The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1882-02-02
COUNCILLOR GAINES SCHOOL
BILL.
January goth, 1882.

| Editors HeTGLG:
Perhaps 1 may have mo business"
to comment ON proposed legislation
| in Utah, but having been taxed
therein for the last decade. | will
assume the right, and with your
permission, would like to be heard
| in reference to a question of inter
est to all, and especially SO to the
taxpayer. The question to which
refer is the bill lately introduced
into the Council by the Hon. John
I. Game, highly respected mem
Der from this district, synopsis of
| which appeared in a late number of
the HERALD.
1t is scarcely necessary for me to
remark that regret to be under the
necessity of criticising the bill of
Councillor Caine, and dissenting
from his opinion, if he is in favor
of the bill. Nor need / say that 1t
is with reluctance that am forced
to the expression of a nOn-concur-
renee with the opinion of the
HERALD, when it says that
the bill alluded to lis a meas
ure that ought to be adopted"
l do not think it ought to be, nor
am likely to be convinced by your
reasons, even though sustained as
they seem to be by the opinion Of
the Salt Lake Tribune, when it says
that the bill sis a good one."
As Mr.. Gaines bill proposes to
centralize all the power over all the
school districts in Salt Lake City, /
am not surprised that "a paper
which recognizes the government Of
the United States as a nation with
a capital N, and which daily clamors
for the repeal of the present govern
ment for Utah and the substitution
in its stead of commission to make
our laws, should approve Of a plan
to centraliZe the power over our
schools, but am somewhat surprised
| that Mr.. Game and the HERALD
seem to be in favor of such central
ism. Being democrat who holds
to the opinion that the people
ought to rule. and supposing from
its tone heretofore that the HERALD
was to certain extent an advocate
of the same opinion, I have been Oc-
| casionally in the habitof Ventilating
my theories through its col
umns, and now l am panied
on the present occasion to
dissent from your opinion.
l hope that the members of the
Legislature will examine carefully
the provisions Of this bill, and refuse
their sanction to it. Should this
bill (or any other containing its Oh
jectiOnable featureS), be adopted by
the present Legislature, that fact
will be a sufficient excuse to Con-
gress for the adoption of commits
sion for Utah, because such a law
as this is an endorsement of the
central theory, and Congress would
only be carrying out to the fullest
extent the idea of 4Ir. Gaines
bill.
At any rate it is to be hoped that
the bill will be fully discussed, and
if its advocates have good reasons
to advance why the bill should be
adopted, they will be made known.
If the measure is a good one, why
not make it more extensive :? Why
not create one vast school district for
the entire Territory, with sub-dis-
tricts in every neighborhood where
there are people to pay taxes? Of
course all the districts of the Terri
tory could and would be managed
and controlled by the board of edu-
cation, whose qualifications are ex-
plicitly announced in the bill,
to wit {: they must be
mon (nO women need apply,
and they must not only be men. but
must be men Of experience, and not
only experienced, but they must be
educated. With such a board as
this at the head centre, with good
salaries attached, land a janitor (l0caD
to each district, and also to be ap-
pointed by the board, it would APP
pear that the citizens of each dis
trict will be relieved of all trouble
or responsibility in regard to their
school matters, having no duties
more weighty than to come up like
little men and pay such taxes as the
"board" may cause to be assessed
against them.
AS Salt Lake is by some claimed
to be Utah, what could be more
just and proper than that all the
schools and school districts in the
Territory shall be under the imme-
diate control of her Mayor, the
members of the City Council and
the board of education.
Such being the case. is it not ex-
pected that the members of the |
Legislature from Cache to Wash
ington Counties viii rush with alac- |
rity to the support of this school |
bill? So anxious will their con-
stituents be, to be EMBODIED finally |
within the broad powers of this
wonderful commission. and with
what infantile cheerfulness and
confidence will they be expected to |
turn over their several school
houses and other property to the
central board, knowing. as they |
must, that thereby an ample fund |
will be accumulated for the main
tenance and support of the edu-
Gated and experienced siren.
Seriously, Messrs. Editors, there |
appear TO me so many defects in |
this bill (if it is correctly reported)
that it would require too much time !
and space to enumerate them. and I |
j = L L II