The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-09-25
THE MASS MEETING TONIGHT.

In republican government, whenever thu
: people desire to express their disapprobatior
of public officials, or to effect reformation
of an abuse; whenever there is any grievous
wrong perpetrated or attempted to be perpe.
! trated upon them, it is their sacred and in.
alienable right to assemble in mass meeting
recite their wrongs, and demand that they be
remedied.
This high privilege is one that should never
be, and rarely is, abused, and in exercising it
Tonight the people of New Orleans will SIM
ply perform an imperative and solemn duty;
duty which no good citizen, no man who
properly appreciates the importance and
value of education, and appreciates the ne
cessity of making our public schools places
where our children may go without the fear
of contamination, can shirk or neglect.
The people have been wonderfully long
suffering and for5earing in this matter of
the schools: they have witnessed their rapid
decadence under the charge of persons who
were alien to the South. and not only incom-
petent, but in some cases morally un fit to ad-
minister duties of so grave and responsible a
character; they have uttered protests from
time to time against the mixing of races in
the schools, and have seen their unavaiing
protests treated with scornful Indifference. by
the men whom chance and bayonets had
placed in temporary authority.
They have seen caprice and partisanship
<Ln ~ ho %
teachers, large numbers of the best and most
accomplished teachers being turned out to
give way for those who were in no way fitted
to fill the positions, but who happened to have
sufficient political influence to control the
appointments.
They have seen decent and capable men,
bers Of the School Board superseded by per-
sons of notorious incapacity, violent partisan
ship and bad moral character, until the latter
element became a majority andscommitted |
the grossest outrages and improprieties. They /
have been compelled, very many of them, to
withdraw their children from the Public
Schools, and either permit them rto grow
up in ignorance or else pay for private tuition,
whereas the tax for the support Of the schools
is onerous, unequal, unjust and unconstitu-
tional
All this have they witnessed and they are
wearied with it all past expression. They pro-
pose, therefore, to assemble in mass meeting
to give forcible utterance to their opposition
to the present management of the public
schools, and to ask that these men, who have
sgnally failed in their duty and 81 am efully
abused the trust reposed in them as Directors,
"step down and out as gracefully as they
can and give place to better men-men for
whom the community at large will have re-
spect, and with whom they will be willing
to confde the delicate difficult and re-
sponsible task of educating the youth of our
city.
The meeting will simply be a calm, delb.
crate but forcible expression of popular senti-
nent in regard to this whole question, and
hould indicate as we trust it will, to the ,
temporary powers who control the matter the
lnwisdom of continuing the course they had
marked out to pursue.
The assemblage tonight should be Of such
IMPOSING character as to impress the mem :
ers of the School Board with the knowledge
hat they have outraged the sentiments of the =
and to convince them that they :
vould become entitled to some consideration
they should gracefully accept the situation :
nd tender their designations to the proper !.
uthority.