New-York tribune., 1903-03-29

poor teachers appointed and promoted for political
rAasons."
The attitude Of the d!reotor ia explained in the
following comment cf = member OF sectIohai
board deposed In the last election:
Directors soon recognize that they are power
less. There many instances ~heEe IN re are
strong men on a sectional board who make fight
but they And In the end that they are beating their
heads against q vail, and either they give IT up
and submit to things or they hsht and retire"
The eject upon the schools varies as the ward
varies. There are wards In which political an
fIuence is as yet small. in which the directors
of the sectional board are strong men and the
schools are we'll run, but there s no ward In which
the political influence is not increasing, and thers
are many in which 1t Is absolute. The one over
wheiming fact cited again and again by directors,
principals and citizens, alike was the RAPID oe-
velopuaent of the system within few years and
its continuing growth.
We safe to-day said one. but to-mor-
row is problematicaI. We feel the ever Tightening
grip OF the machine. Next year the assessments
will be more definite. payment will be more m
sisted upon A year ago M recomm enda ton de-
cided the appointment Of teacher in my ward;
to-day dread a vacancy for fear that | shall get
incompetent one"
II am against the system" said another d.
rector, because 1t puts in position who do
this" He pulled out postal card. Here is a
man who spells 'olney. the place he lives in.
Only and refers to himself with q small Il
Five years ago" said another principal. 'asses' d
ments were unknown and many teachers in my
district were appointed for merit alone. was
elected the recommendation OF MY predecessor.
who was q Democrat: to-day this would be i'm
possible. The teacher with the biggest pull gets
! the lob II I wanted a place to-day ! wo Ildn I
bother even to see the directors of sectional
board; I'd go see the ward bose. and II l could get
his say So wouldn't even see director"
HOW THE SYSTEM DOES BUSINESS.
Political experience In the past has demonstrated
that there three natural steps in machine con-
troI-hrst. seizure of power, which was illustrated
In the Philadelphia schools. by the manner in which
the sectional boards were captured b. ward poNt-
tcians: second the Of power to appoint polit-
cal friends and to assess ofhcehclders fer campaign
purposes. This fully illustrated in the last
municipal campaign; lastly. when the power Of the
machine becomes both absolute and corrupt there
follows the selling of public ONCE for money. New
Yorkers are familiar enough with this system as
II was applied to the police in the DeVery days;
Philadelphia was shocked last year to discover
a similar situation in her school management
Three women teachers In the Twenty-eishth Ward
tettined that they had paid &2o apiece for an ap-
pointrnent and that the money. through a 60
between. had gone directly into the hands OF GER
tain of the directors hands. Then man principal
testified that appointment had been offered to
him for 8. 900, that the suggestion came from
member Of the sectional board. who. on his ap-
plIcation, invited him to take a stroll and that
later the AguTe was reduced to $780, and still de-
cIlned. As an example Of the power OF blackmail
q brother OF one OF the teachers testde1 that his
sisters reputation had been threatened IL she testi
fed In the case. ..
There was furry OF popular indignation. The
ward boss declared that the matter ehouIA be in
Vestigated AMI the 01feaderS punished Oficals on
all sides rushed to punish the offenders But some
how the indictments were never pressed; onr ad-
journment followed another and the cases are still
untried and the indicted serving on the
sectional board of their ward. Moreover IL IA
practically impossible to find anybody in PhiladeI-
phia who believes that the will be tried
Following this exposure the natural query was
do 'sueh things happen in other wards7" Ap.
parenEly not to any extent. There is no teacher in
Philadelphia who viii not gay THAT this is only q
dsve90pTntnt Of the system ssfe follow but the
most careful investigation revealed merely the
fact. that while isolated cases might OCCUR they
are rather G future Development that the machine
has not yet entirely prepared for.
'XOU ask me II such things occur s=id Hr0mi-