The Wichita city eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1872-1883, 1876-02-17
From the Capital.
TOPEKA, February IA, 1876

TOPEKA, February IA, 1876.
The exciting work Of the week past,
among the lawmakers, was the action
of the House of Representatives upon
the Centennial appropriation bill.
Your readers are aware that the Leg
islature last winter appropriated $4,000
to be expended during the year past
in preparations for Kansas exhibition
building at Philadelphia. That APP
preparation was made in anticipation
of larger appropriation to be made
this winter to complete the arrange
ments for creditable Kansas show
along side of the exhibits to be made
by other States at the great hundred
year jubilee. The $4,000 has been ex-
pended. The opponents of this years
appropriation say it has gone up the
spout, gone into the pockets of the
missioners-down the throals of
some of some of them; "wood-bined"
for short.
On the other hand the Commission
ers, who, for the most part arc GER
tainly very credible men, say that the
money has been expended in honest
work about the object intended; that
they have kept correct accounts and
can show where the money has gone.
They have paid for plans for Kansas
exhibition building; they have collect
cd, and paid for collecting, a large
amount of samples of Kansas prod
ucts, manufactures. minerals, building
stone, etc. In short that they have
done precisely what should have been
done as contemplated by the Legisla-
ture of 1875, in starting the movement
for a Kansas Centennial exhibition.
But early in the week a bill came up
III the House to appropriate $685. 900 TO
pay for putting up the proposed build
ing, shipping the articles for exhibit
ton, the expenses and pay of men to
90 on and take care of the show. This
bill had been approved by the House
Centennial Committee and by the joint
committee of ways and means of the
two Houses.
The friends of the bill had little
doubt of its passage, but it at once met
with sharp opposition. Propositions
to cut it down were made and debated
at length. The debate took a personal
form. Members Of the Commission
were scored right and left as politi-
clans, as men of bad personal manners
and habits, keen to go to the great
show aud strut and gaze at the expense
of the State.
The following are the names and res
licences of the Commissioners Geo.
T. Anthony, President, Leavcnworth;
Edgar w. Dennis, Vice President. To
peka; A. j. North, Treasurer, Atchi-
son; Alfred Gray, Secretary, Topeka;
John A. Martin. Atchison; Geo. A.
Crawford. Fort Scott, and ID. j. Evans.
Great Bend.
The people of the State will be slow
to believe that good measure ought
to have been slaughtered by reason of
its having been brought forward by
men of the character of the most of
those above named, and in fact such
was not the case. A majority Of those
voting against the bill did so because
of the belief that the object to be gained
was not worthy of the expenditure of
so muck money. The bill was rejected
by decisive vote. The friends of the
measure contemplate again starting it
in the Senate in the belief that they
may yet get it through.
No bills have become laws during the
week and only three during the session
now more than half over. The fol-
lowing are some Of the measures of
general interest under consideration.
A bill introduced by the education
committee of the House for the adop-
ton of uniform text books for schools
throughout the counties. Under this
bill the voters of school districts at the
next annual school meeting, in 1876,
are to choose delegates to county
convention which is empowered to Sc
lect by vote of majority of the del
egates elected full set of books to be
used solely in all the schools of the
county during the next five years. The
convention may vote to make no selec-
ton. School districts now owning full
sets of school books are exempt from
using the selected books during the
next two years.
The Senate education committee has
reported a bill providing for grade
of teachers certificates TO run for two
years adding to the qualifications now
required the ability for teaching the
following branches: United States his
tory, bookkeeping, Industrial draw
ing, the elements Of entomology, bot
any, and of geology so far as it relates
to soils. This measure is proposed by
those who advocate the dropping from
the course of common school studies
now in vogue large part of the alb
stract arithmetic, foreign geography,
and mental grammar, which is made TO
perpleX the memories and stupefy the
brains of little children for no earthly
use that anybody knows of, and SUBJ
stitute therefor little common sense
instruction about the things which
children every day see and handle and
think of and inquire about from their
earliest lisping. upwards. 1t is not
proposed TO add TO the labors of either
teacher or pupil, but to change the
work of the school room from the mo-
notony Of null distractions TO the live
ly study of all that pertains to the
common, tangible things of every day
life-real things that children have to
do with in their occupations in youth
and after life-the insects, plants, the
rocks, the soils, the air and the water.
food and raimert.
If this bill is calculated to bring
about such a reform-and it does seem
well calculated TO make q rood drive