The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-12-22
THE SINGULAR RPRETERvECTI0 or
HON. HOFFMAN, 3. DORCHESTER.

IL Is with nothing but the most cordial
sentiments with respect to the Hon.
HOFFMAN s. DORCHESTER as citizen
VINO has served the public IN the Com
mon Council and the School Committee
with sufficient credit tnat we neverthe.
less feel called upon to cite him as some
thing OF terrible example.
BY the recent reorganizati ion OF the
School Committee, which process was
designed chiefly to strip It's supsrf,uity
Of membership OF powers which it only
seemed to possess and to exercise, leaving
to it always the somewhat sacred prlvi-
lege OF visiting the schools ut its leisure
and oppressing the little children with q
sense OF its dc jure importance from an
elevated perch on the platform sdvanta-
geousiy located by the side OF the school
tescher, 1t has 50 come about that the ex-
ecutive committee practically exercises
ell the heretofore somewhat lsvishly dis
rersed functions Of tho full committee,
and so to SPEAK, runs the whole shebang.
This concentration Of authority, we be-
iieve, has met with quite general appro-
val and has iospired the hope that in due
time the balance OF the committee would
be dispensed with, or in other words,
would be congealed into a body of five
or ten constituting a board OF education,
now that the committee had gone 80 far
as TO renlizc that its duties could be more
efficiently performed by concentrating
them in the hanos OF about one third of
the actual membership.
But unless we knew better, we migh BIT he
led to believe tnlt the reorganization OF
the School Committee, the new by laws,
the concentration OF power in the hands
OF the executive committee were planned
and executed With no ether purpose, for
no higher public aim, for no otner pres
pectiye advantage 10 the public school
system OF the city of Providence, than
was to be secured by the election of Mr..
HOFFMAN S. DORCHESTER a mem Der of the
School Committee to so ne Office or other
that had less OF distinction but rather
more Of material emoIument than was pos.
siblc to memb mbership In the COMMITTEES. In
deed, before the by laws were adopted 1t
was openly talked in the committee that
Mr.. DoEcHEsTER was to os electcd to an
,fiice aud ms naturally there was no office
hanging about vacant and yearninr for
'eme one to held IT, TN office was to be
'rcated for him. II WAS TO be called the
superintendent OF janitors," IL we are
correctly informed as to the title. This
dea seems to have been abandoned but
promptly upon the organization Of the
school COMMITTEES the executive COM
ni;tee met aud proceeded TO exercise the
lew and magnificent powers conferred |
lpon IL by electing Mr.. DORCHESTER to |
n ONCE that somebody else had until
hen filled, and which that somebody else
vould doubtless have been filling now
nd perhaps for years to come would so
ontinue to fill with usual sat.
sfaction had not Mr.. DoRcHEsrER's
riends wanted to get place for i'm and
lad not the executive committee had the
over OF making the place and q not
unnatural bankering to try its hand upon
"a new duties as quickly as possible to see
ow they worked.
And so far as we have learned, this is
he only duty OF public consequences that
he executive COMMITTEES has yet per-
ormed under It's new authority, which, as
re have before intima.cd, might lead us
D believe, IL we did not know better.
hat that one act wss the sole object of
he framing and adoption Of the new by
'ws and the reorganization Of the scnool
ommttee after SO elaborate a fashion.
he executive committee is plainly not
lst like the small boy who finds a lack
nife In bis stocking Christmas morning.
ne smaff boy so blessed opens all the
Iadcs at once, the first thing. The exc
itive committee has opened only ono
ade SO far, though, to be sure, IL
'ened that one about 90 soon ss II got
'e jack knife well in its hands.