Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-04-28
1.-THE Poor Mans College,"

IOeAASA0 w ~ " AAANu YAe SdNAA'r e. .
"The Poor Mans College,"
To the Editor of the Globe. ear,.,i
"The Poor Mans College," is the sugges-
tive name given by the patrons of the High
school to their dear institution in cards which
| they are at present. very in1ustriously circu-
| lating among the voters of St. Paul. l nc.
| cept the appellatiOn, it is most appropriate.
| The High school is indeed, the "Pour Mans
| College. He pays fer it, his money MAIN
| tans tit is his property. No Goilt the rich
man, too, is taxed for the High school, but
| then he receives back an equivalent for his
money by having his children educated. The
man who pays for it and rec-lves back no
equivalent is the one who in equity owns the
n> titution, and This is the DOR man. The
| rich, we are aware, do not Thank Their poor
| neighbors for maintaining with generous dis
| nterestedness college hat the children rf
merchants, lawyers, real estate dealers may be
| instructed in all the branches betting their
| high social position. But republics i. e. the
citizens of republics, are powerfully migrate
| full.
When l assert that the poor man receives
| back no equivalent Tor money paid by him to
maintain High school, / am stating a posi-
| tive, undeniable fact. have carefully looked
over the list of names of children attending
the St Paul High school. The list gives,
also, very correctly, the names and the Occu-
painns of the fathers of these children, SO that
| he who runs may read and see at once what
| a huge imposition this High school is upon
! the great majority of our taxpayers. In the
Occupation" column l find, again and again,
such significant words as the following: Getty
official" "merchant, !" contractor, "judge,"
builder" '.lawyer," grain dealer" real es-
nj ordx W. ms
chant" "coach builder" s'railroad superin-
iendeilt," 'dentst," rabbi etc., ETC., etc.
| These are the men whose children attend the
"Po0r mans college" There aie some two
| hundred of them, patrons of this charitable
| institution" the city's "eleemosynaries" for
whom the poor man at The rate OF 81 30 q
day bears the burden of the heat and the cold
and pays taxes. At long intervals, on the
| list, name appears, which might indicate
com curative poverty, but such names are, in
| deed, like angels visits few and fur between.
| One child's guardian is marked, "widow,"
but some widows are much sought after, we
| know, for their cash. Some three or four are
children of saloon-keepers; they would be poor
| men in Kansas and Wisconsin, but the bust
ness is as yet pro- porous one in Minnesota.
| Two are children of iaborers-two out of 200!
These are precious children for the High
school just now, the show children, out of
whom capital is made To these would add
as poor, the child Of an exoffice h Id r, whom
his friends gracefully requested last year to
| stay at home Ex-otfice- holders arc expected
| to be poor.
| Now here comes the grievance for the poor
man in Tie maintenance of his college" He
has heretofore thought that he WAS doing very
well for his rich "wards;" his pocket has
| thought that he was doing entirely too well.
| But both he and his pocket find themselves
| wofrlly mistaken. He is sharply told that he
| is harsh and crlrl towards them, that they
are most mlseIbly housed, that sewerage and
v-ntiitiO.I are not sufficiently attended 10, that
| the halls are not heated to the same temmra-
ture as the rooms, and that the ynnng Misses
have, to the great detriment of their health, to
drag up hoops and silks several flights of
stairs. That he may not be duped into the be-
] eff that things can go on as they have been
doing, he Is served with formal paper
signe by sixteen NJ DIS, telling him scion
iiicaiy that young aristocracy will suffer Sc
rlonsly unless he casts his vote next week in
favor of bonding the city, already bonded one
would think beyond endurance, for fifty
thousand dollars to build High school
to which his heightened "wards" can repair
without prejudiciDg their health. and
self-respect.' He might reply that two
thirds of the dwelling houses of ST. Paul
are not nearly as well severed and ventilated as
the high school building, that his own chill
no use-his duty to his rtch "wards'' is par
amount to all other considerations, he must
vote the bonds and pay for them as best he
can, when they will come due.
Much may be said and written about the
high school; the above considerations present
the whole question in nutshell 1t is for
the voters of st. Paul, rich or poor, TO decide
what they will do. For those whose children
do not attend the school it would be folly to
tax themselves in order to educate the children
of few rich neighbors, who scorR social con-
tact with them. For the rich, who are pa
sfroniziDg this institution, l submit, is it hon.
orable and just, in presence of the facts as they
are, in presence of the confession of the parti-
sans of the measure, that so far as right and
Justice are concerned they are in the wrong
to vote that their poor neighbor be forced by
law to maintain this high school? So mani
fest is the injustice of tax for the high
school that its friends admit it can be urged
only on the ground of policy. Policy that is
unjust should never be suggested. Honesty
is the best and the sole policy, and 1t Is the
policy that should prevail in st. Paul.
ST. PAUL, April 26, 1881.
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