Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-03-01
TIE BLAIR BILL.
A Communication from the Supertn-
tendent of the senrietta Public Schools.

A Communication from the supertn-
tendent OF the senrietta Public Schools.
HENRIETTA, TEX. Feb. %, 1888.
To the Editor of the Gazette.
Your editorial in Sundays GAZETTE
on the Blair bill calls for notice. In that
editorial you charge the teachers who
support the Blair bill with evarice and
with favoring the bill solely because of
the money it would place in their hands.
Your charge is as unjust as 1t is sweeping;
and, as to its author, we "would caution
him agsinst making statements that can
have no other effect than that Of
weakening his cause" You will hardly
induce the people to believe that our S00,-
900 teachers are false and hypocritical
enough to support measure they do not
indorse at heart or corrupt enough to
barter principle for the psltry sums that
some of them would receive II
the bill passed. We opine thst
sometimes "avarice," "venom" al d
"iansricism" may be found on two sides
Of great question.
The Senate passed the above measure
by respectable msjority. According to
TIE GAZETTE the Senators who favored
the bill are tariff bsrops, fanatics or
venomous, rampant radicals. Rather hard
on the Senators isn't 1t? The poor fellows
should have taken lessons In straddling
from THE GAZETTE during the prohibi-
ton campaign, and so avoided commit
ting themselves, or else they should have
waited until the sentiment Of the people
WAS discovered. Some may have done
the latter in this matter under discussion.
We teachers sll agree with you that
"neither the desire Of the tariff
bsrons to expend the surplus,
the avarics of the 100000 school
teachers. the isnaticlsm of theorists,
or (Wculd "nor" do) "theIYenom of ram
pant Radicals" etc "can succeed in con-
verIing the country into kindergarten"
Would to heaven they could convert it
into kindergarten. We might then
hsye less of the "poisonous ink OF par
tisAn bitterness" (See editorisl.)
Mr.. Editor, can you not read the les
sons printed on the prison doors Of our
land, the warnings OF our riots and of the
corruption and fraud at the ballot-box?
They tell US that ignorance is dangerous,
that those boys who have only two to
three months schooling per aunum sre
not fitted when men for useful citizen
ship.
"O," you cry, "centraliz.tiopl" Do
you know that there is more danger to
our government from its mass Of ignor-
ance than from the slight and temporary
power sought to be conferred by the blll5
Can you not read between the lines Of
European history Do you not perceive
that every time a crowned head Of Europe
has made educational concessions to his
people he has knocked pillar from under
his throne2 Can you not see that EGG
land is even now q republic, that the
trend Of all Europe ls along the line of
education, toward the republican form
Of government?
The mental birthlipg precedes but
briefly Its twin sister, freedom.
Pardon US poor teachers because,
knowing above and believing that the
government grows securer and more
liberal as its people become better educa-
ted, we have dared to speak. We might
have known no one save an editor could
support great snd good measure with
out being convicted (?) Of "ayarice."
Finally, the Blair bill, II passed, will
appropriate 81, ZOO, 600 to the states. OF
this sum, eleven southern states would
receive about s49, 900, 900, or nearly two
thirds. AS q citizen of one of those
eleven states, states that pay much Of the
high tariff to the manufacturing states,
would gladly see s49, 0G0, 600 of the monty
thus paid come back to aid in developing
our girls and boys Into good women and
useful men.
You are doing noble work for Texas and
your city. Continue your laboIs and do
not sgsin, 1 beg yOu, turn aside to brand
as Infamous much-abused, though
earnest, essentisl, and generally pure
class. F. 4 GLENN.