The Washington times., 1906-12-25

some States and some departments o.
the National Government that make
such dlsmissals freely As this reason
for The good of the service was one
of the two alleged Tor cismisstnE this
OinCer. 10 omit considering IL Iully seems
difficult 10 understand.
As FAR as the law goes, II demands
an INVESTIGATION OF teacher 10y pro
cess of trial before the board just as
much in the ease Of promotion or
transfer as in the. case OF dismissal or
a teacher. The law has established a
board Of examiners as tribunal IN re-
speCt 10 appointments, but not in re-
spect 10 promotions. transfers, and dis
miss;sls.
Most Difficult Position.
Addressing myself TO the second ques-
ton, permit me to disclose several con
sideraticns regarding the eNpediency Of
giving another trial or a different kind
of a trial. You have the most difficult
position 10 maintain of all the boards
Of education in America. You are ope-
rating TWO separate school systems. You
are extremely prominent IN that while
all otler governing boards here may
hold quiet meetings for conference, all
your meetings must he public You have
less legal power than boards OF educa-
lion elsewhere. And YOU hav- inherited
conditions whose real truth would chal-
lenge the Credulity OF intelligent strang-
Crs In the matters OF appointing anu
promoting officers, teachers and Janl-
iors you seem 10 have substantial
rights. but Iva respect 10 reducIug ana
dismissng them Jhe law gives you none
definitely. You can appoint, can you
dismiss; OF course, tins ueclsion says
that YOU can under certain conditions.
i am unable 10 satisfy myself that IN
tact or in law you can tulnll those con-
ditiOns.
TO begin with, this board is composed
lf nd holding
or recently the highest positions in bust-
ness in the Government, in the profes-
siOns and in social life. There are nine
Of YOU. IL does not appear that you can
delegate this power of trial 10 COM
mittee OF TO your officers. You have
over 20oG employees. a trial properly
conducted means that you must devote
time to find where you can get evil
dence, time to consult your consel, time
TO hear the trial, and time 10 formulate
a conclusion. IL appears that perhaps
your conclusion must be unanimous, as
In certain criminal cases In so small a
matter as the investigation Of the Of
fee, one OF your committees has al
ready spent sixteen half days. on this
scale YOU are spending an excessive
amount of time upon duties that are
beyond your legal powers effectively to
fulfil, however conscientious you me be
Nature of Trial Not Defined.
Again. the nature Of the trial that
you should give in this case is not
adequately defined by this decision. You
are liable to technical errors, as in the
earlier trial. It may be that this ignor-
anee as To how to proceed so as to
satisfy a court of review is sufficient
cause to drop this matter in its present
form.
With much regret, I. am obliged to
refer to another aspect of this particu-
~ q. 1-rgE
tear up the present harmonious condi-
tion in the Colored schools. and to neces-
sitate such a discussion Of the personal
character of F. L. Cardozo as Is prob
ably against the best welfare of this
community Such is the solidarity OF
the ColOred population hers. that ninety
nine out of a hundred of its members
would regard IL as necessary now 10
EOuCh for the character Of this man:
and the hundredth member, who might
testify against him would be challenged
as an enemy of his race. For myself,
believe that this race-solidarity is
necessary to the progress of our colOred
people; and ] hesitate by any advice
action OF mine to attack il. We may
be certain that r l. CardoZo can and
will, produce now at any new trial many
witnesses as to his previous good char
aCter and professional success And we
may be equally certain that even If we
desired to do So we can produce none
who are not his personal enemies 20
testify against him and none to challenge
the competence of the witnesses them
selves. If the new trial is based ex-
ciuslVely upon one anonymous letter
and the decision goes against the de-
fendant, he would unquestlonably take
the nnding again into the court of re-
view on techntcalities. We have no
FUNDS to employ handwriting experts
Would Establish Precedent.
Again, if you do try this particular
case again. if you do find against him
again, and if the court then susta.is
your decision, You have but created a
precedent for the removal of disIoyal
persons. but do not then know how
legally TO remove either the incompe-
tent OF the immoral, whose cases, as !