Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1886-02-06
The Question OF u school Board.

views in opposition to the school board bill pre-
scented to Congress by a citizens committee,
make an elaborate but not altogether convtnc-
Ing defense Of their plan of abolishfng the Dis
trict school board and taking upon themselves
the active and entire control of the public
schools. They say:
aft plan can be devised which will concen-
trafe the responsibility for the proper conduct
of the schools, render patronage with respect to
the appointment of teachers impossible, place
the guardianship and protection OF the inn
mensely valuable property represented by and
belonging to the schools in responsible hands
and under the supervision OF agents paid for
such work. keep division, factions, chickering's,
and scandal cut OF every sort of contact with
the school system, and u along with all this the
services of citizens of ability and education can
be obtained ; advisOrS of the Commissioners In
their supervision of educational matters rclat-
Ing TO the public schools. the Commissioners
think great work will be accomplished for the
good of the public schools
They start out well. Everybody will agree
with them that the initial - IL is "a very proper
word to introduce a plan of Tpscttlng the uni
versal mode OF school control in this country by
school board. What ground is there for the
assumption that "paid agents. can manage
school affairs more honestly inteiigently
than an unpaid school board, with whom work
in behalf of the public schools is a labor of love?
Is 1t likely that school book and school furni-
ture jobbery, leadership brokerage, and other
scanialous wrong doing would prosper more in
the strong light of discussion and exposure In
the open meetings of a school board than if
the drummers and jobbers dealt in secret
with the aforesaid paid agents. Would
not the drummers and jobbers be very
glad to get rid of the school board and the pub
Gcity of their schemes inevitable in the public
sessions of the boarde Is there anybody out
side of Bismarck and his autocratic set who
does not think that free discussion in represen-
tative bodies is wholesome and for the pub
lie good, even II attended with Chickering's"
al 80 no of hrayv n.
Ing mountain stream generally supposed
10 be more healthy than the highly concen-
lratsd, perfectly harmonious stagnant waters of
ditch. And if IL is necessary TO abolish the
school board 10 avoid chickering's and factional
fights, would not the same rule demand the
abolition of our triumvirate government? If
report is not greatly at fault there have been
not only chickering's but cat and dog fights in
the board of Commissioners, and divisions
into many factions rs there were members.
at time. it will be remembered, the
people of the District had presented to them
the proud spectacle of their three rulers taking
up heir factional quarters In three separate
rooms, making faces and hurting epithets at
one another in sort OF triangular duel on
Maryatt's famous plan. Now. undignfed
wrangllng OF this sort amongst the District
Commissioners. calculated to create a deadlock
in District business, is a much more serious
affair than the petty occasional chickering's in
the school board. and decisive remedy could
be afforded by abolishing the triumvirate and
appointing a single dictator to rule the District
a sort OF ''Mikado' Po0h-Bdh, who should be
Lord High Everything, and who doubtless
could be counted upon TO conduct affairs in
entire harmony with himself. But probably
the people would prefer a government not
quite so concrete.
And what right have the Commissioners to
suppose that selfrespecting citizens of stability
Id,
with any of the real powers and duties of a
school board and especially the ..patronage,r-
would consent TO take the humiliating position
OF eunuch advisors on school natterse And
II they did, and the able and educated advisory
eunuchS should get into wrangle with the
only truly trustworthy paid agents. what would
the Commissioners do about ite Will they
undertake to act arbitrators in case of dis
pute between the advisors and the paid agents,
about text books, teachers, school furniture
ventilation, heating apparatus, &c? Will they
have the time and the knowledge to shoulder
this work? Is there anything in the
past TO indicate that they haveP We
are told that there is nothing so sublime
in the world as the spectacle OF good man
struggling with adversely, and certainly there
is no more impressive sight in modern times
than that of one of our worthy Commissioners
posing as a figure head on the platform at a
school examination and trying to look as If he
knew something about the public schools or
one of the same excellent officials in a sweat
before Congressional committee, seeking to
hold his questioners at bay until some member
ofthe school board could be hastily summoned to
help him out with answers. And il is dis
credit to the Commissioners that they are not
familiar with all the minute particulars Of
school affairs.
How can they, with all the duties and respon-
sibiities of caring for the interests OF two hun
Gy46 hTr ar.I,
Gated details OF the vast public school system
They unwittingly admit that they cannot in
apoiogizing 10 the citizens committee for the
long delay in answering their communication
on the school bill, because of "the pressure of
other matters"
On the whole the public will watch with great
interest and some Inisgivings the workings of
this remarkable plan of managing the public
schools without school management
The committee Df the German Reichstay
which has been considering the proposal for a
North Sea canal, unanimously reports in favor
of the project. IL will COST by the estimates
S39,Oo0,0O0. The canal extends from Kiel. on
the eastern shore OF the province of Holstein,
IN a southwesterly route to the mouth of the
Eibe. thus making Denmark an island The
distance Is about sixty miles and the canal is
TO be large enough 10 accommodate vessels of
the heaviest tonnage When completed it will
A"NA~ Win 'hS HueSt "orhs o. us class In the
world, though IL may safely be assumed that
tnis Will be one ditch that De Lesseps will
not dig. Its objects are partly commercial.
partly political. As IL is now, the ports on the
Baltic are at a disadvantage from the difficult
ties of navigation along the Danish coasts. 1t
Is as hard to sail through the Cattegat and ska
ger Rack, and other jaw-breakers of sehool-boy
memory, as ii is 10 pronounce them The canal
will avoid these dangers and delays
Naturally, Denmark objects To the canal o.
1t will seriously impair her coastwise trade and
the prosperity Of her seaports, but Denmark's
feelings are not much respected by her big
neighbor, as was seen in the war by which Ger
many acquired the three southern provinces of
Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenberg. By that
seizure Germany amputated Denmark pretty
well up towards the neck; and now she will