Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-30
DELAY ON SCHOOL BILL
DRAFTING A MEASURE PUT OFF.
UNTIL NEXT WEEK.
Members of the Morrell Subcommittee
VIII Try to Learn the Senti-
ment of the House.

The school subcommittee of the House
District committee, of which Representa-
tive Morrell OF Pennsylvania is the acting
chairman. viii not get together until next
week to begin the drafting OF q school bill.
Representative Green OF Massachusetts, Is
ready now to start In on the proposition,
but Mr.. Morrell IL so busy these days that
he cannot figure out a meeting before the
time indicated
In the meantime the members of the sub
committee will endeayor to ascertain the
drift of sentiment in the House on the sub
ject of school legislation Speaker Cannon
will be asked IL he will put any obstacles
in the way of bill to increase the teach-
ers salaries. and the House leaders will be
approached on the same subject. The men,
rbers OF the House appropriation committee
Will come In for a little questioning in this
regard. One member OF Congress is under
stood to have been told by Speaker Cannon
that he did not at the present time look
with favor on a school bill to merely In
crease the salaries of the teachers of Wash
ington without making retrenchments in
some other direction.
Belief Of the Subcommittee.
But the school subcommittee does not III
terpret Mr.. Cannon's attitude this way.
They believe that II they can bring in a
bill which will show Mr. Cannon that
the school teachers of the national capital
are much underpaid. and that the bill pro-
poses to give them only very reasonable
Increase in the neighborhood of adequacy,
he will interpose no objections. The sub
committee Is going to have q struggle next
week with the authors of various REFORM.
reorganization and other school bills in
t,oduced at this session of Congress, and
will then get down to the business Of grind
ing out q measure for submission to the
full committee
The subcommittee undoubtedly desires 70
do what Is best for the teachers of the city
and for the school system as a whole. Both
Representative Green and Representative
Morrell have had experience along lines
that will help them in drafting the pro-
posed measure. and they are going to try
to frame q bill that will go through Con-
gress at this session
No Show for Reorganization.
It is believed by those interested in the
school situation that Messrs. Morrell and
Green will find after they have sounded the
Speaker, the House leaders and the menu
bership as whole. that a school bill which
merely contains increases for the teachers
and nothing else will have very fair
chance of getting through the House and
through Congress at this session. 1t is be-
Heved that the more they inquired into the
subject the more apparent 1t will become
that school bill which is loaded down with
so-called reforms, reorganization and re-
trenchment provisions will not stand the
ghost of a show Of getting through even the
House, much less through Congress and into
the hands Of the President
Consequently friends Of the public-schools
are somewhat encouraged by the very ap-
parent prevalence of sentiment favorable
to salary increases and against attempts at
reorganization at this late day Of the ses-
sion: They are hoping now that when the
smoke clears away 1t will be found that
Messrs. Morrell and Green have stood by
their guns and have decided to do what Will
be TOR the best interests of the school sys-
tenn and the teachers-to report a bill such
as that urged by the Business Mems Asso-
citation and other disinterested and interest
ed organizations and persons in Washington
to increase salaries and to do nothing else