The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1914-05-14
Austen Again Discusses School

Editor Glacier: When | read Mr..
Forden's letter on high school union !
thought that if should follow his old
professor's advice | should have little
or nothing to say back, as he produced
little or no argument that had not Oeetl
before advanced and also refuted' ana
there were no citations OF coho'ti0hs
elsewhere that were at all appilca3ie
to conditions as we find them here lie
saws, ''if unionization will cost US 50
much more than the individual mgh
schools, let them prove 1t with some.
thing other than mere assertions.
Very well, but as our assertions are as
good as his, suppose we let him prove
that il is not so. But common sense
ought to teach a man that when he al
ready possesses the most of eommod-
ity that it would be cheaper TO add
little to it to make it complete than TO
90 and buy the whole thing over again.
and then hire himself hauled miles
away from home every day to make
use of it, when he could just as easily
have had it all at home. Now this
seems to me to be plain enough for any
sane person to understand.
"Tf 20 years from now means
greatly added cost to the union plan,
What about the cost of the present
plan continued" Well, just this, by
! that time the district will be fully anC
thickly settled up clear into the ZOO
hills to the western line OF the district
and there will probably be severa
families living about the factories, o.
uower plants, that will then be located
both at the falls of Phelps creek a
Rand's summer hotel and at the Philip
mill, and we shall then have such
large school population, both commo
and high school, that we shall perhap
have to enlarge our school buildings [
accommodate them all. But 1T Will b
on our own grounds and will not b
like buying the real estate somewher
else and then taking our chances
getting there in winter.
He speaks of the facility with whic
the wagons would whisk them off
town. and that ''it does away with I'll
hit-or-miss system of going afoot.
But how are they to get to the scho
house or other meeting places Whei
. the conveyances will pick them VI
Perhaps he meant for them to can
, there. And again, "our opponen
: should not forget that we are urging
union of six districts for high scho
9 purposes only, and that the subject
transportation is a separate one. Ju
:, so, | quite agree with him but he nj
= better not have said that last, for he
!, MANY people does he suppose would
. willing to vote consolidation with &
!, chance left open of having to transpo
= their children to town themselVe
= Referring to people in this, the We
=. end of the district, he says we wou
= remind our neighbors in that locall
y also that the rest of the people on
- F. D. No. 3 have voluntarily y assess
! - themselves from one to ten dollars
10 nualIy that mail facilities might
~ ~ continued, though we cannot see I
W Justice of doing So. Well what of
. We have been doing the same thlr
" and most of the time in winter have
80 90 to the top of the planer hill to
81 our mail at that. But what has Il
:" :, to do with the high school problem Q
- - way? Perhaps some one doesn't TIL
"a his Uncle Sammy ought to deliver m
g 50 to people down on the State road.
;;o' A rural high school (thanks to
"a friend for telling US what 1t wasl Is
nv big asset to community, as it fost
on civic pride and also enhances the va
a., al of real estate. People looking fc
ayg locality for a home mad much rat
III buy in neighborhood close to b
.rl school. Now the young people are
'ad ~ very life of the community; III t
.eu are sent off to town to school they \
"a a 90 to the town, or rather stay in
'do do town, for their social enertainm'
~ ~ and the home life in the country
~ robbed of its very life blood. Ath
81 was said to have sucked the life bl
ar a., of Greece, and we do not want to
me the town of Hood River doing a
at thing for the surrounding country.
emu f. r. Abste