Norwich bulletin., 1918-07-13

the special town meeting on Friday night in the, town hall. called in re- gard to giving the school teachers an additional salary raise beyond what had. been recommended for them by the town school board. they are to get all they asked for. This will give them, as John McWil- liams said in the meeting, wages about on a par with the ordinary laborInS man, but not quite as good as hodcar riers.
 l Literally it was vote taken in the | dark, although much light had been shed on the subject by several speak | CTS, for the electric lights in the hall i suddenly went out about half an hour | before the meeting ended and for the rest of the time the only illumination
 was from four feeble gas jets on the l big chandelier in the front Of the hall which Janitor Joseph J. Fields climbed d step ladder to light. The town hall suffered like many other places from a break in the Norwich Town circuit during the heavy rain and wind storm l that struck on shortly after o'clock.
 After First Selectman Casper k. Bailey had opened the meeting and
 surrendered the chair to Judge H. H. | Pettis as chairman, Town Clerk Charles H. Holbrook read the petition I
 meeting was called.
 Presents Resolutions.
 l Attorney Charles L. Stewart took the floor and presented the following res | lutions, which were voted at the end of
 the meeting:
 Be it Resolved, and it is the sense
 of this meeting, that the town school | committee of Norwich are hereby re- | h.
 with, to further increase the wages of
 each of the school teachers of the
 town to the amount of $10J for each teacher, for the coming school year,
 in addition to the sum of $100 and reg
 ular schedule of wages, already in Clicated by said Town School Commit
 tee as the increase to be made in such
 wages for the coming school year,
 And be it further Resolved, that the
 said Town School Committee shall in-
 clude in it's annual budget of estimated
 school expenses for the ensuing year i1 sum sufficient to cover the total in
 creases made in the wages of said
 teachers, over the previous year, |, And be it further Resolved, that the Selectmen of the Town of Norwich i! : their next annual report to be sub } mitted at the next annual town meet ing, shall include in it's estimate O1
 school expenses for the coming schoo l year. a sum sufficient to cover the in / crease in the wages of the teachers o
 the town as provided by this resolu- ton, and the amount already pro- } posed by the said town school com mittee as above stated.
 , Dated at Norwich, Conn, this 12tf 5 day of July, A. D. 1918.
 ? In advocating the passage of the resolution, Mr Stewart told the 15i l persons present, including five or si2 ', women, that he wanted to discuss tht real merits of the request of the teach , CTS for higher wages as in some of the
 cities of the state it was being men |, toned that wages were so small tha teachers were unable to support them l selves but were compelled to go into other employment during the summer
 in order to carry themselves along til the first pay day in the fall. From Jan. 1, 1912, to Jan. 1, 1918. h' . said, there had been a general increas' : of 6S per cent. in the cost of living
 and average increase in wages of s.
 per cent, but teachers salaries il
 Norwich in that time had increased I l per cent. There is hardly any town il S tn state where the average cost Of th e schools. per inhabitant, is so low a { in Norwich, where the figure is S4.3 0 Der inhabitant.
 |. In Norwich last year the maximum 2 salary was $S50. To this the schoo : board has proposed for this year al ,, | increase of $100. In contrast witt $ this Mir. Stewart gave the followini = figure of maximum salaries last year
 which have now been substantially in . creased. he said: Hartford S1,90( 5. Manchester S1150 Meriden S1.06C n Derby $1 900, Middletown $1,000, Nau 8 gatuck, Torrington. Shelton. Bristo e and Danbury S950.
 : The proposed extra $100 for tn S Norwich salaries will make the maxi . mum S1.050 and minimum $100, Whil
 Ansonia's minimum is $1,000. Tn l, resolution, which he was advocating
 said MT. Stewart. would make an in S crease in the tax list of less than two - thirds of one mill
 = The teachers are equally worth 9 with the policemen and liremen, Wh
 have been given raise of S1 per da
 and we cannot let the quality of pub
 lie schools be lowered. These wome
 are entitled to a respectable Twin T. wage. (Applause).
 l. He urged that this be. given to tn $ teachers so that our public schoo U may be kept to the highest efficiency. ia Judqe Barnes Makes Breezy Talk. l. Judge John H. Barnes spoke brief > in a breezy way, saying that he ws > one of those who signed the petite z- for the meeting at the request Of
 teacher, but in advocating the passas
 of the resolution he did so as frler
 and held no brief for anybody, nor d-
 he want a fee Of course he said,
 ought to advocate that the lawye 5e should have their pay raised, but ne. to the lawyers the teachers were ce. q tainly the most deserving.
 ,u He spoke of Rembrandt and -Micha IS Angelo and how they always ascribt m all they knew and amounted. to X their teachers, and said while Il le board might get teachers for less, u es question was whether the teache
 were asking for something that W;
 fair and just The school board hs
 done the best they could. The fir nit men and policemen had been given n 90 per cent raise, but the teache te were not asking that. Factory wag 7d had increased 50 and 50 per cent. al r. he hoped this resolution would SC passed.
 gs Explains School Boards Position.
 President B. P. Bishop of the scho
 board explained their position in |
 matter. He said that no men in No he wich were more loyal to the teache d. and the schools, and they had tried " meet the teachers fairly and do justi W. towards the taxpayers from eve b. standpoint. The board members we CT. the last ones to want the teachers h5
 paid, for they wanted them well pa
 and to maintain the good will of t = teachers.
 For weeks the school board had be 1 considering this question and had s cured figures that would show No