Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-24
DEMAND FOR INQUIRY
Proposed Investigation of Su-
perintendent of Schools.
LETTER BY BOARD MEMBER
Mrs. Hussey Calls Attention TO OBJ
jectionable Public Utterances.
OPINION OF PRESIDENT BAIRD
No Reason for Wanting Request
His View Of Article in Edu-
cational Review.
LETTER BY BOARD MEMBER
OPINION OF PRESIDENT BAIRD

cational Review.
An investigation Of the official conduct,
particularly in the matter Of public utter
ances OF Superintendent Of Schools w. E.
Chancellor, is said to be practically called
for in letter. written by Mrs. Ellen Spen-
ser Mussey, member Of the board Of edu-
cation. to Admiral Baird the president of
the board. The letter was sent to Admiral
Baird several days ago: and the latter, 1t is
stated, considered the letter OF such an i'm
copies Of 1t made and each member of the
board was supplied with the statement.
The members Of the board, 1t is declared,
are considering the matter seriously and it
has created a stir In official circles where
its contents are known
The communication and it's subject have
been guarded from the public, and members
of the board of education have been very
secretive when questioned about It. While
1t has been admitted in the official circles
that such a communication has been placed
u
all refuse to give 1t out, on the ground that
1t Ia confidential from one member Of the
board to another.
The argument Of the letter is very plain,
1t Is declared by one who has seen 1t. In
its opening. the writer cites several public
utterances of Superintendent Chancellor re-
garding the local situation In the schools
and regarding the attitude of certain off,
Gals of the District. Following the citation
Of these statements credited to the super
intendent Of schools, the letter adds that
such things are placing the school board of
the District In a very embarrassing POSI-
ton. In having the superintendent Of
schools, who Is appointed by them and who
Sits with them, cast reflections on the MEM
bers Of the community which they, as men,
bers of the board Of education, are ex-
pected to represent.
An Alleged Warning.
Continuing further, the letter says. ac-
cording to The Stars informant, that Super
intendent Chancellor has been warned by
the board to curb his public utterances. In
the face Of that. however. it Is stated. the
letter points out that the head of the public
schools has continued in public statements
to cast reflections upon people residing in
the District. This feature of the letter leads
up to the concluding object of the entire
communication-the question whether or not
an investigation of the statements should
be made and the responsibility of Superin-
actly by the board.
Members of the board have as yet given
no indication as to what II anything, will
be the outcome Of the letter. Those outside
who know of its existence expect that the
letter Will come up In q board meeting in
the near future, and at that time 1t is
expected, some decision upon 1t will be
made.
In the course of the letter, reference is
made to several statements credited to Stu
perintendent Chancellor and published In To-
cal newspapers. One of the statements men
toned Is that which followed the Cardozo
decision, in which certain reflections are
cast upon the judges in the courts. An
other statement, in which the superintend-
end seems to reflect upon the Commission
ers, Is also cited. Magazine articles credit
ed to the superintendent of schools regard
ing the local situation are also brought up.
In fact. the letter Is said to make reference
to several similar remarks of Superintend-
ent Chancellor which have attracted atten-
ton.
recent interview with superintend mt
Chancellor, which is especially taken up in
the letter, is that In which he is quoted to
say that 1.-The young men Of Washington
are without honor"
The authorship of the articles on the
Washington schools in the Educational Re-
view of New York will be fixed, If the sug-
gestion of the letter is carried out. Mrs.
Mussey, in her letter, says that she thinks
if Superintendent Chancellor was the writer
or had anything to do with the writing of
IL.
Statement by Board President.
President Baird, who was Intercepted as
to the letter which Mrs. Mussey was under
stood to have written to him. said last
night:
YES there was such a letter, and copies
of it were sent to the members Of the board
at the request of its author. did not
want the subject to come before the
board. and the writer of it did not insist
1 regret that any part Of it should become
public.
II see no need of an investigation of
the superintendent. The article in the
true and valuable. 1t does contain words
that would prefer had not been written
I have more knowledge of 1t than is
generally supposed. 1t was not written en-
tirely by the superintendent, but might
be regarded as a symposium More than
one person in the public school system was
privy to 1t. I did not think the article
was worth a second reading and regard
this agitation as a tempest in a teapot.
1t Is not necessary for me to sa-- that
we have the best municipal government in
the republic; that fact is SO patent that it
Is not worth while to contradict any words
to the contrary.
am informed that DR.. Murray Butler
editor of the Educational Review. wrote
the first and last paragraphs of the arti, 10
winch some may object. At all events
when an editor adds to any article for puh-
ncation think he assumes all the RESPONSE
bility.'
The Objectionable Language.
Inc interviews to which Mrs Mussey pre.
sumably refers, and which created the sit,,-
alton outlined in the letter, are easily re-
called.
The interview with Superintendent Char
ceilor, In which he is credited with CRITICS.
as follows :" Al part
Its difficult to say who's going to con-
troll school affairs in Washington nowSthe
courts. Congress or the board of education.
It really appears that in future our school
system Is to be run by the teachers them
serves, upheld by the courts
This decision gives the teachers a life
annuity. They can't be DISCHARGED nor s,Is-
pended. They are in absolute control. II IL
now practically useless for me to issue or
ders because can't enforce obedience.
Eyes, Cardozo will have to be reinstated
There is nothing else to do in the face of
the decision rendered. There is also moth
ing in the theory that he can be suspended
after being reinstated pending a formal in,
vestigation of the charges against him. An
the investigation possible has been had and
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