The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1908-03-24
The TEACHERS PENSION BILL
To The Free Lance:

Al the last Session Of the Legislature
a. Act was passed apprOpriatt 80
OVO and assessing the salary OF ev.rv
public school teacher In ths StAt. ON,
per cent 10 establish IA fluid up,a which
teachers. hO have taught in the public
schools Tor twenty Years, may b., retired
on hall pay for the remAind.r of hf.
such a law 10, in my judgment. vicious.
IL II based On injustice anu Is tue I-xlu-
mate II ut Oi principle hich II carried
out IN other things wouli be ruinou- To
our county. 1t is the entering wedge I
clNll pensions, and II there is any thing
mat ought 10 be stencil In th, nustrlir
oi an luuependeut cit z-n-hip IL IS thi-
thlnS OF civil pensions. The matter has
ltquently been oruited ia Jonxr.ss. but
hardly expected To see the dny come
hen our independent Yirginians would
adopt "A law 81 subversive uf iu,tlc.. -,
essentially paternal and 80 distiuctlyel,
class legislation.
hen IA mau. In time of wa. enters
the army and lights for his country and
IL disabled by his service We deem IL
right TO pension him, because he has
gwen himself Tor bis country at a time
when there was no chOics for him. He
was compelled either by force or by a
sense OF duty u lay himself ON the altar
oi his country, and 10 should show its
appreciation 10y caring for him In his
heIplessness; but IL is entirely a different
matter when you come To civil positions.
They are matters oi wholly free choice
We have Ia this county over q hundred
employees OF the State. and | venture 10
say that not one OF them has entered in
his or her work from a conviction that
II was u duty which was due to his
country. There are some. have no
doubt, who md laudable pleasure In
the thought that they are serving their
country. as, for example, our loved and
hohOTsd Judge, one or more Of our mag
istrates, our Common wealth's attoru+X
and few of our teachers: but who
needs 20 be told that these worthy ter-
sons hold their positions Of their own
ca 1iee and almost wholly a. a matter
oi business and not by compulrion or
rom cOnstralning ~ nse OF duty TO the
Stat.l We well know to " hat evils war
tensions have led ana what abuses hav.
ioaoeu the list until IL has become abhor-
cut 10 every man With u Just sense of
nohssty anu fairness and right. With
al TINS beiore Us We have undertaken "A
ciNh pension system: to take care of cer-
tain employees Of the government who
nave entered its service for strictly busi-
nees purposes and OF their own free
choice To what abuses IL will snu
Heaven aloue knows
Is IL said that ali civil officers are not
pensioneol Then that fact makes ths
law class Legislation, and that il repudi.
ated by people OF the present day a. un.
ialr. Glass legislation Is the strength of
the corporations which have nlled the
pockets OF the few and ground the face
OF the many, and against which the cry
oI the uown-trodden has been raised
WIN increasing volume. On what prin-
eipie oi right or justice do we pension
the teachers of the public schodIs and
leave out Others who have lust as faith.
fully served their country The treas
urer oil this county has held his nresent
position Tor more than twenty wears
tie has been a. faithful in bis duties as
any public school teacher in the county
ana mas as truly served his people. He
Is now nearly three score and ten. WHY
not pension himl The clerk OF our
county Is truly q servant OF the people
perhaps the best loved man
IN the county. He is a blessing
TO the community, and reioices that h.
can make his work the means of contrib
uiug so largely to the welfare of his
people. lie is now past three score
years. Why not pension him? Our
neighborhood magistrate has long heen
a conservator OF the peace, whose serv-
Ices have been certainly as valuable TO
the community as those OF the public
school teacher at his door. The p.cuni-
AIRY compensation for his services. often
laborlous, and more frequently Disagree
able, has been pitiably small Now that
be Is old, why not pension him7 Sup
pose such measure should be intro
duced into the legislature, how many
votes would it get? Not one. But on
what principle, pray, do we pension pub
lie school teachers and exclude these
other worthy and excellent public SER
wants?
The whole thing is class legislation
which in some other forms 10 so obnoxi.
Gus TO us. Does some one say that the
pay OF the public school teacher Is SO
small that he or she cannot live and save
any thing for old age7 The same IL true
OF other occups tions. Why shouldn't
the teacher take tbs same chances as
Others?
But the pay OF the teacher is not al.
ways small, In comparison with other
occupations. In many cases he gets as
much as persons do In other employ
ments Even where the salary is small,
IL Is often more than these same persons
could get at any thing else. There are
two young ladies In this neighborhood.
one sewing for a livelihood, the other
teaching q public school, the former
equally as intelligent and capable as the
latter. The nrst works through the
whole IL months, !th barely two
weeks of. She goes to work Immediate
ly after breakfast, and often works until
10 or IL O'Clock at night. And she
makes not more than a $120 year.
The latter goes In school at 8 O'Clock.
gets out at 4, has one day of every week
aud teaches 3 months, for which she gets
5000.
These cases may be duplicated all over
the state In every neighborhood. But
let us admit that the teachers salary IA
too small. believe In the case OF many
Of them 1t 10. The remedy for this is not
to give a pension, but to increase the
salary.
Some will contend that this Is not a
pension, because the bulk OF the money IL
TO be provided Tor by an Assessment on
the teachers. Suppose, for the moment
yield the point. The law is still omen
10 the objection that it forces all the
to pay towards q fund which |
,annot benefit one IN FIVE, probably not
one In ten. II the teachers had a volun-
tary association OF this sort, IL would be !
Entirely free OF objection. But this is not
Every teacher has to pay
one per cent. He has no choice In the
matter, There Is no justice in it. Butin
The end the State will have the money to
pay. These same teachers who have
been urging the passage Of this bin in so |
lnseemly manner will soon be clamor-