Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1904-12-29
BRYAN SARCASTIC
STATE SUpeRINTENDcNT'S CON.
nENT IS SCATHiNG.
Talk of Taking Educational Posi-.
lions Out of Politics Calls Forth
Sarcastic Criticism at Expense
OF Those Who care ALWAYS I'm.
happy" About Something.

Olympia, Dec. 26.-The biennial re-
port OF the state superintendent Of pub.
lie instruction covers S26 pages and in
addition to the information necessary
to be conveyed by law to the governor
and the legislature, it furnishes prac-
tically all information that anyone in
terested in the schools of the state
would desire to know. Besides large
number Of statistical tables showing
the attendance of pupils, number of
teachers employed, wages, paid. wealth
OF the schools, ETC., chapter il devot-
ed to each of the educational institu-
lions Of the state.
The report SHOWS that there were
l6l, 1851 children enrolled in the public
schools of the state for the year 1904
as against 1878 enrolled in 1903
The average daily attendance for 1904
was l10,77i, and 1O1 ,O8s in the pre-
ceding year.
Schools Lose Many Pupils.
For the year just closed there were
1915 teachers employed in the state,
1881 males and 3,644 females, receiv-
ing an average salary for the men of
S60.24 and for the women S49.7O.
There were 27.202 children of school
age that did not attend school during
che year at all, in spite of the compul-
sorry law and ,06l between the ages of
3 and Is yearys that attended less than
three months.
The total receipts for school purposes
in this state from state, county and
special taxes; from the sale of bonds
and other sources reached $5,6l9,315..
50. The total disbursements for edu
cational purposes throughout the state
were "a, 470, 5S6.16, leaving oasn bal
ance Of $1,14S, 729.S2. OF the amount
paid out during the year the sum of
$2,246, 662.4S was for salaries of
teachers.
Bryan's Comments Sarcastic.
2 OF the effort made during the past
year to "take the state and county su-
perintendents' offices out of politics"
State Superintendent Bryan makes
some caustic comment. On this sub
ject of elimination, Mr.. Bryan says in
part:
1.-The people of this great, happy
and prosperous country are always un.
happy-some about one thing, some
about another. The different groups
or classes are not always unhappy
about the same thing, but they are I'M
happy about one thing today and about
another thing tomorrow. Their moods
change from time to time, but each
class must be unhappy most of the
time about something. They are most
miserab BILE when they can find nothing
to be unhappy about.
Cause for UnhappincsS.
Gas an instance of this kind, the
idea bored itself into the brains of a
few leading educational people Of this
state that the whole school system is
being damned by the fact that the
state superintendent and all county
superintendent are elected in just the
same manner that all other state and
county officers are elected. 1t had not
occurred to me before this excitement
sprang up; but am now astonished
to think that have not felt mortified
and chagrinsd to think that l was
elected by practically the same process
that william Mckinley was elected,
and by exactly the same process by
which my colleagues in the state cap
ital building were elected. am now
happy to think that now have good
and sufficient reason for being unhap-
py during the remainder Of my life,
and it should be sufficient and just
cause to make all county superintend-
upon the fact that they, too, were
dominated and elected in the same
mf amer were their associate county
officers
Mr.. Bryan then discusses the matter
at length from serious standpoint for
the benefit Of the legislature.