Omaha daily bee., 1874-06-08
CIVIL RIGHTS.

of Mr.. Felix Coste, President of the
St. Louis School Board, that oppo-
sition to the mixed school feature OF
the civil rights measure in that city,
will come from all classes, and that
sthe German element are nearly all
against it."-Herdtd.
Mr.. Felix Coste, President of the
St. Louis School Board, is evidently
a pupil of the old pro-slavery school.
That class of Bourbons never learn
anything and never al rid them
selves of their prejudices. The
German element of st. Louis may
possibly be a unit in favor of keep
ing up caste in the public schools,
but they merely represent a senti-
ment, for which the st. Louis
school system and such Bourbons
as MIR. Felix Coste are responsible.
The German element in cities
where the mixed school system
prevails have so far manifested no
disposition to break it down. Take
the city of Cleveland for example.
The proportion of the German ele-
ment to the other nationalities is
fully a. great as that of st. Louis.
The colored population is ever
more numerous.
For more than fifteen years there
has been no distinction on account
of q ce or color i'm these public
schools. The best evidence that
these schools are extensively pat
ronized by the German element, is
the fact that in nineteen of these
public schools the children of Ameri-
cans, Germans and Negroes, are re-
ceiving instruction in the German
language.
The aristocracy of Cleveland will
compare favorably for culture and
refinement with the aristocracy of
any city in the Union. And yet the
sons and daughters of these aristo-
Gratis may be found i'm the Cleveland
High School competingfor the hon
Ors with the sons and daughters of
the German mechanic or the negro
hod-carrier.
Even Mr.. Felix Coste would be
forced to admit that the mixed pub
lie schools of cleveland and De-
troit are far superior to the unmix-
ed schools of st. Louis. Right here
We may as well direct the attention
of the Herald to a historical fact
that fully illustrates the effect of
Caste prejudices upon anatiOn. Only
one hundred years ago the Jews,
i'm Germany, were just as much des-
pissed, Stunned and o~stracised
a the negroes have been in the
former American slave states.
In those days a Jew had no rights
which a good Christian was bound
to respect. They were excluded
from all participation in public
affairs, and deprived of the right to
become owners of the soil. They
were compelled to wear a distinc-
tive dress, and confined in the most
loathsome and Presidential quartersof
every city. The public schools were
closed against them, and even the
most ignorant and degraded peas
ant, considered himself socially su-
perior to the despised Jew.
What would the Germans of
IVA say II they could behold the
great change wrought among their
descendants by a century? In
stead of being prosecuted, ostracised
and disfranoh;sed the Jews now oc-
cupy some of the most exalted po-
sitions i'm the social, political and
scientific circles of Germany. To-
day the most eminent professors in
the universities of Germany are
Jews. In the common schools, in
every educational institution, in the
schools of science, art, literature and
music the Jews have achieved a
recognized distinction. So much
for national prejudices and Caste.