The Washington times., 1906-12-28
An Organ Out of Tune.


opened its eyes. discovered and an
nounced superintendent Chancellor has
endangered the welfare of the whole
school system" by 'exasperated out
breaks, sIurring unfairly the commls-
sioners and the District Supreme Court;
that he has talked impulsively ill-ad-
visedly and inconsistently;'' that ne has
assumed apparently that every offiuial
who disagreed with him was either ig
norant or unfair" and that the petu-
lance and intemDerance of his language
we're not TO be cOndoned. The Times
does not. however, make its belated
confession of mistake with good grace.
In joining at the eleventh hour the
ranks OF DIR. Chancellor's critics il slurs
the motives and belittles the effective
ness of those who have preceded 1t in
proclaimiag in the public interest the
truth concerning DR. Chancellor. By
unmigLakable inference il accuses the
Star c. condemning Dr. Chancellor un-
heard before he had arrived in Wash
mgton. Of attacking him almost mali
ciously on trivial or haseless preteXts,
and OF conducting against him an un-
successful. because unworthy, campaign
OF misrepresentation
While the star warmly resents these
contemplate ISLANDERS upon its motives.
it Is glad that they have at last found
their way into print. so that they may
be publicly branded. Heretofore they
have been confined 10 the cowardly and
responsible whisperings OF certain
slander peddlers with whom this com
munity IS cursed.
There Is not particle Of truth in the
charge that the Star has been ruled BY
l. fta-s. F.. -
criticisms OF Dr. Chancellor While it
thought that the local educational prob
.lem. with all its peeuliarities. could be
worked out with better results by
local superintendent. than by any out
slider Cand recent experience has only
strengthened and confirmed this belieO
il did not condemn DR.. Chancellor be-
fore he came to washington. but was
prepared to give him the fair play that
is due TO every man. Every word OF
criticism which it has printed has been
in the public interest. with good motives.
as legitimate comment upon the pubic
acts and words OF a public officer
IL is ridiculous for The Times to sug
gest that DR.. Chancellor has not been
guilty of impulsive and Hl-advised ac-
tion and petulant and Incorporate Ian
guage, showing tactlessness ana general
unfitness to be superintendent, until his
public outbreak against the Commission
ers and the court. Within three days
after his arrival he had impulsively and
ilI-advisedly taken sides in factional dis
nutes mlslnterpreted the law 10 give
him dlctatoriaI control over every local
teachership. and alarmed and unnerved
the whole teaching force, Before ne had
even thought OF a Southern trip he had
demonstrated his view that anyone
teacher, parent. editor. member OF Board
OF Education-whO disagreed with him
wa either ignorant or unfair" either
fool OF q lnave; and he had displayed
not once. but many times in discussing
the fool or knave aforesaid the petu-
lance and intemperance Of language"
with which The Times now taFdlly eFad-
its him. He has been the same man
from the beginning that he was yes.er-
day and is today.
IT may be admitted, however, that SO
inconcelvabIy tactless and unwise have
been the superintendent utterances that
the public would have found difficulty in
believing that he had not been mtsrep-
resented in respect 70 them II he had
not been quoted verbatim IN his own
newspaper organ and had not repeated
his self-discredlung verbal assaults In
an Official document given out by him
for publication prior 10 its submission to
The Board of Education
Clearly it is not now for the first time
that Dr.. Chancellor has threatened the
welfare Of the whole school system He
did il az the moment whsn he hastily
adopted and acted upon the view that all
the teacherships had been vacated by
the law: ne did II when ne assumed that
any one who disagreed with him on this
point cor on any point was either ig-
norant or malicious. and on this assump-
ton slurred the motives of honest crit
les in and out OF the school system; he
did it when he assumed unlimited power
to dismiss teachers abruptly, arbitrar-
lily, without a trial, and by an "exas-
perated outbreak" coerced the Board OF
Education into consenting TO his lawless-
ness.
The Star has always been the we'll
wisher and helper OF the teachers. II
| has always laboTed to right wrongs and
to remedy injustices inflicted upon them,
either individually or collectively. It
was one of the strongest forces to aid
them I'm the campaign for increased pay.
1t fought to give them living salaries
to retain our efficient force in Wash
ington in spite OF the temptation to seek
| or accept higher paid positions in other
places. When the law. for tie enact
ment of which it had worked as a bless
| ing to the teachers, not only Increasing
| their pay but strengthening the stabil-
/ ity of their tenure of Office, was mis-
construed into a statute under which
all OF them lost all OF their pay unless
reappointed at the whinl of a stranger
from Paterson. n. J.. and under which
when reappointed they were subject to
instant, arbitrary removal without
charge or hearing at the caprice of the
same stranger, the Star vigorously op-
posed this unjust and shameful perver-
sion Of the law and criticised with all
its force any one and every one who
advocated it, II as The Times inti-
mates the Star stood alone in this
attitude. the more shame to others who
pretended to be the friends of the
| teachers but deserted them in their hour
of need.
The Stars campaign in behalf of fair
play for tie teachers individually and
collectively has not been a failure. It's
view of the STA f11S pf fha taachars No