New Ulm review., 1919-03-05

aid to high schools, graded, semi-graded
and consolid dated schools. By giving
that aid, the State very properly recog-
| nizes the larger aspect OF education,
that education is, after all, for efficient
citizenship, not Of and for a community
only, but for the entire state. In a
similar way, the Wiping out Of a school
system, as it may happen to be located
on the frontier lines OF education, be-
/, comes not only a loss to the particular
! district in which the schools may Be
located-it may also become a tremend-
Gus loss to the entire state.
This danger seems to exist in the
region Of Northern Minnesota where
the big forest fires ragged on October
-, 1918, and destroyed many school
buildings, especially at Cloquet which
is estimated to have lost as much as
the total loss of all other schools COM
bined. In round figures the loss there
is given at $350,000 Of which $184,5O0
is covered by insurance, leaving a net
loss OF $160,0OO.
The question now is whether the re-
building of these schools should be left
ito the citizens OF the city of Cloquet,
many Of whom have lost their all in the
devastating fire of last fall, or whether
the state legislature should appropriate
a large sum for this purpose. The
Cloquet Board Of Education is Of the
opinion that the state should aid in the
rehabilitation Of the. school system Of
their city, and request the legislature
for an appropriation of SITS, 900, according
to a circular sent out by them. AS a
special inducement they point to the
fact that never in the history OF the
state, yes, in the whole nation, have
eyes seen such devastation to an entire
city as large as Cloquet.
No one who has seen the fearful de-
struction of the fire to the school build
ings can doubt the reasonableness Of
this request. He most heartily joins
in the wish for its fulfilllnent, and justice
in this case can be done in no other way
since it was the neglect of State officials
which permitted the devastation.
According to its editor, the Lomberton
Star is to have opposition. This is
hardly to be wondered at. For months
past. respected citizens Of that COM
munity have been held up to public
scorn and ridicule simply because their
brand of patriotism does not blend COM
pletely with that Of the Star and even
the mildest grows weary Of patience after
while when abuses are long continued.
Some editors believe they are publish
ing their newspapers by divine right;
something on the order Of the Kaiser
who imagined and tried to make the
world believe that he ruled the German
people by the grace Of God. These same
editors denounced the Kasier as an
autocrat but fail to see that they are
no tritie better than that misguided
ruler, possibly not even as good, because
whatever we may think Of William
Hohenzollern, we must admit that he
possessed brains and CO siderable ex-.
ecutive ability. That is something we
cannot say Of great number Of wielders
of the pen who try to camout1age their
autocratic dollars and cents spirit by
an appeal to patriotism.
Any one, by whatever motives he may
be actuated who helps to disrupt his
own town and soWs the seed OF dis
content and discord just to get even
with somebody, does not know what
patriotism means. No man who is not
loyal to his own family and to his own
town, can lay claim to being patriotic.
Everybody is learning these days and
at a never-before heard Of rate, and
editors like Schei will ask themselves
few years hence why they did not see
earlier the wave OF protest going up from
the common people against the vested
rights and special privilege which they,
the vituperous, represented when they
gave the columns Of their papers toslander
of those who dared to differ with them.