Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1912-02-01
LEGISLATURE AGAIN BESIEGED.
By Emissaries Of Johns Hopkins Uni
versity For Another Appropriation
State Of Maryland Should Look
After its Public Schools Rather
Than High Salarisd Univer-
sity Which is no Part Of
Them.

Anem.
For the past ten years and more
every Legislature that has convened
at Annapolis has been besieged by the
euissaries CT Johns Hopkins Univer-
sity to obtain an appropriation for
that institution and each Legislature
has always heen foolish enough or
weak enough, to make large Appro.
priations of the peoples money.
1t is now being advocated in a part
of the public press. and some private
individuals that the Legislature should
appropriate one million and half of
dollars to enable the University to
move to its new home at Homewood,
The precept given for this demand or
request is that the University is 10
become by some untold and unheard
of hocus pocus a part of-or rather
the head of the public school system
of the State, and il seems to be
thought or expected that the Legisla
ture will be caught and beguiled into
making this enormous appropriation
of the public money of the State.
In the first place the Johns Hopkins
University is not part, and never
will, or can. be part of the public
school system, nor incorporated into
it. In the second place, the public
schools of themselves entail a heavy
expensee on the taxpayers of the
State as it is, and yet the public
schools are in great need of more
money, for the need of money greatly
hampers their efficiency. For the
lack of money the schools cannot be
kept open the whole school year,
and the teachers generally receive
almost Starvation wages
If the State Of Maryland has a mill
lion and half Of dollars to appro.
pirate for public education, then
there is an overwhelming demand
that it shall be appropriated to the
shamefully underpaid public school
teachers. There is not in this State
or in the world a more faithful or
more useful class Of public servants
than the public school teachers. Next
to the fathers and the mothers there
is no class of people that do so much
for the good of the world today, as the
public school teacher.
Yet. after alife time spent in
teaching the children, and when they
are worn out and they have not been
ahle to save enough TO keep them from
want in their old age. This condition
calls loudly for some remedy. If in
quiry should be made it vii. be found
that the teachers at the Johns Hopkins
University receive enormous salaries
and live most luxuriously.
They travel all over the world have
short hours and every comfort Of an
able, and every convenience that can
be procured, and now the Legislature
is asked to take from the taxpayers
the money of the people to build a
sumptuous dwelling for the Johns
Hopkins University professors, while
the public school teachers are forced
to live on almost starvation salaries.
1t is said that if this appropriation is
made there will be established tech
nical department at the University for
special education.
What the world is most in need Of
and suffering for, is not technical
education, but general common sense
and practical education. The great
mass of the people are not well edu-
ated. That is, that they have not a
practical primary education. They can
manage to read, but it IS a very
poor effort. They can write, but it is
the poorest sort of writing. They
know very little of our own history,
and know practically nothing of gram
mar
The people of the State suffer from
lack of primarNs school education.
They have not enough to do any sort
of business and are at the mercy Of
others. All this talk about scientific
and technical education is the yeriest
rot when the great bulk of public edu-
cation is considered. What is most
needed is that the public schools be
strictly and rigidly limited to the
teaching of the primary education so
that the children may get practical,
common sense education to fit them
for practical life, for not one in ten
thousand can or viii ever~ge more
than that.
The tendency is TO cram so much
stuff into the child's head that the re.
suit is that the child learns nothing,
There is 50 much attempted to be
taught that nothing is really learned
thoroughly.
The public schools can teach anc
teach well, reading, writing, gram
mar, arithmetic, spelling, geography
and the history of our country, and t.
this our public schools should be limit
ed, for the children will then get g
practical education for all practica
business. This curriculum is strictly
followed in France, and the people o.
France are said to be the best gsner
ally educated people in the world
The public schools can do much, but
they fail when they try to do to,