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 New Charter.

ing in mechanic arts was $685. In Phiadel-
| Phia it was $113 per pupil, in Providence and
| indianapolis the accounts were so mixed with
! other schools that | could not get the fig
| ures. In st. Paul it cost $5S per capita That
| is an excellent showing for the Mechanic
| Arts school of this city Just a year ago
tnsl matter OF closing the Mechanic Aarts
school came up, and they came very near
closing it at that time If it had not been
| Tor 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
! average OF $50 pupils, and the expense of
rnuuing the schools with so few pupils made
the cost pretty high, about $50 per pupil.
Inc past year has shown some remarkable
dacts. From $50 pupils it has increased to
20. There was an increase in pupils of al
most 60 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 1t 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 l told that If
more to run it, and that would bring the
cost per capita down to $42 per head. That
% would be very cheap. Last year the Central
nigh school cost per capita SAG, or nearer $i7
per capita, with S51 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
| 10 run the Mechanic Arts school last year
| than 1t did before. The year before 1t cosl
81 '60O IN round nmbers Last year it cost
| $4,000. The school has been inc-aa.e 20
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 or ilion, is very important
Item is fair to presume that with an
| effort made in the mechanic arts !ile it ought
10 turn out men in sympathy with the manu-
| iacCui1ng industries of our city, If one wants
| TO get good impression of the condition of
Things, let them advertise tomorrow morning
Ter bookkeeper. You would be surprised
| 10 see the number of applicants at your doc"
when you get down town. If you advertised
| LOT mechanic, you would have probably one
| or two applicants. There might be others
| VINO wanted work who had no skill in any
particular line
I often think that the old saying that an
| educated fool is the 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
a situation He said he could do anything
| about an office. | asked him to name some
| of the things he could do He finally said
he could not do any particular thing lie
said he was college graduate, had edited
| a newspaper and written novel or two.
| thought he lying. He also stated that
he was a Greek scholar and La.ta scholar
| and also educated in French. then knew he
was lying but to try him. gave him pencil
end he wrote several lines across the page He
! read it eff and asked him few questions
connected with Latin grammar. | found he
| was a thoroughly educated man Ye. this
same man did not know how to get a living
| we nave so many such men that something
! ought to be done, and something should be
| done to educate our boys In the right direc
| ton. At the present time in the Mechanic
Arts high school, "a per cent are boys In
| the Central high school 30 per cent are boys
1t is the greatest problem for body to make
| up his mind what he ought to do in life
| What he is fit for. This school Is PARTICULARS
adapted for boy TO make up his mind and
to see what he is good for. So many men
| complain of having missed their vocation
| school that wOnl0-
MT go through a 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 schoo.
will graduate fifteen boys and four girs.
| There is another point that will surely come
to and demonstrate Itself if the school is
given chance. would like to have gone
into this point more fully, but it did not
occur to me within the last twenty four
| hours and | could not get all the figures
| wanted. The Hancock school, an eighth
grade school, graduated this year sixteen
| pupils. Out of these one is undecided wheth-
er he will go to school again 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
Will 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 change of affairs in the city
existed a year ago. A few years ago all the
students were under the impression that the
proper thing to DO was to go to the Central
high school. 1t was fashionable and the cor
rect thing to do. But this agitation in re-
gard to the schools has had a marked effect.
Things have materially changed.
The cost of labor of installing that school
has been something like $780, ,000 That is
large item in itself, and the cost of remov-
| ing it is large item. But one of the great
est items which this city would sustain is the
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 school of this kind
| is expensive. If the school is allowed to
| run another year, it will be one of the
cheapest schools in the city; it will be the
| school for our boys, and 1 look for Won
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 a 21a-mil tax, the income
from which is -isuficient for conducting our
schools on their present basis and maintain
ing them at their high standard and eff
cheney; and
Whereas The board Of education has passed
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, 600 in the
expenses of operating cur school system;
and
Whereas, The Mechanic Arts high school
has been established in this city at 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-
chanic 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 a 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 are 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
j. Whereas. The Mechanic Arts high school Is
established on 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
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