portion Of our article to which the gentle
man takes particular exception Withdraw, for
feel confident that wrOnged the Chinese, &c,
by asserting that such a mode Of punishment
might suit them. Such an ingenious people
would only study out some such punishment for
their State officers, and not their children
The name OF gag, even admitting that 1t is
no longer than ones little finger, has TO freemen
or those DESTROYS to he such, repusive and dis
gushing feature, that we doubt whether the gen.
tieman could succeed in getting up "cafd of
thanks" In any community under the sun, to the
teacher, male or female, as the case may be, who
saw ut to first introduce 1t into school as mode
OF punishment for little children. |
In conclusion, il it is such an admirable rule, |
and produces such wonderful effects in SO short |
space Of time (' less than minute, ') and if
II is rule Of the children's own adoption, the /
gentleman declares it was, why was 1t not kept /
up made general, and carried into the senior de-
partment Of the male school also 2 Echo answers
why We might, however, give guess why 1t /