The Saint Paul globe., 1897-06-09
And ALSO URGE A CHARTER COMMISSION.
Committees Appointed to Take Action Along Both of the
Lines Mentioned in the Declaration
Large Number of Prominent Citizens Discuss the Present
Condition of School AffairS-Think the Way to Pre-
vent Its Recurrence Is a New Charter

| ing in mechanic arts 500. In Phladel-
phia it was $113 per pupil, in Providence and
indianapolis the accounts were so mixed with
! other schools that l could not get the fig
| ures. In st. Paul it cost $5S per CAPITA That
is an excellent showing for the Mechanic
Arts Arts school of this city. Just a year ago
tnSl matter OF closing the Mechanic Aarts
sCnool came up, and they came very near
c.osing it at that time If it had not been
1or a few friends of the schools, it surely
| would have been closed. At that time there
was not money enough, but in some way
enough was found and the school operated
another year AT that time there was an
rnuulng the schools with few pupils made
the the cost pretty high about 500 per pupil.
| Ihe past year has shown some remarkable
| tacts. From $50 pupils it has increased to
10 There was an increase in pupils of al
| most 5O per cent. 1t has shown more pros
| perlty and more growth than any other
school in the city. If the increase is as large
| next year as it was last, the school will be
full. The capacity of the school is 400 II
cost last year to run the school $5S per pupil
increase that to 400 and 1 told that, If
more 10 run it, and that would bring the
cost per capita down to $42 per head. That
1 Wou4d be very cheap. Last year the Central
hlgh school cost per capita S46 or nearer SAT
per capita, with SOL pupils With half the
pupils in the Mechanic Arts school, the school
can be operated for less money than the
| nlgh school is operated at now. 1t cost less
TO run the Mechanic Arts school last year
| than 1t did before. The year before it cosl
$i10O0 IN round nmbers. Last year it cost
| $4,000. The school has been incra. aeti 50
per cent, and the expenses decreased eight
per cent at the same time
| The effect of this school on our industries
ana ana MANUFACTURES and business houses of
TINS city, in my opinion, is very important
| Item. 1t is fair to presume that with an
| effort made in the mechanic arts liae it ought
70 turn out men in sympathy with the manu-
| iacturlng industries of our city. If one wants
| 10 get a good impression of the condition of
thlngs, let them advertise tomorrow morning
lor bookkeeper. You would be surprised
to see the number of applicants at your door
| When you get down town. If you advertised
| for mechanic, you would have probably one
or two applicants. There might be others
| particular line.
I often think that the old saying that an
| educated fool is tie poorest fool we have
! and l often think we are encouraging that
| thing in our education. 1t was not long ago
| that man came into my Office and wanted
| situation, He said he could do anything
| about an office. l asked him to name some
OF the things he could do. He finally said
| he could not do any particular thing He
sa1d he was college graduate, had edited
newspaper and written a novel or two |
| thought he was lying. He also stated that
| he was Greek scholar and a Latin scholar
and also educated in French. then knew he
was lying, but to try him, gave him a pencil
| end ne wrote several lines across the page. He
read it off. and l asked him a few questions
| connected with Latin grammar. l found he
was thoroughly educated man. Yet this
same man did not know how to get a living
We have so many such men that something
| ought to be DONE and something should be
| done to educate our boys in the right dlrec
ton. At the present time in the Mechanic
| Arts high school, "a per cent are bows In
the Central high school 80 per cent are boys.
1t is the greatest problem for body to make
| What he is fit for. This school Is particularly
adapted for boy to make up his mind and
to see what he lis good for So many men
| complain of having missed their vocation
! at
| mt go through high school. The present
graduating classes of the two schools show
about the same percentage. The Central
high school will graduate forty-two boys and
ten girls. The Mechanic Arts high school
will graduate fifteen boys and four gr.s.
| There is another point that will surely come
| to and demonstrate itself if the school is
| given q chance 1 would like to have gone
| into this point more fully but it did not
occur to me within the last twentyfour
| hours, and could not get all the figures l
wanted. The Hancock school, eighth
! grade school, graduated this year sixteen
pupils. Out of these one is undecided wheth-
er he will go to school again or not; three
have decided to go to the high school, two to
| college and ten to the Mechanic Arts school.
! The Webster school, also an eighth-grade
school, graduated twenty five pupils. OF these
seven are undecided to the course they
! VIII pursue, six have decided to go to the
| Central high school, and twelve have decided
! to go to the Mechanic Arts school. This is
| entirely a change of affairs in the city as
existed year ago. few years ago all the
! students were under the impression that the
proper thing to Go was to GO to the Central
high school. 1t fashionable and the cor
rect thing to do. But this agitation in re-
gard to the schools has had marked effect
Things have materially changed
The cost of labor of installing that school
has been something like $50, 900. That is a
! large item in itself, and the cost of remov-
| ing it is large item. But of the great
| loss of the teachers. These teachers have
specially fitted themselves for this service,
and it would take years to get them back
| again. The starting of a school of this kind
/ is expensive If the school is allowed TO
! run another year, 1t will be of the
cheapest schools in the city; it will be the
| school for our boys and 1 look for a
| derful good to come out Of this school if it
! is given the chance to exist.
RESOLUTIONS PRESENTED.
At the conclusion Of his remarks Mr.
| Crosby presented the following pre-
amble and resolutions:
/ Whereas The provisions Of our city charter
/ limit the amount Of money available for
! school purposes to 1a-mil tax, the income
| from which is sufficient for conducting our
! schools their present basis and maintain
/ ing them at their high standard and eff
/ cheney; and
Whereas, The board Of education has passed
! a vote to consolidate the Mechanic Arts high
| school, the Humboldt and Cleveland branch
! high schools with the Central high school
! for the purpose of saving about SO, 900 in the
expenses OF operating cur school system;
! and
! Whereas, The Mechanic Arts high school
! has been established in this city at a large
! expenditure of money for machinery tools
and buildings, and 1t is proposed to move
! this machinery and plant into the basement
! Of the Central high school building at large
expense; and
Whereas. 1t IS proposed to discharge many
of the instructors now employed in the Me-
! chan.c Arts high school, who have by years
| of experience made themselves particularly
| valuable for this system Of teaching in our
! public schools and have accumulated large
! amount of valuable material and information
necessary for the successful operation of said
school, the loss of which cannot be estimated
! in dollars; and
Whereas, Our largest and most prosperous
| cities making great efforts to foster the
manual training idea and have made the
! teaching Of mechanic arts distinctive feat
ure of their school systems; and
Whereas, The Mechanic Arts high school is
! established a sound business basis and
has shown greater progress in the past year
| than any other school in our SYSTEM having
! increased its attendance over the previous
|