The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-10-08
BLEEDING THE SCHOOLS.


- "so GuttOT ~ Uto 1 1900
I notice that the estate educational de-
partment,' as they call it at Augusta,
has issued a proclamation. The school
teachers of Maine are thereby informed
that there are two loud calls for help, and
warned that it will be we'll for them to
respond. This is not exactly blaokmail-
ing which is being practised, for of course
the uperintendent of schools would
resent anything of that sort, but it is
something suspiciously near to 1t. And
more than that, I think the superintend-
emit ought to protect the schools from
these raids rather than assist the raiders
In this extraordinary address, and per-
haps it is not so extraordinary after all.
for 1t is only following many bad ex
amples, Superintendent Stetson says two
national ommissions have recently been
organized, one to solicit funds for the
erection of monument in memory Oh
the men who were killed by "the explo-
sion Of the battleship Maine.' But that
ship did not explode" if official report
are worth anything. The other commits
somewhere to Gen. Lafayette. Now note
what Mr.. Stetson says:
1.-THE department. has delayed making
PUBLIC these two requests as long as IL Is
thought prudent to do so. The facU pnaU
the national monument Is for the purpose
OF honoring men who lost their hves IN
the ship which was named Tor our oGate
leaves us no choice in contributing to this
object. The fact that General Lafayette
was at one time the guest OF the state,
and the still more important fact that he
was friend Of Washington, and largely
instrumental in securing our independ-
enoe as nation, make our duty in this
and scholars of the State are asked to give
a cent apiece for monument to the men
who lost their lives when the Maine was
destroyed, and mot over ten" cents
apiece for a monument to Lafayette, and
days for the collection of these offerings
are suggested, and the teachers are urged
to stir up the children to generous giving
by suitable readings. recitations and oth
er exercises, so as to insure ntr1but1ons
which will ne creditable to the, State.
The long appeal of the superintendent in
cludes lot of gush about Names place
in "past and current history, and our
capability of appreciating great men, and
explicit directions to school teachers re-
garding the ways in which contributions
must be sent after they have been extort,
ed from the pupils.
This sort of thing seems to me to be a
combination of begging and blackmall-
ing. In many cities and some States the
use of the public schools for the further
ance of private schemes OF this sort is not
allowed. 1t ought not to be allowed here.
They are private schemes, because they
are the device of private citizens, who
hope to take advantage of patriotic feel
ing to make themselves conspicuous as
leaders in a patriotic work. What does
the New York man who started the al.
legged movement for a monument to- the
men who died in Havana harbor care
about Maine? What do the silly people
who are asking children to build great
battleships. costing four or five million
dollars apiece know or care about patrio-
tisnp
The school children of Maine are no
more in love with great causes which
demand their niokels than were Mrs.
Jellyby's children The latter had to give
whether they wanted to or not, and these
official documents are calculated to make
our teachers and scholars think it is a
duty for them to give when it is not A
cent is very small sum. Ten cents is
not great amount. but ten cent pieces
do not grow on every bush and thous-
ands of children will be made unhappy
by being obliged to go home and ask
father and mother for money to give to
help these self-adyertising monument
builders, who have not been endorsed by
the State of Maine.
Pass the hat among grown people and
keep what you get, but do not Try to use
the public schools in this miserable way.
G. G. COUILLARD.
Portland, Me-, Oct. 6.