Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1890-10-17
THE LEGISLATURE OF 1890.
OUR MONTPELIER LETTER.
The school Law the Point Of Attack.
Committee HcnriHg~---Eiiis Introduced
1.-THE Coming biquor License Hill
Other ThiuEs Of tnterest.


a shadow over everything else here The I.
controversy of 1855. which ended in the
enactment Of the present school law, was T.
tame IN comparison with the struggle now
going on for its repeal The committee on
education, in order to sound the feeling in
different sections Of the state. have invited
the representatives to appear before them
hy counties Several public meetings have
been held with large attendance and in
creasing interest The counties have been
heard from in their order as far as Rutland.
a very large majority Of the representa-
tives have expressed themselves as opposed
to the present law. Several Of them when
asked by the committee to state as to what
features Of the law they particularly oh
iected, have answered that they were
elected for the express purpose of coming
up here and "wiping out the whole bust
ness This. in fact. has been the sent
ment most widely applauded in all the
meetings
Most Of the complaints can he distracted
under the following four. 1--WE have to
pay 30 TO 80 per cent more for teachers
than under the old law Teachers are not
as plenty as formerly and some districts
are unable to procure them at any price.
Some of the teachers who were formerly
successful don't dare to apply for certif-
cate for fear they will fail Our schools
have not improved We want to manage
our own affairs without dctation by
county supervisor We don't see the super
visor very often in our town When
asked 10y the committee to suggest some
remedy the most common answer has been
give us anything for a change
The members from the larger towns
have very generally expressed satisfaction
with the present law and strongly urge
that 1t be amended in some particulars and
still kept on trial. 1t is evident that a ma
| iority Of the committee ON education have
the same feeling If a test were TO be
made tomorrow the House would un
doubtedly vote to repeal the law. a careful
reading of the report of the state superin-
tendeDt of education will convince almost
anyone that many of the objections urged are
not reasonable ones Mr. Palmer shows that
the average wages Of female teachers in
1885, inclusive of board were s. 30. in
1856. 50 80; in 1890, 50 10, an increase
during the past four years of only about
10 per cent He also shows that the super
visors have granted certificates to j29 more
persons than there are schools in the state
The report also shows that f. large number
of teachers meetings and institutes have
been held throughout the state 10y the su
pervisors and that the teachers have been
of IA higher grade than before the passage
Of the new law, which latter facts have
heen confirmed by many of the members
who have given their testimony before the
committee
The most important bills before the
House relating to school matters are those
Of Mr. Enright Of Windsor, and Mr. Oar
ling of Chelsea The former does away
with county supervisors aud creates a
town board of education composed Of the
prudential committee from each district,
which board shall elect town supervisor
TO license teachers and visit the schools
1t provides that the town board shall take
charge of all the schools in town, the same
to be supported by "a direct tax on tn,
whole town Each district is to keep il
repair its own school building Mr. Oar
ling's bill proposes a state tax of eight anl
one half cents on the dollar of the granC
list to be divided among the towns. one hal
in proportion to population, and one-half il
proportion 10 the number of school district
in which legal school has been laugh
during the year The selectmen of eacl
town are to divide the money, one hal
among the school districts equally. an,
one-half in proportion to aggregate attend
ance Whatever school law may he Ell
acted at this session 1t is safe to say tina
its prominent feature will he some plan O
relief to the small districts that are now :
heavily taxed.
Your correspondent intended u stat
S25, 600, instead of 1925, 900 AS printed las
week as the limit of the fund coming t
the state under the Morrill, Endowment act
1t is understood that the Vermont univei
sity management have already received
and had assigned them, the first and sec
= ond installments Of SO, 900 and Sl6,O
respectively, so that there will be no fund
, available provided a new institution
4 created, for nearly two years They ar
also pointing to the clause in the law whic
says that no portion of said moneys sha
be applied, directly or indirectly undo
any pretense whatever to the purchss,
. erection, preservation or repair of an
., building or buildings aud saying thi
4 while they have some 500, 900 worth {
real estate and lands we'll adapted 10 ii
wants of an agricultural college if ne
h institution should be chartered large al
:, preparation from the state would be nece
q, sary TO furnish the necessary lands an
-, buildings On the other hand Col. HOokt
.. and other prominent agriculturists hay
. canvsssed the Legislature and claim that
vote can be secured for a separate institl
., ton.
4 The committee on highways, bridges, al
. ferries are accommodating the usual supp
! of bills, and will have plenty 10 do. II
=. idea most prominently brought out is ii
same as in the discussion of the scho
question-local self-government The o
highway surveyor system dies hard, and
is not improbable that the present law W
be amended so that towns may have the
choice between the district and town system
oi October lG
y The high license bill now in preparation
TT and soon to he introduced, is said 10
lc strict enough in its provisions 70 large
he curtail the use of liquor in this state shou
Id it be enacted. Its advocates are now couu
I'd ing on a vote in its favor, much greater tn,
e heretofore given similar measures. TT
IN bill of 1883 received ia votes in the Hous
~ Those best informed are predicting fro
ar 80 to 80 supporters this year. Meantim
bills are being presented, carrying out d
tn suggestions of GOV. Dillingham's MESA
o. in the matter of remedying the defects
ey the present law, and petitions against al
On letting down of the bars are coming
10 from different sections of the state III
I'D local pastors are also on the war path o.
is of them gave au address last Sunday eve
he ing on "High License or the Devil