The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1919-05-22
JUSTICE FOR THE
FOSTER-PAREN7S
OFOUR CHILDREN

It is strange that the generous
hearted American people. VINO
poured out their riches so prodlgall!
in response to every patriotic, every
charitable appeal, and who accorded
such enthusiastic and liberal support
to every measure and to every group
that helped win the war, should have
neglected to properly encourage anc
reward the services of one OF the
noblest professions in the field OF hu-
man activities-a profession that in
lofty ideals, in unselish principles,
in sacred responsibilities, stands side
by side with the ministry of the Cos
pei itself.
We wish to bespeak, with whatev-
er power and authority we may have
and with such words as may be
granted to us, some measure OF con-
sideration for the foster-fathers and
mothers of our children-the school
teachers of the United States OF
America.
There is no class of workers OF
which we demand so much. We COM
NIT into their keeping the minds,
the bodies, and the very souls of our
children in the tender and formative
years of their lives, and they, re-
ceiving these children, can indeed be
said to hold in the hollow of their
hands the future of America. We
expect these devoted men and wo-
men to watch over and care for our
sons and daughters as though they
were their very own, to drill them in
the arts and sciences, to train them
for business and for citizenship, to
instruct them in manners and in NOR
ais, to do for them those things
which we would do had we the train
ing and the leisure.
No class has assumed so heavy, so
trying a burden and responsibility
with such willingness as these conse-
Grated men and women. No class
has performed their increasingly
heavy tasks more devotedly, more
conscientiously, and with less
thought of self. No class served their
country more whole-heartedly, more
Loyalty, during the trying and tenn
pestuous times of war, day by day
pursuing their round of duty, day by
day. helping the young people, and
through the children the parents, to
see the struggle in its true light,
thus securing the cooperation of the
community in every measure under
taken by the government to win the
war.
Truly they have made the nation
their everlasting debtor. Truly had
they not done their work so well
this republic would not outlast the
span of a generation.
! What then have the teachers re-
ceived at our hands in return? They
have received little of honor and
somewhat less of pay. Other classes
have prospered; other classes through
powerful organizations have secured
generous wages. The teachers have
no spokesman, however, to demand
even the simple justice of a living
wage, so to them we give their petty
prewar pittance, so meager, so pitt
fully inadequate, that it places a
burning brand of shame and disgrace
upon this nation.
The men and women who are max
ing the Americans of tomorrow are
being treated with less consideration
than the janitors who sweep out the
buildings in which they are en-
ployeo, they are earning on the av-
erage less than the wages given to
the scrubwomen employed in the
public buildings of the United States
government. Normal school gradu-
ates receive less salary than street
sweepers; high school principals and
superintendents less than section
foremen; country school teachers
less for instructing the farmers chill
dren than he pays his hired Liam to
feed his hogs.
In certain town of Illinois, for in
stance, the average wages of Is
miners for one month was SILT,
while the average monthly salary of
Is teachers in the same town was
S55. In another town miner, who,
by the way, was an enemy alien, drew
more than S2,700 last year, while
the salary of the high school princi-
pal in the same town was $685. We
welcome with all our hearts the long
belated recognition that is being Civ
an m tho mon u,ho uorke with h ie