New-York tribune., 1902-04-23
Merchants Association will not confine lts H.
ferlfion TO the other part.
sCBOOLu4STEPS AND JUDGES.

The schooImasters of our grandfathers Wouid
surely raise their hands in holy horror II the!
were brought back to earth. They lived III an
age which was keenly alive to individual rlghts
and saw ghosts of tyranny at every shauoMs
corner They would have been drilling on the
green without delay if anybody had denied 'heih
iury trial of their pettiest controversies pu'
they would have had apoplexy at the mere
suggestion that the pedagogue was not Tue
desDot of his schooroom He hogged ana eA-
pelled with clear conscience, ana sane anu
hardy race of parents abetted him In MS stern
d;scinIiue The idea that a disgruntled boy
could call his master TO account and nave schooi
judgments reviewed by the courts never oc-
Cured TO them. They would have thought such
q thing utterly subversive of social order Chll-
dren were expected to obey their elders, TO tell
tbe ,ruth and suffer the penalties prescribed by
their betters for their proved or suspected snort
comings
Rut we have changed all that. The rod Is
SHARED whether the child is spoiled or not Inc
teacher who dares to administer corporal pun
ishment in most of our schools must pe PIE
pared to face a charge OF assault ana Datteis.
Now comes Justice Of the supreme Court
declaring that boy when he pays MS 'h'ioh
foe at n school enters into contract relation
and NAV not be expelled by his teachers when
his conduct appears to them pre1udlclai 10 u's,
cipIine and the welfare of the school, we shii
not attempt to Judge the merits OF the p''r''cu
lar case which has led to the PRONUNCIATION vi
this doctrine. 1t is sufficient TO note 'fa' INC
bov-not man-in question was a student in a
co-educa tional law school. He approached
voung woman student whom he did not kno"
ond pave ber n note begging acquaintance She
complained of this as impertinence ana ii
breoch of the conventional relations proper III a
school where both sexes mingled. The autnorl-
t,es examined the boy and expelled him, not, we
ha,ieve on the ground that he had written the
note for which they might have Imposed minor
punishment or a mere warning, but that ne WIS
untruthful In his statements about the ihat'ei.
With the Justice or injustice OF that sentence
we are not concerned. The interesting ques-
tion is Does the schoolmaster or the court Keep
soboo,s Is the mower Of discipline so far handed
o,.or to tho tufgps that the teacher like the
,o,icn commissioner cannot expel an unrul! OF
uutrustvorthy person from the BODY under MS
control without practically establishing the COM
mission OF q crime? If so, the bau DO! mas
-oosor, 70 rejoice II he keeps within the letter
of previously established rules, and does not tell
any lies that can be proved against him in
court of Justice he Is safe. Even If he Is inaiiy
brought to book he can for weeks shake an
Injunction order in the masters face and pose
ne hero before the other boys Imagine ola
President Dwight going down to the New
Haven courthouse every few days to establish
his right to rusticate a boy whose conduct met
his disapprobation!
II may be that the law of this state fully
iustifies this legal contract doctrine and mas
done away with the idea that schoolmaster
stands in the place of a parent II So a great
MANY sensible people will want to see schools
established which will require students on en-
terfng TO sign contracts giving the masters the
old fashioned authority. Without II schools can
not properly be run. If vicious or untruthiul
boy cannot be removed at the discretion OF his
teachers and until they are able 70 make
case out such as would be required To secure a
conviction before judge and jury which would
pass the scrutiny OF our Court OF Appeals, the
whole school may he contaminated \ school
NAV be in law like q club or a stock exchange
though we believe the disciplinary powers OF
the latter are wider than the court seems IN
clined TO admit in the case of the schooi-but II
is not like II in the social system. 1t Is place
for training youth, not according to hard and
fast rules Of law, but according to the dictates
of common sense The true function OF schools
Is not TO sell education. but to exercise author
ity over pupils with full power to weed out
those whose influence nterferes with beneticcnt
work for others.