The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-10-11
NOT ApARTISAN SCHEME.

The suggestion that Professor STEWART
is actuated by political motives in bringing
forward his proposition to bunch the school
districts of the city into four, his aim being
to get control of all the schools for the
Peoples party, will appear most ridiculous
| if one will take the trouble to consider the
situation a moment. 1t is not expected
that those who make the imbecile accusation
will take this trouble. 1t is enough for
them that Professor STEWART is a Mormon.
That fact is conviction in their minds that
the gentleman is working in the interest OF
the Peoples party, his motives being no
higher than those of the political partisan.
There are Liberals so prejudiced and SO
dull of comprehension that they will not
permit themselves to believe that it is
possible for man acknowledging member
ship in the Mormon church to labor for the
benefit of his fellows, and to whom it
never occurs that an official can per-
form his duties faithfully and still
be Mormon. OF this class are the men
who are attacking the county superinten-
dent, and attributing to him other than
honest motives in the movement he has IN
augurated.
The HERALD has said that it is not Ger
| tain that Professor STEWARDS plan is the
best that can be devised for curing certain
evils which all intelligent people are will
ing to concede exist. We believe that it
will tend towards the equalization Of the
school taxes and the benefits derived from
those taxes, but we doubt that it will bring
equality in other respects. 1t will also give
us system of intermediate schools which
seems to be necessary. But The HERALD is
prepared to say that the scheme, if carried
into effect, will not prove advantageous to
the Peoples party, assuming that it is an
advantage to control the district schools.
To day the Liberals are in the majority or
have all the boards of trustees in seven Of
the twenty one school districts. The con-
troll of two of these districts they
will certainly lose, because the Peo-
pie are largely in the majority and
lost the last elections through negli-
gence on their part or trickery on the part
of the opposition. There is one district
which may be gained by the Liberals in the
course of couple Of years. and only one,
the People being in a fair way of retain
ing all the others, besides recovering
the two lost by reason Of carelessness
The Liberals will therefore have six dis
tricts and the People fifteen. Under the
arrangement proposed by the county super
intendent it is plain enough to see, taking
late elections as basis, that the Liberals
would at once get control of two of the four
districts-the southeast and southwest, in
Guided in which are nine Of the present
districts held by the People, three full dis
tricts and part of three others held by the
Liberals. For all this gain the Liberal loss
would be portions of three districts, and
these latter would represent the Peoples
gain to compensate for the loss of nine full
districts, representing nearly one-haf of
the entire population of the city.
From this it will be seen that if it is par
tisan politics which actuates Professor
STEWART in this movement, he is working
in the interest of the Liberal party rather
than in behalf of his own political organiza-
ton. The carpers must find some other
excuse than those already advanced for
opposing the consolidation scheme.