The Placer herald., 1865-04-08
A Rich Document.

composed Of majority of intolerant John
Brown Aboltionists, who have gained an
unenviable notoriety for their official man,
agement. 1t seems from the following com.
munication presented on Tuesday evening,
by s. B. Thompson, one of the members,
that the practices of the Board have been
much worse than the public have had reason
to suspect. 1t is a rich document, and will
we'll repay the reader for psrusal:-
SAN FRANc1sco, April Sd, 1866.
To the Honorable Board of Education of the
City and County of San Francisco:
GENrLEMEN-1 am no politician, have no
desire to hold Office, and expect no emolu-
ments or profits for serving the "desr people,"
l am plain mechanic-a carpenter by trade
and an honest man, hope. In nv unso.
phisticated ignorance supposed that the
"Board of Education" was designed for the
public good, and not as a mutual beneficial
society to its members The services Of Di
rectors, once believed, were rewarded by
their consciousness Of doing good, and self
appreciation their pay; but ten months init
macy with your Honorable Board" has
dspeIed the illusion. now understand the
machinery, but don't like its operation; and
in proof that speak advisedly, here point
out few Of the many invisible springs that
originate the motive power of your Board,
rendering too close contact with its presi
ent atmosphere prejudicial to the health of
honesty: Widber recommends increasing the
salary of Mastick's sister. Mastck advocates
raising the pay OF Widber's brother. Pet
teachers are furnished the questions in ad-
vance Of their examination. Your copy book
contract with Bancroft was virtually fraud
upon the Department. Gray urged the pur-
chase Of the Broadway lot Gray d. Giles
pie searched the title, and the Board bought
it. Now it turns out that the title was i'm.
perfect, and suit was pending at the time
for its recovery, in which Gray was attorney
and had an interest Lynch, TAFT and Gray,
fearing Pelton's claim TO the Superintendent
cy, wickedly turned him out of the Rncon
School on pretended charges, denied him
hearing, and although the oldest and one OF
tho best teachers in the Department, sought
to blacken his reputation and consign his
family TO want. Falsehoods bave been
spread upon your minutes, debate choked,
character blackened, and the reputation
of teachers stabbed for selfish purposes.
Teachers in the Department are losing all
self-respect and independence Of character
They are fe'tered, gagged, and required to be
unduly subservent. The monetary affairs of
the Department are conducted without econ.
omy, Except in teachers Salaries waste and
extravaganza everywhere prevales. The Su
n porin Tor 1out Eoo,s tLroo ,,1, ,;oI
meraries. Every quack Professor is paid to
teach, as speciality, high faIutins' that (if
necessary to be taughD regular teachers of
the Department: are competent to teach.
Two professors teach writing. Two Profess
sors teach music. Two Professors teach cal,
isthenics, grunting and whis,ling. Perhaps
| am mistaken in my estimate Of official in
tegrlty, but it does seem very doubtful policy
for Mr.. Lynch, as President of this Board,
unmindful Of the Lords Prayer, Lead II.
not into temp'alion," uniformly to appoin,
on the various Committees dealers and ven
dors Of the very articles, 10 supervise the
purchase and distribution Of which is the
special duty Of that Committee Thus, Mas
''ck-(a lumber dealer, and Chairman of the
Committee on School Houses )--drects wtot
kind Of and how much lumber shall he used
in the erection of School Houses, making
repairs, erecting fences, etc, and by singu
lar coincidence, it all comes from his own
lumber gard, and he receipts himself, but in
Keni6eld's (his partner or cIerk) name, at
the Treasurer's Office, for the money paid on
bills so incurred, by his own order. Hitch
cock (stationer) supervises supplies" inclu
ding, of course, stationery. Gray Qawyer)
is on the Judiciary Committee; and another
ugly coincidence occurs, that may cost the
Department $4,000 or $4,000. The use
of drugs not being incident to your duties,
Widber's brother gets, without competition,
the carpenters work Of the Department.
These may be all accidents. hope they are;
and charge them as nothing else; but such
accidents are destructive to public conf lence,
and as cannot prevent, am unwilling to
participate in their future occurrence. i
accepted the position Of "School Director"
at the solicitation Of the "Peope's Party"
1t was unsought BY me; undertook the
duties, believing that could be of service to
the Department. A brief connec i,n, how
ever, with your Honorable Body" satisfied
me that-having no enemies 10 punish, no
private interests to serve, no relatives to adj
vance, and foolishly, perhaps preferring my
jack plane and saw to the coveted "Superin-
tendency"-1 am out Of place. Yet, l en-
deavored to do my whole duty; and so long
as this even seemed practicable, I strove zea,,
o"sly against the majority faction Of this
Board, and patiently wlhstood the weapons
OF sophlstry, rdicule, Misrepresentation and
insult; but | can at present be Of no practical
good here, and am unwilling to share, un-
deservedly the odium of public censure that
is so justly and generally now attached to
this body. therefore respectfully withdraw
from all after connection with this Board
until time subsequent to the election; and
if that event SO changes the complexion Of
this body as to permit my resuming the dis