Vicksburg weekly herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1868-1883, 1878-05-31

| 6uNoA Anu pIoseub BlOOmy
outlook Of the finances of our Public
School deserves the careful Considera.
tion OF all thoughtful ones. A mote
IN the public eye, at such Q crisis 90
this, and with regard to 9 matter In.
vOlving such weighty and cherished in.
terests, ought to be plucked out with
no tardy hand, In order that the people
may have an insight to the true state of
matters over which there ct present
seems to hang . mist of uncertainty.
There was never time In the history
Of our municipal affairs OF greater mo.
ment or demanding that every step
forward should be taken upon ground
which has undergone cautious survey,
than the present. The twin Vultures
Of misrule and corruption in Office
preyed upon the vitalS Of our city until
mot being endowed with the recupera.
tive power Of the Promethian liver)
PROSTATE and exhausted, she has been
left chained to the rock OF financial
depletion BY an overwhelming debt.
These local causes, together with those
OF more general nature, resulting In
stringent times throughout the expanse
Of the country, have mnde the people
loud and clamorous In their demands
for reform. And reform, 90 far as Il
related to minor departments in which
there is least compensation to the great
est stress Of labor, has been prosecuted
with such Vlgor by those, who secure
In their almost sinecure dignities, have
never, except under compulsiOn, prac.
ticcd the laudable example commended
to others, by enriching the public
treasury from their fat emoluments,
that symptoms of Q strong reac.
tionary movement are beginning to be
felt The immense pendulum of popu-
lar feeling has swung around from cor.
rupton and prodigality often to the
other extreme. and 10 now seeking by
natural laws its owns proper adjust
ment. But when our Public Schools
the pride and ornament Of our city
which have hitherto escaped every des.
ecrating touch-are converted by the
advocates Of retrenchment into the
bastile OF reform, II is time to pause.
This institution which has received the
full need of praise from visitors, of re-
fined, intellectual culture, from all por-
tions OF the State, needs no encomium
from our humble pen. Amy effort 10
impair or cripple It, or to drag II down
from the elevated plane In which Il now
moves we regard 80 ruinous as would
be the refusal of the members of the
: body to perform their parts In supply
ing with food the stomach. Months
have elapsed, and while the prospect
Of the teachers obtaining their salaries
> has become "beautifully less" theiI
Q merchants accounts are daily assuming
Q more startling proportions. Upon
whose shoulders rests the blame, when
there are. Eve thousand dollars (S5, 600
In the treasury-with which sum the
: debts of the school can nearly be liqui-
dated Evidently, some one has been
guilty Of culpable negligence, and the
people demand that the screw be re-
moved. What pretext stands between
this fund and its legitimate end, viz
its employment in furtherance Of the
ends of education2 For months the
teachers have toiled on without q muir.
mur, with no incentive to stimulate
them and did delicacy permit the true
revelation Of their domestic wants,
; they would need no stronger cir.
cumstanceS to enforce the justice OF
their cause. Their need OF relief from
some quarter is crying and urgent.
Eager eyes were turned toward the last
meeting Of the Council In the vain
hope that some action would be taken
10 alleviate their situation, but the con-
sideration Of the school question was
soon swallowed up in the discussion OF
topics demanding grdver reflection and
more erpeditious action-such as the
construction OF q. lOug.felt want in the
the shape OF public park. Our Pub
lie Schools in respect 10 the facilities
they extend for both physical and In
: telectual culture, will not suffer by q
a comparison with the foremost schools
OF the country. And yet the salaries
are much below those received In other
cities by teachers, connected with insti-
B tutions Of a similar grade. How uh-
r wise then The policy Of reducing the
salaries Of the teachers for the ensuing
session. This one fact should be made
Salvint during the present campaign,
| viz: in order TO have schools, which
: for character Of instruction and appa.
. ratus, will meet the requirements oi
the day, there must be means proper.
: tionAte to the need. Precisely the
+. came principles of political economy
that govern every other kind Of skilled
, labor fix the value OF instruction. To
borrow an illustration from the mer.
camille world, whatever be the article
!. Of consumption, does It not, exclusive
8 Of its intrinsic appreciation, derive IL
value from the character Of the labor
1 employed in its prOductIOnT II the
article be the product Of skilled labor,
will not the same article from the same
factory command lie value, whether Il
i DO purchased Of KrsSs or Meyer OF
RuhmanI 2 On the contrary, II an article
4 iS cheap, is there not iRvdFiably some.
/ thing to mGkeit cheap5 Reduce the eel.
aries Of the teachers to forty dollars per
! month, and II would take no Daniel "a