The San Francisco call., 1899-03-05


having a winter of struggle and
t,Irn7oil of war and famine, be-
side which all their past troubles
seem but the ordinary annoyances
Of life. The long-suffcrtng worl<efS
Of the School Department nave receIY receIYoo
fr,o-bts and been in hot water many Times
befere. but the winter Of 1SaS-99 VIII pe
historic in the annals Of the san Francisco
schools 4,.o
..'Fhc trouble has all been caused by the
a,,tra1agance. dishonesty and reckIeSSness
Of the old board" says Elisha w Bfooks'
the veteran principal of the Girls hlsI "
Scbool ..7ud now the old raScals arc
cbuckIing because they go scot tfee WINS
tho teachers are suffering. The toush oIa
hoard was not a circumstance to the last
one II is a pity we can't get at theh allu
punish the guilty parties.
That is the way most Of the teachers
talk about the late board. One remarked
sarcaStically: ITS memory hds peeii Pc
petuated by naming one school the bar
Y,iDgton School. | think we ought also 10
have Waller School in this city,
II WAS on the afternoon of November 80
tI7at the teachers first gathered on a quick
summons in Golden Gate Hall and ap-
pointed an executive committee. consist
snl, of Charles H Murphy Of the Polytech-
MIC school, Albert W. Lyser. principal Of
tho John SWEET Grammar; w d. Kings
hurry of the Horace Mann. Miss Agnes NJ
Manning principal Of the Webster, and
Miss Emma f. Stincen, principal OF the
Whittier. This committee was instructed
TO engage legal counsel and go into the
courts with their November salary
Claims. The teachers taxed themselves
! per cent Of their salaries for defense
fund.
For the old board, upon nearing the end
Of its reckless extravaganza and finding
vast shortage about TO he disclosed, had
decided 70 pay all the supply and similar
bills that they had been piling up and to
let the teachers wait and get their sala-
ries some time. If they could. The teach
ers have occasionally had to wait
month or several months for a small part
Of their salaries, when deficits had oc-
Cured. but there was never a fear that
their money would not be paid in time.
Tho board had always approved the sal
airy warrants, which the teachers could
keep or discount until the Auditor would
allow them TO be paid, thus having a rec
ogniZed claim for what was due them.
But this time the board, on the night be-
fore the mass meeting, resolved to with
hold" the November salaries, thus def
nitey denying payment until the end Of
the fiscal year, June 30 next, when they
were TO be paid out of any money remain
inE in the treasury. The board, in fact
porposed to pay its eXtravagant supply
bills and consign the teachers and a big
deficit to luck and the next boaD1. They
would not even pass" the salary war
rants and thus give the teachers a piece
of paper which would be a certificate Of
Indebtedness.
The teachers saw that their money was
being diverted from them and that their
ever getting it would be doubtful, and
they also foresaw what happened later
that their December salaries would be
treated in the same way. The salaries of
janitors were included, and the whole
amount for two months was a little less
than 100000. The teachers salaries for
November amounted to SIS, 1909 so, and for
December to $50 737 10.
The committee employed H. T Cres-
we'll and Olney & Olney, and the present
tangle Of litigation over sa-@ries was be-
gun with the suit for an injunction, with
Elisha Brooks, principal of the Girls
High School as nominal plaintiff, to re-
strain until the teachers had first been
paid the payment Of the bills of the mer-
chants, contractors and other like cred
ttors. That case is still pending but
Judge Seawen has definitely decided the