Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-01-23
TIE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
Misrepresentation Corrected - The
True Question Stated--The DIty of


True Question Stated--The DIty of
the Authorities.
To the Editors of the Union and American:
1t has come to my hearing that the
Mayor conceives injustice to have been
done him by the articles of mine, which
you have been kind enough to publish, in
advocacy of the continuance of the public
schools. wish to assure him that nothing
was further from my thoughts. l have no
cause, of personal nature, to be antago-
nistic to him. AS an upright and useful
citizen 1 have respected him highly for
twenty years past. Irejoiced when he was
elected the Mayor of the city. approve
of his administration, with the exception
of his policy respecting the public schools.
would hesitate long before / would sug-
| gest the issue that he should vacate the
Office, or continue the public schools. If
such an issue were presented, would fear
/ that his successor, availing himself of the
pretext of raising money for the continu-
ance of the schools, might plunge the city
into new debts; and that our conditions
would be more deplorable in the end,
| than if even the schools were suspended.
1 would esteem it municipal misfortune
| if, for any reason, the city were deprived
of the services of Mayor Morris and the
| City Council in their efforts towards econo-
my and reform. / have heretofore ex-
| pressed my friendship for the present adj
| ministration, and sincerely. now repeat
| it; and assure him and them that 1 have
no intention of attacking them personally,
nor their policy except in relation to the
public schools. If any reader of what
have written has received an impression,
the faintest, that have made any person
al attack upon the Mayor or any member
of the city government, I assure him he
is mistaken.
The public schools of Nashville are a
fixed institution. They are part of the
body corporate. They may be suspended,
but they cannot, and will not, be crushed.
They will exist as long as the republic
lasts, and perhaps longer The man Oh
men who attempt to stand against them
will fall. They may have their temporary
triumph, but their names will be held in
adherence by the next generation. Where
the people appoint their agents, the peoples
opinions must be respected by their agents
Eight or nine-tenths of the people of Nash
vile favor the continuance of the public
schools at this moment, fully knowing the
financial condition of the city. A finance
statement amounts to nothing. l do no
desire to go into an investigation, through
the newspapers, of how the city account
stand with the schools. l repudi
ated at the outset any statemen
based upon checks. I might ask, leaving
each year and each administration Il
answer for itself, a statement of what ha
been collected on the school levy of 1869
20, and how it has been disposed of. Tht
Finance Committee and Recorder, in thei
recently published statements, leave tn
answer to inference. And the inference
unexplained, must be damaging to them
From it the schools would appear to cos
more from the opening in September t,
the LIST of October, than from the 1st O
October to the 31st of December. Blu
that is not the fact Our reform admins
tration commenced by paying ''back "a
tons" to the schools. Mr.. Bass paid from
May /, 1869. The check system is a
the base of the trouble. On the schoo
levy for 1S69-70, there has not been fort!
thousand dollars paid to the schools 70
that term. That levy was sixty-six thou
sand and something. To go into details o
figures on this matter is foreign to m,
purpose, and would consume NOR
of your space than 1 have tn
face to ask. 1t is not necessary. l
is useless to criminate predecessors
when the present question is vital. Tn
public want the schools. If any one ha
been at fault in the past, let him be &C
countable. The immediate present an,
the future want assurance of schools. 1t
small sum demanded-one that can b
obtained at small interest compared wit
that which the city has been paying 1t is
1 solemnly believe, the duty of the cit
government to raise it II they refuse t
do it, my convictions are equally clear tina
it is the duty of the people to see that it
raised-either by advancing it in the shap
of taxes, or by borrowing by the presen
city government or, if they refuse, by in
structing them to vacate their places an
place men there who will continue tn
| schools ~