The Saint Paul globe., 1897-06-05
PUBLIC OPINION AROUSED.

PUbIIC OP1NION AROUSED.
The opinions which we publish in
another column, expressed freely by
citizens of intelligence and weight in
this community, upon the proposed
abolition of the Mechanic Arts school,
show that there is a deep and posi-
tive feeling upon this question. And
we'll there may be. This institution is
the practical part of that form of high
er education that is given at the pub
lie expense 1t is the least ornamental,
the most practical. Therefore it is to
of economy and retrenchment. 1t is
to be abolished. We use the word ad-
yisedly and for the public information.
To speak of suspending the work of
this institution, or of closing it for the
year, is merely deception, however lit
tie intended. If the school is closed,
the teaching force dismissed, the plant
removed to the central high school, and
the work placed in Indifferent or hostile
hands, that is the last that we will
hear of the school of the mechanic arts.
Therefore, the protest that is to be
made by our people at the Commercial
club next Tuesday evening, which must
be made effective if this portion of our
system Of public education, worked out
through years Of effort and agitation,
is not to be sacrificed for all time, will
be decisive.
We believe that the interviews pub
lished in this mornings Globe are
the weightiest that have found pub
1c1ty on the school question, because
they are the words of men of practice
and not Of theory. These people have
no fine-spun abstract ideas They are
not contending for ideals of education
Which they have evolved from their
inner consciousness. They are not de-
tending abstract principles laid down
in books. They are expressing the ac-
tual experience of men in charge of
manufacturing institutions, and thew
all agree. 1t is the proudest testimonial
ever offered to the work Of the school
OF mechanic arts that these men come
forward to testify to the fact that its
pupils show skill above their fellows
in the actual work Of life These men
have employed pupils of that institu-
ton, and testify to it's efficiency. They
say that those who have had the bene-
fit of IFS inStr11ction ora fro,,o 80 -
tnree years in advance of their fell
lows, in ability to do useful work for
the people and to earn an honest live
lihood. Can there be weightier prac-
tlcal Endorsement than this? In these
days when we aim to -be practical,
can we afford to sacrifice such an ad-
junct Of our educational system?
A reduction of expenditures is neces-
sary. We have always contended that,
if anything should be cut off, it must
be that part of educational work that
has least reference to the actual needs
of the great body of pupils in our pub
lie schools. What is that? It is not
the kindergartens. 1t is not the grade
schools. 1t is not the branch high
schools. 1t is not the school Of the me-
chanic arts. Unquestionably, if one
must put his finger on the spot that
represents most accurately the personal
as aside from the public aim in educa-
ton, the ornamental as distinguished
from the useful, it is the central high
school. If something must go. that
should be the first to pass. But it is
the common belief that, rather than to
sacrifice any branch Of school work, the
term should be shortened until we can
secure, by the adoption of new char
ter, the funds necessary to carry to
completion the magnificent beginning
of school work that we have in ST.
Paul. Surely the consenting testimony
Of parents whose children have been
fitted for their work, and Of EMPLOYERS
who have found that the instruction
given in the school Of mechanic arts
is the best preparation for the actual
duties Of the age in which we live, can
not be disregarded. We urge upon the
people Of this city the necessity of
thinking about the great calamity with
which we are threatened, and of so
expressing public opinion that 1t can
not be disregarded, either by those who
have helped, perhaps ignorantly or un
consciously, to bring matters into
their present shape, or by those who
must bear the blame, if the wisest and
most helpful decision is not reached.
A great duty rests upon our people.
and they can best perform it by at
tending the meeting to be held at the
Commercial club next Tuesday night.
BEARING FALSE WITNESS.
st. Paul closed her three branch high schools