The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1906-11-23
Campaign Will Begin After
Thanksgiving.
INSTRUCTORS CONFERENCE.
Letter Frem The Assistant State La
Dor Commissioner Dwelling Upon
The Laws attractions
From Wednesdays Daily.

From Wednesdays Daily.
A meeting of the special committee of
the school board, consisting of President
Hughes, DIR. Snow and Mrs. Smith, was
| held at the high school room yesterday
l,afternoon. and at the conference were
| Superintendent Mcconnell, Rev. Theo
dore Hegemann representing st. Peter
and Paul's Catholic school, and Profess
sors Gieschen and SELF of the German
| Lutheran school. The object of the con-
! ference was to see what can be done
| toward enforcing the attendance at school
of the numerous children of school age
who are on the streets or working with
out permits to be out of school. The
conference was extremely harmonious
and all agreed to cooperate in getting
| the tIuant children into school,
Rev. Hegemann referred to the good
results that are obtained by the tru-
! ancy system in Germany, where there is
special police officer who looks after
visits each school once week to get
the names of those who have not been
attending.
1t was decided to begin the campaign
on the first Monday after Thanksgiving,
and in the meantime the teachers in the
public and parochial schools are to get
4 L. - 4
of school and who ought to be in school.
The public and parochial school teachers
are to report from time to time to SUI
perintendent Mcconnell, so that there
may be system to the work. Children
that ought to be attending the public
schools will be sent there, and children
whose parents want them to attend the
parochial schools will be sent there. 1t
was the opinion of the conference that
the parents are often more to blame
than the children, and that they ought
to be punished where they do not send
their children to school.
1t was agreed that all children under
sixteen years of age will be gotten into
the schools, unless those between the
ages of fourteen and sixteen years OBJ
tain excuses to work in factories or else
where, when their work is necessary for
the support of the family.
The assistance of a state labor in
spector will be secured, and the names
of those not in school will be given to
him, and he will devote several days to
the work of getting them into the
schools.
President Hughes of the school board
recently wrote to State Labor Commits
sioner w. II. Williams at st. Paul, stat
ing what action the school board had
taken in reference to the matter of tru
ancy, that it had agreed to pay the ex
penses of an Inspector from the labor
department to come to MankatO and
clean the mercantile and other establish
ments of children employed without
proper permits, and if deemed advisable
hold d special meeting of the board to
appoint the inspector a truant officer
for the time that he is here. so that he
may have authority to cause the arrest
of parents who do not send their chill
dren to school, the idea being to combine
in this one person double duties of in
spector under the state law and truant
officer under the school law. Mr. Hughes
asked Mr.. Williams whether he was
such plan as outlined. Mr.. Hughes
said that it was the idea of the board
that such an officer could by firm and
iudicious arrests and other actions clean
up the city in week or two, and then
he or someone else could come at such
times as might be necessary.
Mr.. Hughes has received the following
reply from Z. j. Lynch, assistant COM
missioner of labor:
Dear Sir: Replying to yours of the
18th inst. would say that the reason Mr..
Williams was not at your board meeting
in Mankato on Wednesday evening the
18th inst was on account of his being
confined at his home sick l, myself, was
i'm Mankato on the 9th and called up
Superintendent Mcconnell, telling him
of that fact Mr.. Williams greatly re-
GREETED his absence on that occasion and
wishes me to inform you that he is
much pleased at the action taken by
your board and will be delighted to CO.
operate with you in carrying out your
plans. We will be pleased if you will
arrange details, and an Inspector will be
at your service any time you may call
for him, with instructions to follow
your orders.
Il think it would be good plan to
have your local papers mention the fact
that a state inspector will be in Manka-
to and for what purpose, and that all
infractions of the law in this regard will
be prosecuted. Prior notice of this ma
ture will help us in orr work and
think render much of it unnecessary. as
employers will not risk prosecution for
illegal employment and parents will be
/ I.-s,l LII