The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-03-18

tended to tear up and reconstruct the common
school system OF this city. We see no reason
Why there should be two separate laws relating
TO the ssn,c subject.
lnsarate archer. wonld not one sunlce'
We printed a summary OF these bills in our
Albany dispatches yesterday. The first. of
then provides that the Offices OF Commission
ers Of Schools and Beard of Education shall
terminate fifteen ia, : after the passage of the
act II is proposed that their functions shall
then devolve upon twelve commissioners TO
be appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by
the Aldermen. II this were intended to save
the schools from anarchy by bridging over
the interval between the passage Of the bill
and the election of new Board OF School
Commissioners we could understand il,
though we could not approve of it.
But when IL Is provided that these
twelve commissioners shall hold their
offices for five years we cannot reconcile the
provisions of bill number one with those of
bill number two. Bill number two aims to
replace the present School Commissioners
with another set, who will succeed to al their
powers and functions on the lst OF January
next. What use, then, can there be, after
that date, for the twelve Commissioners pro-
vided for by Goosey-Fox's bill number one?
We write from Geographic summary of the
two bills and it is possible that if we had
their text they might not present quite so alb
surd tumble.
The second of Goosey -Fox's bills divides
the city into eight school districts instead Of
the present seven. This might be we'll
enough, considering the new territory annexed
to the city. The bill provides for three School
Commissioners in each district, and that one
of the three shall go out each year which is,
so far, close reproduction of the present
law. But here follows the chief feature-and
an egregiously bad feature it is of the
Goosey-Foxy bill. 1t provides that the Com
missioners of Schools shall be elected in each
Fox had proposed to elect the Comptroller
and Corporation Counsel we should not
seriously object. These are the only officers
besides the Mayor who have ever been elected
by popular vote. The heads of the other
city departments have always been appointed,
and not elected, for reasons whose force
hardly admits of question. Why should the
Commissioners Of Schools be taken out of this
sound rule? The Department of Education
is the very last that should be controlled by
popular suffrage. We caunot conceive of o
greater misfortune to the city than school
board of demagogues. Even if an exciting
religious question were not involved in our
common schools we should deprecate as a
blighting evil any law which would make our
free schools football of party politics and a
part of the spoils to be scrambled for by poll
ticians of the baser sort But in view of the
religious complication, the election of the
Board of Education by popular vote in
this city would be fatal blow to
our admirable system Of free schools.
Nothing is so repugnant to the spirit of
our institutions as mixing religion with poll
tics, but this would be inevitable from the
moment that the School Commissioners were
elected by popular suffrage Rival dcma-
gogues would appeal to Catholic and Protes-
tant prejudices, and We should every year have
an infammatory religious scramble for the
control of the public schools Such contest,
waged on such grounds, would destroy the
usefulness of our system of free schools One
party in each school district would bid high
for the Catholic vote, and it would too often
put into the Board bigoted enemies of the
common school system, who might sometimes
be majority and administer the schools in
manner which would make them scene of
religious discord and kindle the passions of
the community into flame. Goosey-Foxs
bill is the most incendiary measure ever
preached in the Legislature. 1t would stimu-
late Protestant bigotry and Catholic bigotry,
and the interests Of education would be lost
sight of in heated religious contentious for the
control Of the Board of Education. AS stead
fast friend of the common schools-the most
beneficent of our city institutions-the
HERALD records its earnest protest against
any such disturbing, destructive measure,
whose effect. if not its intention, would be to
fan religious passions and divide the COM
munity into hostile camps on a question
which, above all others, should be kept out of
the arena Of political and sectarian strife.
Mr.. Fox's bill is the freak of reckless
demagogue. We object to it because we depre-
cate incessant tampering with the school laws,
which tends to keep the school system un-
settled and disturb the quiet even admins
tration, which is more important in this de-
partment than in any other. We object to it
because its tendency and inevitable effect
would be to put the administration of our
schools into the hands Of the lowest order
of demagogues Above ell, we object
to it because it would mix up religion
with our city politics and lead TO ceaseless in
fammatory conflicts between Catholics and
Protestants for the control of our schools
We do not sympathize at all with the blind
and bigoted opposition to our common school
systern yvh icl is EeIat Luz