Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-02-15
THE HIGH SCHOOL.
Taxpayer Puts Oh His War Paint and Goes
for 1t vigorously.

Taxpayer Puts Oh His War Paint and Goes
for 1t vigorously.
To the Editor of the Globe.
So bill is to be again rushed through
the legislature authorizing the citizens of
St. Paul to vote in favor of issuing bonds
to the amount of $780, 900 for the erection
of high school building. Are not our
legislators losing their time and trouble
in passing such law? Two years ago a
similar bill went through the legislature,
and when the day came to ratify
it, the people of st. Paul,
in unmistakable tones, declared that
they shall not be taxed for a high school
building. The bonds were voted down
by large majority. The same destiny
awaits the present bill.
The friends of this high school meas
ure must; be under the illusion that the
thousands of voters who never can derive
the least benefit from high school have
not an ounce Of common sense.
For whose benefit is a high
school maintained Only for the
benefit of the rich, and not even of the re-
spectacle rich at that The laborers, the
mechanics of st. Paul, who constitute
the bulk of the population, can never af-
ford to send their children to the high
school nor do they at any rate want to give
their children that sort of education doled
out at a high school, which would totally
unfit them for the arduous duties Of their
station in life. The respectable rich are
ashamed to have their sons and daughters
learn music, Latin, Greek, German and
French at the expense of their poor
neighbor; they esteem too much their
children to deal out mental food to them
from the public trough Hence the de-
nominational colleges and ac-
on all sides. Bishop Whipple's
schools at Faribault, the Presbyterian
college at Minneapolis, the Methodist
college near st. Paul, the Roman Cath
Ole college in Stearns county. The
high school, supported by tax wrung
from the unwilling poor, is patronized
only by the rich man who has no
shame or self-respect, and is 1t sup
posed that the honest, hard working
voters, who have IN their power to build
or not to build high school, are ready to
stultify themselves by voting out of their
earnings $50, 900 for that purpose? They
are toe well informed, although they have
never been taught Greek in a high school,
to commit such suicidal act.
Schools we must and schools we will
have, i. e., the genuine public schools,
such as the law Contemplated them orig
inally-schools which are of service for
the children of all But schools for spe-
cial classes, at public expense, we will
not have. Already the evil has grown to
exorbitant proportions. Our taxes are
increasing every year, all on account of
the extravaganza of our school board.
And this year, in addition to the usual
levy, a special tax of $s5, 200 has been
imposed upon us by act of the legislature
for the building of more primary school
houses. This special tax need never have
been levied if we had no high school. Do
away entirely with your high school,
we say to our board, and you
will have all the money you need for
school houses of the lowe r'grades, with
out being ever obliged to have recourse
to special taxation. But, in addition to
all this fearful outlay demanded from us
this year, we are asked to vote yet $780,
600 more for new high school building,
and of course the annual expenditure
will be increased still more with new
building: new professors will clamor for