St. Paul daily globe., 1896-02-09
TEMPERATURES.

southwest Winds
TEMPERATURES.
Place. Tenn. Cincinnati go. 1898
Place. Tenn. Helena .....3S-42
Buffalo ....... ..9O-32I Montreal -. 2O-3o
Boston - " 6-44 New York 80. ..4O-A
Cheyenne ..... .20-24I Pittsburg 49,. :. 32- -38
Chicago ..... -. 1928 Winnipeg ..10-10
Barometer. 1886; relative humidity, SS;
weather, light snow; maximum Thermometer,
30; minimum thermometer 3; daily range, 29
amount of rainfall melted snow in the last
twenty-four hours, trace; thermometer, IS;
wind, southwest
Note-Barometer corrected for temperature
and elevation. p. r. Lyons Observer.
PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS IN ST. PAUL.
We publish this morning an interest
ing account, the most complete that
has ever been given, of the private ed
ucational institutions in this city which
are conducted under the auspices of re-
1igious denominations. In all esti-
mates Of our school population, and in
all statistics based upon them, this
item has been fruitful source of con-
troversy. There are probably very few
cities in the country where the pa
rochial schools contain as large por-
tion Of the entire school population as
they do here. These schools started
almost with the foundation of the city,
have grown with its growth and -four
ished with the increase of it's strength,
until today they constitute an impor-
tant part, both numerically and edu-
cationally, Of its system of instruction
for children. The enumeration of these
M. it,,4i t.
Is careful and exhaustive, shows that
there are in st. Paul seventeen educa-
tional institutions under the care of the
Roman Catholic church, whose pupils
number $50. This does not include the
students Of colleges and academies,
which are estimated at about 500 more.
The Lutheran churches maintain twelve
such schools, whose aggregate enroll
ment is only little short Of thou
sand pupils. There are in the neigh
borhood of 300 students in the Episco-
pal church schools, and about as many
more In a number of other private in
stitutions. This brings the total en-
rollment Of educational institutions in
ST. Paul, not covered by the public
school system, up to 1000 pupils, in
round numbers. This is almost one
half of the average daily attendance
OF the public schools of the city, is
about one-third Of the total public
school enrolment, and therefore in
cludes one-fourth of the entire number
Of children Of school age
A system to which rs per cent of our
children look for their education is an
agent In the building of mind and
character too powerful to be over
looked or estimated at less than it's
real value. Financially, the existence
OF this large and powerful department
or educational work has many bear
ings. It's maintenance, of course. is q
large expense to those property hold
ers who patronize 1t conscientiously.
They pay cheerfully their share of tax
atlon for the support of the public
schools, and then contribute in addi
tion the sums necessary to maintain
the parochial establishments 1t is true
that the existence of these institutions
dlmmshes to that extent the share of
81. Paul in the apportionment of the
state funds. That is assigned accord
ang to school enrolment; and if the
1000 pupils in the private schools were
added to the public schools. orr
proportion would be increased nv
that much. 1t is only fair to notice on
the other hand, that the cost of pro-
V1ding additional accommodations and
instructors for 80 per cent more pupils
than are now on the lists would add
to the bill of the city schools much
more than the extra amount received
from the state. The real hardship con-
sists in that feature of the law which
obliges the cities to pay school taxes
on the basis of property valuation.
while distributing funds so created on
the basis of school enrolment In this
way st. Paul pays to the state taxa
tdon on all property whether owned by
patrons of public or private schools
while the share assigned to it is di-
1iiiHiSISu 20 per cent because the Du-
pills Of parochial schools are not count
ed when our allotment of receipts is
made. This is the feature of the law
that works against the cities, and in
favor of the country districts, but that
is not likely to be eamended or changed.
Internationally, there can be no ques-
tion that the private schools are DOW
erful force in the community. Setting
aside the feature Of religious instruc-
tion, which Is matter of be-
lief and conscience to their
patrons, it is generally admitted that
the quality Of the education which they
confer is high, and improving con-
stantly 1t is interesting to note the
tribute paid to the excellence Of our
public schools in the statement that the
competition which they afford has been
a factor in raising the standard in all
OF the private institutions They have
adopted the methods and system of
the public schools. because these have
been found to be best. II they