The Coconino sun., 1919-05-16
JUSTICE FOR THE
 FOSTER-PARENTS
 OF OUR CHILDREN

JUSlISE TUX HE
 FOSTER-PARENTS
 OF OUR CHILDREN
 R. G. Stevenson, until very recently on the faculty of the Normal school now connected with the McGonigle Lumber Co.,, is in receipt of letter from w. J. Funk, of the firm of Funk & Wagnalls, publishers of the Liter. ary Digest, calling his attention to and asking his aid for movement started by the Literary Digest toward getting increased pay for school teachers. The Digest has gone into the matter heart and soul, taking the position that the teachers as a body are not in any measure receiving de- cen remuneration for their work. Mr. Funk calls the attention of MT. Stew enson to an editorial appearing in the Digest of May 10th, which follows:
 "It is strange that the generous hearted American people, who poured out their riches so prodigally in re- sponse to every patriotic, every chari- table appeal, and who accorded such enthusiastic and liberal support to every measure and to every group that helped win the war, should have neg lected to properly encourage and re- ward the services of one of the noblest professions in the field of human ac- tivities--a profession that in lofty ideals, in unselfish principles, in sa- cred responsibilities, stands side by side with the ministry of the Gospel itself.
 "We wish to bespeak, with whatever power and authority we may have and with such words as may be granted to us, some measure of consideration 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 init into their keeping the minds, the bodies, and the very souls of our chil- dren in the tender and formative years of their lives, and they, receiv- ing these children, can indeed be said to hold in the hollow of their hands the future of America. We expect these devoted men and women 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 morals, to do for them those things which we would do had we the training and the leisure.
 "No class has assumed so heavy, so trying burden and a responsibility with such willingness as these conse- crated men and women. No class has performed their increasingly heavy tasks more devotedly, more conscien- tiously, and with less though of self. No class served their country more hole-heartedly, more Loyalty, during the trying and tempestuous 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 it's true light, thus securing the coopera- tion of the community in every meas ure undertaken 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. g
 "What then have the teachers re- ceived at our hands in return? They have received little of honor and some what less of pay. Other classes have prospered; other classes through pow erful organizations have secured gen
 
 spokesman, however, to demand even the simple justice of living wage, so to them we give their petty pre- war pittance, so meager, so pitifully inadequate, that it places a burning brand of sham and disgrace upon this nation.
 "The men and women who are mak- ing the Americans of tomorrow are being treated with less consideration than the janitors who sweep out the buildings in which they are employed; they are earning on the average, less than the wages of the scrubwomen employed in the public buildings of the United States government. Nor nal school graduates receive less sal ary than street sweepers; high-school principals and superintendents receive less than section foremen; country school tedchers less for instructing the farmers children receive less than he pays his hired man to feed his hogs.
 "In a certain town of Illinois, for instance, the average wages of fifteen miners for one month was $217, while the average monthly salary of fifteen teachers in the same town was $55. In another town miner, who, by the way, was an enemy alien, drew more than $2,700 last year, while the salary of the high-school principal in the same town was $765. We welcome with all our hearts the long-belated recognition that is being given to the man who works with his. hands. We will be the first to join with us in believe that this same workingman will be the first to join with us in asking better pay for those who teach his children.
 "No wonder there are fifty thousand vacancies in the teaching forces of the
 IL