Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-11-05
TEACHERS AGAINST BILL
 WANT VOTE ON QUESTION
Hesitate About Opposing It Openiy-Fear It Will Be- come Law Anyway So Will Grin and Bear It. Think the Bill In Many Ways Will Be Oppressive and Unjust

Iue SCHOOL LeacnerS are III a Quan- dary to know what to do about the proposed bill which aims to keep them in their present positions for life and give them pension when they cease to be useful in the class rooms. Look ing at the matter in an off hand way, one would say that the whole teach ing force wants it, but 1t seems this is not so. Or the contrary there is very determined opposition to it, but its opponents don't know whether it would be wise for them to come out against measure which the departments favor. They don't want it, but they have a presen- timent that it will meet with the ap- proval of the legislature and the idea of being hostile to law which they suspect they will soon have to live un- der, with the framers of 1t to put it into practical operation, actually staggers them and they are not sure whether they hadn't better grin and bear it rather than run the risk of making targets of themselves with the men whom they think soon will have them under their thumb. They want to ex- press an opinion on the question through the medium of the ballot box, so that nobody could tell who opposed 1t, butt the parties having the care of the scheme in hand know too much to give those who are to be effected by it and whom they have reason to believe would like to knock it in the head, an opportunity to get a broadside at 1t in this way.
 It is said that MT Larkin is the fath- CT of the bill. If this be true those who know him intimately will wonder l. Hx4-~ could consistently lend his influence to the passage of a law to govern the teachers of the schools without giving the ones who are directly concerned a chance to say whether they want 1t or not and yet not put themselves on record in such way so that anybody, who might be small enough to do so, could single them out as victims of at tack in case the bill becomes law and those who want it will be in po- sition to chastise teachers who opposed the proposition. This is where the teachers are at: disadvantage, be- cause nearly everybody is saying that Mir Larlzin wouldn't treat them arb1- trarfly and nothing to the contrary being offered by the other side, natur- ally the public thinks that the board and the teachers are of one mind on the question. One of the female teachers said last night that she was opposed to the proposed legislation, but that she didn't think it would be prudent for her to say so because those who will have charge of the schools for years to come, whether tire bill passed or not, are very much in flavor of it. The lady also said that so far as she knew more than eighty per cent of the teachers preferred to let things remain as they are and trust to merit for continuance of their posi- Hons.
 If this be so the teachers are vic tims of intimidation, but people on the outside will be slow to believe this un- til they hear from the framers of the bin. Why wouldn't this be proper thing to submit not only to the teach CTS but to the taxpayers of Waterbury as well? Can it be possible that the rate payers and the parents of the 1O,- GOO or 12,0O0 children in the public schools have no interest in matter of this kind which the department of ed ucation would like to respect. even though they may not be obliged to do so?
 People who know Mir Larkin claim that he is very much averse to dicta- ton of this sort and say that if he were approached by somebody not di- rectly connected with the schools he would use his influence to give teach CTS and others an opportunity to be heard on this matter without je5pardiz- ing anybody's position. Waterbury has had all it wants of mob rule and Intimidation on the streets and in the factories, and God knows nobody de, sires to see such tactics repeated in the schools. 1t is painful to hear such a thing even hinted at and it is hoped that the good trpen who have this pro. ject in hand will do something which will disabuse the public of the notion that selfish ends and political advan- tages are the ends aimed at instead of the betterment of our educational in- stitutions.