The Evening critic. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1881-1885, 1881-11-07
Ford's Opera.house.
where the Responsibility Rests.

10 INC EdU0T OF INC EreHWy tTUfc.
Everything dependant on tho District
Government seems to go wrong. For two
months two large school-houses have been
allowed to stand idle for want of furniture,
and now, as cold weather comes on, Ii is
discovered that the heating apparatus of
some school-rooms and school buildings Is
out OF ORDER The result Is the school must
be suspended until repairs are made, or
continued Mt great peril to the health Of
the children-and the question is, Who is
to blame? t Iii t-'A ae.iF e'
The responsibility for this disgracefil
state of things rests wholly with the Com
inissioncrs of the District. They have
stripped the school Board of all substantial
power over these matters, transferring the
the business to their Inspector Of Buildings
and Property Clerk, and reducing the mem
bers Of the board to the status of ordcrlies
or messengers.
will explain: Suppose window glass
is broken in some school-house, say near
the Navy-yard, in East Washington, the
teacher, notifies the supervising principal,
Mr.. Stewart; Mr.. Stewart notifies the
trustee in charge, Nj. Dodge; Mr.. Dodge
notifies the Inspector of Buildings Mr..
Entwisle; Mr.. Entwislc calls in one of his
numerous deputies, Mr.. Henderson,; Mr..
Henderson goes or sends somebody to in
spect and report, and n contract is then
entered into with some mechanic to put in
the glass Don't 1t occur to you, Mr..
Editor, that such II system must be- vex-
atious, dilatOry and expensive? And so 1t
Is. If stove is out of order, the same
routine must be gone through with to get
1t repaired, excepting that the trustee-mes-
senger must make his application to the
property clerk instead of the Inspector of
Buildings.
What next?s The mechanic or centractor
makes out his bill, gets it approved by the
Inspector or Property Clerk, as the case
may be, and takes it to the School Board
which, by statute, must approve or disap'
prove all bills for Expenditures in support
know nothing about the job, and must ap.
prove, as matter of form, or not at ALL The
purpose of the law is thereby effectually de-
feated. But at the end of month or two
the forms are gone through with and the
mechanic gets his pay Don't you see that
such VIBRATIONS and delays will tend Il
make mechanics charge more for theil
work? They can't afford to do these jobs
and be subjected to so much trouble and de
lay in getting their pay without making an
extra charge.
OF course, under this system, the mem
bers of the School Board lose heart and in
tcreSt. lHty say, duu rc2tSOuuDly, 0Unt
Commissioners think they can run this bust
ness better than we can; let them do it, w
will not interfere" The result everybody
sees-utter inefiiciency and decentralization
school-houses are left for months without
furniture, the furnaces and stoves are moi
put in order for use, as they should have
been, during the long summer vacation, ani
now the children must be sent home or re
tanned in cold, damp school-rooms without
fires, at very grave peril to their health.
You may ask how this dilatory, circum
locution, red-tape, costly, new-fangled sys
tenn of making minor repairs to schoo
buildings, or to the heating apparatus o
school buildings, came to be adopted
There you are too hard for me. Ask som,
easier question. This much L know-it wa.
not done at the request of the school board
which, at the time the change was made
had among its members such men as Ed
ward Baldwin, George White, and Thoma.
Somerville. They foresaw the waste and
delay, and want of adaptability and eff
cheney in the system. They, or some o
them, made known their objections to tn,
Commissioners, but to no purpose. & Z a
The change gave the Commissioners I
chance to appoint q few more officers at fa
salaries; the temptation was too great; ant
the schools were sacrificed.
TOoKER ON