The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1899-01-12
The Official Paper Of San Juan County
THURSDAY, JANUARY IL, 1899.
THE P.-I. NORMAL SCHOOLS.


sounds the first note Of the renewal Of
its opposition to appropriations for the
maintenance of Normal schools at
Cheney and Whatcom, in both of
which places the state has magnificent
buildings erected upon ten acre tracts
of land donated to the state by public
spirited citizens for Normal school
purposes. This attitude of hostility is
not new on the part of Seattle's great
daily. Its editor two years ago, r c.
Washburn, was member of the senate
and he voted against both the Cheney
and Whatcom appropriations, which,
however, passed both houses only to
he vetoed by the Populist governor.
Its associate editor for several years,
John w. Pratt, is one Of the new men,
bers of the house and he will undoubt-
eddy oppose appropriations for more
than the one Normal now tolerated by
Governor Rogers at Ellensburg. 1t is
not improbable that the Pr. and Mr..
Pratt could be persuaded to give their
consent to an increase of the State
University appropriation for the pur-
pose of maintaining a normal depart
ment there. In the editorial referred
to the Pr. says:
Normal schools are being incorporated into
state institutions, and if the state can afford it
that may be wise policy, but it is heavy
of the taxpayers Now, if the
people of this state insist upon having a larger
uumber of teachers from the normal schools, it
must be in face of the warning that the result
will be large increase in the cost of state in
skitutions."
Take the Whatcom Normal for in
stance, or rather the Normal which
ought to be there. The legislature Of
1857 appropriated $4,000 for it's MAIN
tenance for two years. Now the Pr.
might render service to the large
number of teachers and others who
are interested in this Normal question
by showing them just how "heavy"
the additional "burden" upon the tax
payers would have been had this ex-
penditure been permitted by the gov
ernor. The magnitude of the amount
and the proportionate burden" which
its expenditure would impose can be
comprehended a little more clearly
perhaps by comparing 1t with the
amounts which the present legislature
will be asked to appropriate for the
five institutions controlled by the
state board of audit and control, viz
for the Western Washington insane
asylum, SOS, 246; for the Eastern WASH
ington asylum, S119,425; for the state
penitentiary, Sl64, 200; for the state re-
form school. $4S, 200; for the soldiers
home, $26, 200. The state university
will doubtless make a modest demand
for at least $15O,OO0 and the school for
defective youth will probably absorb
$4,000 more. In view of these figures
the Pr. will find it rather difficult to
convince the friends of education that
such reasonable appropriations as are
required for the maintenance of the
Whatcom and Cheney schools would
involve "a large increase in the cost of
state institutions" and be "heavy
burden" upon the taxpayers.
There are over 10000 pupils enrolled
in the public schools of those counties
of Western Washington from which
students at the Whatcom Normal
would be chiefly drawn; there ar
about 49, 900 in the counties from which
the patronage of the Cheney Normal
is principally derived, while there are
only about Il, 900 in the counties natur-
all tributary to the Ellensburg Normal,
which was SO fortunate as to escape the
ban of the governors and the Pills
displeasare two years ago. The Cheney
Normal is now being maintained as a
private enterprise. There are said to
be about one hundred students now
enrolled in the normal department,
and the principal is authority for the
statement that to many of them the
"entire cash expense for the year is no
more than it would take to buy q
round trip ticket to Ellensbury."
As an illustration of the appreciation
of Normal school training. even in
small country districts, an instance in
this county may he noted. In one Of
the smallest districts, where less than
dozen pupils are enrolled, the teache,
j. a graduate of the Ellensburg normal
and simply because of that fact, al
though she had never had any pre-
ylous experience, she receives s7.d
per month more than was ever befor.
paid in the district.
In the experience of the most pom
lous, wealthy and enlightened state.
IN the Union the Post-Intelligencel
can find no justification for its opposi-
~ more than one normal. More tina,
three-fauFths Of the states have NOR,
than one Normal school, and in mos
Of those which form the exception t.
this rule the territory of the state is &C
limited as to render the one schoo
easy OF access from all parts of tn,
state. In Washington Just the con
frary Is true, not only ON account O
the large area of the state, but on nc
count Of natural geographical divisions